We are now almost two full weeks into October and it's been a great one so far! There's been some perfect fall weather and I think this year I'm doing better at the start than any year I can remember in awhile. I'm averaging at least one viewing a day. Hope I can keep it up!
To see my original list (which, as usual, I've already strayed from a bit) see HERE
To see the movies I've watched so far, see the list right below the Read More...
Here we go! In the order I've watched them so far.
THE DEVIL RIDES OUT
Started out with a classic Hammer horror film I love! Based on the great Dennis Whately book, this movie even has Christopher Lee as the hero. British horror and sci-fi of this period had the great knack of taking things very seriously. Whether it was killer plants from space, or the occult, or vampires....whatever...they never seemed to approach the stories with any kind of embarrassment about the subject matter. This movie features a great script by the always awesome Richard Matheson and it's one of my favorites.
LOVE AT FIRST BITE
I love this 70's Dracula comedy. Just a fun thing to watch. I definitely started this October off with some more light hearted fair. But there's so many great scenes in this and Richard Benjamin is hilarious. I especially love he and Dick Shawn talking about how it's the cape that gets Dracula all the ladies. So much fun.
MAD MONSTER PARTY
I kinda feel like I have to watch this every October. But I'll be completely honest. It's kind of a chore to watch. Don't get me wrong, there is SO much good stuff in it. The character designs are amazing (I mean look at Drac and Francesca above!) the sets are fantastic and the music is just the best! It just looks so cool. But it is waaaaayy too long. Honestly, it gets kind of boring. And there aren't enough good lines and scenes to make up for the overlong feel. All that being said, I am a fan and I watch it every year.
FRIDAY THE 13TH THE SERIES: THE BARON'S BRIDE
I love this show. I really do. It was so great having this on super late on Friday nights when I was a kid. The three main characters are fantastic and the interaction between them was great and was such a solid foundation for what was basically an "evil antique" episode of the week. And Robey! Oh I had such a crush on Robey. When is some horror convention going to get these three back together? This show has become one of my main October staples. This episode revolves around a Cape that makes the wearer irresistible (must be like the one in Love at First Bite!) as well as a brooch that allows travel through time! Just mix one drop of your blood with someone else's and away you go! So already it's unique since it is technically two antiques with two separate powers...but then add to that the fact that the episode features actual vampires! Usually the show mostly featured curses and magic and the occult...and granted there were demons, etc...but this one had vampires, too! Long story short, the end up in the late 1800's and what's cool is that all the scenes in the past are in black and white. Spooky! And fitting for two reasons...1) It's basically a Dracula episode and 2) it helps hide the fact that much of the background is the 1980's. Don't get me wrong they do an awesome job, but it helps. And of course the guy they get to help fight the vampire is a guy named Abraham...whose wife calls him Bram. Huh, wonder if it's Bram Stoker. Of course it is.
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
What can I say? I think this may be one of the funniest movies ever made AND it features one of the finest comedic performances ever by Gene Wilder. And not only that, but it lovingly recreates and pays homage (while poking fun) at some of my favorite films of all time. FANTASTIC!
COLUMBO: DEATH HITS THE JACKPOT
My wife loves Columbo. And for good reason, it's awesome. But I had barely ever watched it in my life. That has changed for the better and she's now shown me a ton of episodes. She wanted to watch one recently and even found one that is around Halloween! Look at the picture above, Columbo goes to a Halloween party! Plus, there are even some shots of Trick R Treaters as the killer (Rip Torn!) goes to do his deed. So while it may not be the most Halloween themed show, it works! Plus, Rip Torn's wife is played by Mrs. Voorhees herself, Betsy Palmer! I kept waiting for her to go crazy and murder everyone.
SLEEPY HOLLOW
I love this movie more and more every time I see it. I think because the more you watch it the less you have to care about the plot. And the plot if fine, but if you let it take the sideline, you just soak in the amazing sets and costumes and atmosphere. For me this is a close tie with Ed Wood as Tim Burton's best film. It's like a Hammer movie made years later. Also, how I miss R Rated horror movies that were spooky and drenched with ghostly atmosphere...as well as copious amounts of blood. It's why I'm so excited for Crimson Peak!
ED WOOD
As I said above, I think this is Tim Burton's best movie and I love it so much. It just captures so much of what I love about old movies, horror movies, horror fans, creepy/spooky stuff and fun. It's just magical. I can't watch it without tearing up. Burton is sometimes only as strong as the scripts he gets and this is a good one.
HORROR OF DRACULA
Of many great Hammer Horror films, this is one of the greatest. It was so cool as a kid to see this and see a Van Helsing who leap of fences and tables and jumped around! Peter Cushing was the best. And Christopher Lee is so evil as Dracula. Features one of the best climax action scenes in any horror movie.
DRAG ME TO HELL
It's not a perfect movie and some of the CG effects are a bit too CG, but Sam Raimi's return to R rated horror was pretty fun. And decidedly gross at times. Really gross. But fun!
TRANSYLVANIA 6-5000
I love this movie. It's just so funny. I have always said, if World of the Weird Monster Show were to make a movie it would be a cross between this and Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. SO funny! Plus...Genna Davis as Odette.
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
I love this movie (and we here at the World of the Weird Monster Show have hosted the movie live many, many times and performed it as well in a live shadowcast and those shows were always such fun.) It's such a great movie. It's got fantastic songs and it's such an homage to all the horror and sci-fi movies I grew up watching. This year, we watched this at a Drive-In and that was pretty cool.
TALES FROM THE DARKSIDE: TRICK OR TREAT
Like Friday the 13th The Series, I loved this show. And it features one of the best...and creepiest...opening credits of any TV show ever! This pilot episode is a great one and damn if that witch isn't creepy as hell!
That's it so far! Making great progress and have a lot of cool stuff coming up! So far it's been a great October!
That's a bunch of fun stuff so far.
ReplyDeleteI've been limiting myself to only watching things I've never seen (I really should give the Friday the 13th series a try)... so catching up on a bunch of missed classics... but as Halloween approaches I'm going to have to let some of these old favorites sneak in.