Here's where I'm at so far (some of this was already shared on the playground):
1. The Lodgers - I feel like this plot had potential but the film just didn't deliver. I wasn't remotely frightened at any point but I thought there were some really beautiful shots and would say it is worth watching just from that perspective.
2. Delirium - This definitely had some story issues and might have been a wee bit predictable (and dad's make-up was definitely more funny than scary) but I still enjoyed trying to figure out what was real and what wasn't.
3. The Final Girls - I was holed up at an airport motel in Buffalo and was desperate to meet my quota so I watched this since it was the only “horror” movie on TV. Wow, this was so much worse than I thought was possible. I have no idea why anyone would have even made this movie. It's technically a horror parody, I guess, but it's not remotely funny OR scary so it fails epically on all counts. I hope you never have to see this one.
4. The Nun (2004) - Having already seen the latest movie of this title (from the Conjuring franchise) back in September before the 31 in 31 challenge started, I decided it would be appropriate to sub this one in for the official event. Much like the recent movie of the same name (and, let’s face it, most of the movies I’ll watch this month), this film has an interesting premise and terrible execution. The twist at the end doesn’t really make any sense at all. You can tell they really thought they were making something special here but failed to deliver on the actual mind-****ery.
5. All I See is You - It’s really a stretch to include this one since it definitely isn’t horror but I was on vacation and this was available on the plane. It’s technically a thriller but you’d be hard-pressed to find a single thrill in this movie. It was slow and boring. Every time I thought, “Oh boy, it’s about to get good!” it totally let me down. So many missed opportunities in the writing and directing.
6. The Cloverfield Paradox - Again, not truly a horror movie but this one is close enough to count without guilt, I’d say, since there’s so much crossover in this franchise. This was not great but it had a few fun/ creepy moments and I’ll basically watch anything Chris O’Dowd is in.
7. Stir of Echos - I had seen this one before but couldn’t remember it well enough to be certain when I was reading the synopsis so I decided to give it a go. I was quickly reminded that I loved this movie when it came out a million years ago and it actually holds up pretty well but damn if I didn’t want punch Kevin Bacon’s character right in the face for being such an awful husband through the entire ****ing thing.
8. Jacob’s Ladder - This is a classic that I had somehow never seen (I guess I always thought I had seen it and skipped over it) and now I know where the writers of Star Trek: TNG got the ideas for several of my favorite episodes. I love a good puzzle movie and this definitely is one.
9. Breaking In - This is basically a retelling of that Bruce Willis Hostage move from the 90s except it’s a mother rescuing her kids from the bad guys this time. I love a movie where a woman gets to kick some ass and make smart choices. I do wish that she got to be bad ass just for the sake of being bad ass rather than having to be in mama bear mode (women aren’t only strong when they’re protecting their kids, dontcha know) but this was pretty well done. It was pretty light on the gore though.
10. Halloween (1978) - Mr. Blue and I decided to rewatch all of the movies in this franchise and then go see the new one. I forgot how absolutely terrible this is. Just...nothing about it is believable and the acting is SO BAD (sorry, Jamie Lee). I'm not sure at this point that we're actually going to make it through all of them. We'll see.
11. Halloween II - The acting is still pretty bad but I felt like this one notched the fear factor up a bit so it was more enjoyable for me than the first.
12. Halloween III: Season of the Witch - This is the one that I remember most vividly from my childhood and it has nothing at all to do with Michael Myers. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing but it affected me more than the others. Probably because it was far less slasher film (that’s never really been my thing). At any rate, it’s still pretty awful but I prefer this storyline to the Michael Myers story.
13. Halloween 4 (that’s right, they stopped using roman numerals here because we’re too dumb to know what IV means): The Return of Michael Myers - Well, Michael is back. Damn it. I have no idea how he survived that fire. I don’t blame Jamie Lee for getting out of dodge but that means Michael has to go after her daughter instead. Wait, she had a kid? Who is dad? Why did they leave her with foster parents; especially when she has terrible night terrors about “the boogeyman”, Michael Myers, who she’s never seen but somehow knows everything about and has a vivid image of?! I don’t understand what’s going on here! Mostly, I just wish Michael would hurry up and kill this kid because I’m sick of listening to her scream.
14. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers - Jesus. Why can’t we kill this guy. This movie starts with them conveniently rewriting the ending to the previous movie so that Michael gets away safely after being shot in the chest 2 dozen or so times. All he needed was about a year’s worth of sleep and then he’s all set to get back to the killing game. The kid is now mute (kind of) and living in a children’s clinic. They are now referring to her foster parents as step parents because apparently the writers had no idea that those meant totally different things. No mention at all of Jamie Lee Curtis so I guess she really must be the very worst kind of mother that she wouldn’t even show up after her kid was almost murdered. Or at least move her to a facility out of town. Anyway, this is definitely the worst movie so far. The kid has some sort of psychic bond with Michael and spends the whole movie having some sort of weird seizure and predicting when someone was in trouble. Not in time to save anyone of course, but I guess she tried and that’s all you can ask.
15. Rear Window - I DEFINITELY needed a break from the Halloween movies and Alfred Hitchcock always delivers solid entertainment. I‘m sure you’ve all seen this one. A guy is in a cast and spends his time stuck in a wheelchair to spy on his neighbors and then something terrible happens (or did it?). Grace Kelly and Jimmie Stewart have to unravel the mystery with the help of a terrible detective and a crotchety nurse. If you haven’t seen it, you should definitely take the time to watch it tonight.
16. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers - This one has Paul Rudd and that’s about all I can say for it. Though I do wonder how Jamie learned to drive after being held in captivity since she was like 6 or whatever. Also, is this baby supposed to be Michael’s?
17. Halloween H20 - This one hits the reset switch on all of the Jamie Lloyd stuff, which is probably a good thing because none of that ever made any sense to me. This was much more enjoyable than the others but still filled with all of the usual horror movie clichés (power is out/ lights don’t work, car won’t start, folks running up the stairs instead of out the door, etc.) but I have yet to see a slasher film that isn’t.
18. Halloween: Resurrection - Hold on, hold on. This one DOESN’T retcon H20 entirely but just eliminates the fact that people have lived in the house since the original murders happened? What, why? I mean, just freaking retcon all of it. What was the point of that? Overall, this one should probably be listed in the comedy category but the biggest disappointment is that we didn’t get to see Tyra Banks die in the movie (though I have since seen the cut scene on Youtube and understand why it was cut). And I know I’ve basically talked **** about all of these movies but I really have enjoyed them anyway. With the exception of some seriously problematic storylines and massive continuity issues, they’re still tons of fun to watch.
19. Halloween (2007) - This was my first time seeing this one and I think this is now my favorite of the Halloween movies just because of the soundtrack. It’s a total remake/reimagining of the original by Rob Zombie. Michael’s mom is a stripper who is married to a gross, abusive waste of space and they are just the perfect image of poor, white trash. There is WAY too much gratuitous nudity of “teen” girls for my taste but the storytelling is solid and I found it much scarier than its predecessor.
20. The House of the Witch - Some teens behave stupidly and get stuck in a house. People die.
21. The Babadook - I needed a guaranteed good one and was with a friend who needed cheering up so this rewatch was warranted. Strangely, I found it scarier on this rewatch than I did during my first viewing but maybe that’s because I was watching it at 3 am this time and I was drunk. J
22. Malevolence - This was ok. Worth a viewing, I think. I liked the whole con artists until they weren’t thing and it had the whole creepy kid thing going on which is always fun. There’s a twist that was a bit predictable and could have been more dramatic but still made for a more interesting story than just the standard haunted house fare.
23. The Open House - God, this was so bad. And the ending. Ugh. Stop wasting my time, people. Don’t watch this.