Halloween Viewing Log 2011

[Chernabog_Rocks]

Finally hit the 50 mark yesterday with this batch.

45) Maximum Overdrive
46) Prom Night 2: Hello Mary Lou
47) Dog Soldiers
48 ) Wishmaster 3
49) Friday the 13th (Original)
50) Friday the 13th Part 2

[Barbossa]

Recent viewings in bold:

1. Scarecrow of Romney Marsh Parts I, II, & III
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
5. Zombieland
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
10. The Invisible Man (1933)
11. The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
12. The Invisible Woman (1940)
13. Invisible Agent (1942)
14. The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
15. An American Werewolf in London
16. The Evil Dead
17. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
18. Garfield's Thanksgiving/Garfield's Halloween Adventure
19. 28 Days Later
20. 28 Weeks Later
21. Werewolf of London (1935)
22. She-Wolf of London (1946)
23. The Wolf Man (1941)
24. Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943)
25. The Wolfman - Unrated Director's Cut (2010)
26. Frankenstein (1931)
27. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
28. Son of Frankenstein (1939)
29. Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
30. House of Frankenstein (1944)
31. Boo!: A Short Film (1932)



Son of Frankenstein (1935)

The longest movie in the Frankenstein franchise, clocking in at 1 hr 40 mins. It's not bad, but it drags on in a few spots. One plus is that Boris Karloff is back for the last time playing the monster. Basil Rathbone plays the younger Frankenstein heir, and Bela Lugosi plays Ygor, a shepherd turned monster's friend. One thing that I noticed was the set design; in some places it looks like Tim Burton was involved, especially with the interior of the castle. Frankenstein's lab is completely redesigned from the first couple of movies and this time it features a pool of hot sulphur - which is used in the climax (this must be where James Cameron got inspiration for the end of Terminator 2 - it's quite similar). Even tough it drags on in a few bits, it's still quite enjoyable.



Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)

Lon Chaney Jr. takes over the role as the monster, but it's missing Karloff's charm. Chaney makes the monster look more like Herman Munster. Bela Lugosi is back as Ygor. This time, Ygor Persuades Dr. Frankenstein, the son of the original, to transplant Ygor's brain into the monster's body. Slightly weaker, but an alright follow-up.



House of Frankenstein (1944)

Great concept - it's like watching next year's Avengers movie where you got all these iconic characters in the same movie. However, it kinda falls flat. Dracula is kinda wasted in this one and does not spend any screen time with Frankenstein's monster or the Wolf Man. One plus is that Lon Chaney Jr. is reprising his role as Lawrence Talbot/the Wolf Man. Boris Karloff is also back, but this time he's playing the mad scientist. This movie is supposed to be a direct sequel to Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man. Good concept, but could've been made a whole lot better.

Boo!: A Short Film (1932)

This one is included on the Frankenstein Legacy Collection set. It's only about 10 minutes long and comprises scenes from the various Universal Monster movies, including Nosferatu. The narration is hilarious. I had some good laughs. Here it is on Youtube if anyone wants to watch it:

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7Ql2FNcJBqQ" frameborder="0"></iframe>

[dvdjunkie]

Continuing my "Horror Movie Challenge" I watched:

Saturday, October 15, 2011:

51. Tremors (1981)

52. Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954) - originally made in 3-D

53. Revenge of the Creature (1955) - again this one was made in 3-D, and features a young Clint Eastwood in one of his first speaking roles.

54. The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)

55. The Monster Squad (1987) Blu-ray

56. Monster House (2006)

57. Night of the Creeps (1987)

[Chernabog_Rocks]

Yesterday's viewings

51) Friday the 13th 4
52) Friday the 13th 5
53) Friday the 13th 6

[Barbossa]

Recent viewings in bold:

1. Scarecrow of Romney Marsh Parts I, II, & III
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
5. Zombieland
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
10. The Invisible Man (1933)
11. The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
12. The Invisible Woman (1940)
13. Invisible Agent (1942)
14. The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
15. An American Werewolf in London
16. The Evil Dead
17. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
18. Garfield's Thanksgiving/Garfield's Halloween Adventure
19. 28 Days Later
20. 28 Weeks Later
21. Werewolf of London (1935)
22. She-Wolf of London (1946)
23. The Wolf Man (1941)
24. Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943)
25. The Wolfman - Unrated Director's Cut (2010)
26. Frankenstein (1931)
27. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
28. Son of Frankenstein (1939)
29. Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
30. House of Frankenstein (1944)
31. Boo!: A Short Film (1932)
32. Young Frankenstein
33. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein



Young Frankenstein

Blücher! What can I say, a Mel Brooks Classic! After seeing the orignals I finally got some of the spoofs, like the one-armed inspector (originally from Son of Frankenstein). The whole cast is great in this one, and we get a young, super-cute Teri Garr. As Peter Boyle blurted out, it's "uuper- duper!" This is one I watch every year. "What knockers!"




Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Thought I'd wrap-up my Frankenstein viewing this year with the 1994 Kenneth Branagh remake. I really don't know why this movie gets panned. You go to various critic sites and it gets as low as two stars. I think it's well done. May be one of the goriest Frankenstein, but well done. I don't even know if you'd consider this one a remake as it was Columbia's, not Universal. Would be interesting to see Universal do a remake of theirs.

I'm taking a break for a few days as I got guests coming over for the next week. I'll resume my movie watching next weekend, maybe I'll sneak in a viewing of Scary Movie or something.

[dvdjunkie]

Lots of movies to watch on this Sunday.

Sunday, October 16, 2011:

58. The Entity (1982)

59. Sleepy Hollow (1999)

60. Legend of Hell House (1973)

61. Circus of Horrors (1960)

62. The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

This coming week I will be delving into my Hammer Horror Films collection and next weekend is my Vincent Price and Christopher Lee collection.

Monday, October 17, 2011:

63. Count Dracula (1970)

64. Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970)

65. Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973)

And so begins my Hammer Horror watching week!!!

[JiminyCrick91]

Just back from Paramount's free Toronto screening of Paranormal Activity 3 and just edited my pervious post.

-Skyler

[littlefuzzy]

This is probably as close as I'll get this month...

Topper (1937)
Topper Takes a Trip (1939)
Topper Returns (1941)

Hey, they've got ghosts in them!

[PixarFan2006]

Dracula (1931)
House of Wax (1953)
Psycho (1960)
House on Haunted Hill (1959) -This was playing on Turner Classic Movies, so I decided to watch it. It was pretty campy (Vincent Price is in it, so what do you expect?), but still a little enjoyable.

[dvdjunkie]

Hammer Horror week continues in the Junkie Home Theater:

Tuesday, October 18, 2011:

66. Dracula Has Risen From The Grave (1968)

67. Scars of Dracula (1970)


Wednesday, October 19, 2011:

68. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

69. Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)


Thursday, October 20, 2011:

70. Evil of Frankenstein (1964)

71. Brides of Dracula (1960)


Friday, October 21, 2011:

72. Frankenstein Created Woman (1967)

73. Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969)

74. Scream and Scream Again (1970)

[Chernabog_Rocks]

Since I've last posted.

54) Friday the 13th (Remake)
55) Childs Play
56) Childs Play 2
57) The Fog (original)
58) Poltergeist
59) Wishmaster
60) Wishmaster 2
61) Near Dark
62) Evil Dead
63) Silver Bullet
64) Alien
65) Lost Boys
66) Howling
67) Carrie
68) Christine
69) My Bloody Valentine

[SillySymphony]

1. Sleepy Hollow (1999)

2. 7 Spooky Symphonies (1929-1938)
The Skeleton Dance (1929) Hell's Bells (1929) The Cat's Out (1931) The Flying Mouse (1934)
The Goddess of Spring (1934) The Old Mill (1937) The Moth and the Flame (1938)

3. Corpse Bride (2005)
My kind of "scary" movie. Watched it with my sister and we were laughing so hard. Favorite scene is the "Remains of the Day" musical sequence. I haven't watched/listened to any commentaries, but The Skeleton Dance (pictured in my siggy) had to be an inspiration for that scene.

[PixarFan2006]

Dracula (1931)
House of Wax (1953)
Psycho (1960)
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Wallace & Gromit Curse of the WereRabbit - Does not technically count in the horror canon, I know, but this is still a fun film.
Nosferatu (1922) - A good example of silent horror.

[dvdjunkie]

As part of the "100 Horror Films in 31 Days of October Challenge" I dedicated this day to Vincent Price. So I settled back and watched:

Saturday, October 22, 2011:

75. The Fly (1958)

76. Return of the Fly (1959)

77. The Oblong Box (1969)

78. Tales of Terror (1962)

79. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

80. Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)

[dvdjunkie]

Beginning the last official week of the "100 Horror Films in 31 Days of October Challenge" (actually 8 days) I have picked some of my favorite movies to watch. Starting today I highlight some of my favorite movies starring Christopher Lee.

Sunday, October 23, 2011:

81. Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965)

82. Castle of the Living Dead (1964)

83. Face of Fu Manchu (1965)

84. Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967)

85. The Wicker Man (1973)

[Barbossa]

Recent viewings in bold:

1. Scarecrow of Romney Marsh Parts I, II, & III
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
5. Zombieland
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
10. The Invisible Man (1933)
11. The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
12. The Invisible Woman (1940)
13. Invisible Agent (1942)
14. The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
15. An American Werewolf in London
16. The Evil Dead
17. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
18. Garfield's Thanksgiving/Garfield's Halloween Adventure
19. 28 Days Later
20. 28 Weeks Later
21. Werewolf of London (1935)
22. She-Wolf of London (1946)
23. The Wolf Man (1941)
24. Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943)
25. The Wolfman - Unrated Director's Cut (2010)
26. Frankenstein (1931)
27. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
28. Son of Frankenstein (1939)
29. Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
30. House of Frankenstein (1944)
31. Boo!: A Short Film (1932)
32. Young Frankenstein
33. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
34. Nosferatu (1922)
35. Dracula (1931)
36. Dracula - Spanish Version (1931)
37. Dracula's Daughter (1936)



Nosferatu (1922)

Decided to get into the Dracula portion of my marathon. First time watching this one. Technically not the first Dracula movie as it wasn't lost, but the earliest remaining. For a silent movie, this one is creepy as hell. Count Orlock (Dracula) looks like a demon, which makes it much more terrifying - especially when they just show Max Shreck's silhouette, very effective. Definietly worth checking out, and best of all, you can watch it legally for free online as it is in the public domain.



Dracula (1931)

The Bela Lugosi original. The one that all other pop-culture versions borrowed the look of, like Sesame Street's The Count. Great atmosphere, and one thing that I caught watching it this time around is the touch of humor with the vampire bee leaving it's own coffin near the beginning of the movie. Couldn't figure out what the armadillos were doing there though.



Dracula - Spanish Version (1931)

Shot at the same time as the Bela Lugosi version, and on the same sets. It is interesting to check out, with some creative camera work. However, this one clocks in at an 1 hr and 44 mins - a bit too long. Because of this longer running time, I think I prefer Lugosi's version better. Also, Carlos Villarias's facial expressions make Dracula look more comedic in some scenes.



Dracula's Daughter (1936)

It starts out alright with Edward Van Sloan back as Von Helsing (that's Von, not Van). But then it seems to turn into a mid 1930's chick flick. I might have to give this one a 2nd viewing in the future, maybe give it a 2nd chance.

[Chernabog_Rocks]

Just to update it. Tomorrow (The 26th) will be the last day of my marathon as I finish the Halloween series, numbers 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.


1) Tremors
2) Abominable
3) Messengers 2: The Scarecrow
4) Gremlins
5) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
6) Lake Placid
7) Day of the Dead (2008)
Anaconda
9) Grizzly Park
10) Wolfen
11) Lost Boys 2: The Tribe
12) Lost Boys 3: Generations
13) The Blob
14) Amityville Horror (Original)
15) Sleepy Hollow
16) Rogue
17) Amityville Horror (Remake)
18) Piranha (Remake)
19) Scream 4
20) Leprechaun
21) Leprechaun 2
22) Leprechaun 3
23) Scream
24) Scream 2
25) Scream 3
26) House 2
27) House
28) Aliens
29) Childs Play 3
30) Bride of Chucky
31) Cursed
32) Phantoms
33) Graveyard Shift
34) Army of Darkness
35) Deep Blue Sea
36) Dawn of the Dead (Original)
37) Frankenstein (Original)
38) Jeepers Creepers
39) I Know What You Did Last Summer
40) I Still Know
41) Dracula (Original)
42) Shark Attack 2
43) Shark Attack 3
44) Leeches
45) Maximum Overdrive
46) Prom Night 2: Hello Mary Lou
47) Dog Soldiers
48) Wishmaster 3
49) Friday the 13th (Original)
50) Friday the 13th Part 2
51) Friday the 13th Part 4
52) Friday the 13th Part 5
53) Friday the 13th Part 6
54) Friday the 13th (Remake)
55) Childs Play
56) Childs Play 2
57) The Fog (original)
58) Poltergeist
59) Wishmaster
60) Wishmaster 2
61) Near Dark
62) Evil Dead
63) Silver Bullet
64) Alien
65) Lost Boys
66) Howling
67) Carrie
68) Christine
69) My Bloody Valentine
70) The Hills Have Eyes (Remake)
71) Wrong Turn 3
72) Resident Evil: Degeneration
73) Resident Evil
74) Resident Evil 2
75) The Exorcist
76) Resident Evil 3
77) Children of the Corn
78) Interview With A Vampire
79) Dusk Till Dawn
80) The Faculty
81) Resident Evil 4
82) Nightmare On Elm Street
83) Nightmare On Elm Street 2
84) Nightmare on Elm Street 3
85) Nightmare on Elm Street 4
86) Trailer Park of Terror
87) Cujo
88) Alien 3
89) Jaws
90) Lifeforce
91) Hellraiser
92) American Werewolf in London
93) Last House on the Left (Remake)
94) Halloween (Original)

[PixarFan2006]

Dracula (1931)
House of Wax (1953)
Psycho (1960)
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the WereRabbit (2006)
Nosferatu (1922)
Frankenstein (1931)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) - I Had a double feature yesterday (kind of, I watched one of the films during the day and the other one during the evening.) I watched Frankenstein first obviously, which is a classic in the Universal Horror films (though I have honestly not seen many of them). I then watched Bride of Frankenstein for the first time last night and found it to be very enjoyable, maybe even better than the first Frankenstein. I don't know why. It just had better pacing, IMO. It was strange hearing the monster talk (though I hear he was supposed to talk in the original novel), but I felt it did develop the character a bit. Though it was strange that the title is called bride of Frankenstein when you do not see the monster until close to the end of the film. Also it should be the Bride of Frankenstein's Monster.

[Barbossa]

Recent viewings in bold:

1. Scarecrow of Romney Marsh Parts I, II, & III
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
5. Zombieland
6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
10. The Invisible Man (1933)
11. The Invisible Man Returns (1940)
12. The Invisible Woman (1940)
13. Invisible Agent (1942)
14. The Invisible Man's Revenge (1944)
15. An American Werewolf in London
16. The Evil Dead
17. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
18. Garfield's Thanksgiving/Garfield's Halloween Adventure
19. 28 Days Later
20. 28 Weeks Later
21. Werewolf of London (1935)
22. She-Wolf of London (1946)
23. The Wolf Man (1941)
24. Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man (1943)
25. The Wolfman - Unrated Director's Cut (2010)
26. Frankenstein (1931)
27. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
28. Son of Frankenstein (1939)
29. Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
30. House of Frankenstein (1944)
31. Boo!: A Short Film (1932)
32. Young Frankenstein
33. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
34. Nosferatu (1922)
35. Dracula (1931)
36. Dracula - Spanish Version (1931)
37. Dracula's Daughter (1936)
38. Son of Dracula (1943)
39. House of Dracula (1945)
40. Bram Stocker's Dracula (1992)
41. Young Indiana Jones: Masks of Evil
42. Ghost Ship



Son of Dracula (1943)

With this movie I matched my last year's record of 38 movies. I enjoyed this one better than Dracula's Daughter. However, I didn't buy Lon Chaney Jr. as Dracula. I don't know, he just didn't fit the role. He was better off playing the Wolf Man. One cool thing about this one are the effects for that time, especially when Dracula transforms from bat to human form.



House of Dracula (1945)

I have to say, these monster mash-ups are kinda lame. The most decent one from the early Universal Studios monster movies was Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man. This one was just lame. Stephen Sommers' Van Helsing is much better than this. The only bright part was that Lon Chaney Jr. was back as the Wolf Man for the last time. Between Karloff, Lugosi, and Chaney, Chaney was the only actor of the three to reprise his signature monster character, whenever the Wolf Man made an appearance.



Bram Stocker's Dracula (1992)

Francis Ford Coppola's remake, unfortunately not Universal Studios, but Sony. Fantastic remake though, Plenty of gore, plenty of eroticism, plenty of cool effects. And as a bonus we get to see Monica Bellucci's boobies. Great cast. One of my favourites.



Young Indiana Jones: Masks of Evil

Ok, actually the second part of this one is relevant as it deals with Vlad the Impaler, Dracula's inspiration. Not a bad Young Indy chapter. Actually what made it into the plot of the Transylvania section was stuff that originally was planned for Last Crusade, the whole haunted castle plot. Bob Peck (Jurasssic Park's game warden) played the Vlad charater known as General Targo in this episode. I also watched the accompanying documentary Dracula: Fact and Fiction - worth a look if you get the chance.

I'm gonna watch The Mummy and its sequels next, however, I wanted to take a break and watch something different and watched...



Ghost Ship

This is my second time watching it. Not a bad premise, could've been better though. The best part is the opening sequence witht he demise of the crew and passengers - quite gross.

[dvdjunkie]

Eight days to go and only 15 more movies to watch to make it to 100, but I am going to do better than that, I hope. World Series is getting in the way of my movie watching, so I hope that Texas ends it all tonight.

Monday, October 24, 2011:

86. Poltergeist (1982)

87. The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)


Tuesday, October 25, 2011:

88. Gremlins (1984)

89. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

90. Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)

91. Ghosts on the Loose (1943)

92. Hocus Pocus (1993)