October Watching

     It’s time again for the October edition of What I’m Watching. The month where I watched horror or horror adjacent films exclusively (with one exception). I also watched several episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker over the month, along with Crystal Lake, and American Horror Story 13. Here are the movies I’ve watched, at home, over the past month… (the first two were actually from the end of September)

Star Trek (2009)- See Geek’s World Blog for my revisiting of all the Trek films. It's A Geek's World After All - It's A Geek's World After All

The Conversation- A lot of people LOVE this movie. I think it’s pretty good, but not a favorite Coppola film by any means.

Jennifer’s Body- I’d always thought about checking this movie out. Starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried with a script by Diablo Cody. I liked it more when it leaned into the dark humor, but it wasn’t bad.

Troll 2- Really enjoyed the 2022 first film and this follow up, while not as fun, is enjoyable too.

Willard (1971)- I’m pretty sure I’d never seen this film about Willard and his rats. I liked it. Bruce Davison and Sandra Locke are so young and Ernest Borgnine is having a great time.

House of 1000 Corpses- Rob Zombie’s first movie. Not normally my cup of tea and I enjoyed the first half, which was kind of a comedy, but then it turned into a remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and lost me.

Count Dracula- In 1970 Christopher Lee took a break from playing Dracula for Hammer to make a version of the original story for another studio. Klaus Kinski plays Renfield and is out of control. The film itself is such a product of it’s time that you just can’t take anyone seriously. Lee is even sporting a big ‘stache as the count.

Dead Heat- I remember seeing this in theaters when it came out in 1988. Stars Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo were the draw. It has some good ideas in it, but not the budget or dialogue to quite pull it off.

The Amityville Horror- This is the 1979 original. I saw it some time in the 80’s and never looked at it again until now. It’s hard to imagine the cultural impact it had at the time because most of it is so very tame now.

The Night Strangler- The second of two TV movies that would lead to the Kolchak: The Night Stalker series. It holds up. The first film- The Night Stalker is better, but this one is also pretty good.

Mad Monster Party- I recalled this 1968 stop motion Rankin-Bass movie as being fun when I was a kid, but it’s really not good at all. The animation is sub-par for Rankin-Bass and it is mostly very boring.

Doctor X- This 1932 movie about a scientist who uses a machine he hooks people up to to try to uncover a serial killer features a nice performance by Faye Wray, who would become a star the following year in King Kong. The film itself is fine, but I was glad it didn’t go longer than 76 minutes.

Creature Designers: The Frankenstein Complex- This is a very good documentary about Hollywood creature creators “from King Kong to Avatar”. I enjoyed it a lot.

The Black Sleep- See full review in Classics Section

Tremors 5: Bloodlines- I’m a fan of the series. Even the worst ones are enjoyable. In this one Burt Gummer travels to Africa to battle the Graboids. Luckily the addition of Jamie Kennedy doesn’t totally derail it.

The Ugly Stepsister- This Norwegian retelling of Cinderella from one of the stepsister’s point of view is pretty good. Only in the third act does it turn into a horror film, as she cuts off her toes to fit into the shoe (like in the original story) and other mishaps leave her disfigured. I recommend it.

1922- Based on a Stephen King story and starring Thomas Jane. It’s good, but, while Jane is fully committed, it is a little too long.

Tenzing- See full review in TV/Streaming section

Ben- The sequel to Willard. Willard is gone but his rats are still around. The leader of the rats, Ben, befriends a young boy while wreaking havoc on the town. Not as good as Willard, but it has it’s moments.

Sinners- Showed my wife who had not seen it before. Even on a second viewing it is still an achievement that on paper should not work. Great stuff.

Terrifier- Again, not really my kind of movie, but I checked it out anyway. It’s pretty standard slasher stuff with a few very bad performances. I didn’t realize this was actually the third appearance of the psycho Art the Clown. Not for me.

House- This is the wild 1977 Japanese film. It’s insane. Kind of a live action cartoon that turns into a horror movie, while occasionally still being a live-action cartoon. I don’t think I enjoyed it so much as appreciated it’s gonzo-ness. Though I did laugh a lot.

Psycho II- Hadn’t seen this one since it came out in 1983. The premise had promise but the pace was kind of slow.

Frankenweenie- Tim Burton’s 2012 stop-motion remake of his 1984 short. Some of the padding was interesting, but it does go on a little longer than the premise required.

The Witches of Eastwick- I’ve seen this film many times and always enjoy it. I can only imagine what it would be if director George Miller had gotten final cut. It’s still good in spite of the studio taking it over after shooting was completed.

Obsession- Not sure what all the fuss was about with this movie. It’s fine and has a few nice moments.

Cat People- I’m a big fan of the 1942 original where you’re never sure if the girl is some kind of supernatural creature. This 1982 quasi-remake leaves nothing to the imagination, including a good amount of nudity. It is far inferior.

Minions & Monsters- My thoughts on the first solo Minions movie are true again. I’m a fan of the Despicable Me movies and a little Minions go a long way. When they are the focus of the flick it gets annoying. The same is true here. The first 15 minutes or so is fun if you’re a fan of silent movies.

The ‘Burbs- Hadn’t seen this 1989 Joe Dante film, probably since it was released. I recalled not being all that impressed at the time and a little disappointed. This time I had a great time with it. I guess having 35 years more experiences in life allowed me to appreciate this film more.