Films You Have Watched

[Neon Ignition]

Dawn of the Dead
Film Thirty is the Snyder directed and James Gunn written remake from 20 years ago (for those wanting to feel old). Holds up pretty well thanks to remaining punchy when it needs to be.

[QualityChimp]

Impressive dedication to get all 31 films done, Neon!

Probably going to want a top 5 from what you've seen.

[Atticus]

Dawn of the Dead
Film Thirty is the Snyder directed and James Gunn written remake from 20 years ago (for those wanting to feel old). Holds up pretty well thanks to remaining punchy when it needs to be.

Haven't seen it for ages but remember it fondly. Shooting zombie lookalikes is such a great idea ... and them opening creds with Johnny Cash playing set the scene a treat

[QualityChimp]

I liked it where they play Richard Cheese's cover of "Down With The Sickness"

[fuse]

Stoker was on at my local for £1. It begins with the funeral of one man, and Matthew Goode’s character then stepping in as their long-lost brother who proceeds to stir up the dynamic between the grieving, already quite dysfunctional family. There’s some really smart visuals in there (it’s Park Chan-Wook’s first English language film) but a bit too much was left to subtext for my liking; what’s actually happening felt more like a pulpy TV movie.

Came home and watched It Follows, which I liked parts of - the intro in particular is fabulous - but the way it’s quite loose about any number of details didn’t work so great for it in my mind. Definitely glad I watched it, mind.

[Atticus]

Came home and watched It Follows, which I liked parts of - the intro in particular is fabulous - but the way it’s quite loose about any number of details didn’t work so great for it in my mind. Definitely glad I watched it, mind.

I'm not too proud to admit that the jump scare

->Open Spoiler<-

guy with no eyes coming through the door

made my whole body fizz Up there with Exorcist III imo

I remember this and The Guest came out around the same time and both being absolutely class retro'y vibe horrors.

[fuse]

I'm not too proud to admit that the jump scare

->Open Spoiler<-

guy with no eyes coming through the door

made my whole body fizz Up there with Exorcist III imo

Not the exact same moment, but some arsebag in the building next to mine had let off a firework from his rooftop during one of the earlier tense moments and I nearly leapt out of my skin

[Atticus]

Heh, my mate had a similar experience watching Hereditary. Heard a couple of noises outside the house. Checked. Then turned the film off and went to bed

[randombs]

the jump scare made my whole body fizz

Body fizz is a perfect description of that feeling

[QualityChimp]

Came home and watched It Follows, which I liked parts of - the intro in particular is fabulous - but the way it’s quite loose about any number of details didn’t work so great for it in my mind. Definitely glad I watched it, mind.

Another fizzer here at that moment!
Personally, I love how vague It Follows is, that's part of the appeal.
The whole idea came from a dream and that's represented in the film by not being able to pin an exact year when it's set.
I would agree that it loses momentum, but I think that works because you think you're clear and then the curse catches up with you.

I did a double-bill at the cinema last night!

Starting with Heretic, which I loved.
Ultimately, it's a small story but whilst you're watching it, you're fully invested in how it plays out.
Fair play to Hugh Grant, he absolutely carries this.
He doesn't resort to Jekyll/Hyde transformations or sudden outbursts, he's pretty much the same level throughout from offering a drink to asking to make life & death choices.
I particularly liked the way it slowly ratcheted the tension, making you wonder where it's going to go next.

Then we made a mad dash as the Heretic credits rolled into a showing of the horror classic, Halloween.
It's pushing 50 years old, so some of it is dated, yet other bits are still being stolen to this day - Michael thrown out of shot behind the sofa was just like M3GAN being thrown across the garage behind a table, for example.

I'd forgotten how much lifting Carpenter's score does and it plays a lot more than I remembered, but it's still amazing.
I particularly like that the majority of the film is set during the day, establishing what is to come and Myers stepping behind a hedgerow in broad daylight is just as chilling as appearing in a darkened doorway at night.

Anyway, I'm no Neon ignition, but squeezed in 18 spooky films over October (I've not listed the non-spooky ones I saw):
Halloween 1978 (Cinema)
Heretic 2024 (Cinema)
V/H/S/85 2023 (Shudder)
Oddity 2024 (Shudder)
It Follows 2014 (Blu-Ray)
Halloween III 1982 (Prime)
Magic Cop 1990 (Blu-Ray)
Smile 2 2024 (Cinema)
Smile 2022 (Channel 4)
Prince of Darkness 1987 (Blu-Ray)
30 Days of Night 2007 (Freevee)
Werewolf by Night 2022 (Disney+)
Rosemary’s Baby 1968 (NowTV)
M3GAN 2022 (NowTV)
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City 2021 (Prime)
The Return of the Living Dead 1985 (Prime)
Lifeforce 1985 (Blu-Ray)
Shaun of the Dead 2004 (Cinema)

Fave new film was probably Smile 2 (The Substance was in September).
Worst was M3GAN.
Fave revisit was obviously Halloween III

Onwards to Woovember!

[Atticus]

Tremendous effort those who embraced the october Horrorthon.

I liked the trailer for Heretic... esp the dawning that something isn't quite right. Looks right up my street. Looking forward to seeing it.

That's class

[wakka]

I'm not too proud to admit that the jump scare

->Open Spoiler<-

guy with no eyes coming through the door

made my whole body fizz Up there with Exorcist III imo

I remember this and The Guest came out around the same time and both being absolutely class retro'y vibe horrors.

I think I know the bit you're thinking of in Exorcist III and that is a quality moment.

I really like that film.

[Neon Ignition]

Monkey Man
Whilst not original in terms of the core set up, the execution is excellent

The Conjuring 2
Night Thirty One - Ended with a safe bet, the sequel has jostled with me on rewatches over the years and I feel fairly settled now that it's better than the first film.


In the end I think we ended up watching thirty three horrors in total I think. I don't think we watched anything that felt properly scary though Smile 2 was probably the best at consistently building apprehension even if the payoff was always pretty much the same trick. Overall Longlegs was probably the best new film of the run.

[fallenangle]

Watched the start of Testament Of Youth (2014) on BBC2 on Friday not intending to stay up to finish it as XB360 Assassins' Creed Brotherhood was calling. But I was more than engaged enough by it to stay until the end.

Have to admit a fair proportion of the reason was Alicia Vikander and her performance as Vera Brittain the ambitious and rebellious daughter of a 'comfortable' middle-class family whose closest male friends (brother, fiance and best mate) all die tragically in WW1. She goes on to serve as nurse at the front and that and her other experiences before and during the war make up the book of the same name the film is based on.

I remember the BBC TV series production from the late '70s, repeated several times since, with Cheryl Campbell which was powerful too and although the film is abbreviated in comparison it is well worth watching.

[Neon Ignition]

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
Having partially watched the CCU we've ended up rolling on with the horror content, the third and most recent film remains by far and away the weakest of the three