Halloween Horror Marathon: What Have We Learned...?

If you spend an entire month watching movies from one genre, you start to pick up on a few tropes. Yeah, I recognize that as the staggering understatement that it is. That you caught that doesn't make you better than me! Y'know...that was combative and I'm sorry. The truth is you build such a familiarity with the usual markers that each of these stories hit spanning across sub-genres that you could practically write your own paint-by-numbers movie after a while. In some cases, it shows that the film-makers did exactly that. But I digress...

I telegraphed that joke as much as you telegraphed your ending!

The more exposure to tropes of any genre you have just makes their absurdity more apparent, and that's why I'm here. Because absurdity is hilarious to me. That, and there are plenty of tropes or "rules" that most people already know about the horror genre thanks to Scream. But let me assure you that there are even more that those movies completely missed, the writers had no knowledge of, or they simply wound up playing into themselves. There are a variety of ways to survive a horror movie (living it or watching it), but they vary as much as the genre itself. And it always requires a legit assessment of the situation. So, where to begin...?

Well...

Halloween Horror Marathon 2016: No One can Hear ME Scream

I'm gonna regret using that title when I actually revisit the Scream franchise...

Into the 3rd entry on this year's run, and I've made a decision. For the first time, I'm actually going to plan to stop at movie #105. When you reach a point where there are only about 5-10 movies on Netflix in the genre that you haven't seen, the time has come to reassess. That's exactly what I plan to do because my goal is usually to break my personal record each year. That's gonna get much harder with each passing year, and that means developing a strategy going forward. For now, I forge ahead with the usual rules.

• No Prior knowledge of the movie
• I have to have never seen it OR not seen it recently enough to form an opinion
• Once the credits start (or I pass the 1:30 min. mark), there is NO TURNING BACK...
• No David DeCoteau movies

Are there any gems left in my last 36 movies this year? Let's see what we find...

Hint: This is not a shot from a gem.

Halloween Horror Marathon 2016: Stranger Things Will Have to Wait...

Getting started a little later than I would've hoped, but I've got a good reason!*

I'm here now though, and ready to put in that work. I'll keep the intro brief. You know why we're here. Here's the breakdown. Below are the horror movies I've watched this year for my annual marathon in October as well as a brief comment, thought, or micro-review. This year, I'll also conclude with the recommendations and condemnations from this batch of films.** The criteria is...

• No Prior knowledge of the movie
• I have to have never seen it OR not seen it recently enough to form an opinion
• Once the credits start (or I pass the 1:30 min. mark), there is NO TURNING BACK...
• No David DeCoteau movies

No retreat, no surrender, no stops 'til November. Let's do this!

Halloween Horror Marathon: Once more...Into the Breach!!

It dawned on me recently that after 5 years in a row of marathon-ing several hundred horror movies, I haven't actually taken the time to parse through the load and point to the ones worth recommending. So as I sit through Scream 4 again (which would never be on any such list if I'm writing it), I'll also take a minute to look back on the years past for the best (or, let's be honest, passable/watchable) movies I experienced. Let's get underway, shall we?

1. The Sentinel - This was the first decent and creepy movie I saw, and I really can't think of anything bad to say about it.
2. The Fog (1980) - You could do A LOT worse, and that's why it gets a recommendation.
3. Prince of Darkness (John Carpenter) - A solid enough effort from Carpenter that's completely under the radar and worth a look for the uninitiated.
4. Graduation Day - Watch this for an appearance from a young Vanna White.
5. R.O.T.: Reunion of Terror - This movie gains a recommendation solely because of how fucking stupid it is...
6. Five Across the Eyes - This movie is an endurance test. Scratch that. It's THE endurance test! If you can make it to the end, you're ready for anything.
7. In The Mouth of Madness - Another little-known title from John Carpenter that deserves a viewing.
8. Trick 'r Treat - Far from flawless, it's still a valiant effort.
9. Hell Night - This movie introduced me to a new favorite slasher movie character in the proto-William Zabka form of "Seth." That guy made the movie for me.

   

   And ladies...what's left of him is single...