I'm not watching a lot of new movies this year so ill be a little light on descriptions this time around.
10/1 - School Spirits
Zoey finds herself uprooted from her Chicago home and dragged to a small town filled with secrets and spooky happenings. When she witnesses something she can't explain in the school pool, she teams up with two girls to expel the spirits.
Typical teeny fare but the weak lead and villain sink it. The rest of the side characters are all way too quirky for their own good except for Tara who is the highlight of the whole thing.
10/2 - Beneath
Christy (Nora Zehetner) returns home years after a terrible auto accident, in which she was driving. That misfortunate event caused the disfigurement of her older sister. Now disturbing nightmares plague the young woman, and she finds that her visions reflect true and future events.
Surprisingly solid little movie for a straight-to-DVD release. Movie doesn't particularly excel at any one thing but it keeps you engaged the whole way anyway. Even had a pretty effective ending which was unexpected.
10/3 - Edge of the Axe
Two young computer-obsessed adults investigate an axe murderer terrorizing who is terrorizing a small town in northern California.
Pretty big snoozer of a film despite some funny 80s tech talk and the so-called "shocker" ending
10/4 - The Strange House
When a big-city family moves to a remote town, two young brothers and their new friends try to solve the menacing mystery that haunts their home.
Pretty by the numbers but the nerdy kid is a riot. I'd love a tv/book series just about him.
10/5 - I Know What You Did Last Summer
A year after running over a fisherman and dumping his body in the water, four friends reconvene when Julie receives a frightening letter telling her that their crime was seen. While pursuing who he thinks is responsible for the letter, Barry is run over by a man with a meat hook. The bloodletting only increases from there, as the killer with the hook continues to stalk Julie, Helen, and Ray.
Haven't seen this in years so I decided to give it another look. It's typical Scream cash-in fare but it works due to a cast that's basically a perfect time-capsule of the period. That said, it the cast does function sort of oddly. Hewitt, despite being the lead of the film really isn't the heart of it. She has two modes, comically strung out or screaming so there ends up not being much to her. She's turns out to be the drop dead gorgeous eye candy of the film instead of the actual beauty queen and the camera is dedicated to showing her off. Much appreciated to be sure. It is Gellar who ends up carrying the film due to her strong acting and the story giving her some actual material to work with. She also ends up with the standout sequence of the whole film. It's not a good movie but it is entertaining, one way or another, and it even has the one good performance of Anne Heche's career.
10/6 - I Sill Know What You Did Last Summer
A year after killing vengeful hit-and-run victim Ben Wills, who gutted her friends with an iron hook, college student Julie James is still shaken by the experience. When her roommate, Karla, wins a vacation for four to the Bahamas, she plans to bring along her boyfriend, Tyrell, attractive Will and Julie. At the resort, Julie starts receiving threatening notes and realizes Ben is still alive.
A shameless cash-in of a shameless cash-in that turns out to be completely terrible. The problems are numerous but what sinks it is the absolutely terrible cast and the lack of somebody of Gellar's talent is felt almost immediately. Total waste of time really.
10/7 The Creeping Flesh
A Victorian scientist injects his daughter with the just-add-water essence of evil.
A strong premise that goes completely sideways but still has strong performances from Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee to elevate it. They sadly don't feature much in the second half but it ends strong.
10/8 - Down a Dark Hall
Five emotionally fragile teens are committed to Blackwood, a mysterious school for gifted girls. Mesmerized by the intense head mistress Madame Duret, they think they have found a place where they can finally flourish academically and artistically. The mystery deepens as they break through layer after layer of misdirection to discover the true, horrifying purpose of the school.
Much like The Creeping Flesh this has another great concept that is never capitalized on but is carried by strong performances from Anna Sophia-Robb and Uma Thurman
10/9 - 976-EVIL
Dialing the number for something called Horrorscope puts a bullied teen in touch with the devil.
Entertaining but not quite scary or funny enough to really work.
10/10 -1408
Mike Enslin is a successful author who enjoys worldwide acclaim debunking supernatural phenomena -- before he checks into the Dolphin Hotel, that is. Ignoring the warnings of the hotel manager, he learns the meaning of real terror when he spends the night in a reputedly haunted room.
One of my favorite King adaptations. The painfully digital ghosts and weak endings hamper it a bit but the rest of it is just fantastic.
10/11 - Halloween
On a cold Halloween night in 1963, six year old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. He was sentenced and locked away for 15 years. But on October 30, 1978, while being transferred for a court date, a 21-year-old Michael Myers steals a car and escapes Smith's Grove. He returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, where he looks for his next victims.
10/12 - Halloween II
After failing to kill stubborn survivor Laurie and taking a bullet or six from former psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael Myers has followed Laurie to the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, where she's been admitted for Myers' attempt on her life. The institution proves to be particularly suited to serial killers, however, as Myers cuts, stabs and slashes his way through hospital staff to reach his favorite victim.
Even in 4K I still don't like it much. I don't mind the whole sibling angle as a way to make sequels but the execution of it is just so bad here.
10/13 - Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Hospital emergency room Dr. Daniel "Dan" Challis and Ellie Grimbridge, the daughter of a murder victim, uncover a terrible plot by small-town mask maker Conal Cochran, a madman who's planning a Halloween mass murder utilizing an ancient Celtic ritual. The ritual involves a boulder stolen from Stonehenge, the use of Silver Shamrock masks and a triggering device contained in a television commercial -- all designed to kill millions of children.
This has all the piece of something I would normally like but it just doesn't work for me. The film just has no rhythm to it.
10/14 - Halloween 4: Return of Michael Myers
The apparently comatose Michael Myers is being transferred from one hospital to another, but he wakes up when the ambulance crew talk about his surviving niece, Jamie. After slaughtering his attendants, Myers sets out to find his one living relative who is, fortunately, being cared for by a kind and resourceful foster sister named Rachel. Meanwhile, the ever-cautious Dr. Loomis remains on the killer's path.
Man, this new transfer does wonders for the film. This is my Halloween night tradition so I'll end up watching it twice this year.
10/15 - The Exorcist III
Police Lt. Kinderman notices similarities between his current murder investigation and the methods used by the "Gemini" killer who was executed 15 years before. He soon discovers a hospitalized mental patient claiming to be the dead serial killer, but who looks uncannily like a priest Kinderman knew who died during an exorcism. As more bodies are found, Kinderman looks for connections between the two supposedly dead men.
A favorite of mine that I showed to my dad since he had never seen it. Wasn't plot heavy enough to keep his interest but that's usual for him.
10/16 - The Evil Dead
Ashley "Ash" Williams, his girlfriend and three pals hike into the woods to a cabin for a fun night away. There they find an old book, the Necronomicon, whose text reawakens the dead when it's read aloud. The friends inadvertently release a flood of evil and must fight for their lives or become one of the evil dead. Ash watches his friends become possessed, and must make a difficult decision before daybreak to save his own life in this, the first of Sam Raimi's trilogy.
10/17 - Poltergeist II
The Freelings have escaped their haunted house, which is now being studied by paranormal investigators, including shaman Taylor. When Taylor realizes that the Beast, masquerading as the Rev. Kane, knows where young Carol Anne Freeling now lives, he goes to warn the family that their daughter is in danger again. To protect Carol, her father, Steve, and the rest of the family must plot to take down the Beast.
Somehow this is the entry that always comes to mind first when I think of the Poltergeist films. I must have seen it often as a kid or something. That worm sequence is still nuts all these years later.
10/18 - The Blair Witch Project
Found video footage tells the tale of three film students who've traveled to a small town to collect documentary footage about the Blair Witch, a legendary local murderer. Over the course of several days, the students interview townspeople and gather clues to support the tale's veracity. But the project takes a frightening turn when the students lose their way in the woods and begin hearing horrific noises.
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