The Horror Month That Was

 

Every October I significantly increase my consumption of horror movies. As a huge fan of the genre (some might even call me a buff) I already watch a lot of horror films throughout the year but in October I go out of my way to watch even more. Generally, the goal is to take in a horror movie a day, as though it were a daily vitamin. This year, I missed two days, simply because I had other things going on and couldn’t find enough time to squeeze in a flick.

My initial plan for this year’s horror month was to only watch films I hadn’t seen before. The only flaw with this plan is that since I do watch a ton of horror movies year-round, I’ve pretty much seen all the good ones. I’m not saying there are no more good horror movies that I haven’t seen but rather that they are increasingly difficult for me to find. Not quite a needle in a haystack but maybe more like a syringe in a haystack.

For the first 15 days of the month, I stuck to my plan of only movies I hadn’t seen and gritted it out through a lot of crap. They weren’t all bad, though; I’d say about a third of them were pretty good and one— “The Grey” starring Liam Neeson—was borderline very good. That one, about a group of oil workers whose plane crashes in Alaska and gets hunted by a pack of wolves, was really more of an action-thriller, but since IMDb lists horror as one of the genres, I decided to count it.

After 15 days of struggling to find decent horror movies I haven’t seen, I decided to switch gears and watch ones I’ve seen and liked, with a focus on ones I haven't seen in a very long time. This yielded better results overall and provided for a much more enjoyable experience as I revisited some old favorites. I also threw in a handful of films I watch relatively often (“Young Frankenstein,” “The Invisible Man,” “Halloween”) since these are pretty essential viewing for October.

I won’t provide a movie-by-movie review of all 29 movies I watched last month because that could get tedious quickly but I will give out some awards to some flicks, followed by the full list of what I viewed.

BEST TITLE: “The Blood on Satan’s Claw” (1971)

The movie itself, about a remote 18^th century English village whose townspeople start joining a satanic cult, is only so-so, but ya gotta love that title. And the fun part is, the title isn’t metaphorical—there is actually a scene where you see Satan’s claw with blood on it!

MOST RIDICULOUS: “Killer Klowns From Outer Space” (1988)

I’ve been aware of this movie for a long time but have not gone out of my way to see it because, even though I do enjoy campy horror movies, this one just seemed like it might be too ridiculous for my taste. It turns out I was right! The title pretty much gives away the premise—a group of extraterrestrials that look and act like clowns, land in a small town and kill people with cotton candy and popcorn. There were a few laughs but not enough to justify ever bothering with this one again.

MOST SURPRISINGLY EFFECTIVE: “Host” (2020)

This film, made during the height of the pandemic, played into people’s anxieties about being isolated. The entire film takes place during a Zoom call, in which a bunch of young adults are doing an online séance. With that premise, I wasn’t expecting all that much by way of scares but as the film goes on and odd things start happening in the background of people’s screens, it became increasingly creepy and unsettling. I was definitely not expecting to be drawn into this one as much as I was.

MOST DISAPPOINTING: “Willard” (1971)

There are some movies you see as a kid and think are amazing, only to see them years later as an adult and wonder what the hell you were thinking. This is definitely one of those. The last time I saw this movie, my age only had one digit, so over the decades my memories of the film have faded. All I remembered was the basic plot (kid uses rats to do his bidding) and the fact that I liked it. Well, one of those memories held up. The script and pacing were awful, the acting was inconsistent, and the scares were non-existent. The only decent scene is towards the end when Ernest Borgnine, playing Willard’s obnoxious, overbearing boss, finally gets his comeuppance. But the ride to get to his comeuppance was certainly not worth it.

BEST DANCE SEQUENCE: “Young Frankenstein” (1974)

This flick is non-stop laughs, but the scene where Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle dance to “Puttin’ on the Ritz” in top hat and tails is downright legendary. If there is a better dance sequence in a horror movie, I’m not aware of it. (I know, I know—it’s a comedy not a horror movie, but I’m counting it.)

MOST NOSTALGIC: “The Hand” (1981)

From about the time I was 11 to the time I was 13, my dad used to take me to see horror movies almost every Friday night. That’s because my mom had her friends over to play mah-jongg and they weren’t a quiet group. So, I have my dad to thank for my love of horror and one of the first flicks I remember him taking me to was “The Hand,” in which Michael Caine plays a comic book artist whose hand comes off during a freak car accident. After the accident nobody could find his hand and, as you can imagine, that hand goes on to do some nasty things. The movie is okay, nothing special, but it still holds a special place in my heart, as it reminds me of my weekly bonding sessions with my dad.

MOST FUN: “Tremors” (1990)

I loved this movie from the first time I saw it, over 30 years ago. I’ve seen it a few times since, and every time I see it, I’m reminded of just how fun a flick it is. This action-comedy-horror flick starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, tells the tale of a tiny desert town in the middle of nowhere that is suddenly besieged by a bunch of enormous eel-like creatures that attack from under the ground. Not so much scary, as heart-pounding, this flick is full of laughs and, for my money, is an even better “people attacked by giant creatures” flick than “Jurassic Park,” which would come out three years later.

MOST FUN WITH A SON: “Dawn of the Dead” (1978)

On Halloween night, my 19-year-old son was at a party and my wife was in the back of the house doing schoolwork, so I asked my 16-year-old son if he wanted to watch a horror movie with me. “Sure,” he replied. When he was much younger, he got very easily scared by any vaguely unsettling scene in a movie (for example, he couldn’t get past the first scene in “E.T.”, because E.T. running through the forest freaked him out too much) so I never really bothered trying to get him into horror movies. Now that he’s a teen, though, I figured if we tried a “light” horror movie he might be okay. I asked him what kind of horror movie he might be interested in, and he said, “Whatever is the bloodiest, goriest movie we’ve got.” I wasn’t expecting that response, so I asked, “Are you serious?” and he said, “Yeah,” with a big grin. “Okay, I got ya,” I said, and took out my DVD of “Dawn of the Dead.” One of the all-time classic horror flicks, with a ton of zombie gore, I figured if he could get past the early scene of a bunch of zombies gnawing on body parts in the basement of an apartment building, we’d be okay and, sure enough, he seemed unphased. So, we watched the whole thing, and he thoroughly enjoyed it, particularly the part when the biker gang throws pies in the zombies’ faces. Afterwards I asked him if the gore was too much for him and he said, “It’s all just rubber, dad.” Glad he could keep things in perspective. Now I’ll see if he can finally watch “E.T.”

The full slate of October horror flicks:

(Note: The films up until "The Company of Wolves" were all new for me. I had previously seen everything on the list from "Dracula" onwards.)