I've been doing this for five years?! And I still haven't finished a whole month of blogs? Well, maybe this year we will get through all the reviews.
Anyway, I am pretty excited about this year as there are quite a few new releases I've been meaning to watch from the last few years and I intend to include most of them on the list. I have watched a few horror movies already this year (Shhhhh, it's our little secret) and may also include some of those as special features. Lately though, I've been thinking about changing up the categories a bit. Especially because we have lost a few greats in the world of horror this year (George A. Romero and Tobe Hopper among them) and I've been thinking of featuring more of their movies this year in honor but don't really want to try to "fit" them into some category. In all honesty, I am running out of zombie movies and there are only so many new schlocky ones I can take. If you have any suggestions, I am all ears. For now, same old categories below.
Anyway, I am pretty excited about this year as there are quite a few new releases I've been meaning to watch from the last few years and I intend to include most of them on the list. I have watched a few horror movies already this year (Shhhhh, it's our little secret) and may also include some of those as special features. Lately though, I've been thinking about changing up the categories a bit. Especially because we have lost a few greats in the world of horror this year (George A. Romero and Tobe Hopper among them) and I've been thinking of featuring more of their movies this year in honor but don't really want to try to "fit" them into some category. In all honesty, I am running out of zombie movies and there are only so many new schlocky ones I can take. If you have any suggestions, I am all ears. For now, same old categories below.
Supernatural Sunday A day to fit ghosts, witches, vampires, and anything otherworldly
that doesn’t necessarily fall into any of the other categories.
Zombday In a zombie apocalypse, these slow-shuffling, brain-loving undead take over the
world. In Horror-tober, they take over a day. BRAAAAAAINS!
Transcontinental Tuesday Foreign films. Japan, Korea, Spain, even Canada – wherever
offers up a good old scary story for viewing pleasure.
Wacky Wednesday The fun and lighthearted. The funny and dark. The campy. Or the
animated and weird. Just plain "wacky".
Throwback Thursday Those classics I love or new favorites I want to watch again.
Creature-Feature Friday For all things monster and creepy-crawly.
Slasher Saturday Slashers, thrillers, home invasions, torture porn, body horror, et al.
Again, I did not finish last year’s posts. However, I kind of like doing these breakdowns of the ratings from the previous year now. It's nice to remind myself of all the great, OK, and terrible movies I subject myself to in the span of a single month.
1 – Holidays – 2.5 skulls – Creepy vignettes about various holidays. Was mostly OK.
2 – We Are Still Here – 3 skulls – Good haunted house vibes and throwback to horror movies of the 70s.
3 – Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse – 1.5 skulls – Just too juvenile for my tastes.
4 – Onibaba – 4 skulls – Superb storytelling and cinematography in this classic.
5 – Extraordinary Tales – 3 skulls – Different Poe stories animated in varying styles. Was decent.
6 – The Babadook – 4 skulls – Psychological horror and family drama. Creepy as hell and good for a rewatch. BABA DOOK DOOK DOOOOOOK!
7 – Grizzly – 3.5 skulls – Ridiculous prehistoric grizzly bear attacks and hunky men of the 70s. Worth it.
8 – Hush – 4 skulls – Definitely my favorite of the new ones for 2016. A nice twist on home invasion thrillers and well worth the watch.
9 – Supernatural Shorts:
Foxes – 3.5 skulls – I love foxes, but they definitely have a blood-curdling scream.
Don't Move – 4 skulls – Delightfully gory and kind of funny.
Teddy Bears are for Lovers – 4 skulls – Also delightfully funny.
Geist – 3.5 skulls – Animated ghost story that was kind of heartbreaking.
Red Girl – 2.5 skulls – Really short, OK.
Daddy – 2 skulls – Don't remember too much but that it was OK.
Abandoned – 2.5 skulls – I gave this one an extra .5 skull compared to Daddy because I was not expecting the ending. Otherwise OK.
Coffer – 3.5 skulls – From the same director of the Lights Out short from last year. Good, but not as good.
The Wicked – 2.5 skulls – Liked the single frame shot throughout, but meh.
The Pride of Strathmoor – 3 skulls – Animated, decent but fairly disturbing.
Red Girl – 2.5 skulls – Really short, OK.
Daddy – 2 skulls – Don't remember too much but that it was OK.
Abandoned – 2.5 skulls – I gave this one an extra .5 skull compared to Daddy because I was not expecting the ending. Otherwise OK.
Coffer – 3.5 skulls – From the same director of the Lights Out short from last year. Good, but not as good.
The Wicked – 2.5 skulls – Liked the single frame shot throughout, but meh.
The Pride of Strathmoor – 3 skulls – Animated, decent but fairly disturbing.
10 – Maggie – 3 skulls – Arnold zombie drama. Not too bad.
11 – Witching and Bitching – 3.5 skulls – Raucous and ridiculous and loved it.
12 – The Voices – 3 skulls – Ryan Reynolds shines as a weirdo hearing voices (his pets talk to him, but not really. Because voices).
The Neon Dead – 1.5 skulls – Was the one I had originally planned to watch this night but it was so bad I had to fast forward and then watched The Voices.
The Neon Dead – 1.5 skulls – Was the one I had originally planned to watch this night but it was so bad I had to fast forward and then watched The Voices.
13 – 2001 Maniacs – 3 skulls – Robert Englund. Cannibalistic, redneck/hillbilly/confederate ghosts? Need I say more?
14 – Hobgoblins – 1.5 skulls – Best scene was the band playing at the bar. Literally almost 6 minutes (I could be exaggerating) of just the band playing and people dancing.
15 – Special 4 Movie Feature at Hollywood Theatre – 4 movies. 1 night. Friends. Beer. Coffee. Rad.
Race with the Devil – 2.5 skulls – Peter Fonda. You can't escape the Satanists, no matter how long or far you run (or drive)! It was OK, a bit weird and somewhat comical.
Psycho II – 4 skulls – The best of the night. A sequel made over 20 years after the original. Most definitely an "underrated sequel". Was fun and pretty dang good.
The Funhouse – 3.5 skulls – Maybe a lesser well known Tobe Hooper scare. The only of the 4 I had previously seen and I still enjoyed it.
Burial Ground – 3 skulls – "Bat shit crazy Italian gutmuncher" is an appropriate descriptor for this movie. This was insane. And being the last of the 4 made it even that much more insane (because watching it at around 4am after sitting through 3 other movies).
16 – Ghost concert – After 4 movies in one night, took a break to see one of my favorite bands!
17 – Southbound – 2.5 skulls – Another anthology film with the stories all tied together in some way. Really enjoyed a couple of the stories but overall was nothing to get that excited about.
18 – The Psychic – 3.5 skulls – Watched based on recommendation from a friend. Was not disappointed.
19 – He Never Died – 3.5 skulls – Henry Rollins. 'Nough said.
20 – Special Presentation of "new" Rocky Horror Picture Show on FOX – 1.5 skulls – I had to give it a shot but I just, I don't even know why I watched the whole thing. I do love Laverne Cox and even was happy to see Tim Curry stepping into the role of the Criminologist/Narrator. But it just, no. Bad. No more words for how much I did not like this.
21 – The Corpse Grinders – 2 skulls – Cat food made with corpses! I fell asleep, tried to watch again and fell asleep again. Not worth it.
22 – Open Grave – 2 skulls – I wanted to like it because I love Sharlto Copley but it just wasn't very good.
23 – Stake Land – 3 skulls – Decent vampire fare. Saw recently that there is a sequel, might give that one a try this year.
24 – Monsters – 3.5 skulls – A good science-fiction/monster flick. Some good subtle social commentary in it as well.
25 – Baskin – 3.5 skulls – I still feel fucked up after watching this movie. I liked it, but damn. Just writing this snippet about it is fucking with me. And it really wasn't terribly more shocking than other movies I've watched, but it just got to me in a fucked up way.
26 – Goosebumps – 2 skulls – As an avid Goosebumps reader in my younger days, I had to watch this. It was OK.
27 – Poltergeist - 2.5 skulls – I try my darndest to give remakes a shot and some are actually decent (Rob Zombie's Halloween for one, honestly). But I just wasn't feeling this one.
28 – Stung - 3 skulls –The only note I have on this one is that I gave it 3 skulls because of the practical effects. Seriously, a good way to win me over is the use of practical effects. Especially for "newer" films to use practical effects over CGI (or a combination of the two).
29 – We Are What We Are – 3.5 skulls – A cannibalistic family drama. Decent.
30 – The Houses October Built – 2 skulls – Haunted houses, the kind you go to to be scared, that are a little more "serious". I liked the premise, but poor execution.
31 – Ghostbusters – 3.5 skulls – Despite what the critics and even die hard original Ghostbusters fans have said about this movie, I really liked this. I wouldn't go as far as saying it was better than the original, but honestly having four female leads, and three in scientific fields, was pretty dang great. Yay for progress, I guess, yay! I also just fucking LOVED Kate McKinnon as Holtzmann. (I admit I have an Abby Yates Funko Pop! toy on my desk at work but every time I look at it I wish it was Holtzmann. Shhhh, don't tell Abby).
Welp that's it for last year's movies. We've got about a week until the feast-ivities begin. AGGGGGHHHH! I can't wait!
Welp that's it for last year's movies. We've got about a week until the feast-ivities begin. AGGGGGHHHH! I can't wait!
