4th Annual N&G 31 Days* of Halloween (2022)

MOVIE #29
Hatchet II (2010)
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I watched the first Hatchet movie for last year's thread, so I decided to give the sequel a watch this time. It's pretty much just more of the same, but with some added backstory for Victor Crowley and extra Tony Todd. Also interesting to see Danielle Harris again so soon after the Halloween sequels. I think the first one was more entertaining, but this was a serviceable sequel. Definitely worth a watch if you're a fan of gory exaggerated kills and dark juvenile comedy.

Rating: 💀💀💀

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A ★★★ review of Hatchet II (2010)

If you've seen the first Hatchet movie, then you pretty much know what to expect from this; an unapologetic splatter B-movie paying tribute to the slasher genre with a dose of juvenile humor sprinkled in for good measure. The best parts of this one was the increased screentime for Tony Todd's...
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Day 35.

Unfriended: Dark Web

💀💀🦴
Very predictable, like a f*cked up black mirror episode that lacks most social commentary. It's one of several films with a similar premise that is all from the perspective of a computer screen. It's sinister, but not really an enjoyable film. I do give it credit for experimenting, it's just not that original of an experiment anymore.

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MOVIE #30
The Howling (1981)
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Whoever said horror movies will rot your brain may have had a point. I didn't think I'd be trying to fit in any more series after the Michael Myers Marathon™, but for whatever reason, the Howling was calling to me, and I figured, why not go all out? So I'm starting here with the original Joe Dante film, which I've seen several times, before moving into the sequels, all of which I'll be watching for the first time. As for this one, I didn't love it at first, but it's gradually grown on me more every time I've seen it. Dee Wallace is fantastic in the lead role, the visual effects are awesome, and it has a unique take on werewolves, which I always appreciate.

Rating: 💀💀💀💀🦴

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A ★★★★½ review of The Howling (1981)

It's taken me a few watches to fully come around on The Howling. I never disliked it, but like a lot of people, I couldn't help but compare it to An American Werewolf in London, which came out the same year. However, as I returned to it more, I realized that was a pretty unfair way to look at...
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#20.5

A bonus watch - I watched the bonus production footage of the unfinished Sleepaway Camp IV: The Survivor

The DVD also included this NSFW trailer below - the movie is mostly NSFW clips from the first 3 movies, which is pretty much what the full movie is...and it's barely over an hour.

Not worth a rating.

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MOVIE #31
Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf (1985)
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Hilarious. The story is only barely tangentially connected to the first film, they somehow roped Christopher Lee into this, there's a new wave punk song that keeps playing every five minutes (and is now burned into my brain) and in the end credits, you get to hear that song again for the hundredth time, but this time set to a montage of Sybil Danning ripping off her shirt. While I guess this does technically carry over the whole werewolf cult idea, it definitely takes the concept to bizarre new levels. Joe Dante might have implied werewolf sex in the original, but for fuck's sake, at least he knew better than to actually show it.

I came very close to giving this a full four 💀s on the basis of trashy entertainment value alone, but eventually thought better of it. Don't get me wrong, this movie is absolutely terrible, but it's the kind of terrible I can have a lot of fun watching.

Rating: 💀💀💀🦴

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A ★★★½ review of Howling II: Stirba - Werewolf Bitch (1985)

Whoever made this movie clearly wanted to fuck a werewolf. And people thought Shape of Water was bad… Anyways, this was terrible, but impossible to look away from. Words cannot do it justice, but it's some unholy mixture of trashy Transylvanian horror, over-the-top 80s fashion and softcore...
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MOVIE #32
Barbarian (2022)
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Very much enjoyed this! Cleverly written, unpredictable and well-acted. Like everyone else has already said, I recommend going into it with very little info. I did, and trying desperately to figure out where it was going at every turn was part of the fun. I think some people are blowing out of proportion how crazy it is, but that may just be because the last movie I watched was Howling II.

Rating: 💀💀💀💀

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A ★★★★ review of Barbarian (2022)

A great ride; I just love seeing shit like this in the theater. I'll echo what others have said that it helps to go in blind, as much of the movie's effectiveness comes through keeping the audience guessing. There's certain things the filmmakers leave up to your imagination entirely, and other...
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One more and I'm caught up!

MOVIE #33
Howling III: The Marsupials (1987)Screenshot_20221005-210304_Letterboxd.jpg
For the third installment, the Howling franchise goes down under, and somehow director Philippe Mora manages to one-up his previous film with an even more bizarre story, even cheesier effects and just downright baffling filmmaking choices. Though this one had a couple moments of batshit insanity on par with the last movie, it didn't leave me nearly as entertained. The plot started to lose me about halfway through and there was just way too much weird shit happening all at the same time for me to care.

Rating: 💀💀

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A ★★ review of Howling III: The Marsupials (1987)

Well, I thought things couldn't possibly get more ridiculous after the last installment in the Howling franchise, but this series just couldn't wait to prove me wrong. With Philippe Mora returning to direct, I stupidly assumed this might be a continuation of the second movie, but no, of course...
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6. The Omen (1976)
💀💀💀🦴

Somehow, my first time watching this classic. Decent overall, but something doesn't come together here. It has a similar feel and pacing to movies I love like the Exorcist, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Don't Look Now, etc., but doesn't have nearly the level of suspense of those and parts bordered on boring. The main characters weren't super likable (I suppose it made sense for the European angle, but a politician/diplomat is not the most sympathetic character), so I guess I didn't care a ton about their fate. I'll watch again in a couple years to see if I like it better.

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5.

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💀 💀 🦴
(🦴 for Brian Tyree Henry alone)​

I actually thought I was about to watch the '88 original, not the recent remake but decided to stay on anyway upon quickly realizing my mistake. On an objective level, I think it was over-the-top derivative dogshit but on a subjective level, I enjoyed it in spite of myself. There were a few bits I absolutely loved and more than a few bits I found to be pretty cringe, and not in a good way. Especially Chucky. Chucky looked awful. Like, capital A AWFUL. Pretty much no interest in watching it ever again, but I'm glad I checked it out and enjoyed it enough for what it was.
 
avecigrec said:
Chucky looked awful. Like, capital A AWFUL. Pretty much no interest in watching it ever again, but I'm glad I checked it out and enjoyed it enough for what it was.
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One of the things I did like about the later Chucky movies is that for the most part they stayed with a physical doll for Chucky.

Once I saw some clips of that CG doll they used for this one I knew I'd never want to see it.
 
"True Story" is my Horror Queers Spooky Season theme of the day (chosen by their friends in Frigay the 13th podcast).

Opted for The Sacrament — Ti West's docu-style horror riff on the Jonestown massacre.

Solid script. Great performances. It's a bit too polished to achieve the salvaged documentary feel that it aims for though. Wish it had gone full cinematic or full found footage, not somewhere in between.

💀💀💀

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A ★★★ review of The Sacrament (2013)

My first Ti West selection for HoopTober doubles as my "True Story" for the Horror Queers podcast's daily Spooky Season theme (chosen by Frigay the 13th). This contemporary riff on the Jonestown massacre has a solid script and some truly great performances (e.g., Jones, Seimetz). That said, I...
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MOVIE #34
Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988)
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Terrible! I have to give the last two movies some credit here, they at least were original and they were rarely uninteresting. This, on the other hand, is just a worse version of the first Howling movie. Bad acting, boring as hell script, and barely any werewolves. The last one was bad, but at least it was bizarrely bad. This had very little redeeming value, other than maybe the fact it was short and there were some genuinely cool effects in the last five minutes. At that point, though, it's kind of too little too late.

Rating: 💀

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A ★ review of Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988)

I feel like I owe Philippe Mora an apology. While I gave his entries a hard time for their tenuous connection to the Howling franchise, had I known the next film in the series would be little more than a boring remake of the first movie, I would have been far more forgiving to something that, at...
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gaporter said:
MOVIE #34
Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988)
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Terrible! I have to give the last two movies some credit here, they at least were original and they were rarely uninteresting. This, on the other hand, is just a worse version of the first Howling movie. Bad acting, boring as hell script, and barely any werewolves. The last one was bad, but at least it was bizarrely bad. This had very little redeeming value, other than maybe the fact it was short and there were some genuinely cool effects in the last five minutes. At that point, though, it's kind of too little too late.

Rating: 💀

boxd.it

A ★ review of Howling IV: The Original Nightmare (1988)

I feel like I owe Philippe Mora an apology. While I gave his entries a hard time for their tenuous connection to the Howling franchise, had I known the next film in the series would be little more than a boring remake of the first movie, I would have been far more forgiving to something that, at...
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I'm convinced you're just doing this to mock my lack of courage to pick Howling 7 as my worst 90's sequel since it's the next most qualified option after Sleepaway Camp IV.
 
Day 36.

Lights Out

💀💀💀🦴

I didn't much care for the premise of this one, but it had some creepy parts and the one actor who is usually a sign of bad movies is not in it very long. The redeeming factor of this is that it genuinely makes you feel bad for the kids. And the ending was not what I expected. It was pretty depressing.
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