(In case you don't, every October, I watch a horror movie that I've never seen before every day, for a total of 31 films. Then I give them a letter grade, based on personal taste, and try to write about them)
This year, following my found footage 'festival' within the marathon from last year, I've decided to do this again, and increase the number to three thematic festivals.
In honor of their passing in 2015, I'll be watching three films starring Christopher Lee, and three films directed by Wes Craven.
Due to my blasé attitude towards Hammer Horror, I had a wealth of options to choose from when it came to Christopher Lee, and you'll notice that while many are Hammer films, none of them are the Dracula/Frankenstein fare that popularized the company. These films are: Horror Hotel, Scream of Fear and the Gorgon.
Wes Craven was more of a challenge. Though I am not necessarily his biggest fan, I happen to be familiar with most of his filmography already. Though it may surprise you I have never seen Scream, I've yet to see or read anything that makes this series stand out as one of the must sees (apart from heavy doses of 90s nostalgia). Another choice here, New Nightmare (Nightmare on Elm St. VII) actually stars Wes Craven in addition to featuring him as the director, which makes this film doubly poignant.
But the main event this year, in terms of thematic mini-festivals, is my first step into seriously watching Asian Horror films. I've been saying for years that I am woefully undereducated on the subject of Asian Horror, and that is just wrong. Given how many properties were bought by the US from the 2000s (the Ring, the Grudge, Dark Water, and many more), I decided it was high time to start doing something about my shortcoming. I have chosen a whopping five films from Asia this year, and will watch them all from Monday to Friday on one of my weeks. Several of these selections are considered to be ground breaking. House is part of the Criterion collection, Audition is considered by many to be one of the most disturbing films ever made and Tetsuo, the Iron Man is a particularly celebrated cult classic. I would point out that four of the five are Japanese (Thirst, the holdout, is Korean), and so by no means do I expect these five films to make me an expert on the subject.
Other traditions return as well:
- It wouldn't be MMMMM without a Vincent Price movie, so this year I've chosen Witchfinder General - widely considered the best of Vincent Price's contributions to the genre.
- I will also be watching a Stephen King-based movie, A Return to Salem's Lot. This one is a sequel to a film I've never seen, that I've chosen merely because of a particular actor/director combination that is near and dear to my heart.
- I'm sad to say following my encounter with Cannibal Holocaust last year, I intend to subject myself to another film that is reputedly lauded as both excellent and profoundly disturbing by critics: Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom. Though this film is 40 years old, it is considered one of the hardest to watch films ever made by man, and considering it predates torture porn, that's got to be... Inventive?
- Also following last year, I've decided to give Herschell Gordon Lewis another try.
Below you'll find the list of films in chronological order (not the order I'll be watching them in). This year, most decades are about even keel in terms of representation. Sadly, my favorite decade, the 70s, is a little on the shrimpy side. Click the link to see the trailer. Hopefully I inspire some of you to check out some of these gems.
(1951) The Thing From Another World
(1957) Curse of the Demon
(1960) Horror Hotel (Aka the City of the Dead)
(1961) Scream of Fear (Aka Taste of Fear)
(1964) The Gorgon
(1964) Two Thousand Maniacs!
(1968) Witchfinder General (Aka the Conqueror Worm)
(1975) Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom (Not the official trailer. I won't do that to you guys...)
(1976) The Tenant
(1977) House
(1982) The New York Ripper
(1986) Troll
(1987) A Return to Salem's Lot
(1988) Cheerleader Camp (Aka Bloody Pom Poms)
(1989) Tetsuo, the Iron Man
(1991) The People Under the Stairs
(1994) Interview With the Vampire
(1994) Wes Craven's New Nightmare
(1996) Scream
(1999) Audition
(2001) Ghosts of Mars
(2005) Noroi: The Curse
(2005) Wolf Creek
(2009) The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
(2009) Thirst
(2011) Red State
(2012) Sinister
(2014) The ABCs of Death 2
(2014) Honeymoon
(2014) Life After Beth
(2014) What We Do in the Shadows
See you next week, friends. Sweet screams.
