Life has continued to be its own personal horror show, but when the going gets tough, the tough get spooky. I have been leaving things pretty last minute with regards to this year's festival, however, no matter what happens, there's always more horror movies.
Established in 2009, the Monster Mash Movie Marathon Month is my annual ritual for October, without a doubt the spookiest month. Every night I watch a horror movie I've never seen before. Sometimes I blog reviews, but that's been a few years, so let's not hold our breath, eh?
This year marks a pretty stark divide of old and new, with about half of the list being films from after 2010. There's a couple of mini-themes in play this year, including an attempt to continue with classic franchises that I have gaps in my viewings of (Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween & Child's Play), as well as a sample of some movies from other parts of the world (though, ironically, nothing from Italy, which is an MMMMM staple). John Carpenter accidentally has quite a few movies in the line up (Assault on Precinct 13 and The Fog are both his movies, while Halloween 3 and Halloween 2018 are sequels and reboots of one of his most famous works). There's also not one, but TWO notorious films on this list, to make up for me skipping this acid test last year (the gritty, grainy, arty Begotten, and the extremely infamous A Serbian Film. Yikes!) Finally, it wouldn't be MMMMM without an appearance from some of the most celebrated actors in horror, like Vincent Price, Barbara Cramden, Jeffrey Combs and so many more...
As ever, I would very much appreciate recommendations to add to my list for further years. I really actually do reach back to this every year, though what makes the cut and what doesn't is an arcane secret I couldn't begin to understand or relate. Nevertheless, this older and older man appreciates your interest.
Below, you'll find the official seletion of films for this year's festival. The links should take you to each film's trailer on YouTube. Please note that this is the CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER of the selected films, NOT the order in which they will be watched (that doesn't get planned in advance).
(1934) The Black Cat
(1968) Hour of the Wolf
(1975) The Amusement Park
(1976) Assault on Precinct 13
(1980) The Fog
(1981) Possession
(1982) Cat People
(1983) Cujo
(1983) Frightmare
(1983) House of the Long Shadows
(1985) A Nightmare on Elm Street 2
(1990) Begotten
(1990) Child's Play 2
(1990) Frankenhooker
(1992) Death Becomes Her
(2010) A Serbian Film
(2013) Coherence
(2017) Hagazussa
(2017) One Cut of the Dead
(2018) Halloween
(2019) Swallow
(2020) #Alive
(2020) PG: Psycho Goreman
(2021) Bloodthirsty
(2021) Jakob's Wife
(2021) The Queen of Black Magic
(2021) Werewolves Within
Since COVID19 continues to be dominating us (and my current Full Time hours), my in person movie watching will be somewhat reduced this year. Yet, there will be many oppurtunities to stream films on discord and other places. If you want to check something out with me, it can't hurt to ask! See you in the graveyard, fright fans!
