Horrorfest 2019: Never Sleep Again

Music Movies Horror Gif Shared By Gamand On Gifer — They are not paying me for promotional purposes. Yet….

Well it is time for another Horrorfest, especially since last year’s worked great and resulted in me reviving my love for horror movies. Every time I think I’ll stop doing these something causes me to continue, and in this case the magic of streaming services makes it possible I will be doing this until I finally die…or return as the undead. I thought about doing a list but that never works, so all films listed here are ones I have actually viewed, with reviews to bore-I mean, follow. Enjoy! PS: This was my 500th blog post. Very fitting, indeed.

This concludes Horrorfest 2019. I will unsticky this post when it is time for Horrorfest 2020. Thanks for reading.
Pre-October:

1. The Babysitter (2017, Demonic Cult)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2019/08/03/horrorfest-2019-presents-the-babysitter-2017-mcg/
2. Ready Or Not (2019, Crazy Rich People)-https://wp.me/pRBID-2mq
3. It: Chapter 2 (2019, Pennywise)-Work in progress I guess
4. Summer of 84 (2018, Slasher)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2019/10/20/horrorfest-2019-presents-summer-of-84-2018-francois-simard-anouk-whissell-and-yoann-karl-whissell/
5. The Ranger (2018, Slasher)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2019/10/20/horrorfest-2019-presents-the-ranger-2018-jennifer-wexler/
October:

37. Happy Birthday to Me (1981, Slasher)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2020/06/03/horrorfest-2019-presents-happy-birthday-to-me/

Coda:

38. The Lighthouse (2019, WUT)-https://madman731.wordpress.com/2020/06/08/horrorfest-2019-presents-the-lighthouse-2019-robert-eggers/

July 29, 2019 0

In The Streaming Waiting Line

One of the bad things about having both free and paid streaming sites at my disposal is that I have way too many queues full of movies and TV shows that I either choose to ignore or do not have time to watch. It is bad enough that I also have a queue on my folks Netflix for whenever I stop by, in addition to the Netflix I already am paying for. This on top of Shudder, Hulu, Tubi TV, and even Crackle (the last two are free, at least), so the list is pretty long. There are times when I admit I am not going to watch something and remove it from the queue, or I finally watch something only to add something new in its place. While in the beginning a queue was a good way to make sure you did not lose that cool looking new or old movie/TV show you really want to see, it is now a reminder that you are not watching said program.

In this case, it stems from me being a huge procrastinator (I actually finished Bird Box, after months of putting the second half off. Whoops). One solution is to simply purge my lists and just watch whatever I am interested in, although that means having to search for programming. That usually ends in me looking through stuff without ever hitting watch, another problem for another time. A better idea is to suck it up and go through everything on my queue, although a tricky idea is to simply wait for most of it to go away due to expiring rights issues. Maybe if someone came up with a way to go without sleep….yes…

June 25, 2019 0

2019 Movie Log

It’s that time again already. Should I go for 200 movies this year and give up all my sanity and free time? Eh I think 100+ is enough.

January:

1. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018, Ramsey, Persichetti Jr., Rothman)-99, Theater Viewing
2. The Day After Tomorrow (2004, Emmerich)-35, AMC
3. Deep Impact (1998, Leder)-40, AMC
4. Under the Skin (2013, Glazer)-92, Netflix Instant Viewing
5. Crazy Rich Asians (2018, Chu)-93, RedBox
6. Night of the Living Deb (2015, Rankin)-81, Shudder
7. The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972, Pierce)-70, Shudder
8. Vice (2018, McKay)-96, Theater Viewing)
9. The Town (2010, Affleck)-91, AMC
10. Paddington (2015, King)-93, TubiTV
11. Samurai Cop (1991, Shervan)-90, TubiTV
12. Island of the Fishermen (1979, Martino)-65, Shout! TV
13. Mad Ron’s Prevues from Hell (1987, Monaco)-80, Netflix Instant Viewing
14. Enemy (2014, Villeneuve)-95, Netflix Instant Viewing
15. Up the Creek (1984, Butler)-64, Charge TV
16. Night of the Living Dead (1990, Savini)-84, DVD

February:

17. Once Upon a Crime (1992, Levy)-71, This TV
18. Happy Death Day (2017, Landon)-88, RedBox
19. The Favourite (2018, Lanthimos)-96, Theater Viewing
20. Hereditary (2018, Aster)-96, RedBox
21. BlacKkKlansman (2018, Lee)-100, RedBox
22. Bird Box (2018, Bier)-80, Netflix Instant Viewing
23. You Were Never Really Here (2017, Ramsay)-93, RedBox
24. Happy Death Day 2U (2019, Landon)-84, Theater Viewing
25. The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019, Mitchell)-91, Theater Viewing

March:

26. Brain Damage (1988, Henenlotter)-90, Shudder
27. Captain Marvel (2019, Fleck, Boden)-86, Theater Viewing
28. Deadbeat At Dawn (1988, Van Bebber)-82, Shudder
29. The Old Man & the Gun (2018, Lowery)-93, RedBox
30. Us (2019, Peele)-100, Theater Viewing
31. Hunt For The Wilderpeople (2016, Waititi)-96, Hulu
32. The Highwaymen (2019, Hancock)-73, Netflix Instant Viewing
33. Annihilation (2018, Garland)-91, Hulu
34. The Meteor Man (1993, Townsend)-70, Comet! TV

April:

35. Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (2019, Burgin)-95, Shudder
36. Deathgasm (2015, Howden)-81, Shudder
37. Pet Sematary (2019, Kolsch, Widmyer)-86, Theater Viewing
38. Meet the Feebles (1989, Jackson)-80, Tubi TV
39. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001, Smith)-85, Netflix Instant Viewing
40. My Bloody Valentine 3-D (2009, Lussier)-30, Netflix Instant Viewing
41. Hardcore Henry (2016, Naishuller)-85, Netflix Instant Viewing
42. Cecil B. DeMented (2000, Waters)-90, Tubi TV

May:

43. Avengers: Endgame (2019, Russo Brothers)-90, Theater Viewing
44. Urufu gai: Moero ôkami-otoko (1975, Yamaguchi)-89, Shudder
45. Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019, Letterman)-91, Theater Viewing
46. Destroy All Monsters (1968, Honda)-86, Tubi TV
47. John Wick: Chapter 3-Parabellum (2019, Stahelski,)-92, Theater Viewing
48. Demon Wind (1990, Moore)-50, Shudder
49. Her (2013, Jonze), Netflix Instant Viewing

June:

50. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019, Dougherty)-90, Theater Viewing
51. Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Raine (2016, Grove)-20, Theater Viewing/RiffTrax
52. Rocketman (2019, Fletcher)-92, Theater Viewing
53. Miami Vice (2006, Mann)-90, Netflix Instant Viewing
54. Zodiac (2007, Fincher)-95, Netflix Instant Viewing
55. The Day the Earth Froze (1959. Ptushko)-35, Netflix Instant Viewing
56. Men In Black: International (2019, Gray)-68, Theater Viewing
57. Aladdin (2019, Ritchie)-81, Theater Viewing

July:

58. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019, Watts)-93, Theater Viewing
59. Child’s Play (2019, Klevberg)-87, Theater Viewing
60. Kill The Irishman (2011, Hensleigh)-80, Netflix Instant Viewing
61. Nightmare at Shadow Woods (1987, Grissmer)-35, Shudder
62. Brooklyn’s Finest (2010, Fuqua)-60, Netflix Instant Viewing
63. Midsommar (2019, Aster)-96, Theater Viewing
64. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019, Tarentino)-97, Theater Viewing

August:

65. Hellfighters (1968, McLaglen)-65, Blu ray
66. The Babysitter (2017, McG)-86, Netflix Instant Viewing
67. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009, Gilliam)-70, Netflix Instant Viewing
68. The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018, Fogel)-75, Hulu

September:

69. Ready Or Not (2019, Bettinelli-Olpin, Gillett)-90, Theater Viewing
70. The Saint (1997, Noyce)-73, Netflix Instant Viewing
71. It Chapter 2 (2019, Muschietti)-90, Theater Viewing
72. Summer of ’84 (2018, Simard, Whissell, Whissell)-82, Shudder
73. The Last Black Man In San Francisco (2019, Talbot)-95, RedBox
74. The Ranger (2018, Wexler)-90, Shudder
75. Get Carter (1971, Hodges)-93, Netflix Instant Viewing

October:

76. Viy (Kropachyov, Yershov)-77, Shudder
77. Under The Shadow (2016, Anvari)-92, Netflix Instant Viewing
78. Twins of Evil (1972, Hough)-81, Shudder
79. Vampire Circus (1972, Young)-78, Shudder
80. Final Exam (1981, Huston)-65, Tubi TV
81. The Love Witch (2016, Biller)-86, Shudder
82. The City of the Dead (1960, Moxey)-84, Tubi TV
83. Charlie’s Angels (2000, McG)-83, Netflix Instant Viewing
84. The Corpse Grinders (1972, Mikels)-40, Tubi TV
85. Cannibal Girls (1973, Reitman)-71, Tubi TV
86. Hell Night (1981, DeSimone)-65, Shudder
87. The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985, Craven)-20, Shudder
88. Hands of the Ripper (1971, Sasdy)-81, Shudder
89. The Mutilator aka Fall Break (1985, Cooper)-75, Shudder
90. Stage Fright (1987, Soavi)-83, Shudder
91. Thirst (1979, Hardy)-85, Shudder
92. De Lift (1983, Maas)-65, Shudder
93. I Drink Your Blood (1970, Durston)-87, Shudder
94. Kamera o tomeru na! aka One Cut of the Dead (2017, Ueda)-91, Shudder
95. All the Colors of the Dark (1972, Martino)-83, Shudder
96. Demons 2 (1986, Bava)-75, Shudder
97. Der Nachtmahr (2015, Akiz)-55, Shudder
98. You Might Be The Killer (2018, Simmons)-73, Shudder
99. Day of the Animals (1977, Girdler)-60, Shudder
100. The Awakening (2011, Murphy)-75, Shudder
101. Bloody Pit of Horror (1965, Pupillo)-82, Tubi TV
102. Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl (2016, Calvo)-83, Shudder
103. Mayhem (2017, Lynch)-86, Shudder
104. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019, Fleischer)-85, Theater
105. Jack Frost (1996, Cooney)-65, Shudder
106. Dark Water (2002, Nakata)-88, Shudder
107. Happy Birthday To Me (1981, Thompson)-74, Blu ray

November:

108. The Lighthouse (2019, Eggers)-92, Theater
109. Cleopatra Jones (1973, Starrett)-87, Tubi TV
110. Bride of Re-Animator (1989, Yuzna)-81, Shudder
111. Dolemite (1975, Martin)-76, Tubi TV
112. Joker (2019, Phillips)-93, Theater Viewing
113. King of New York (1990, Ferrara)-95, Pluto TV
114. Midway (2019, Emmerich)-73, Theater Viewing

December:

115. The Hurricane Heist (2018, Cohen)-80, Netflix Instant Viewing
116. Rebel Without a Cause (1955, Ray)-95, Netflix Instant Viewing
117. Who’s That Knocking at My Door (1967, Scorsese)-84, Netflix Instant Viewing
118. Street Trash (1987, Muro)-53, Shudder
119. Hobgoblins (1988, Sloane)-0/94 MST3K episode rating, Netflix Instant Viewing
120. Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003, McG)-40, Netflix Instant Viewing
121. Cop Car (2015, Watts)-88, Netflix Instant Viewing
122. Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987, Harry)-70, Shudder
123. From Paris with Love (2010, Morel)-75, Netflix Instant Viewing
124. The Grinch (2018, Mosier, Cheney)-81, Netflix Instant Viewing
125. 3615 code Pere Noel (1989, Manzor)-83, Shudder
126. The Street Fighter (1974, Ozawa)-85, Tubi TV
127. Matinee (1993, Dante)-90, Blu Ray
128. Jumanji: The Next Level (2019, Kasdan)-85, Theater Viewing
129. She’s Gotta Have It (1986, Lee)-90, Netflix Instant Viewing
130. Some Like It Hot (1959, Wilder)-99, Blu Ray

January 5, 2019

Horrorfest 2018 Presents: Chopping Mall (1986, Jim Wynorski)

Sadly this is the only killer robot movie I watched in October, although I cannot name too many killer robot movies off the top of my head. Chopping Mall is a literal bottle TV episode stretched out into an 80 minute horror sci-fi movie. It also has several cult actors, boobs, gore and is a lot of fun. This is one of those cult movies you end up viewing late at night, beer in hand, tired from work, all because its on a streaming service and is easy to access. Thanks TubiTV!

While cult film icons Mary Woronov, Dick Miller and Paul Bartel only briefly appear in this movie, Barbra Crampton and Kelli Maroney are two of the stars in a cast of mostly young unknown actors. The young group of heroes in Chopping Mall are pretty resourceful, and the film has some good kills and suspenseful moments. Not an Oscar movie, yet still highly entertaining, which is fine with me. Also beware your place of business replacing security with freaky robots.

December 14, 2018 0

Horrorfest 2018 Presents: Teenage Zombies (1960, Jerry Warren)

Okay, two things: first I watched this movie after I came home from the bar, so I was drunk and tired (and no I used Uber. Don’t drink and drive, folks). Second, I watched Teenage Zombies for free on TubiTv, a great resource. Unfortunately there is a reason Teenage Zombies is free, because it sucks. TubiTV has some great flicks on there, and others I need to see, and yet because it was October and I was in the mood I picked a horror film that sounded cool, but was not cool. Very lame, actually. So lame that I will admit I did not even finish the movie; I think I have 40 minutes or less left, and yet I am not sure I care to watch the rest. This is a movie that would easily qualify for numerous “Make fun of the movie” shows, and yet I don’t think it was ever mocked because few are probably aware of its existence.

This has awful acting and poor special effects, and I am reminded that Hammer Studios and other, better filmmakers covered this same territory without coming off as a production you would expect from your really bored friends armed with their parents movie camera. Every Horrorfest I end up viewing a movie that I forget before the credits roll, and this time delicious IPA’s failed to enhance the viewing experience. Skip this. Also a movie with Teenage Zombies in the title should really have, I don’t know, multiple and numerous zombies. When a movie lies, it deserves to be dragged.

December 3, 2018 0

Horrorfest 2018 Presents: Scream Blacula, Scream (1973, Bob Kelljan)

While not as good as the first film, Scream Blacula Scream is still enjoyable and decent enough for a sequel. The awesome William H. Marshall returns as the title character, and Pam Grier is a fine addition to the series as the Voodoo queen who Blacula enlists to lift his vampire curse. There are a few good creepy moments, yet the first movie was better in that department. I did laugh at two muggers trying to rob Blacula, as that ends very poorly for them.

However stretches of the film do not work, and perhaps this was rushed out too quckily in an attempt to build off the first film’s success. Too bad there is a limited number of horror films that have been made featuring African American actors and other people of color in the past, although a lot of modern films have seen an effort to feature more diversity. That perhaps can be partly attributed to the Blacula films.

November 4, 2018 0

Horrorfest 2018 Presents: Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988, Michael A. Simpson)

While I liked the first film quite a bit, Sleepaway Camp II is better. There are a few notable changes, particularly having Angela, the villain of the series, go from silent to wise cracking. Naturally a new camp is set up, and Angela (now played by Pamela Springsteen, in a great performance), is hiding her identity and has gone back to killing anyone who crosses her. This film also has references to other slasher movies and a bleak sense of humor, elements that were needed since by the late 1980s slasher fatigue had set in.

Unlike the first movie, where most of the characters were awful people, this one has some okay folks. However when it comes to Angela, she doesn’t care: be annoying, do foolish things, or cross her path and things end badly. Two sisters find out the hard way, as do numerous other campers. The body count is higher, a characteristic of most horror sequels, and the kills are more gruesome.

Although it sometimes comes off as really campy, Sleepaway Camp II is mostly fun, even meta at times. If you like slasher films that are humorous and self aware, this one is for you. Viewed thanks to TubiTV, a good resource for movie fans. Oh and I think I hear the happy campers song echoing off in the distance…

November 1, 2018 0