Feeding Grounds (10/31)

Feeding Grounds

Wow my weekend was rough between this and the last movie.  At least the action in Midnight Movie was funny, but Feeding Grounds didn't even have that much going for it.  The decisions that the group made were silly, the method of the kills was silly, the acting was annoying, the script was annoying.  The only good thing I could say about this is that it eventually ended,  and with a mildly funny line. 

Avoid this one!

Midnight Movie (9/31)

Midnight Movie

Well it looks as though I unintentionally mixed in some comedy to my month.  This movie was completely hilarious from the start.  The acting, the story, the fake limps, everything about it.  I sat through the whole thing kind of rooting to see how the characters were killed.  It did pop out of nowhere with a surprising torture scene (not my thing), but other than that there were really no surprises or any real reason to watch.

Forgettable!

Deadgirl (8/31)

Deadgirl

The strangeness and novelty of this one gave it a good feel.  I found myself arguing with the screen throughout (you know how we do) because of the decisions the characters made.  I also liked the feeling that it was just "something that happened" without over-explaining any history to the story.

I was also very impressed by the job that Noah Segan did with his character. 

He Knows You're Alone (7/31)

He Knows You're Alone

This movie is from 1980 and it seemed as though, from a lot of shots,  from a little of the score, and some of the camera angles that they set out to copy some of formula from Halloween which was 2 years earlier.

The death scenes were not graphic enough to pull off the lack of suspense in this movie.  Just felt like I was watching some sweaty weird guy run up to people and kill them.  

If you do watch it - you'll at least get to say that you saw Tom Hanks' big screen debut as Elliot.

Masters of Horror: Valerie on the Stairs (6/31)

Masters of Horror: Valerie on the Stairs

I did mention in one of my earlier posts that the Masters of Horror Series ranges from laughable to interesting.  Minus the first 10 minutes of this one, it was definitely on the laughable end.  I found myself just wanting to get through it and not really caring what happened at all.

Triangle (5/31)

Triangle

I actually really enjoyed this one.  I'm one for going into movies as "fresh" as I can.  In some cases I won't even read the entire Plot-line described because I want to be surprised.  I knew absolutely nothing about this movie going in and I'm glad I didn't - I was pleasantly surprised and got taken for a ride.

When you watch it - you'll figure out pretty quickly what's going on but you still won't have any idea what's coming around the next corner.

Masters of Horror: The Fair Haired Child (4/31)

Masters of Horror: The Fair Haired Child

If you aren't familiar with the Masters of Horror series - well - where have you been?  It's a showtime series that showcases 13 different Horror/Thriller filmmakers and gives them each their own story to tell.  I really like the beginning song - I think I'm going to try to grab it for a ringer.

I watched the majority of these last year and they range from completely laughable to interesting.  One of the great things about the series is that given the shorter over-all time of the film the storytellers usually jump into the main plot pretty quickly.

In Fair Haired Child I found the acting was decent and the story kept me interested the entire time.  I didn't find it scary but I did find it entertaining.

Paranormal Entity (3/31)

Paranormal Entity

We can all see the obvious similarities between this and Paranormal Activity - so let's get that out of the way.  They both have their charms and I actually enjoyed both - this one is based on the same type of horror as it's counterpart but deals with it in a slightly different way.  If you enjoyed Paranormal Activity (or haven't seen it) then I think you'll like this one.

Having already seen Paranormal Activity - I got the same feeling watching this one.  I'm not sure what it is but the "documentary-type" filming really pulls me in, especially in these home environments.  It does however attempts bigger scares throughout the movie than P.A..

It's not a movie I will watch again but it was a fun ride.

The Wolfman (2/31)

The Wolfman

Wow, out of the first 2 movies I really don't have a lot to say.  They were both kind of forgettable.

While I didn't find this the least bit scary, I did enjoy the story a lot more than Sorority Row.  After about 30 minutes I gave up on thinking that I was watching a horror movie and just sat back and watched the story unfold.  My guess is, unless you're someone who is easily scared (I wish I still was), you will do the same.  I felt more like this belonged in the Beauty and the Beast or Dr. Jekyll section.  But of course - that's really what the story of the Wolman is.

Sorority Row (1/31)

Sorority Row

Sorority Row felt like watching Scream but without some of the originality.  You can tell by the poster the only reason that most people are watching this.  If you like your horror a little on the funny side (as in dialogue) then you'll have fun with this one.  It was an easy way for me to start the month so I thought I would check it out.  

Overall, the movie was pretty forgettable and the decisions that the characters made throughout the movie really made it difficult for me to not root for them to get killed. 

Let's Go!

Ok: so now that you've hopefully read the rules here we go.  Let me start by saying that these will be just links to the movies and films that I've seen included by a little bit of my opinion on them.  I don't plan on being a movie critic so I'll keep it short.

I also will try my best to give away as little of the plot as possible so those of you who want to see it won't get any spoilers - unless you want to contact me and get them.  After all I hate when people even say things like "The end was such a nice twist".  Great - so now I'm sitting through the whole movie trying to figure out the "twist" at the end.

So back in late September I beefed up the Netflix queue from 1 movie out at a time to 3 and periodically checked the DirectTV schedule for things to DVR throughout the month to get ready.

October Rules

OK, here we go!  Although I’m sure I’m not the only one who has this tradition, I’ll get started by explaining where mine came from.  Being born on Friday October 13^th and having a close cousin who was born on Halloween the next year – really helped set the theme of our future birthday parties.  From around 11 years old on our respective birthdays, we would have sleepovers peppered with as many horror movies as we could squeeze in.   This went on until about the time I went away to Prep School.  While away I moved on to watching on the weekends throughout the month of October.  Admittedly – this didn’t allow for a lot.  I continued this tradition through college and a few years afterwards.  Sometime afterwards I decided that if I’m going to do it I might as well do it right!  I felt that 31 in 31 days would be a lot more suitable for a goal-oriented person – as well as a lot more fun!

So now my process has mutated into the following:

• I watch 31 in 31 day
• The first 20 days of the month are for movies I have not seen previously (sometimes this is painful)
• The last 11 days are for movies I have seen 
• The last 8 days are for my favorites – you know; the ones my October would not be complete without

NewB

Pardon me while I move in but I thought this would be a good month to start.  Every October I do my usual 31 horror movies in 31 days; so I'll have a lot to get started with!  My Birthday is also in October so it will provide a good "jump-off" point.