Sunday, September 9, 2018

September's Horror - Week One

In the run-up to October I'm trying to watch a horror movie every day. Here's what I've managed to watch so far:


September 1: Carnival of Souls
I find the gentle spectrality of Carnival of Souls to be especially charming. I've watched this one many times, and I feel like I can always just put it on and relax, oddly enough.

September 2: Trilogy of Terror
Three Richard Matheson adaptations, all starring Karen Black. The first two segments are slight, but the capstone segment with the Zuni fetish doll is still frenzied enough to be noteworthy.

September 3: Burnt Offerings
We really need to bring back the 70s-style downbeat ending. Stunning haunted house flick.

September 4: Alice, Sweet Alice
The grotty social world surrounding the characters in Alice, Sweet Alice (the pedophile neighbor with the horrifically stained pants, the police detective with nudie pin-ups surrounding his desk, the police psychologist who comments on an underaged girl's "tits," the too-friendly relationship between the mother and the family's priest, etc.) makes the murder of a young girl at her first communion feel strangely inevitable.

September 5: Stir of Echoes
Decent, but really predictable and devoid of surprises. This one definitely got eclipsed by The Sixth Sense. Also, it feels like it's trapped in the late 90s.

September 6: Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things
Low budget and goofy, but fun. Surprisingly downbeat ending.

September 7: Halloween III
A classic "bad" movie. You ever steal a chunk of Stonehenge to make microchips that turn kids' heads into masses of writhing vermin because you're a druid? Yeah, me neither.