#halloween 2024: 1970's horror

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🎃HALLOWEEN 2024🎃

I re-watched Rabid (1977)

Time for a rewatch.

After a motorcycle accident a woman undergoes experimental surgery, turning her into a blood drinking seductress.

In the past two years I've talked about several David Cronenberg films and I'm sure I'll talk about several more in the future. So, what else can I say about this unique and interesting filmmaker that I haven't already said? He's a legend. His name is synonymous with body horror. He's repulsed us, engaged us, and made us think. Whether through horror or drama, Cronenberg has shown us his very unique view of the world.

Often, after seeing a Cronenberg film, your relationship with your own body and your own mind feels a bit more complicated.

Here, we see Cronenberg in his early years. Two years after the film "Shivers", he gives us a story about medical science making a mistake. A vampire/Zombie/body-horror film that he executes in a strange, "cronenbergian" way. A woman using a horn or fang, which protrudes from her armpit, to suck the blood of the victims she seduces. Those victims, in turn, become zombified monsters, somehow infected with an insatiable and even more furious lust for blood. It's unlike any idea that came before it, blending new ideas with old monsters. Not afraid to be unusual.

For me, what's so great about "Rabid" is that it presents a situation which gets worse and worse, until it grows completely out of hand. I really enjoy how this one is paced and how it seems to revel in its own mayhem.

As well, there are some dated and campy elements here that only add to the fun as the film ages.

The messaging of the film isn't totally clear. It's about beauty, and plastic surgery and medical experimentation, etc... I'm sure all those things can be intertwined into some form of social commentary. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Whatever you take from the movie is up to you.

I love Cronenberg movies. Whatever mistakes I see in his films or whatever choices I disagree with, he always wins me over with his creativity and his amazing balance of tone and style. He takes us places we wouldn't otherwise think of going, and for a horror filmmaker, there is no better attribute.

[frankendykes-monster]

Countdown to Halloween 2024 ranked

54. The Willies (1990)

53. Hell High (1987)

52. Face of The Screaming Werewolf (1964)

51. Terrifier (2016)

50. The Last Halloween (1991)

49. Cathy's Curse (1977)

48. The Last Shark (1981)

47. Godzilla × Kong: The New Empire (2024)

46. Creepozoids (1987)

45. The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)

44. Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks (1974)

43. Man Beast (1956)

42. Tourist Trap (1979)

41. Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957)

40. Fiend (1980)

39. Vampyros Lesbos (1971)

38. Devil Girl From Mars (1954)

37. Halloween Hall o' Fame (1977)

36. Nightmare (1981)

35. The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (2001)

34. Peeping Tom (1960)

33. Violent Shit (1989)

32. Invaders From Mars (1986)

31. Eggshells (1969)

30. Night of The Ghouls (1959)

29. Scream, Blacula, Scream (1973)

28. The Strange World of Planet X (1958)

27. The Colossus of New York (1958)

26. The Scooby-Doo Project (1999)

25. Night of The Living Doo (2001)

24. Scooby-Doo! and The Reluctant Werewolf (1988)

23. The Great Bear Scare (1983)

22. The Wasp Woman (1995)

21. The Cyclops (1957)

20. Frankenstein and The Monster from Hell (1974)

19. The Tingler (1959)

18. The Boogey Man (1980)

17. The Dragon Lives Again (1977)

16. Quatermass and The Pit (1967)

15. The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962)

14. Mad Love (1935)

13. The Alien Factor (1978)

12. The Walking Dead (1935)

11. Dr. Caligari (1989)

10. The Deadly Spawn (1983)

9. Invaders From Mars (1953)

8. Alucarda (1977)

7. Uzumaki (2024)

6. Sole Survivor (1984)

5. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

4. Shock Waves (1977)

3. Frankenhooker (1990)

2. Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1978)

1. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)

What a productive year. October lasts all of 30 seconds which is why I have to start watching these in July if I want to make any decent headway (31 films is not enough). I desperately tried to make this a year of "have not seens" after last year's top spots being flooded with films I already loved; we mostly did it, mostly. Another top heavy year with relatively few abysmal entries, let's get started.

The Willies is the grand shitshow for this year. It feels like it's an evolutionary precursor to something like Goosebumps or Are You Afraid of The Dark?, but it mostly plays to gross out rather than scares. I don't normally care for anthology horror films to begin so to start off a film with brief segments like a woman eating a deep fried rat or a little white dog being microwave exploded and then doing extended stories on monsters hiding in the school bathroom does not do it for me. The most minimal points possible for some decent lighting and special effects but they are not enough by any means to make this worth watching. Stay away.

Onto the 1980's horror: Hell High is what happens when a film crew asks "what if we put a woman into a situation and didn't stop". I want to call it misogynistic torture porn, but I don't want to devalue that phrase for when I use it for a film later on here, but suffice to say a woman is tortured. Emotionally. For very little reason. Universal was right to block The Last Shark from US theatrical distribution. Not because it's a very blatant Jaws ripoff and they wanted to protect their copyright, but because it's abysmal and nobody should have to pay money to see this. I think the stock footage of sharks juxtaposed with the unmoving props between shots is funny, and some of the soundtrack elevates the experience, like the high shrill drones when the shark attacks a helicopter. Creepozoids is an odd one because 1987 was a bit late for a Mad Max/Escape from New York/Alien knockoff but also too early for some Full Moon tier/softcore porn adjacent 1990's production, so it loses out on both fronts. Fiend I'm struggling to even recall, I feel like Don Dohler had one movie in him (see: his plethora of alien invasion films) and him trying to branch out did him no favors. Nightmare is one I want to enjoy because it's beautifully shot but I feel like I've seen one too many slasher adjacent films at this point that include plot points like the killer having a troubled relationship with his mother or him moonlighting as a regular guy (still better than Pieces mind you). Same with Violent Shit. I feel like my tastes are pretty attuned to films that are just gore effects showcases but this one doesn't have any zany concepts to justify or compliment it, so it just falls flat.

The Boogey Man belongs to that tirade of Halloween knockoffs that flooded theaters up till about 1984 or so, but it puts in some extra effort like having a ghost be the main antagonist and a symbolic interest in mirrors, which is much more than could be asked of films like Terror Train which came out the same year. Dr. Caligari is the obligatory "this is what Tim Burton thinks he's doing" film of this year; its sets and its performances are perfectly otherworldly to a humorous degree. It's something of a quasi-sequel to the 1920 film but its relationship with logic is attuned to such a frequency that it's not a hindrance. Very hard to objectively quantify, you're either in the target audience or you aren't, so of all films here take its tier placement the least seriously. The Deadly Spawn is such a gloriously gross film. The house it's shot in isn't supposed to be disgusting on purpose, it's just one of those century's old buildings where I feel like I'd revulse if I had to touch any surface, and that's before fleshy alien monsters break in and start shredding people to bits. Sole Survivor is one of those magical "missing link" horror films, we've finally found what comes between Carnival of Souls and Final Destination. The actual scares in this film are incredibly minimal as it prioritizes atmosphere that balances between comfort and unease, something incredibly rare for films of virtually any genre. Don't go in expecting ghosts and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Taking a brief-ish detour to the 1960's, Face of The Screaming Werewolf is one of those films I'm more angry at than anything because it's one of those films that's just the combined stray footage of multiple previous films. Rare for these to be produced in the western market (most of the examples I think of are from (south)east Asia) but it's infuriating nonetheless to see something only to discover it's a worse version of multiple better things you could be seeing. Peeping Tom is our "most overrated" entry winner, I don't know why so many people applaud this one, I feel like barely anything of substance happens to such a degree that any ounce of suspense you could draw from this just disappears, and what a shame with the concept at play here that feels as if it would take another decade for everyone else to catch up. Eggshells is the directorial debut of Tobe Hooper and while cohesive narrative is virtually nonexistent here, the amount of experimental editing keeps this going throughout the entire runtime, you can definitely see where The Texas Chainsaw Massacre came from down the line. I feel like I'm somewhat disappointed with Quatermass and The Pit (not sure what "The Pit" refers to now that I think of it) mostly becasue the first two Quatermass films are among the best 1950's science fiction films. All three are theatrical remakes of television mini-series and that's most felt here with how so much of the film takes place in the single location of an unearthed Martian ship in the heart of London. I do love that we have a science fiction film positing that humans are partly the genetic ancestors of aliens prior to people taking that seriously with books like Chariot of The Gods. The Brain That Wouldn't Die is magical, sometimes those oft hated 1950's/1960's science fiction films have something to give back to the rest of us. Here it's a man so obsessed with his own work that he sees his wife's death as an opportunity to try and kill other women so that he can use their bodies as grounds to bring her back. Which sounds like something else I watched...

...said film being Frankenhooker, which has largely the same plot but now functions as a dark comedy. God. I hate so much that the capitalist enclosure on the production and distribution of film prevented us from getting so much more from Frank Henenlotter. The man is one of the best to ever direct horror, and anyone who thinks this film or any of his other work are "bad movies" just flat out do not know what they're talking about. I think compared to Basket Case and Brain Damage however, Frankenhooker is the one that "keeps giving". You think you've seen everything the film has to offer and then something like a hotel room full of women combusts as they succumb to the effects of exploding crack or Elizabeth (the titular character) has her head punched back and starts spewing smoke and electricity everywhere. Film is a magical medium of art.

Terrifier is what I held onto "misogynistic torture porn" for. No narrative, no character work, just opportunities to show Art the Clown dismember and murder women in revolting ways. It's one of those films that vindicates everyone that doesn't like this genre and makes me wonder what I'm doing sitting side by side with people that like this shit. I think Art cutting off a woman's breasts and scalp and attaching them to his nude body to disguise himself as another prior female victim of his is when my mouth went agape and audibly asked what the fuck am I watching, cannot stress enough how much it takes to get that reaction out of me. There's an upfront showcase that Terrifier knows that it's trash and revels in it, I mean there's an early scene where we see Art has spelled out his name in his own shit, and I'm not sure how to interpret that other than I feel like I might be landing in a Duchamp's Urinal trap. For reasons that allude even me I am still eyeing the prospect of watching both sequels.

I think my overall reaction to Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is one of "whatever". A passably bad film is a definite improvement from the abomination that was Godzilla vs. Kong but it's admittedly easy to rise up when you start from the bottom. Adam Wingard more or less sucked all the joy I could muster out of the Monsterverse, I truly do not care anymore. If anything can be gleaned from this film it's that this is a film made to reconfirm people's existing biases of "I hate the boring human scenes, I'm only watching this for the monsters." Kong is the best actor in this film because the special effects team have to have him actually emote in response to a given situation, which is more than could be asked of anyone actually on the set, apparently. It's a miracle that this came out in the shadow of Godzilla Minus One than on its own terms.

The glut of 1950's science fiction films are a perennial staple of the Halloween countdown but they don't have a huge showing this year. Man Beast is one I'm going to confuse with all the other yeti movies of the decade though having a main antagonist that's actually a human hybrid gets it some points for originality. Daughter of Dr. Jekyll infuriates me because women who become monsters in film never get to be "hideous" and "scary" like their male counterparts, I'm throwing tomatoes at this one. Devil Girl From Mars is mostly memorable for having a giant clunky robot a la Gort, but the actual titular antagonist doesn't "serve cunt" enough to warrant interest, she should have taken notes from The Astounding She-Monster. The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra is an honorable mention because it's a feature-length pastiche of the z-grade films of this era. I don't think it's particularly funny and I kind of wish they lampooned a "good" film of this type rather than make something that fits in line with the middling genre efforts. Night of The Ghouls is the last horror film directed by Ed Wood and I feel like I enjoy it slightly more than Plan 9 From Outer Space. It's far more competent in producing that lulling insomniac reaction than Wood's prior efforts but I still don't "get" the attention his work consistently gets. The Strange World of Planet X gets a special pass from me just because the finale has a bunch of giant bugs attacking stuff. Moving on.

The Colossus of New York is an oddball modern Frankenstein of sorts with a guy being transformed into a giant robot and struggling to maintain some attachment to his former life. It doesn't always work but once again giant clunky robots are giant clunky robots. I'm something of a Bert I. Gordon apologist so something like The Cyclops is going to hit harder for me than it does for most people. I just like people wandering around Bronson Cave and poor matte shots of giant animals moving in and out of frame, okay? The Tingler was the oddest revisit I've had in a while. I don't think I fully "get" William Castle's approach to film but what stuck out to me is how this one takes place in largely two locations and how Vincent Price's character is kind of the antagonist, experimenting on animals, himself, and other people (resulting in a murder) to get at the Tingler. Much like in House on Haunted Hill I'm not wholly sure how some of the spooky things in this film actually work and I don't think I'm meant to, adding to the bizarre nature of the entire series of affairs here.

Invaders From Mars...oh yes. One of the absolute best 1950's science fiction films is also the most lyrical and dreamlike. It reads at times like a Soviet parody of an American child's story would be like; a boy sees every institution designed to protect him as a child and as an American turn against him on account of some nefarious foreign invader, so his only course of action is to get the US military involved. It plays out so well because it's a POV piece from a young boy, which eases over any leaps in logic both in terms of form and content of this film. Which is more than can be said of the remake, part of the diminishing returns of Tobe Hooper's then contract with Cannon. The film largely follows the same plot structure but decenters the frame through which we see it unfold giving it a "the military is legit" vibe. It also is just a bit more mean-spirited in ways that are designed to taunt the audience versus the original film's more hardened edge to it. I think a great summation of the difference between the two is that the 1953 film had Martian bodyguards that are clearly guys in fuzzy green pajama suits, but they're more threatening than the ones in the 1986 film which are giant quadruped Stan Winston monsters. I digress. Had this come out 20 years later it would be classified as part of the wave of "why are they remaking everything?"

Speaking of remakes, briefly want to mention the 1995 Wasp Woman. It's The Wasp Woman for the 1990's, now with explosions and softcore sex scenes. I can't wholly defend the original 1959 film despite my affinity for it, so let's just say this one is of comparable quality.

The 1930's are a delightful treasure trove for horror but sadly we only have two up for offer. Mad Love makes me curious as to how other adaptations of The Hands of Orlac handle the material; I was convinced a guy got his head surgically reattached and with artificial hands to boot. Always good to see Colin Clive and Peter Lorre. The Walking Dead feels like a dry run for what Boris Karloff would do later that decade in the much better The Man They Could Not Hang, just with him as the victim here and not the mastermind. Truly some of his best work as an actor as he has to float through the world not being allowed to live or die, that shit sticks with you.

We watched a scant few Halloween specials proper, I always feel like I want to watch every Halloween special possible but sometimes the enthusiasm leaves me. The Last Halloween is trash, but that's on me for thinking something made for very small children would appeal to me as an adult. It crams far too much into its brief 22 minute runtime, so the only thing that manages to escape into the zone of interest is that the CGI aliens are actually very well done for a 1991 television production, had this been all about them (voiced by Hanna Barbara stalwarts such as Frank Welker and Don Messick, along with Paul Williams), this would have been far more tolerable. Halloween Hall o' Fame is the first of apparently several Disney television specials that repackaged their theatrical shorts inside a live-action framing device. It's quaint but this format would live and die by the quality of the shorts included; I'm not intimately familiar with Disney's back catalogue solely because they've barely released anything on home media but I absolutely adore the one where Pluto goes to Hell and is put in a kangaroo court with cats on the jury. I feel like the novelty of The Scooby-Doo Project and Night of The Living Doo have carried them along further than their actual quality have, stray artifacts from when Warner Bros was briefly testing to see if Scooby could be an adult property now, doomed to the same fate as Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law. The latter of these two specials made me come to terms with the fact that David Cross was "a big deal" at some point. The Great Bear Scare is the winner here. How could you not like an animated special where bears have to stand up and be brave against an oncoming horde of Halloween monsters? What makes this an oddity (sort of an obligation for me and Halloween specials) is that this is animated 100% without in-betweens, so every character in every scene cross-dissolves in real time between their keyframes. Depending on who you are it could be ridiculously distracting or make you step back and appreciate how hard animation is.

Clearing out our remaining animated showings, I felt like I would really get back into Scooby-Doo and The Reluctant Werewolf. In the mid-late 2000's when Cartoon Network was desperately trying to excise showing anything from their backlogs, this is one of those films that was on repeat constantly as midday viewings especially over summer. It's just so far removed from what Scooby-Doo "proper" is that it's an enigma, I go to bat to defend each of the "red shirt Shaggy" movies but this is brain melting at times, there is no mystery to solve, monsters are real, Fred/Daphne/Velma are completely absent, half the film is dedicated to a drag race, it goes on and on and on that I feel numb after a bit. Uzumaki...it's good. I feel like the fact that this was in production hell for five years following the first trailer release made me stop caring so all the shenanigans regarding the reaction to the animation dropping off (the production team got screwed over, how the fuck do studios not have the money for FOUR EPISODES, David Zlasv strikes again) brushed off of me. Regardless of that I think the actual pacing would have restricted this given how much sequential material from the manga now has to occur concurrently. It gets by solely because it's Uzumaki and as such it channels such a foreboding sense of dread and despair that is unreal. This more than anything is the true epitome of cosmic horror because there is no "source" or "identity" behind the threat that is warping reality around you, there is nothing to oppose and be defiant against, which was true of the manga and it remains true here. Bravo.

The 1970's prove to be another sporadic decade for horror. Cathy's Curse proves that no matter how good technical effects are, do not watch any Carrie knockoffs. Blah. Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks...you took a movie where a Frankenstein monster fights a caveman and made it boring, congratulations. In the interim between 2021's viewing of Curse of Frankenstein and now, I've made the effort to watch the entirety of the Hammer Frankenstein series. They make for a brilliant reinterpretation of the source material with Frankenstein effectively being antagonist: he kills consistently for his experiments, which often time warp and alter people's identities along with their bodies. The "holy triumvirate" of the series as referred to by me would be The Revenge of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Created Woman, and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, all for showcasing new stuff that can be done with the character and any prior influences such as the Universal films being absent. Then comes The Horror of Frankenstein, a soft remake of Curse of Frankenstein, with Terence Fischer and Peter Cushing both absent. It's a dry and tedious affair that just rehashes what Curse already did, just now with a black comedic angle and no real consequences for Frankenstein himself. It's easily the worst of the series and why I'm glad Hammer backtracked for Frankenstein and The Monster From Hell. This is probably the first instance in film history where a sequel has consciously ignored a preceding remake, and while it's not wholly original either, it's comfort food for fans of this series, and now employs a darker more claustrophobic setting in an ~insane asylum~. Not the best ending for the series, but Hammer, along with Toho and Ray Harryhausen's efforts with Columbia, sort of represented the "old" styles of horror that were pretty quickly being replaced as the decade went on. This film specifically came out the same year as the likes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it was a transitional period where what horror once was was cast away. Still not sure why the monster in this film looks like a Neanderthal man but that's just me.

Tourist Trap desperately tries to be one part Psycho and one part Texas Chainsaw, and it admittedly starts off with a nice hook of animatronic puppets being the main focus of the film, but it falls through the cracks and just becomes another random 1970's horror film. Vampyros Lesbos makes me realize that my infatuation with Zombi 3 last year did not mean I'm suddenly infatuated with Lucio Fulci's overall filmography, exceptions are not the rule. Come to think I don't think I've seen a single lesbian vampire film that I'm smitten with, how do you make this boring and not sexy at all, fuck you. Scream, Blacula, Scream is the obligatory Blacula cash-in sequel, nothing worthwhile to see here and none of the charm and significance of the first film is carried forward here, sigh. "DEDICATED TO THE MILLIONS THAT LOVE BRUCE LEE," The Dragon Lives Again is one of the plethora of films featuring Lee impersonators following his death, showing Lee in Hell as he has to find a way back to Earth while also fighting off The Godfather, Dracula, The Man with No Name, Emanuele, Zatoichi, and James Bond while allying himself with Popeye and Dr. Who. No I am not making any of this up, yes, this film was made with very little money so it sounds far more interesting than it actually ends up being, but it's a cute film, I can't be mad at a film made for me, nor can a movie showing Popeye eat spinach to fight mummies or Bruce Lee knocking out Dracula with his "third leg" be something you don't go out of your way to watch.

The Alien Factor is Don Dohler's first and best film. I love the fact that a dozen people made a small scale alien invasion/slasher film in their backyards with actually solid special effects for something that was probably made on the weekends. You can't hate this film, it's made from pure love for what was already decades old genre material. Had some of the script and acting been tightened up this could have become one of the more widely recognized independent films of the decade. Oh...Alucarda. I hate when they make a lesbian devil worshiper film between girls coming to terms with theirs sexual orientation and then they aren't the heroes of the story. We've come a long way since then.

Given that the Eggers film is still a few months out, I'd say Nosferatu the Vampyre is my preferred interpretation of the story (not my favorite Dracula adaptation overall mind you). Let me say that I think remaking Nosferatu is ridiculous solely because you're just doing Dracula, again, just with some stylistic details brought on from a specific prior Dracula. But this film goes all out. It's one of those times where I'm reminded of why slowly paced films with shots that last minutes at a time are so great. It relies very little on narrative (the extent/nature of Dracula's power of the geographic barriers between Wismar and Transylvania go unexplained) but you get so thoroughly sucked into the setting and the characters that you can't complain. This has undeniably the best portrayal of Mina in any Dracula film, she's effectively the protagonist by the second half and each of her encounters with Dracula are on her terms, he's effectively powerless against her even if she ensures they both die in the end. Also, rats. So many rats. Everywhere. The plague is in town.

Shock Waves is just great 1970's horror. Shoot on location, hold the camera in hand the entire time, do it cheap, have a dreamy distant narrator, and make it grisly. I do find the concept of Nazis engineering platoons of super soldiers and we only seeing just the one in this film is probably the scariest thing about it, it invites you to think about what else is happening out of sight. My favorite first watch of the year.

1978's Invasion of The Body Snatchers is also a phenomenal remake. This one is difficult for me to talk about because it just pushes all my buttons, I felt like I wanted to cry throughout the duration of this viewing, it is an incredibly mean film. Someone you know just one day turns on you, and then everyone else follows suit. You think you know your surroundings and your city but everything is flipped upside down and you can't even describe why. From the very start when you see the premature pods land on Earth it's made immediately clear that no one is making it out of here, it was too late as soon as it started.

But there can only be one #1, and this year it's Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. Another instance of "nothing is going to beat this" as soon as I rewatched it. I feel like I'm alone in considering this one of the absolute best in the series, I feel like between the espionage and exploration and blood and laser fights that this is just one of the films that reminds you of why we make and why we watch movies, you get to have some semblance of every possible human emotion watching this. There's not much more you can ask for.

[lizardsfromspace]

Last year, I watched a Halloween-themed horror film for every day in October. I was going to do that again this year, but it turns out I watched all the good ones - and most of the good bad ones. So here's the new challenge for October 2024: each day, watch one horror movie I haven't seen from each year, starting today with 1970, and ending on the 30th with the year 2000.

Day 1: 1970

EQUINOX

Directed by Jack Woods & Dennis Muren

In 1984, the second laserdisc ever released by the Criterion Collection was released by the Criterion Collection: 1933's King Kong. This laserdisc was notable for the first commentary track in history. Criterion has had an occasional flirtation with monster movies ever since: putting out 1958's Fiend Without A Face, and most famously the box set of every Showa Godzilla film, declaring everything from the original to the late period flicks produced for a Toho kid's film festival collection-worthy. This made some people very mad for some reason about what "deserves" to be recognized by a boutique blu-ray line we've elevated to be the primary arbiter of cinematic taste for some reason - I'm sure they really wanted a Heisei boxset too

Equinox is also famous for being A Monster Movie in The Criterion Collection, but probably the least known one. It's also famous for being a proto-Evil Dead; though one of the key differences is that in this one, the cabin was destroyed before they even got there, so the film takes place entirely outdoors. It features apex doofy horror protagonists, the kind who note weird footprints so they go into a creepy cave where they find a skeleton, and then they dismiss stories about the skeleton while they meet a creepy old man who hands them a book hidden beneath rocks, and who then unlock the book - it's locked - and read it even though it smells like sulfur & is full of arcane sigils, and then, several scenes later, realize: wait, is this a evil demon book?

But you're not here for set-up or plot. You're here for one thing: STOP MOTION. The last act of this movie is full of Good Ass Creatures. You've got tentacles. You've got giants. You've got demons. You've got stop motion and creature effects of all kinds. As always the one rule of film viewing is, Keep Watching For The Stop Motion Beasts

🎃🎃🎃.5/5

Also Considered for 1970: Oddly enough the challenge's first year was the most paltry selection. I did also consider Hatchet for the Honeymoon, Witchhammer, and The Wizard of Gore. What else is there that's not either not Halloween-y straight horror or something I've seen before (like Bird with the Crystal Plumage or Robin Redbreast)? Trog??? I wasn't going to start this off with Trog

[harpersfilmaddictionlists]

HALLOWEEN LIST 2024: 1970's Horror Theme

[frontproofmedia]

Dolo Flicks: MaXXXine Review: Ti West highlights the price for obsession with fame

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By Hector Franco

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Published: July 18, 2024

"Now, say it with me... I will not accept a life I do not deserve!"  -- Maxine

All the films in a series or franchise are rarely considered top-of-the-line or high-quality. Director and writer Ti West continues the trend of delivering top-notch horror with the third installment of his X series, MaXXXine. The film is a direct sequel to 2022's X and follows the pseudo-prequel Pearl. 

MaXXXine stars Mia Goth as the titular character, Maxine Miller. It follows her journey attempting a future as a famous actress in Hollywood in the 1980s, against the backdrop of the infamous Night Stalker serial killer murders of the time. Maxine receives an opportunity to work on an upcoming horror movie sequel, and the events of X come back to haunt her, putting her new career at risk as a mysterious leather-wearing killer watches her every step. MaXXXine also stars Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Giancarlo Esposito, and Kevin Bacon. 

In 2022, when West set on what could have been a disastrous goal of putting together a trilogy of horror films, each with its own distinct style, many were skeptical as to how they would turn out. Two years later, West has put out one of the most anticipated films of 2024 as the final film in his horror trilogy, MaXXXine.

MaXXXine, following the path of the previous entries, is a film that stands out in both style and design. X was a 70's slasher with elements of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, and Black Christmas. Pearl served as a slow-burn character study with a character descending further into madness. What X and Pearl have in common is their smaller cast, making for a more intimate experience. MaXXXine, however, strays from the formula, carving its own unique path as a crime-thriller slasher.

The opening sequence of MaXXXine displays how the film will separate itself from its predecessors. It starts with an audition, where Maxine confidently outshines her competition and then takes us on a ride through Tinseltown to her next destination. This approach is so well executed that it instantly pulls the audience into the lifestyle of the main character, the setting, and the film's visual style.

" You've made it to the belly of the beast. Congratulations, very few come this far. To stay here, you must make it your obsession. Eliminate all other distractions because if you take your eye off that prize for even a moment, the beast will spit you right back out where you came from. You may never get a taste for you again."  -- Elizabeth Bender (Elizabeth Debicki)

One element of West's trilogy that will be remembered is how each entry utilized the look and style of the films it mirrored. MaXXXine is a stylized slasher in the vein of some of Brian De Palma's work, such as Body Double and Dressed to Kill and Italian Giallo films of the 1970s. The cinematographer for each installment is Elliot Rocket, and MaXXXine is arguably his best work. The well of nostalgia for the 1980s has nearly run dry, but Rocket and West's technique and usage of colors bring a level of polish to MaXXXine that stands out from its contemporaries. 

"I have to give Ti tons of credit because that is the kind of thing he's very focused on," Rocket told Indie Wire. "He'll push really hard to make sure that the aesthetic, the colors, the clothes people are wearing, what the hairstyles are, what the props are, what the color of the wall is painted.

“It's really just a matter of someone who's in charge, plus all of the other people who are working on it creatively having the vision in their mind to create a consistent and cohesive aesthetic in terms of all of these things that are going to be in front of the camera."

Goth has been the foundation for the trilogy's success, putting forth career-best performances. Yet, MaXXXine asks less of the famed actress than X and Pearl. In X, Goth played dual roles; in Pearl, her performance was the center of every aspect of the film. The cast allows for breathing room for the Maxine character, allowing others to shine. Kevin Bacon's Louisiana Private Eye, John Labat, is one of the film's highlights. Bacon brings a level of levity and fun to the film in-between moments of stylized violence. Along with Giancarlo Esposito's agent for the stars, Teddy Knight, MaXXXine's vibrant look bleeds over to many of its characters. 

For the bloodthirsty horror fan, MaXXXine has a plethora of memorable kills. The kills are where the Giallo influence truly comes to life. In one scene, Maxine is pursued by a Buster Keaton impersonator and has the tables turned on him. Maxine pulls a gun and forces the man to strip, only to viciously stomp his testicles. This scene, like many others in the film, is a perfect example of the stylish violence that permeates MaXXXine. The colors used, along with the overly sexualized violence, infuse for an almost humorous moment that leaves audiences covering their faces in shock. 

Time will only tell how West's trilogy will be viewed. However, its standing in recent horror history firmly places it as the best series of films of the decade. Each film is connected yet different enough for fans to pick any of the three as their favorite. MaXXXine, with its unique style and narrative, has left a significant mark on recent horror history. Despite a few narrative issues, specifically with how the film reaches its resolution, MaXXXine is one of the year's best horror films and certainly one of the most memorable and engaging.

4/5****

(Featured Image: A24)

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HALLOWEEN 2024 MOVIE LIST: 1970's Horror

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-Week One-

1. The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

2. The Crazies (1973)

3. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

-Week Two-

4. Schlock (1973)

5. The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires (1974)

6. Faces Of Death (1978)

-Week Three-

7. Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders (1970)

8. Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope (1975)

9. Flesh For Frankenstein (1973)

-Week Four-

10. Let's Scare Jessica To Death (1971)

11. Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (1972)

12. The Driller Killer (1979)

-Week 5-

13. Daughters Of Darkness (1971)

14. Rabid (1977)

15. Tombs Of The Blind Dead (1972)

-Week 6-

16. Psychomania (1973)

17. I Spit On Your Grave (1978)

18. Tourist Trap (1979)

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I watched Tourist Trap (1979)

Here it is, the end of Halloween 2024: 1970's Horror.

A group of friends fall prey to a masked maniac.

Agatha Christie, Italian Giallos, "Psycho", "Black Christmas", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and John Carpenter's "Halloween" all led up to the 1980's slasher film craze within the horror genre.

Here at the tail end of the 1970's is "Tourist Trap". A bit of a whodunnit, a lot of a slasher, and a film that falls somewhere between "so bad it's good" and genuinely scary.

Produced by B-cinema legend Charles Band, starring film and television star Chuck Connors, and directed by "Puppet Master" director David Schmoeller, "Tourist Trap" tied a bow on the 1970's and ushered in the 1980's.

The film itself is cliche by today's standards. Young people go on vacation, start getting picked off by a masked killer, a twist comes along, and so on and so forth. And, to be fair, the twist can be seen coming from miles away, so it's not really a twist. The tone changes from creepy to kooky to basic and bland. The characters are one note and the whole thing could be better.

However, this film does something amazing. Despite being rather generic and tame and poorly made, "Tourist Trap" is real goddamn creepy. The mannequins, the screaming dolls faces, the killer's masks, the dark indoor lighting, the SECOND TWIST! There are rock solid freaky moments in this film...and it has a great ending.

If you want a horror film that gives you the spooky feels on Halloween night and leaves you more creeped out than when it found you, this is definitely for you.

(And, with that, Halloween 2024: 1970's Horror comes to an end.

It was a fun ride. I learned that the 1970's, like every other decade, has something to offer in the horror genre outside it's most well known titles and blockbusters. There are tons of American and Foreign films to choose from. There is a style all it's own to this decade, and that style changes and molds throughout its ten year time-span.

I'm sure there are plenty more gems to find.)

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🎃HALLOWEEN 2024🎃

I re-watched I Spit On Your Grave (1978)

Let's get dark....really dark.

After being sexually brutalized and left for dead, a young woman exacts her revenge on the men who committed the crimes against her.

Filmmaker Meir Zarchi doesn't have a huge resume. He's directed three films, written a book and produced a handful of movies. His biggest claim to fame is, in fact, this very film and his involvement with it's remake and the several sequels which followed the remake.

"I Spit On Your Grave" follows three of the most famous revenge films from the 1970's. Wes Craven's "Last House On The Left (1971) Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs" (1971) and Bo Arne Vibenius' "Thriller: A Cruel Picture" (1973).

Revenge films are often gritty, disturbing, excessively violent, and not for everyone. They require the viewer to witness brutal acts upon innocent people. However, they also ask the viewer to face a dark side of themselves, and revel in the darkness of vicious and bloody retaliation.

Revenge films, whether they are trying to or not, give us a look into a very base and natural urge to get even. To see good not only triumph over evil, but to crush it. If done right, they make us question if we should take satisfaction in seeing blood for blood, or if we should strive to be better and forgiving. They are necessary art in my opinion, even if the genre itself is often too exploitative for some.

"I Spit On Your Grave" really turns your stomach in the exact moment the initial rape ends.

The movie starts out rather cheesy and typical, and doesn't feel like it's going to become as aggressive as it eventually does. When the rapists make their move it's franticly paced. You're too engaged to be disturbed, as the action pulls you in. Then, the rape happens, quick and cold. When it ends it's suddenly quiet again, and you feel the weight of the horrible act you've just witnessed. From there, it only gets worse.

This film shows you the worst things you can see, and one of the worst crimes there is. It is not a pleasant watch and it's not one I recommend for a fun Halloween. However, it is an effective Revenge film. Maybe not the smartest one or the most creative or best produced, but certainly effective.

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I watched Psychomania (1973)

Been wanting to see this for years, and this 1970's Horror Halloween is a great excuse to finally sit down and watch it.

The leader of a British biker gand finds eternal life through Satan.

Playing off the rebellious soul of the hippie generation, this psychedelic journey into occult satanism is very much of it's time.

Yes, "Psychomania" is dated, and you better like that fact or you won't like this movie. It's all groovy music, shaggy hair, and young British people with a cheeky death wish.

Personally, I love the counter culture of 1960's and 70's England. I love the meeting of the old stuffy generation and new youth. I love David Bowie, I love occult nonsense, I love bright colors, hot chicks with accents, and the strange modern design elements of the time. It's simultaneously cool and corny, and that's how I like to think of myself, lol.

Director Don sharp is a genre director, often used by Hammer films. Vampires, Fu Manchu, Rasputin...his filmography is pretty fun and full of cheese.

Sharp does a good job here. He knows what he's making. A film which would interest the youth of the time. He also managed to make a film which deserves cult status, for both it's dated elements and it's somewhat whacky story.

As a film, it's paced well, has some decent action along the way, and some rather fun psychedelic moments (Misty Mirror Frog be praised). It's certainly better than a silly movie about devil worshipping bikers has any right to be.

Yes, this is fine for Halloween fun. Especially if you're in the mood for something with Satan, psychedelia and cool shots of motorcycles in the British fog.

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I re-watched Tombs Of The Blind Dead (1972)

Another classic I haven't watched in forever.

Knights templar rise from their graves to seek revenge.

I grew up watching a lot of these 70's Spanish horror films on old beat up VHS compilations and late night TV.

Films, like this one, by Amando de Ossorio and other Spanish directors, like Paul Naschy, offer classic monsters, templar zombies, dessicated skeletons and good old fashioned spooky shit...along with hot women and bad english dubbing, these movies come dripping with atmosphere and undead thrills and chills.

"Tombs Of The Blind Dead" is the movie I'd recommend to anyone looking to get into Spanish Horror of this period. It has everything there is to love about Spanish horror in the 1970's, and unlike some other films, it executes all of these things extremely well.

The historical context of using the accusations of heresy and witchcraft against the Knights Templar is something that makes for a great and eerie ghost story.

If you think about it, we don't often see horror involving ghostly and ghoulish villains like this anymore. Stories about risen knights or warriors bound by an ancient curse. Or even movies like "John Carpenter's The Fog", which features un-dead revenge seeking pirates. It's a sub-genre of horror that I have a lot of Love for. Our ancestors rising up and returning to reclaim what was once theirs. The fear that even death can't stop the villains or the mistreated of our history.

Sure, "Tombs Of The Blind Dead" probably doesn't scare like it once did, but it's awfully fun and still manages to be nightmarish at moments. Watching these skeletons use their rotten teeth to slowly bite people to death remains disturbing to this day.

If you're looking for something creepy and love grim looking skeletons, this is for you. It's an especially great movie for Halloween night.

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I re-watched Daughters Of Darkness (1971)

Female vampires are definitely a "thing" for me, lol.

A newly married couple face danger in the form of a female vampire and her lesbian lover.

Ah, the lesbian vampire film. The often atmospheric and romanticized sub-genre of horror that was seemingly most popular in the 1970's.

However, it's a sub genre that has long existed, and which still exists today. These films are usually playing off the life of alleged serial killer Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1614) and/or the vampire story "Carmilla" (1872).

Female vampire films go back to the silent era, but the supposed first case of overt lesbianism in these films was in 1936's "Dracula's Daughter". These films tend to be about a female vampire who is attempting to lure an innocent woman away from a male lover, and trying to seduce them into a life of vampirism. A blunt metaphor in many ways of society's view of homosexuals as monstrous, these films play on gay-panic. Of course, there is also a very purposeful tantalizing taboo here. Sex sells, and these films are selling a bit of sex along with the horror.

One can view these lesbian vampires as monsters for being gay, or one can view them as strong yet lonely characters, relegated to the fringes of society for what and who they are. I choose the latter, and find these films rather empowering.

"Daughters Of Darkness" is among my favorite Lesbian Vampire films. It's gorgeously shot, wonderfully acted (especially by Delphine Seyrig playing the vampire version of Elizabeth Bathory), and lovingly directed by Harry Kümel.

If you're in the mood for something a little strange, sexual and atmospheric this Halloween, "Daughters Of Darkness" is definitely one you should check out. Great sets, beautiful locations, sexy characters, vivid colors, vintage musical stings/soundtrack, and plenty of surprises to keep you watching. It's erotic, queer, weird and wonderful.

This film is is a delight to immerse yourself in.

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🎃HALLOWEEN 2024🎃

I watched The Driller Killer (1979)

A film I've never seen by a director I like.

A New York artist starts losing his mind and commits violent murders with a drill.

Abel Ferrara has made several dark films I really enjoy. My favorite being "Bad Lieutenant", with Harvey Keitel.

Ferrara comes from the New York "No Wave" film scene of the 1970's and 80's. A movement of gritty, low budget, arthouse and genre films, which gave us filmmakers like Jim Jarmusch and visual artists like James Nares.

Here, Ferrara plays his own lead in a New York psycho-killer flick. A film which was once considered one of the "Video Nasties".

1970's New York is a city you hear people speak of with nostalgia. A raging Punk scene, high crime, high danger, drugs sex and rock and roll. A haven for starving artists, which is where this story starts. With a dirty starving artist. A New York accented painter complaining about rent money, and the noisy neighbors, and the bums in the street. A guy who is gonna snap.

"The Driller Killer" is clearly Abel Ferrara's youthful anger getting a creative, and amusing outlet. He's making a low budget film, he's bitching about the things he hates, and he's having a laugh while getting to live out daydreams of murder and mayhem. If this film has anything artistic to offer, it's a look into this time and place. It's a film full of youth and rebellion through the eyes of Ferrara and his community.

Beyond that, it is a rather typical grim and low budget gore flick, with hints of a unique filmmaker coming into his own. It's not particularly amazing or well paced, but it manages to capture what I think Ferrara wanted to capture. You feel a bit gross watching it. The music is too loud and makes you feel claustrophobic. The streets are dirty. The characters aren't glammed and glossed up. The blood pours out of people, and a drill is a particularly odd and gruesome implement of serial killing, which adds a bit of quirk.

It's not the best Halloween movie, due to it's tendency to meander, but it's good for some fun kills and for a few rather engaging scenes within. If you've run low on slasher or serial killer flicks, give this one a go for Halloween.

However, if you're interested in the New York "No Wave" scene, you'll get more out of this than the typical horror viewer.

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🎃HALLOWEEN 2024🎃

I watched Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things (1972)

I can't believe I've never sat down and watched this one.

A group of friends are besieged by the dead when they abscond with a corpse.

Director Bob Clark is a filmmaker who has made some very well known films, both horror and otherwise. "Black Christmas", "Deathdream", "Porky's", and "A Christmas Story" are all Bob Clark films. He might not be a household name, but no doubt a film of his has played in your household.

For a movie that waits until the third act to really kick in, I never got bored waiting for the dead to rise. I attribute that to the characters and cast of "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things". They feel modern and familiar. They are a mixed group of 20-somethings, their dialogue often snappy and cute enough to hold our interest. And, when they start arguing amongst themselves, the tension in the room is well handled by the actors, as well as Clark's direction.

Placing young characters like this into a classic spooky graveyard is an easy way to make a horror film, but keeping us interested relies on making us care about what those characters are doing, and I'd say this film pulls it off. They aren't extremely deep characters, but several of them are likeable and believable enough to make them a little better than your typical walking zombie food.

The 60's and 70's definitely had an interest in occult horror. Satan and rituals were totally in, and I have an affinity for the way they went about it in those decades. Occult horror of this time involves bright colors and over the top theatrics. Ghastly ghouls, devil babies and demons.

Because of this "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" is right up my alley. The corpses are dusty and grim looking, there are some truly creepy moments, you feel a bit for the characters, and it doesn't take itself so seriously that you can't enjoy it.

If you like Italian zombie flicks from this era, I'd say this is for you, because it's basically just that, but Canadian.

This one is a Halloween winner for me.

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🎃HALLOWEEN 2024🎃

I re-watched Let's Scare Jessica To Death (1971)

A 70's horror that is probably better known for its title than its story.

Did Jessica leave the mental institution too early? Is she losing her mind? Or, is her new home haunted by a vampiric ghost?

Director John D. Hancock is probably best known for the film "Bang The Drum Slowly" starring Robert Deniro, or possibly for "Weeds" starring Nick Nolte. Here Hancock directs a moody atmospheric horror film, which is considered by some to be an underrated classic...and by others to be a boring piece of trash. I personally lean much more toward the underrated classic side. I have some issues with the film, but they're easily overcome by my deep love for the film as a whole.

When I think of 1970's horror, I think of this movie almost immediately. It's not technically the best, but it is perfectly of it's time. It is an eerie and slow oddball of a film, which I'm deeply fascinated by.

"Let's Scare Jessica To Death" deals with mental illness and the isolation it causes. As someone with mental health issues you can feel outcast and/or coddled by the people in your life. You don't know who to trust, and you're afraid to rely on yourself and your own faculties. What do you do when the world you're trying to rejoin seems terrifying and strange, and the people helping you don't treat you as an equal?

This film contains one of my favorite images ever put on screen in horror. A simple shot of a ghostly vampiric woman walking out of a lake. Actor Mariclare Costello looks enticing and yet truly otherworldly as this vampire. Dangerous and desirable, she is a haunting sight that is hard to beat.

A lot of the film is as haunting as that one shot, in a very effective way. The narration, the whispers, the music, the pacing...it all lends itself to the overall feeling of dread and unease that makes this film work for me. Maybe I'm wrong, but, if you're anything like me ( a horror fan who has lived with mental illness), you should give this one a shot.

"Let's Scare Jessica To Death" is a meandering descent into madness and paranoia, which I can now say with confidence is massively underrated and underappreciated.

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🎃HALLOWEEN 2024🎃

I re-watched Flesh For Frankenstein (1973)

Also known as Andy Warhol's Frankenstein. I assure you this has little to do with Andy Warhol.

Dr. Frankenstein is trying to create a master race.

Last year I talked about the sequel to this film, "Blood For Dracula". I explained how Andy Warhol simply knew director Paul Morrissey and allowed Paul Morrissey to use Warhol's name to help sell these films. I talked about how Morrissey has made a lot of erotic and homoerotic art films, several with actor Joe Dallesandro who appears in this film, alongside well known German actor Udo Kier.

Just thought I'd recap all of that.

Let's run down the good and bad.

The film is pretty good looking. It's well shot, the set decoration is nice, the costumes are spot on. Made for $300,000 in 1973, that's pretty impressive. Morrissey certainly has talent, even if he is skipping some finer details.

The acting on display is a mish-mash of good and bad. Udo Kier is good as always, as are some of the supporting cast like Monique Van Vooren. On the other hand you have Joe Dallesandro and Srdjan Zelenovic, who are just here to look like male models and read words off a page.

The runtime is good, especially because the plot feels a bit all over the place. There doesn't seem to be a main character or narrative. Which could be fine, but it all feels a bit disconnected. Frankenstein is doing his thing, the Baroness is doing her thing and in-between we have landscapers and a couple of kids. People have sex, people have different creepier versions of sex...and this goes on until things just sort of come together.

While I find this movie too slow, and featuring a couple scenes that could be cut, it is strangely engaging. There are some wonderful gore effects throughout, and I got a few unintentional laughs in a couple of scenes.

It's a weird one for sure. I can't tell if it thinks it's better than it is or if it's having a laugh. Maybe a little of both.

Halloween recommended, but only for the art crowd.

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🎃HALLOWEEN 2024🎃

I watched Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope (1975)

I just finished "Faces Of Death" and I need something to make me happy.

A werewolf uses his powers to solve crime

About three minutes in I was already in love with this film. How am I just finding out about it now? It is pure genre film perfection.

Ladies and gentlemen and all the rest of us, introducing a film based on a Japanese Manga, which was based on a Japanese novel...I give you "Wolf Guy"

Starring Japanese film star and icon, Sonny Chiba, "Wolf Guy: Enraged Lycanthrope" is directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, who directed several other Sonny Chiba action films, including the "Sister Street Fighter" series of films.

"Wolf Guy" doesn't feature a ton of werewolf stuff. Werewolves here are more guys with weird hair and wolf-powers, rather than transforming monsters. Also, this is much more an action film with horror elements than a traditional horror. Which is fine by me. The action on display here is awesome. Sonny Chiba is a wicked cool action star, and he kicks ass throughout the film. The violence is also fantastic. Watching dudes get shredded to death by an invisible tiger curse is something to behold.

Add in that the film is pretty well shot and the funky as hell soundtrack and you get a film that should be a better known cult classic.

Sure, Maybe the story is a little hard to follow, and the plot is inconsistent. But, I'd argue that I really don't care with this one. I didn't go in expecting a perfect film. I went in expecting fun and I got it. It's a trippy crime thriller with supernatural elements. It's got bad ass fight sequences and a little sex. It's got plenty of blood to go around as well.

It was cool and confident and everything I want when I sit down to a B-movie.

I grant you that it's not as solid as it could be, and there is a creepy scene where Wolf Guy has sex with a woman while thinking about his mom...but holy fuck did I love watching this movie.