Six Weeks of Halloween: 2004

Six Weeks of Halloween
2004

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Six Weekends of Movies: September 24th October 1st October 8th October 15th October 22nd October 31st

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The Plan

Halloween, being just one twenty-four-hour period falling on October thirty-first, is just too damned short. I've decided to celebrate Halloween for six weeks.

On a Friday, Saturday or, possibly, Sunday of each of the weekends listed above, I'm going to watch 3 or 4 horror movies. I will also eat candy and drink beer.

Anyone who comes to partake in the festivities can vote on what to watch, choosing from one of the categories below (more categories to come, maybe).

The actual day of Halloween is the exception. On that day, I will more than likely be watching movies the entire day, choosing whatever I feel like watching.

In addition, I will be continuing my 6-year-long tradition of watching John Carpenter's Halloween on the day of Halloween. This will be a part of my John Carpenter Chronocinethon, so prior to October 31st I will need to watch Dark Star, Assault on Precinct 13 and Someone's Watching Me! This is why there are no Carpenter flicks on the list below.

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1920s | 1930s | 1960s | Ghosts | High Melanin Anti-Heroes | In Space | Italian | Stephen King | Michael Moriarty | Rape-Revenge | Redneck | Robot | Satan | Serial Killers | Slashers Part Two | Splatter | Troma Unwatched | Vampires | Watched

The 3 movies with images are my first choices to watch, but any of them can be swapped for an alternate. Italics means I don't own the movie yet, but it's on the way.

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1920s

• The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
• The Golem (1920)
• Nosferatu (1922)
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
• Waxworks (1924)

1930s

• The Mummy (1932)
• The Invisible Man (1933)
• The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
• Dracula (1931)
• Dracula (Spanish) (1931)
• Frankenstein (1931)
• M (1931)
• White Zombie (1932)

1960s

• Psycho (1960)
• Carnival of Souls (1960)
• Dementia 13 (1963)
• The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1960)
• Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
• Bloodlust! (1961)
• Eegah (1962)
• Blood Feast (1963)
• The Crawling Hand (1963)
• The Terror (1963)
• X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes (1963)
• The Creeping Terror (1964)
• Two Thousand Maniacs (1964)
• Color Me Blood Red (1965)
• Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Ghosts

• Poltergeist (1982)
• Poltergeist II (1986)
• Poltergeist III (1988)
• House (1985)
• House II: The Second Story (1987)
• The Sixth Sense (1999)
• The Eye (2002)

High Melanin Anti-Heroes

• Blacula (1972)
• Candyman (1992)
• Blade II (2002)
• Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995)
• Blade (1998)
• Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999)

In Space

• Alien (1979)
• Leprechaun 4: In Space (1996)
• Event Horizon (1997)
• Aliens (1986)
• Alien³ (1992)
• Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996)
• Alien Resurrection (1997)
• Jason X (2002)

Italian

• Suspiria (1977)
• Zombi 2 (1979)
• House by the Cemetery (1981)
• Manhattan Baby (1982)
• The New York Ripper (1982)
• The Stendhal Syndrome (1996)

Stephen King

• Carrie (1976)
• Cat's Eye (1985)
• Maximum Overdrive (1986)
• Salem's Lot (1979)
• The Shining (1980)
• Creepshow (1982)
• Creepshow 2 (1987)
• The Running Man (1987)
• IT (1990)
• Sleepwalkers (1992)

Michael Moriarty

• Q: The Winged Serpent (1982)
• The Stuff (1985)
• Troll (1986)

Rape-Revenge

• The Last House on the Left (1972)
• Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1974)
• I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
• Deliverance (1972)
• Mother's Day (1980)
• Baise-Moi (2000)

Redneck

• Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)
• The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
• Redneck Zombies (1987)
• Deliverance (1972)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
• Mother's Day (1980)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
• Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)
• The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1994)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation (1997)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

Robot

• Westworld (1973)
• The Terminator (1984)
• Robocop (1987)
• The Stepford Wives (1974)
• Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

Satan

• The Exorcist (1973)
• The Omen (1976)
• Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)
• Damien: Omen II (1978)
• Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)
• The Exorcist III (1990)
• Omen IV: The Awakening (1991)
• The Prophecy (1995)
• Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
• Faust: Love of the Damned (2001)

Serial Killer

• Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
• Se7en (1995)
• American Psycho (2000)
• M (1931)
• Psycho (1960)
• Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)
• Maniac (1980)
• The New York Ripper (1982)
• The Hitcher (1984)
• Silence of the Lambs (1990)
• The Stendhal Syndrome (1996)

Slasher Part Twos

• Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (1985)
• Slumber Party Massacre (1987)
• Halloween II (1981)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
• Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers (1988)
• Sorority House Massacre II (1992)
• Leprechaun 2 (1993)
• Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995)
• Scream 2 (1997)
• The Dentist 2 (1998)
• Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999)

Splatter

• Street Trash (1986)
• Evil Dead II (1987)
• Dead-Alive (1992)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
• Redneck Zombies (1987)
• Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

Troma Unwatched

• Rabid Grannies (1989)
• Killer Condom (1996)
• Unspeakable (2000)
• The Stendhal Syndrome (1996)

Vampires

• Vampire Hunter D (1985)
• The Lost Boys (1987)
• Interview with the Vampire (1994)
• Nosferatu (1922)
• Dracula (1931)
• Dracula (Spanish) (1931)
• Vampyros Lesbos (1970)
• Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)
• Blacula (1972)
• Rabid (1976)
• Salem's Lot (1979)
• Near Dark (1987)
• Daughter of Darkness (1990)
• Sleepwalkers (1992)
• From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
• Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood (1996)
• Blade (1998)
• From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999)
• From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter (2000)
• Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
• Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2001)
• Blade II (2002)

Watched

• Week 1: Stephen King
• Week 2: Serial Killers
• Week 3: Splatter
• Week 4: Redneck
• Week 5: Slasher Part Twos
• Week 6: My Choice

Cronenberg (1999-2002)

1999 - eXistenZ - Virtual reality infused with a dose of Cronenbergian surrealism -- that's the future of gaming I want to see. A human teeth-shooting gun made from the amalgamated bones of mutant amphibians taken from a dinner special in a restaurant is just about the coolest idea ever. The movie makes much more sense to me now that I've read a bit on existentialism.

2000 - Camera - Cute commentary on aging in the movie biz. From the eyes of an old actor, the energetic crew on a set must, indeed, look like children. Apparently, Cronenberg worries about aging these days.

2002 - Spider - Very, very subtle. Typically, a movie like this would be an energetic mind-screwer, bouncing from one point of view to another. Instead, it took me a beat to notice when Mrs. Wilkinson changed into Spider's mother, and a very long time to notice that his mother and the tart were played by the same actress. An incredibly interesting portrayal of schizophrenia from Cronenberg and Fiennes.

That's it! All finished. I'm now positive that Cronenberg is my all-time favorite director. I can definitely see a progression in his skill at his craft over the years. I'll be very interested to see what he does with A History of Violence. The comic was a good read, but I cannot imagine it as a Cronenberg movie. I wonder how his personality will shine through?

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Cronenberg (1993-1996)

1993 - M. Butterfly - I'm not sure if this was an attempt to capture that ole Dead Ringers magic, but this film wasn't up to snuff. There are some interesting ideas in the movie concerning relationships worth pondering. And, I enjoyed the laying of reversals at the end of the film, but the journey there was uneven.

1996 - Crash - Going through the transformative process of a violent auto accident makes people with piercings and tattoos look like giant pussies. Cronenberg is at the top of his game again; he imbues even a minor piece of auto-culture like picking idly at a windshield sticker with brewing sexuality.

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Cronenberg (addendum)

1989 - The Fly II (directed by Chris Walas) - Man, what an awful film. It was on the flip side of The Fly DVD, so I decided to watch it. It adds absolutely nothing to the first film, and spends most of its time treading over ground already covered. The last 20 minutes are nothing more than a boring Alien / Jason Vorhees riff in which people hunt the monster and the monster kills the people.

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Cronenberg (1988-1991)

1988 - Dead Ringers - Maybe the most subtle of Cronenberg's film. Beverly is actually the stronger of the two after all. It is he who finally attempts to free himself of the "Mantle Brothers" mono-identity by latching onto Claire. Despite his addiction problem, it nearly works out when Claire returns, only for the weaker Elliot to take them both down by becoming an addict himself.

1990 - The Scales of Justice: "Regina vs Logan" - Boring and amateurish. Shockingly bad entry in the Cronenberg oeuvre. I can only hope this was made while he was distracted by his acting duties in Nightbreed. [Thanks to snoother for these two episodes.]

1990 - The Scales of Justice: "Regina vs Horvath" - Much improved over the first episode. The lighting and framing of the shots is much better this time. This story of "true Canadian crime" is more interesting due to a matricidal, deranged teenager and some philosophical discussion on hypnosis used in interrogation.

1991 - Naked Lunch - Stylish and surreal. The deeply buried story seems to me to be of a man coming to terms with his homosexuality while his friends allow him to wallow in addiction so he'll finish his novel. The repetition in Lee's hallucinations are fun to look and listen for: centipedes, "ambivalence," etc.

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Cronenberg (1983-1987)

1983 - The Dead Zone – Stephen King's personality nearly overpowers Cronenberg's in this film. Still, Cronenberg shines with the brilliant casting of Christopher Walken and the eliciting of some damn-fine subtle performances. I never noticed before that Johnny was intended as a Christ-figure, but it's incredibly blatant during the climax.

1986 - The Fly – Some criticize this film as "too commercial." Whatever its popularity at the box office, this is a classic Cronenberg movie concerned with flesh, machines, and their interactions in the future of human development. This also has to be one of the gorier movies ever released by a major Hollywood studio.

1987 - Friday the 13th: The Series: "Faith Healer" – Investigating the disease theme once again, this is a rare Cronenberg story in which the corruptive force is magic, rather than science/technology/biology. I was pleased to see Cronenberg regular Robert A. Silverman in a starring role. It was great to see the focus on the guest stars instead of the main characters; I could almost feel Cronenberg's boredom when we were forced to check in with youngsters Micki and Ryan for the sake of the series.

(comment in the main post)