October Horror Movie Challenge: The Final Results

Okay, so I had a pretty bad showing this past month compared to the past couple of years. But I have my excuses. Lots of hockey was to be seen, the Yankees are having a great playoff run and I took four days out of October to head to Austin, TX for a college journalism and media conference. All pretty worthy reasons for not watching horror films. I finished with only 21, a total that ranks as fourth in the five years I've taken part in the contest. Here's the last stretch of films watched and a mini review to go along with.

October 21st
15. Paranormal Activity (2007)*
October 22nd
16. Night of the Creeps (1986)*
17. Ghostwatch (1992)*
October 23rd
18. Shock (1977)*
19. From a Whisper to a Scream (1987)*
20. Theater of Blood (1973)*
October 24th
21. Basket Case (1982)*

Paranormal Activity: If you already read my review on this film, you'll know I absolutely loved it. If you haven't, maybe you should, because I said more about it there than I can say here. Highly recommended.

Night of the Creeps: This is the ultimate 1980's campy horror film. I was lucky enough to have DVD Pacific get me my copy of the film's long-awaited DVD release early. It was a blind buy, so in turn my first viewing. And WOW, was I blown away. What a classic. Highly recommended.

Ghostwatch: BBC put this fake ghost hunter broadcast on back in the 90's and scared the crap out of some viewers. Played like a real ghost hunting newscast, the faux documentary used some of the same tactics Paranormal Activity used. It's a very effective piece of entertainment. Recommended.

Shock: The great artist Mario Bava's last film. This isn't the best results from the master, but it's still much better than some artist's best. It's a neat and chilling story, with a memorable child performance. Recommended to fans of Bava.

From a Whisper to a Scream: Vincent Price acted as the mood setter in this horror anthology film. The stories here are all so different, all so grim and all so entertaining. One of the good ignored horror films of the last 25 years. Recommended.

Theater of Blood: Staying with Vincent Price, I went straight for this film. Price plays a Shakespearean actor who exacts revenge on critics who gave him negative reviews over the years. The catch is, Price's character does so by killing them based on Shakespeare's plays. A dark but humorous film with a classic performance from Price. Highly recommended as I found it to be such an enjoyable and unique film.

Basket Case: Inside that brown basket is not a picnic lunch. It's a fucking malformed monster-like creature that'll fucking kill you. And it's so fun to watch. This is one of the essential b-movies of the 1980's. Check it out. Recommended.

So 21 films, and mostly all of them were new viewings. I had no time for my favorite horror classics this month. Sorry Suspiria, Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Bay of Blood.