The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Hulu) is a 1975 musical comedy horror film starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and Barry Bostwick. If you haven't seen this one, why not? It's a must-see. If you have seen it, isn't it past time to watch it again? Absolutely hilarious! And Tim Curry shouldn't be missed. Seriously, if you see Tim Curry's name attached to it, watch it.

trailer:

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Please join me (I'm having a cup of Suisse Mocha) at the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering.

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Yesterday we were down to one redbud leaf:

Werewolves Within

Werewolves Within (Hulu) is a 2021 American mystery comedy horror film about a group of people in a small Vermont town who get trapped in a snowstorm only to suspect one of them is a werewolf. This was fun.

trailer:

Reviews were mostly positive. Roger Ebert's website has a positive review that closes by saying, "Consider this an endorsement of “Werewolves Within,” but also the good heart that's clearly behind it." The Guardian says, "The ensemble ratchets up the hysteria with surgical comic skill, orchestrated superbly by Josh Ruben’s sharp direction." Variety also has a positive review.

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The light rain continues, and yesterday we were down to three leaves on the redbud tree.

Enys Men

Enys Men (Hulu) is a 2022 British experimental folk horror film set in 1973 where a woman on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast serves as a wildlife volunteer documenting daily observations of a rare flower. It got mostly positive reviews. Count me on the nay side. That's an hour and a half I'll never get back. On the bright side, I did remember this one... trailer:

Roger Ebert's website gave it a positive review, saying, "I was riveted by every moment of this haunting weird film. "Enys Men" made me legitimately uneasy." The Guardian also has a positive review, describing it as "a supremely disquieting study of solitude". Rolling Stone praises it as a cult classic.

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I brought in the last of the plants that don't winter outside.

The Meg

The Meg (Max) is a 2018 science fiction action film, a monster movie of sorts so a horror movie by our definition. It is about a group of scientists that encounter a 75-foot-long megalodon shark while on a rescue mission on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. It stars Jason Statham, which is reason enough to watch a movie. Reviews were mixed, but I liked it.

trailer:

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It rained night before last. We needed the rain, but we did lose a lot of the redbud leaves.

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (2023)

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (on Netflix) is a comedy horror zombie film, a live adaptation of the manga series. Great fun!

trailer:

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After.Life

After.Life (free on Tubi) is a 2009 American psychological horror-thriller film starring Liam Neeson and Christina Ricci. This is a fine extra horror movie if you've seen all the greats, but I wouldn't recommend it on a list of must-watch horror.

trailer:

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Someone gave me a potted plant, and when I moved it this week some of it had escaped the pot.

The Fog (1980)

The Fog (free on Freevee via Amazon Prime and free on Pluto and Tubi) is a 1980 American supernatural horror film directed by John Carpenter and starring Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Janet Leigh and Hal Holbrook. It tells the story of a strange, glowing fog that sweeps over a small coastal town in Northern California, bringing with it the vengeful ghosts of leprous mariners who were killed in a shipwreck there a century before. The film has a cult following and deservedly so. Look at the talent involved!

trailer:

Most reviews are positive.

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The redbud tree color turns more golden every day.

The Lamb (2021)

The Lamb is a 2021 folk horror film, an international co-production between Iceland, Sweden, and Poland. The film stars Noomi Rapace. This is a fascinating tale with a lot of atmosphere. It is well-reviewed. I'd recommend it, especially for folks who lean away from the action movie-style of horror or movies with any gore.

trailer:

Roger Ebert's website praises the "fierce sense of originality you won’t be able to shake". The Guardian concludes, "We are not supposed to be scared. What is required of us is compassion and respect for Maria’s strange dignity and strength. It’s a great performance from Rapace." Rolling Stone calls it "the Sweetest, Most Touching Horror-Movie Nightmare You’ve Ever Seen".

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Join me at the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering?

The Offering (2023)

The Offering (on Hulu) is a 2023 horror film based on the Jewish folktale of the demon Abyzou.

trailer:

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The Husband gave me a mealworm feeder for my birthday earlier this month. It is meant to attract wrens and other tiny birds but have holes too small for sparrows. We shall see.

Caltiki: The Immortal Monster

Caltiki: The Immortal Monster (free on Tubi) is a 1959 science fiction-horror film with similarities to The Blob that was released in the previous year. The film's storyline concerns a team of archaeologists investigating Mayan ruins, who come across a creature that is a shapeless, amorphous blob. Mario Bava is reported to have been the uncredited director in completing the film.

via Daily Motion:

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The redbud tree is coloring up nicely.

Clive Barker's The Plague

Clive Barker's The Plague (on Hulu, free on Tubi) is a 2006 horror film. It's good enough and worth watching once if you're looking for October/Halloween fare. Plot from Wikipedia:

In 1983, one day all of the world's children under the age of nine simultaneously fall into a catatonic state. For the next ten years, every child who is born, is born in a state of catatonia. During this state, the children experience seizures twice a day which develops and maintains muscle mass.

In 1993, all the children wake up in zombie-like state, unrelentingly pursuing, attacking and murdering all adults.

trailer:

A Classic Horror Story (2021)

A Classic Horror Story is a 2021 Italian horror movie. It helps if you are familiar with horror movie tropes, as this movie makes full use of them. I watched it on Netflix.

trailer:

According to Wikipedia, The New York Times named A Classic Horror Story one of the top five horror films to watch in streaming in 2021.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (free on Pluto) is a 1991 Japanese kaiju film, the 18th film in the Godzilla franchise and the third film in the franchise's Heisei period. It was criticized at the time of its release for its pro-Japanese/anti-American nationalism. It's not considered one of the high points in the franchise. We watch them all. If you haven't seen earlier films start with the original 1954 Godzilla movie.

trailer (in Japanese with English subtitles):

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla

Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (free on Pluto and on YouTube) ia a 2002 Japanese kaiju film, the 27th film in the Godzilla franchise and the 4th film in the franchise's Millennium period. This reboot ignores the events of every installment in the Godzilla film series aside from the original 1954 Godzilla. It got generally positive reviews. We like monster movies of the Godzilla/King Kong type and watch them when we come across them.

trailer:

Working Man and My Castle's Rocking

Working Man and My Castle's Rocking:

by Memphis-born Alberta Hunter, who died on this date in 1984. This video is from a 1977 appearance on the Mike Douglas Show.

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Please post something drink-related and join us over at the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering.

We Have a Ghost

We Have a Ghost (on Netflix) is a 2023 supernatural horror comedy film about a family that moves into an old house and then they find out it's haunted by "Ernest". This is an enjoyable seasonal flick. A comedy, but it's also a touching film about a sweet family.

trailer:

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From Hell (2001)

From Hell (on Max) is a 2001 period detective horror film loosely based on the graphic novel of the same name about the Jack the Ripper murders. I was drawn in my the actors associated with it: Johnny Depp, Robbie Coltrane, Ian McNeice, Ian Holm, and Ian Richardson. It's pretty standard fare as far as Jack the Ripper stories go, but those actors should not be missed.

trailer:

Depraved (2019)

Depraved (on Tubi) is a 2019 horror film inspired by the Frankenstein's monster story. To be honest I watched this a while back, saving a spot for it on this date on my blog. Sadly I do not remember this movie even after having watched the trailer and read the plot description on Wikipedia. It was well-reviewed and seems distinctive, so it's odd I don't find anything at all memorable about it. Hmmm...

trailer:

Poltergeist (1982)

Poltergeist is a 1982 award-winning horror film directed by Tobe Hooper. It is an acknowledged horror classic and would be a good one to watch if you want to see the more important films in horror history. I watched it on HBO Max.

trailer:

1000 Misspent Hours says,

Poltergeist is still one of the stronger haunted house films of the 1980’s. What I appreciate most about it is that the nature of the Freelings’ paranormal persecution is never conclusively explained. Several characters have their pet theories ... but all of these hypotheses have troubling blind spots, and are unable to account for at least one major aspect of the haunting. That reticence on the filmmakers’ parts permits Poltergeist to play as broad a field of supernatural manifestations as possible without suffering from the sort of logical inconsistencies that helped scupper [other such films].

Moria says,

Poltergeist is a film that often plays on childhood fears and its most effective parts are early on when it ventures into these – the gnarled proto-human tree in the backyard, thunderstorms, the shadows in the half-open closet, the clown that becomes a grinning monster in the dark, the thing under the bed. It delves into the dark side of the cosy child-like sentimentalism of Steven Spielberg.

Roger Ebert says,

"Poltergeist" is an effective thriller, not so much because of the special effects, as because Hooper and Spielberg have tried to see the movie's strange events through the eyes of the family members, instead of just standing back and letting the special effects overwhelm the cast along with the audience.

Filmsite calls it "memorable" and says, "This classic 'haunted house ghost story' is fascinating to watch, with its extraordinary special effects". Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 88%.

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This photo from 2 years ago shows how tall my wild sunflowers get when I don't cut them back during the summer:

Schizoid

Schizoid is a 1980 film I watched because it stars Klaus Kinski. I am surprised at how tame and bloodless this is since it's classed as a slasher film. I watched it on Amazon Prime.

trailer:

1000 Misspent Hours closes with this:

As one of the rare attempts by Hollywood (here represented by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus) to make a thriller on the giallo model, Schizoid is certainly worth a look, and for fans of Klaus Kinski, it is an absolute must-see. Otherwise, its appeal is decidedly of the “morbid fascination of failure” variety.

Horror News has a mixed review.

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The redbud tree leaves are beginning to turn.