OCTOBER HORROR MOVIE CHALLENGE (10/4)

Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 5
Total Movies Watched: 17
Total First Time Views: 7
Scare-A-Thon Donations: $264.35

Remember, if you would like to make a pledge toward Scare-A-Thon 2015 (benefiting PLANNED PARENTHOOD and GREENHOUSE SHELTER) at any time, drop me an email at drach101@gmail.com to say how much you would like to pledge. Your donation is tax deductible and, seriously, even a penny per film helps.

13.
Rattlers (1976) d. McCauley, John (USA) (1st viewing) 82 min

Being a huge fan of eco-terror/“animals attack” flicks, you can imagine my delight when I glanced at Turner Classic Movies’ TCM Underground schedule and saw this flick listed, since I’d never seen or heard of it. As 3am rolled around, I learned why. After a promising pre-credits sequence where two youngsters are savagely fanged to death, what follows is a super-dull yarn concerning a series of rattlesnake attacks in the California desert. University professor/herpetologist Tom Parkinson (Sam Chew) is called in to help investigate the killings alongside photographer Ann Bradley (Elisabeth Chauvet), ultimately discovering that the slithery ones have been infected by a mysterious nerve gas disposed of by the U.S. military. More Turkey than terror, with only a middling snake-in-a-bathtub scene rescuing it from being a total waste of time. (Tom and Ann’s random trip to Vegas for a little R&R is padding at its most egregious.)

14.
Horror Rises from the Tomb (1973) d. Aured, Carlos (Spain) (3rd viewing) 88 min

Spanish weightlifting star-turned-horror icon Paul Naschy appears as a medieval French warlock beheaded for crimes against humanity (sharing the blade with fetching witch Helga Liné). His modern day descendant Hugo – also played by Naschy – decides to take a double-date holiday (with the lovely Emma Cohen, Cristina Suriani, and frequent co-star Vic Winner) to his family’s countryside Villas de Sade (nice name, that) estate, which just happens to house the tombs of his satanic ancestors. Before long, the warlock’s dislodged noggin is possessing innocents, reviving old flames, barking orders, recruiting zombie servants, and carrying out blood sacrifices as in days of olde. It’s up to our hero to lay his bearded doppelganger to rest and stop the reign of terror. One of Naschy’s best efforts (even the widely available dubbed version is worth watching), entertaining, quick of pace, with ample lashings of gratuitous flesh and blood.

15.
The Editor (2014) d. Brooks, Adam / Kennedy, Matthew (Canada) (1st viewing) 95 min

So, apparently, I’m going to be the one horror guy who doesn’t fall under the spell of the Astron-6 boys’ loving spoof of the giallo subgenre. There’s no denying that they’ve nailed it stylistically speaking, with loads of callbacks and homages to Italian horror cinema, some great splatter moments, and what fan isn’t going to enjoy the naked boobs, buns, and pickles on display? (Thank you, Shelia Campbell and Jasmine Ray.) But the scattershot comedy is often forced and, like many of the films it’s sending up, things feel more than a little interminable. (I must have looked at the clock at least a dozen times. Not a good sign.) Maybe it was the hype or my overt adoration of their previous efforts Father’s Day and Manborg, but I probably won’t be revisiting this one any time soon, despite my admiration for their efforts. Side note: I find Paz de la Huerta simply hideous. How is she a sex symbol? How did she get top billing?

16.
The Sentinel (1977) d. Winner, Michael (USA) (3rd viewing) 92 min

***CLICK HERE FOR FULL BLU-RAY REVIEW***

17.
We Are Still Here (2015) d. Geoghagen, Ted (USA) (1st viewing) 84 min

***CLICK HERE FOR FULL BLU-RAY REVIEW***


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