FINAL GIRL explores the slasher flicks of the '70s and '80s...and all the other horror movies I feel like talking about, too. This is life on the EDGE, so beware yon spoilers!

Oct 6, 2017

SHOCKtober: 533-512



You know the drill! ONE VOTE EACH! ONE VOTE EACH! GOOBLE GOBBLE ONE VOTE EACH!

533. Freaks -- 1932, Tod Browning
532. From a Whisper to a Scream -- 1987, Jeff Burr
531. From Beyond the Grave -- 1974, Kevin Connor
530. Frozen -- 2010, Adam Green
529. Gargoyles -- 1972, Bill Norton
528. Goodnight Mommy -- 2014, Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz
527. Grabbers -- 2012, Jon Wright
526. Grave Encounters -- 2011, Colin Minihan & Stuart Ortiz
525. Grim Prairie Tales -- 1990, Wayne Coe
524. Habit -- 1995, Larry Fessenden
523. Halloween II -- 2009, Rob Zombie
522. Hands of the Ripper -- 1971, Peter Sasdy
521. Hard Candy -- 2005, David Slade
520. Hatchet -- 2006, Adam Green
519. Häxan -- 1922, Benjamin Christensen
518. He Never Died -- 2015, Jason Krawczyk
517. Hell Night -- 1981, Tom DeSimone
516. Hell of the Living Dead -- 1980, Bruno Mattei & Claudio Fragasso
515. Here Comes the Devil -- 2012, Adrián García Bogliano
514. Horror Hotel -- 1960, John Llewellyn Moxey
513. The Horror of Party Beach -- 1964, Del Tenney
512. Hour of the Wolf -- 1968, Ingmar Bergman


Ooh baby I love Hell Night! One vote only...bah! It's getting a fancy-pants Blu-ray release in December (FINALLY) and I, for one, am ready to get all gorked out.

If I may be so bold, I think one of the greatest things about this kind of SHOCKtober experiment is that we can end up with an Ingmar Bergman film listed next to something called The Horror of Party Beach. We like 'em in all shapes and sizes around these parts, we don't discriminate!

So many of these films I feel like I've reviewed. Gargoyles, From Beyond the Grave...did I only review them in my head? If that's the case, well, it's not my fault you can't read them.

I enjoyed Grave Encounters quite a bit, but as you can see I refused to list the directors as "The Vicious Brothers." Remember when brother duos would bill themselves as brother duos and they were a bit of a thing in horror? Where are the sister duos? Are the Soskas the only ones carrying that torch?

And finally, speaking of "gooble gobble"...here is a sketchcard commission I did approximately 100 years ago that sure was fun to draw.


9 comments:

CashBailey said...

So Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN II has fans, huh?

Stacie Ponder said...

Just the one! ;)

J. Skel LaTour said...

I can rest easy knowing that Haxan is above it in the list. (Hooray alphabet!)

Chris Otto said...

I am "Gargoyles" boy. What a made-for-TV movie! Definitely leaves an impression if you saw it at 8 or 9. Introduced us to Stan Winston costumes. I wish they could just spin off the Bernie Casey, I-love-reading gargoyle -- using the exact same costume -- into his own film series with real writers and directors and co-stars. ... While mostly cheesy, there are a couple scenes that use sound effects and music effectively to give some pretty good chills for TV. And once a month or so, I'll just say "Di-Ann-Ah" in the Bernie Casey voice. They'll put that little fact in my psych-ward file someday, I'm sure, and not know what the hell it MEANS.

Poli said...

Stacie, I would love your on Grabbers. It didn't make my list, but I do consider it a little gem of a horror film.

Stacie Ponder said...

I’d never heard of it before this list but I do love a little gem. I’ll check it out! Thanks!

Zombie Cupcake said...

Stranger Things - The Duffer Brothers. That's the only one I can think of! Whoa they are identical twins, too.

Marc said...

I gotta say I'm loving SCHOCKtober. I'm totally with you on the eclecticness of the lists. Whenever I try to compile a list of 'best' horror movies, or think about my own horror shelf at home, I always used to feel a pang of guilt that I miss off an accepted classic such as The Shining - but I just don't like it that much, and never have. But that's why I love your guideline that these selections should be your favourite - and not necessarily the 'best', or whatever is widely considered a classic. I take the same approach to my shelf at home now, and it makes for a much more interesting selection! Sure, most of what I consider my favourites would likely be on most people's lists too (and are accepted classics), but the stuff that isn't is what makes it fun! And SHOCKtober is that, er... personified.

Stacie Ponder said...

YES! So nicely put, Marc. It definitely feels strange to list something that's "garbage" while purposefully leaving off a classic, but for me it basically comes down to "which do I enjoy watching more?" I mean, how else can you compare, say, SLUGS and THE EXORCIST?

You'd think a list of 20 titles would be easy to make, but it's tough. I breeze through 15 or so "definites" but then I have only five slots with 15 more contenders...

And I gotta say, it's really interesting to see patterns in the lists. It looks eclectic in the final postings, but with many, MANY of the individual lists you can really glean someone's tastes. It'll be nearly all Universal-era, slashers, horror-comedy, or what have you. Viva SHOCKtober!