A Month of Horror, Annoying Autobio, NaNoWriMo, Sister Site, Site Info

The Absence of NaNoWriMo and Other Ponderings

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The NaNoWriMo site died a few years back, which depresses me to no end. A good chunk of my life was spent trying and failing to get a novel out of that event, and the moment I do, the whole thing dies.

I can do that on my own, of course. Thought about doing it this year. Events have conspired against me.

So, being insane, I had a thought.

A year of NaNoWriMos.

More later. Unless I get sense.

In other news, I continue to work on making sure the Sister Site’s reformatting is in top condition.

I worked initially with Grok to get the CSS code to work the way I wanted to up to the point I felt the AI was doing the same thing over and over again and I was too dense to notice. I then quit that to put in the code myself, checking each part to make sure it worked.

Managed to fix a problem Grok seemed unable to do. Which was nice.

I now go through the reviews, making sure everything is in working order. There are also little errors in writing that need fixed, too.

That finished (or maybe sooner) I go back to transferring Month of Horror Reviews into WCR reviews.

And that’s how I be.

A Month of Horror, Annoying Autobio, Sister Site, Site Info

Using the Writer’s Journal… as a Journal?!

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The problem with writing in this blog every day is coming up with things to say for that day. On the one hand, Stream of consciousness writing can’t hurt my real writing. On the other hand, this might be the reason why this journal has never taken off.

Almost wrote “failed”. Twenty odd years effort, no constant audience, that’s a definition of failure. However I firmly believe my writing’s improved doing this, so that dog don’t hunt.

Anyway, the thought is when I don’t have a definite thought, I mention what I did in writing up until I hit send on the post, and in a manner that might interest someone who reads it down the road a piece.

Even if that someone is just me.

Today, I work on the sister site, trying to get some bugs out of the CSS. I’m also going to go through review by review, making sure everything works right and is formatted correctly.

As this is a tedious process, I will also rewrite some of these Month of Horror reviews to more fit the sister site, thus creating a buff and, in theory, make it easier to do long form reviews. I have three done now.

And that’s how I is.

A Month of Horror, Summation

Month of Horror Summation

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Technically one post was late. Technically it wasn’t a completely done streak.

That said, this was the first Month of Horror I finished without missing more than one day. After ten or so years of trying…

That’s pretty sad, actually.

Previous Months of Horror have had Summations every week, but, for good or ill, I didn’t do it this time. Felt kind of good, actually.

But pointless statistics are what we do here! Sometimes.

Top Five Movies of the Month

  1. Scarecrows
  2. Four Flies on Grey Velvet
  3. Evil Things
  4. Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
  5. The Night Walkers

Top Fived Shorts of the Month

  1. The Fall of the House of Usher
  2. The Backwater Gospel
  3. XII
  4. There’s a Man in the Woods
  5. Remain Calm

Bottom Five of the Month

Worst is first.

  1. Face of the Screaming Werewolf
  2. Splatter University
  3. The Lone Piper
  4. Gnomes
  5. House by the Cemetery

Biggest Surprise: Hex After Hex

Though The Boxer’s Omen comes close. This film was a nice kind of weird. Ending disappointed, but not that bad

Biggest Disappointment: Ruby

I wanted that one to work so bad. Maybe if a different kind of director was behind the helm.

Most Disappointing Review: Assignment Terror

What is there to be said. I… I failed.

Most Annoying Character: The Little Boy in Absurd

He

Won’t

Shut

Up.

Characters Who Deserved to Die: The Boyle Family in House By the Cemetery

Seriously.

Movie with the Most William Shatner: Horror at 37000 Feet

Also the only movie with William Shatner.

And that’s one month down. Shall we see two full months… in a row?

Probably not.

A Month of Horror, Monster Movies

Month of Horror (XXXI) – The Cremators

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Hundreds of years ago two alien stones crash landed on Earth and now want to get back together.

This is the final film by Harry Essex, writer of It Came from Outer Space, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and… um… Octaman. Based on the short story The Dune Roller by Julian May, it’s a part of that achingly small subgenre of Monster Movies dealing with a Mama Monster trying to fetch her kids. Or at least that’s what our heroes guess.

In any case, it has one of the neater aliens, a giant rolling ball of fire. On one or two occasions it works quite well.

The film itself wants to be a throwback to the Sci Fi flicks of yore, like the aforementioned It Came From Outer Space and this film’s much better cousin, The Monolith Monsters. It comes close to hitting that mark.

Unfortunately, like Octaman, it’s amateur hour for the blissfully short run time. The rare time the F/X work get run into the ground, the narrative is choppy and near incoherent in places. The lead actress can’t scream worth a damn. And at the very end a giant ball of flame manages to sneak up on two people.

No foolin’. I shouted at the screen when it happened, and I don’t often do that.

Except through places in Absurd, but only because that kid was

Just.

So.

Annoying.

It’s better than Octaman, but do you know what? The 30 second video I made in a parking lot making driving noise behind a steering wheel is better than Octaman.

Still, I might watch this flick again.

Maybe.

A Month of Horror

Month of Horror (XXX) – The Night Walker

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A recently widowed woman begins to have strange dreams involving a mysterious young man… and her dead husband.

An American Giallo directed by the one, the only William Castle. Abetted by a screen play by the LEGENDARY ROBERT BLOCH, this is a decent enough thriller, filled with weird, nightmarish imagery. With great acting, it’s not a bad feature.

It’s just lacking a certain something.

Castle’s a good director, but not a perverse one. Had one of the Italian directors done this, Dario Argento, maybe, or Mario Bava, it could have been a classic.

And to be honest? It plays too many games with the plot.

But it works as a time killer. And probably worth a rewatch or two.

A Month of Horror, Ghost Movies

Month of Horror (XXVII) – Hex After Hex

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A bodybuilder hooks up with a stewardess who happens to be possessed by a ghost. Hijinks ensue.

This is the third film in the Hex series, or whatever it’s called. I’d seen the first movie, plain ole Hex, an enjoyed it, so I went for this one, not knowing there was a movie between the two.

Which might have explained a thing or two.

Not that there’s any clear connection with Hex here in Hex after Hex. The first is a period piece while the second is closer to present day.

The other difference is that the former is a Horror flick and the latter… isn’t.

There’s not a serious bone in it’s body, despite several deaths.

I found it deeply entertaining (same goes for Hex as I recall, but for different reasons.) It’s deeply silly. The end could have used some work, but I have little complaints.

The second in the series, Hex Vs. Witchcraft, is now on the list, but probably not this month.

A Month of Horror, Monster Movies

Month of Horror (XXVI) – The Brain Eaters

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A strange cone appears near the town of Riverdale, Illinois. Wanting to impress Veronica and Betty, Archie Andrews goes to the cone and…

Wait. Not that Riverdale?

Huh.

Actually this is a sneaky adaptation of Robert Heinlein’s The Puppet Masters, And, like Ruby, this is a disappointment. You have alien creatures that hang off the victims neck and not once, not once, do our heroes think to, I dunno, check people’s necks?

Unlike Ruby, though, this film knows what it wants to be. An American International Picture, it’s cheap but well made.

Except for the silly aliens, which we see too much of.

But that said, I enjoyed it, it develops a certain amount of tension despite its flaws. Not bad at all.

A Month of Horror, Ghost Movies

Month of Horror (XXV) – Ruby

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A gun moll and her old friends are visited by an old flame. An old DEAD flame.

Oh, MAN is this a disappointment.

So close.

Might have needed a rewrite or three. Might have needed a better director.

It comes so CLOSE to clicking. The actors are spot on. The story has so much potential.

It’s almost infuriating how BAD it misses things.

The ending WOULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT had the story been better.

ARGH!

I still liked it, but man. MAN! Talk about a misfire.

The Writer Journal (and So Much More!) of Cullen M. M. Waters