Category Archives: A Month of Horror

A Month of Horror, Monster Movies, Short Film, Summation

[A MONTH OF HORROR – VII] Francis and a Summation of the First Week

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A girl rows out to the middle of the wrong lake.

Thought I watched this for a Month of Horror. The second one, in fact. As that’s in the archives and not easily gotten to, I’m reprinting what I said here about the short:

So I’m looking for an animated Horror short to watch on YouTube. This one looked interesting to me for whatever reason, and I clicked on it. As it loaded up, I thought I’d look for another one after I was done here. A cartoon about a young woman going to the center of a lake, where something knocks at the bottom of her boat. Thought it was called Knock, Knock.

It wasn’t. It was called Francis.

Well I thought it was a funny coincidence.

That out of the way, this is a nice little feature, with only one or two missteps along the way. These are Cullen Carps, though, and we can ignore them safely.

(Well, no, let’s hit one: we see the underside of the boat when the knocker should be there and see nothing. Shouldn’t have done that.)

Everything else, though, works. It’s narrated, and the narrator does a hell of a job selling the story. Even without the animation, just listening to it, you’d have a nice chill going for you.

No points given in that golden oldie. So here’s what I thought about tonight’s viewing:

4 out of 4

Summation of Week One

This is what was watched:

  • House on Haunted Hill (1959)
  • The White Reindeer (1952)
  • House on Eden (2025)
  • Suspiria (1977)
  • The Vampire (1957)
  • Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory (1961)
  • Francis [SHORT] (2013)

Best Movie of the Week

This was a great week for Horror, with only one stumbling block out of the bunch. I’m going to give the nod to Suspiria, as that never fails to delight me. Honestly, though? It could easy be a six way tie as far as I’m concerned here and now.

Worst Movie of the Week

Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory. Hands down. Not a chill to be found. The Vampire is a better werewolf movie.

Unintended Themes 

Three werewolf movies and three movies out of the Fifties. I don’t care, just noting something interesting

Biggest Surprise

 House on Haunted Hill. That one was creepy, and I’d seen it before. Most interesting.

Newest Film Watched

House on Eden at 2025.

Oldest Film Watched

The White Reindeer at 1952.

Best Monster Flick

Francis.

One week down, three more to go!

A Month of Horror, Monster Movies

[A MONTH OF HORROR – VI] Werewolf in a Girls’ Dormitory

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A werewolf stalks around a girl’s dormitory

The title makes it sound more interesting than it is. It’s dubbed, so I couldn’t tell about the acting. The story… meanders. The werewolf looks awful.

It’s a movie I’ve seen. Though I kind of liked it…

God, my taste is horrible.

I’ve been using AI for the headers in this series. The above one? Not only is it scarier than the flick in question, it doesn’t even remotely look like the werewolf in this picture.

2.5 out of 4

A Month of Horror, Monster Movies

[A MONTH OF HORROR – V] The Vampire

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Taking the wrong pill changes a small town doctor.

I picked this because of its short run time. I got plenty of bonuses to go with it.

First off, this stars Kenneth Tobey, star of The Thing from Another World. He brings a lot to a flick, and this one is no exception. Though, frankly, he’s underused.

Then there was the movie itself. I’d avoided it for years because it’s more Sci Fi than Horror. That was a mistake. This is a entertain film, well made, if questionable in its science (which, thankfully, it doesn’t go into much.) The protagonist (not Tobey) probably should have acted sooner in handling the matter, but I’ll let that slide.

I’ll also let the FX slide. They ain’t primo, just enough to get the job done. But I’ve seen worse.

All in all, I had fun with this one.

Amusingly enough, this is about as much a Werewolf flick as a Vampire one.

3 out of 4

A Month of Horror

[A MONTH OF HORROR – IV] Suspiria (1977)

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A young woman picks the wrong school to learn dancing from.

I watched this one for an earlier Month of Horror, and what I said there remains true.

While I try not to repeat movies, I honestly don’t care if I do. This one felt right, you know? And it had been a while.

I noticed something this time that I hadn’t realized before. This flick moves. It wastes so little time. It builds its moments up nicely.

I will say, though, that I feel Deep Red is the better film, and probably Argento’s best flick

Still 4 out of 4

A Month of Horror, Monster Movies

[A Month of Horror – II] The White Reindeer

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A herder’s wife transforms into a white reindeer that leads hunters to their doom.

This is a 1952 Finnish Horror flick that frankly makes no sense to me. This young woman seems happily married to a reindeer herder. One day, though, while her husband is away, she heads off to a local wizard. She wants him to make her a love potion that makes her irresistible to men. What happens instead is she periodically transforms into a white reindeer, then leads men off to their doom.

Why she wants this potion is never explained. Why she now transforms into a reindeer is never explained.

You’d think she’d kill the men as a reindeer. Not the case. Instead, she changes into her real form, only with vampire teeth. Which is not explained.

I dunno. Maybe it’s a cultural thing I’m not getting.

What I am getting is a creepy vibe from the proceedings. There’s a expressionistic silent movie vibe to the proceedings. Long shots of empty snowy wilderness. Not a lot of talking–this film made me realize how chatty American movies are.

There’s no special effects to speak of. The murders all take place off screen. This is only noted in passing, and not a note passing judgment.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. Not a bad little flick. I rather liked it.

3 out of 4

A Month of Horror, Ghost Movies

[MoH] House on Haunted Hill

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A millionaire holds a party at a haunted house.

I was feeling guilty about starting late this year only to find out I didn’t even finish last year. The tradition has already been blown.

So we start again, shall we?

Tonight’s feature is the classic William Castle flick House on Haunted Hill. I’ve seen this I don’t know how many times. The acting is good, with Vincent Price in fine form. The script… makes no damn sense if you think about it and the end really, really doesn’t make sense. A rewrite here and there might have helped.

And yet tonight, for the first time, this film unnerved me in a way Horror films should. How it did this, I don’t know. Maybe credit Castle for that. He was most known for his showmanship, but he really could direct.

All in all worth my time any yours. If you can ignore the problems with the plot.

And the ending.

3 out of 4

A Month of Horror, Ghost Movies, Sister Site

A Month of Horror (III): Portal

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[The Feature Image above is AI generated and has only the barest connections with reality. And is in fact scarier than this film.]

In brief, a team of ghost hunters enter the wrong haunted house and do the wrong things.

Its been said before that the hardest thing to review is a mediocre flick. You can rave about a great flick, you can rant about a bad one. The mediocre, though… you got nothing.

Portal‘s a little worse than that.

There’s nothing wrong with the acting, only it’s not really good. There’s nothing wrong with the story, except it feels like it could have used another draft. There’s nothing wrong with the directing, except there’s no scares. No fission.

The movie is okay. Like I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, it’s very much in it’s subgenre. The night footage is achieved with a bright light shining into the house through windows. The special effects work… ish.

It takes a while to get to the haunted house, but it’s not boring. It’s not anything. It just is.

I’m not sure I dislike it, but I can’t justify liking it.

There are short films so much better than this. Maybe it would have worked better as a found footage flick.

Dunno. Dunno, dunno, dunno.

I feel kind of bad with this review. The filmmakers tried. Hopeful the next try is better than this.

And yet, despite all that, not sorry I watched the film.

Makes no damn sense. But using the two score system of the sister site, this is two mehs (1.0 point each) for a total of 2.0 points.

A Month of Horror

A Month of Horror (II): I Was a Teenage Frankenstein

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[The Feature Image above is AI generated and has only the barest connections with reality.]

You’ve seen this movie. You might not have actually sat down and watched the film, but if you have any familiarity with Mad Scientist Flicks or Frankenstein, you know the beats.

You have the Scientist with the outrageous theory. You have his assistant, who is most reluctant. You have the monster, who naturally goes on a killing spree. And so on and so forth.

I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, for better or worse, is just another Monster movie. Nevertheless, it’s well acted, has a decent plot, and one or two surprises during the run time. The ending, sad to say, is rather lackluster. And goes from black-and-white to color.

For some reason.

Compare this to a little feature released the same year called Curse of Frankenstein. It has the exact same three elements, hits the beats you more or less expect. It could have been just another Mad Scientist flick. And yet through better writing, direction… well, everything about it works so much better.

There the film makers cared. Here? Not so much.

So, this is a meh flick (1.0 points.) I don’t care that much about it one way or the other (1.0 points). Add that together gets us a score of 2.0. Not a bad way to kill an hour or so, but no better than that.

A Month of Horror

A Month of Horror (I): The Phantom of the Opera (1925)

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[The Feature Image above is AI generated and has only the barest connections with reality.]

Well if there’s one thing to guarantee me to post, it’s this month.

I start this month of Horror with the Horror Classic Phantom of the Opera. Despite owning a copy of this film for years, I’ve never watched it from beginning to end. I’m not quite certain why. Lord knows I’ve watched my fair share of silent films. Perhaps the soundtrack accompanying this flick helped.

In any case I managed to finish it. I’m going against conventional thought and saying I like the Claude Rains version better. I like the humor in the story and the characters better. Weird statement from a Horror Guy, I know, but there it is.

That said, this is a damn fine flick. Damn fine.

Except for maybe Lon Chaney the film is overacted in the typical Silent movie way. Early in the film we have a flock of dancers who tend to do twirls for no clear reason at all, save, perhaps to remind people of what role they have. There’s also a lot of leaning away in horror, theatrical gestures, and the like.

To go back to Chaney, he’s the best part of the picture, as he usually was. Whether behind a creepy mask or in his staggering face make up, his presence grabs you by the lapels and shakes you. Which was impressive to me, as I was wearing a t-shirt when watching the flick.

As a Horror Guy, I’m fairly familiar with The Phantom of the Opera, having watched the later films. The Claude Rains version, the Hammer version, and so on. With those memories in mind, I had a fair idea of where things were going. Despite this I was delightful tense throughout, a sign that this is a very well made flick.

Then again, there are differences from this film and the others. For instance, the chandler scene. I seem to recall it always at the end. Here it’s the Phantom’s first act of terror.

Then there’s the Phantom himself. In the later films he tends to be more sympathetic. Here he’s damn evil.

All in all, this is a Horror classic. Even at a hundred (well almost), it still packs a punch. Worth seeking out.

In the rating system of the sister site, Great flick for 2.0 points. Liked it a lot, which adds on 1.5 points for a total of 3.5 points.

(Claude Rains, for the curious, is 3.0 points. A good flick, but not a classic one.)

A Month of Horror, Lists, Summation

[MONTH OF HORROR] Trick or Treat and a Summation of the Month

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Wow. A whole month, with only one sick day and one skipped day. More importantly, a review every day, plus extra.

A Welltun Cares Presents first!

The final feature of the month was Trick or Treat, which tells you absolutely nothing as there’s a bunch by this title. This particular one is a sort of Carrie clone, as a picked upon teenager uses the evil spirit of his Heavy Metal hero to get revenge upon those who wronged him. Very Eighties, very fun. One of my favorites and frankly the best way to end this series.

And now an overview of what I’ve watched. The dates are when the movies pop up as Sister Site reviews. The asterisks (*) are the ones with Long Reviews. This might change without notice.

Here’s the list:

Week One

  • As Above, So Below (10/13/23)
  • Demons (10/27/23)
  • Demons 2 (11/10/23)
  • Man Made Monster* (11/24/23)
  • The Comedy of Terror (12/1/23)
  • The Church (12/8/23)
  • The Curse of the Doll People (12/15/23)

Week Two

  • Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes [12-22-23]
  • V/H/S/99 [12-29-23]
  • V/H/S/85 [01-05-24]
  • The House of Seven Corpses [01-12-24]
  • Evil Dead Trap [01-19-24]
  • One Dark Night [01-26-24]
  • The Other Side of the Box [Short Film]
  • The Chair [Short Film]
  • Stalled [Short Film]
  • Friday the 13th* [02-09-24]
  • The Conference [02-02-24]

Week Three

  • Killdozer! [02/16/24]
  • Phantasm [02/23/24]
  • The Bridge Curse [02/29/24]
  • Ghoulies II [03/08/24]
  • The Cat and the Canary [03/15/24]
  • Kiss of the Vampire [03/22/24]

Week Four

  • The Breach [03/29/24]
  • Schlock [04/05/24]
  • Noroi: The Curse [04/12/24]
  • Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell [04/19/24]
  • Hospital [04/26/24]
  • Prince of Darkness [05/03/24]
  • When Evil Lurks [05/10/24]
  • The Barn [05/17/24]

Week 5

  • V/H/S Viral [05/24/24]
  • Dementia 13 [05/31/24]
  • Trick or Treat [06/07/24]

Next is the obligatory pointless Awards for the week. I’m going to mix it up a little and do top 5 lists instead of the usual way of doing things.

Favored Five

These are the five films I liked the most this month:

  1. Prince of Darkness – This classic John Carpenter flick is always a welcome view.
  2. Dementia 13 – A nice surprise, especially because I’ve been avoiding watching it for decades.
  3. Demons 2 – Pizza Schlock at its finest!
  4. Comedy of Terror – Vincent Price and the gang have a blast running a funeral home that seeks out clients.
  5. Trick or Treat – Never meet your heroes. Especially if they’ve become evil spirits.

Scariest I’ve Seen This Month

While not Favored, these flicks put the fear in me and should be commended/list for it.

  1. When Evil Lurks – Too bleak for my blood, but I can’t deny its power.
  2. Noroi: The Curse – A great Found Footage flick with Lovecraftian overtones.
  3. V/H/S Viral – The whole series seldom misses a step, but so far this is the best of the bunch.
  4. The Conference – Probably the best Slasher flick I’ve seen in years.
  5. Phantasm – Don’t ask me why, but as familiar as I am with this flick, it still gets me in places.

Worst of the Lot

This goes in order of very worst to pretty damn bad:

  1. Schlock – Hands down the worst movie I watched this month. Not so much bottom of the barrel but in a subterranean cave beneath the barrel. A cave that has toxic waste leaking in. Gah.
  2. Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes – Artsy fartsy bull crap.
  3. Man Made Monster – Lon Chaney Jr. deserves better. And if rumor is true this movie helped him get it. So it has that going for it.
  4. Ghoulies II – Bad puppets couldn’t save this flick
  5. Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell – This is a terrible movie, but in an entertaining way.

And that’s the month! Has some fun, got my Sister Site running right on into June. I might add some Golden Oldies to that mix (pushing some of the dates back), I might do fuller reviews to replace the brief ones I’ve done, I might even get so more fresh content in there. Sky’s the limit. No pressure to perform for a change.

Next week is NaNoWriMo. Fingers cross it goes as well as this month.