October: 31 Days of Horror

[dannyboy121070]

I’ve watched HUSH like four or more times. Such a simple yet expertly executed thriller. The lead actress is actually married to the director, Mike Flanagan. I’d normally roll my eyes at casting one’s wife in so many projects, but I think she’s a fantastic actress and would cast her in everything too.

I agree. I'm disappointed to see that she isn't in BLY MANOR.

[Sock Monkey]

Day Nine:

After that, I retired to the sunroom and watched Mike Flanagan's HUSH, which I really enjoyed. Very tense, well-made film. I liked seeing a few familiar faces from MIDNIGHT MASS, and the MIDNIGHT MASS easter egg was very cool.

I’ve watched HUSH like four or more times. Such a simple yet expertly executed thriller. The lead actress is actually married to the director, Mike Flanagan. I’d normally roll my eyes at casting one’s wife in so many projects, but I think she’s a fantastic actress and would cast her in everything too.

[Sock Monkey]

I still haven't seen the original WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS movie. It was on Amazon Prime for years, and I kept saying "I'll watch it tomorrow..." Then the TV show started, and all of al sudden you have to rent it to watch it. Someday....

I would totally buy a talking Nadja doll.

The movie is fantastic. I highly recommend you tracking it down. And Yes to the Nadja doll!

[Sock Monkey]

I think people like you and I probably figured out what was going on in the first episode, but viewers who aren't steeped in Horror probably had no clue. I was surprised by the way some of the characters acted in the final episode, which beautifully addressed a question I've always had about stories like this:

Spoiler!

If something like that happens to a basically good person, why do they always immediately turn evil?

I was glad to see this show avoid some of those cliches.

Agreed. My wife, who admittedly is not the horror fan that am but by default has become well-versed in the genre through over sixteen years of marriage, did not pick up on the clues. I told her after the first episode because I thought it was obvious, and I kinda blew her mind.

I agree with your spoiler tagged comment. It’s one of the things the show does that separates it from the pack of similar films and stories. I just wish the last episode had been given a little more time to let those moments breathe, to explore if just for a moment more.

[dannyboy121070]

Day twelve:

I read like a sunovabitch yesterday!

A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS is getting a little old about halfway through...the blatant ripoffs of THE EXORCIST were made slightly better by the book admitting that they were blatant ripoffs of THE EXORCIST, but still...something original needs to happen, stat!

AVENGERS/DOCTOR STRANGE: RISE OF THE DARKHOLD: I never thought about what would happen if Thor ever fought Dracula, and now that I've seen it, I wish that I hadn't.

UNTCIGAHUNK: Finally finished the novel portion of the book, and,

Spoiler!

as I feared, the massively long and dragged out subplots about the Sheriff having an affair, his racist Deputy, the Father's new girlfriend, the local hood with his missing pot and his abused girlfriend and his asshole local bigshot Dad...all came to naught, and had absolutely zero to do with the book, aside from mercilessly padding it out to 500+ pages.

On to the related short stories!

THE BIG BOOK OF NECON: The endless reminiscence about eating saugies and getting drunk might be fun to the handful of people that were there, but not so fun for the rest of us. Looking forward to getting to the fiction.

WE ALL HEAR STORIES IN THE DARK, VOLUME III: I finished PUMPKIN KIDS, which ended with bizarro.....I wanted to stop, but I'll try one more story before taking a break.

[dannyboy121070]

Watched MIDNIGHT MASS over three nights. I was originally dismayed as to the subgenre the show wound up being in, and saw some of the basic plot twists from the get-go. Then the show takes these very strong right turns with its story beats and I ultimately loved the show. I’m still unsure if it stuck the landing one hundred percent but Mike Flanagan is continuing to show why he is a modern master of the genre. I’m unsure as to why he doesn’t get the praise James Wan, Ari Aster, and Robert Eggers get.

I think people like you and I probably figured out what was going on in the first episode, but viewers who aren't steeped in Horror probably had no clue. I was surprised by the way some of the characters acted in the final episode, which beautifully addressed a question I've always had about stories like this:

Spoiler!

If something like that happens to a basically good person, why do they always immediately turn evil?

I was glad to see this show avoid some of those cliches.

[dannyboy121070]

BLY MANOR is a much different beast than HILL HOUSE. I thought it was solid but not on par with its predecessor. I want to watch it again at some point to see how I feel on a second viewing.

It took me a while to warm to the tv version of WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, but it has grown on me quite a bit. Nadja’s doll cracked me up. I’m still more of a fan of the movie, which I think is brilliant.

I still haven't seen the original WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS movie. It was on Amazon Prime for years, and I kept saying "I'll watch it tomorrow..." Then the TV show started, and all of al sudden you have to rent it to watch it. Someday....

I would totally buy a talking Nadja doll.

[Sock Monkey]

Watched MIDNIGHT MASS over three nights. I was originally dismayed as to the subgenre the show wound up being in, and saw some of the basic plot twists from the get-go. Then the show takes these very strong right turns with its story beats and I ultimately loved the show. I’m still unsure if it stuck the landing one hundred percent but Mike Flanagan is continuing to show why he is a modern master of the genre. I’m unsure as to why he doesn’t get the praise James Wan, Ari Aster, and Robert Eggers get.

[Sock Monkey]

Day Eleven:

Got a lot of reading done, dipping in and out of UNTCIGAHUNK, A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS, and WE ALL HEAR STORIES IN THE DARK, VOLUME III, and I started THE BIG BOOK OF NECON. My Wife and I started THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR, which we skipped last year due to the meh reviews. Only one episode in, but I thought it was very good. I also caught up on WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, which is, IMO, the best show on television right now.

BLY MANOR is a much different beast than HILL HOUSE. I thought it was solid but not on par with its predecessor. I want to watch it again at some point to see how I feel on a second viewing.

It took me a while to warm to the tv version of WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, but it has grown on me quite a bit. Nadja’s doll cracked me up. I’m still more of a fan of the movie, which I think is brilliant.

[Sock Monkey]

Felt too tired to read much this weekend or really do much of anything — plus the weather sucked — so let the TV entertain me.

On Saturday, I watched the three iterations of Richard Matheson’s I AM LEGEND back-to-back, though not in sequential order: The Omega Man (Charlton Heston) followed by The Last Man on Earth (Vincent Price) followed by I Am Legend (Will Smith). Matheson was right when he said that none of the film versions got his book just right, but there’s a good deal to enjoy from each interpretation.

On Sunday I watched a marathon of X-Files episodes, all standalones (i.e. none of the Smoking Man conspiracy episodes) featuring monsters of varying forms. A nice reminder of why I loved that show so much Back in the Day.

I’ve been meaning to revisit The X-Files. I loved the show when it first came out and have always thought the Monster-of-the-Week episodes were by far the best episodes of the show. The mythology episodes were best when the conspiracy was vague.

[dannyboy121070]

Day Eleven:

Got a lot of reading done, dipping in and out of UNTCIGAHUNK, A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS, and WE ALL HEAR STORIES IN THE DARK, VOLUME III, and I started THE BIG BOOK OF NECON. My Wife and I started THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR, which we skipped last year due to the meh reviews. Only one episode in, but I thought it was very good. I also caught up on WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, which is, IMO, the best show on television right now.

[RonClinton]

Felt too tired to read much this weekend or really do much of anything — plus the weather sucked — so let the TV entertain me.

On Saturday, I watched the three iterations of Richard Matheson’s I AM LEGEND back-to-back, though not in sequential order: The Omega Man (Charlton Heston) followed by The Last Man on Earth (Vincent Price) followed by I Am Legend (Will Smith). Matheson was right when he said that none of the film versions got his book just right, but there’s a good deal to enjoy from each interpretation.

On Sunday I watched a marathon of X-Files episodes, all standalones (i.e. none of the Smoking Man conspiracy episodes) featuring monsters of varying forms. A nice reminder of why I loved that show so much Back in the Day.

[dannyboy121070]

Day Ten:

I read about half of the massive AVENGERS/DOCTOR STRANGE: RISE OF THE DARKHOLD, which was actually mostly skimming, not reading, since most of the first half of the book is comprised of comics that I've read recently in other collections.
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I delved a little further into PUMPKIN KIDS in WE ALL HEAR STORIES IN THE DARK, VOLUME III. The stories in these books are all incredibly well-written, but they nearly all eventually take a turn into almost bizarro territory, and that kind of storytelling leaves me cold. I can appreciate the talent and the craft, but as long and offbeat as these stories are, I think I need a break from these books for a while.

We gathered together for the annual THE SIMPSONS TREEHOUSE OF HORROR episode last night, and...It might be time to put this series to bed. We all agreed it was tired and unfunny. After that I watched another favorite guilty pleasure show, THE OSBOURNES WANT TO BELIEVE, which, for the uninitiated, features Jack Osbourne showing paranormal clips to his parents, Ozzy & Sharon. Ozzy, without fail, gives me at least five legit belly-laughs per episode. His repeated "BALL LIGHTNING!" outbursts crack me up, and his "Oomigoolie Bird" story is one I never get tired of watching. Ozzy, oddly enough, is the only person on any of these shows to actually call out how easily a lot of this crap could be faked.

[Martin]

My Mother HATES Don Knotts, so I used to watch his as a kid to annoy her. I still send her a text when they show it on TCM. "Mom, put on channel 60, now!"

Reply: "You son of a bitch! I HATE DON KNOTTS!"

Ha! Had I ever called my mom to turn a certain channel I guarantee her response would have been 'Why on earth would I turn the TV on, I have a book!'

[Martin]

I have the FRANKENSTEIN DVD somewhere, and I really need to dig it out. That is, hands-down, my favorite Universal Horror movie.

To be honest that whole disc will be a hard one to top.