It's officially Halloween night, and I'm getting this final post up right under the wire. I sure hope you had some fun tonight, even if it that just meant sitting at home watching something spooky.
This has been my eighteenth year partaking in the Countdown to Halloween, and I have every intention of keeping this up, so before you know it, it's gonna be the 20th anniversary!
Thanks to everyone who has stopped by this month, I truly appreciate your taking the time to visit my little corner of the Internet. I hope you found some good things to watch, or some bad things to avoid, as the case may be. And if you're at all interested in what I have to say about movies outside of this countdown, be sure to check out my other blog, Mulling Movies, where I review new releases, and follow me on Letterboxd, where I basically have something to say about everything I watch.
Finally, here's a list of all the movies in this countdown, in chronological order, with links to their posts. And best wishes for the holiday season ahead, and a great 2026!
Happy Halloween, and welcome to the final movie in this year's countdown!
As in years past, I like to end this adventure with a movie that's pretty new, or at least newish. This time it's Together, which is not yet on a streaming service, but can be rented online. I was recently staying at a hotel that offered a free movie rental each night, so I was happy to take advantage of the opportunity to watch it that way, especially since the rental cost at that time was an insane $32!
Real life couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco star as Millie and Tim, a dysfunctional couple who move to a new town together after a disastrous marriage proposal. When on a hike in the woods near their home, they literally stumble into a cave with some mysterious drawings and find themselves stuck inside during a storm. Because they are in a horror movie, Tim decides to go ahead and drink the water from the pool in the cave, because why not.
The next morning, they start to find their bodies sticking together whenever they touch, and thus begins the film's very obvious if still effective central metaphor.
I'll admit I was a little nervous going in, as body horror is probably the one sub-genre of horror that can most easily make me gag, but Together is not as gross as I feared it would be, and a lot of its more disturbing moments are implied more than graphically depicted, such as when Millie and Tim have sex and can't...disengage.
I've found after watching so many horror movies that it's the very rare film that has an ending that can truly live up to what has come before, although I suppose that can also be said of most films. Endings are hard! But for horror movies I tend to be a little more dissatisfied with the it all happened because of *waves hands vaguely* endings, especially when what has come before that is strong. I want it all to tie together perfectly. Together's ending did not tie together for me, and I almost would have preferred no explanation at all over the gobbledygook that's provided. Still! What comes before is entertaining enough, and definitely one of the more original depictions of dysfunction and co-dependence in a relationship I've ever seen.
It's been a month of adult horror so I wanted to wind down this countdown with a more family friendly flick. Most of the movies I looked up I had already seen, but two I had not seen were Monster Squad and The Gate, both from 1987.
I started to watch Monster Squad, but there was just so much tossing around of the words "homo" and "faggot" - which, OK fine, it was 1987, a different time - and the kids were also so immediately unlikable, that I turned it off after about 15 minutes. Sorry, not sorry.
I think The Gate was definitely the better choice, although it's not without a tossed off f word as well. But at least this time it's uttered by a likable kid, Glen, played by tiny baby Stephen Dorff, who I had no idea was in this. (Also have to admit I had no idea he started as a child actor!) Glen and his friend Terry (Louis Tripp) unwittingly open a gate to hell in his backyard, and they, along with Glen's older sister Lori (Kelly Rowland), have to fight the army of monsters they've unleashed.
I imagine I passed this one by in the 1980s for the same reasons I didn't bother seeing The Goonies until I was in my forties: I was a teenager in the mid-80s and felt these movies were too childish for the likes of me. When it comes to The Goonies I really do think it's a film that you have to see as a kid to truly appreciate it. But The Gate charmed me, mainly because of its special effects, which combine stop motion with forced perspective to depict its army of tiny demons and the boss monster.
I watched The Gate on Kanopy. It's also streaming on Prime and Hoopla.
Lifeforce has been on both my proverbial and literal watch list for years, and I've never gotten around to it because I was never sure if it was good, bad, or so bad it's good. And I still don't feel like I have any real consensus on that! At various times while watching it, the movie hit all three of those opinions for me.
The good: I liked the opening sequence and how it jumps right in to the story of astronauts discovering a weird space ship inside the tail of Halley's Comet. The effects are definitely dated, especially when we see the astronauts navigating around in their space suits. But the alien ship is kinda cool, and what they discover is weird and fun. I also liked all the practical effects used to depict the results of encounters with the aliens.
The bad: Some of the acting is cringe; Peter Firth as a leather-jacketed detective on the "Case of the Desiccated Bodies" is just a weird choice. Also, star Steve Railsback is not a...subtle actor. And I know Tobe Hooper took on the project (an adaptation of Colin Wilson's Space Vampires, a title he wanted to keep but was not able to after the studio rejected it) because he wanted to make his own version of a Hammer film, and he definitely gets the parts of Hammer movies that are boring down pat: lots of British guys in suits talking about what's going on, endlessly.
The so bad it's good: The main space vampire is a beautiful young woman who spends the majority of her screen time completely naked, just wandering around and sucking the "lifeforce" out of her victims. I guess there are a lot of people who would put that firmly in the "good" column, but for me it just reeked of exploitation. That said, Mathilda May, the actress who plays the space vampire, is stunningly beautiful, and she is almost a walking special effect unto herself. I was also pleased to hear, via some of the extras on the Blu-ray I watched, that her experience on set was, for the most part, a positive one.
The version I watched was the longer "international cut," and I really can't say if that's the version one needs to see. It's about fifteen minutes longer than the cut that was more widely released, and supposedly results in a more cohesive storyline, and likely more nudity. But the movie also feels really long, so, maybe the shorter version is more fun? The shorter one also seems to be the version that's more widely available widely online.
All that said, I'm glad I finally got around to watching it, because it really is just an all around nutso film, and I certainly did not expect the story to get as apocalyptic as it does. It's pretty audacious!
It's kind of ironic that after watching and pretty much hating Creep and its sequel, I went ahead and watched a movie that's been called the female version of Creep. And sure, they do share some similarities, but I ended up appreciating I Blame Society a bit more.
Well, at least a little bit. I Blame Society is a mockumentary about Gillian, a struggling filmmaker who decides to make a movie based on the one compliment she's ever received: that she'd be a great murderer. The fact that she would take a comment like that to actually be a compliment gives you some insight into her personality, and that's the basis of the film's comedy. She's kind of nuts, but she's also been driven crazy by an industry that says it wants to tell stories featuring "strong female leads," but only within the cliched boundaries they've defined.
A lot of it works, and writer/director/star Gillian Wallace Horvat is very funny. But a lot of it falls into the trap that these kinds of found footage films fall into. Multiple angles that don't make a practical sense; footage that could only have been shot if there was more than one person with a camera. It isn't quite strict enough with the conceits of the genre. But it was still more fun than Creep!
I Blame Society is currently streaming on Shudder, Kanopy, and Prime.
Demons was produced by Dario Argento and directed by Lamberto Bava, son of Mario Bava, and it's another 1980's horror flick that just kind of passed me by for reasons I can't really pinpoint. And I kind of wonder if I would have appreciated it a bit more if I saw it back in 1985....
The basic plot is: a bunch of gullible people in Berlin accept free tickets to a movie at a renovated theater. I say gullible because the guy passing them out has a deformed face partially covered by a silver mask, and he doesn't speak. The horror movie they watch somehow releases a demon...virus? that turns some members of the audiences into demons, and the survivors have to fight their way out. Sure, it's called Demons, but really this a zombie movie.
I feel like what most people remember about the movie is the gore and the soundtrack. The gore is definitely goring. But I was under the impression the soundtrack was full of classic metal and new wave, but the only two truly famous songs are "White Wedding" by Billy Idol, and "Save Our Souls" by Mötley Crüe. (No shade to Rick Springfield, but "Walking On the Edge" is not the Rick Springfield song most people want to hear.) I did kind of dig the original soundtrack music by Claudio Simonetti though.
As this is an Italian production, all of the dialogue was dubbed in later, to varying degrees of success. (Whoever dubbed in the voice of the pimp Tony should be ashamed of himself.) The ending definitely sets itself up for a sequel, though it doesn't sound like it's a direct continuation of the story. Not sure I'll seek it out. Maybe next year...
For some reason, Cobweb completely missed my radar in 2023. Not entirely surprising as it was released the same weekend as Barbie and Oppenheimer, which of course was all anyone was interested in that summer.
Cobweb doesn't waste any time setting up its premise. Young Peter (Woody Norman) lives with his parents (Lizzy Caplan and Antony Starr) a rundown house. At night, he begins to hear noises in his bedroom wall. His parents try to convince him it's just his imagination. At school, Peter is bullied by some of the other kids, and prefers to sit inside at recess with his sympathetic substitute teacher Miss Devine (Cleopatra Coleman).
The movie sucked me in right away, and I was instantly riveted. I appreciated how it gradually reveals that the parents aren't as sympathetic as you'd initially think, and just what it is in those walls isn't what you might expect. It also helps that everyone in the cast is excellent (I don't think I've ever not liked Lizzy Caplan) especially young Woody Norman, who is maybe best known now for his role in the Mike Mills movie C'mon C'mon.
But Cobweb also suffers from some bad continuity and plot holes, and an ending that doesn't live up to the rest of the film. I had really high hopes for it because of its strong start, but ultimately there's only half of a good movie in there.
Hollywood 90028 is an angsty drama about the Hollywood dream, the gentrification of Los Angeles, and how the desperation for fame can lead to tragedy. But it's all wrapped up in disguise. Surrounding those themes is a story about Mark (Christopher Augustine) a cameraman on porno movies who's also a serial killer.
It's an odd mix! Those appreciating what director Christina Hornisher is trying to say about Hollywood will probably be turned off by the porno shoot bits (have to admit, those bits made me a little uncomfortable), and those who are there for the porny bits and murder are going to be pretty bored by the rest of it.
There's a lot of dialogue in this, but there are two lengthy bits that are really memorable. One accompanies a section filmed
in Bunker Hill, and discusses the decline of that neighborhood that was once full of families and beautiful Victorian homes. These sequence features some amazing shots of those decaying homes.
The other bit is a monologue by Michelle (Jeannette Dilger) an actress Mark meets on one of his film shoots. She talks about arriving from a small town in pursuit of Hollywood fame, and how a young actress can, bit bit by, find herself working in adult films.
There weren't a lot of women directing exploitation films in the 70's, and while the exploitative aspects of Hollywood 90028 are no different than something that may have been shot by a man - director Christina Hornisher is not hiding any of the expected nudity - there's definitely some commentary going on, from the monologue mentioned above, to the sweaty and lecherous director who watches his set from above with binoculars, to the murderous cameraman himself. (Definite shades of Michael Powell's Peeping Tom in him.)
Hornisher never made another feature, and studios really didn't know what to do with Hollywood 90028. Shot in 1973, it didn't get released until 1976. It was later re-cut and re-released under the title The Hollywood Strangler, and anyone expecting a slasher film would have come away disappointed. I'm even reluctant to include it in this countdown, because it barely counts as a horror film. But it's such a unique, odd, and beautiful film, and anyone who's a fan of Ti West's X trilogy is going to appreciate it. It also has one of the most astounding final shots I've ever seen, anywhere, let alone in a low budget exploitation film by a first time director...
I watched Hollywood 90028 on Mubi. It's also available on Hoopla.
I've long been aware of Creep and its sequel, Creep 2mainly because I've long been aware of Mark Duplass and his extensive body of work...for better or worse. But I never bothered watching it. Not entirely sure why. When it comes to the career of Mark Duplass (as well as the work he's done with his brother Jay), I guess you could say I'm indifferent. Don't love him. Don't hate him. Just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
But I can say I kind of hated Creep. It's a found footage horror film, which right there, enough already, centered on Aaron (Patrick Brice) who accepts a job offer to film some moments in the life of Josef (Mark Duplass) who has an inoperable brain tumor and wants to create a video for his unborn son. Of course this turns out to be a lie, and Josef is, in fact, a lunatic.
I'll give it this: at the halfway point it kind of veers into a direction I wasn't entirely expecting, but that is the only even halfway surprising thing about Creep. The sequel sets itself up with kind of the same scenario, though this time, the videographer is a YouTuber (Desiree Akhavan) who's desperate to find a subject that will actually get her some views. Enter Josef, who is now calling himself Aaron, and wants someone to document his retirement from serial killing.
I suppose there are some entertaining moments to be found in both films - they both have some funny scenes - and I probably liked the premise of the second more than the first. But ultimately I found both of them pretty boring, and will admit I fell asleep more than once.
After learning yesterday's film was based on a story also adapted in Mario Bava's Black Sabbath, it made me realize I had never actually seen Black Sabbath - I always get it confused with Black Sunday, which I have seen, albeit a long time ago. Might be due for a re-watch!
Apparently there are different edits of this film, with its three stories presented in different orders. The one I watch started with The Drop of Water, in which a nurse does the one thing she's not supposed to do when preparing a deceased patient for her funeral, and suffers the consequences. It's filled with the colored lighting Bava loved, and a truly memorable corpse.
The second story was The Telephone, and apparently the American version I watched has a very different plot than the Italian version. The Italian version includes a call girl, the pimp she helped imprison, and some implied lesbianism. I want to see that version! Of the three shorts, I liked the set decorations and costumes in this one the most.
Finally, the last story was The Wurdulak, with Boris Karloff taking on the role of the family patriarch returning home with an insatiable hunger for the blood of his loved ones. Of course being only about 30 minutes long means it's a much faster take on the story than yesterday's The Vourdulak, but it doesn't have a corpse puppet. Win some, lose some
Not quite as garish and colorful as other Mario Bava movies, but still very beautiful. The soundtrack by Les Baxter is also pretty groovy. I watched it on Prime.
