Happy Halloween!

Happy happy Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!

We've made it to the end of this year's countdown and I have to say, I'm pretty proud of this year's selection of films. It was a nice variety of genres, geos, and eras, and only a few duds in the bunch!

Seventeen years is an impressive amount of time to stick to something, and I have every intention of making it eighteen years come 2025. 

Halloween is almost over, so I'm going to make this brief. Thanks to everyone who has been following along here, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and Letterboxd. I've loved knowing I've influenced some of your viewing choices this month. You're welcome. Or, as the case may be, I'm sorry.

Below is a list of all the films I watched, in chronological order, along with links to their posts. Have a great evening, a happy holiday season, and let's make the best out of 2025 that we can!

Criminally Insane (1975)

Sacred Blood (2015)

When a Stranger Calls (1979)/When a Stranger Calls Back (1993)

When Michael Calls (1972)

The Coffee Table (2024)

Trauma (1993)

Cutting Class (1989)

Hell Hole (2024)

Die! Die! My Darling (1965)

I Saw the TV Glow (2024)

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)

In a Violent Nature (2024)

Let’s Kill Uncle (1966)

Hell House LLC (2015)

The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre (1964)

Hush (2017)

Death Walks at Midnight (1972)

Oddity (2024)

The Manitou (1978)

Lake Bodom (2016)

Perfect Blue (1997)

MadS (2024)

Dead Ringer (1964)

Trap (2024)

Castle of the Living Dead (1964)

Seance (2000)

The Wailing (2016)

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (2024)

The Appointment (1981)

Strange Darling (2024)

 

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 31: Strange Darling (2024)

For the last few years I've tried to end this countdown with a brand new movie, but this time I'm ending it with a....kind of new movie. 

When I went to see MaXXXine at a preview screening, there were trailers for three horror movies before it, and the trailers made all of the movies look totally worth seeing. One trailer was for Cuckoo, which I went to see the weekend it opened. It was...not great. Another trailer was for The Front Room, which opened to pretty mediocre reviews, so I figured I wouldn't bother with that one until it's streaming somewhere. 

The third trailer was for Strange Darling, which seemed to have good word of mouth, but I was never able to check it out before it disappeared from theaters. (Also, it's a dumb title that I could just couldn't remember; I kept thinking it was called Strange Angel???) I had a free online rental on Apple TV+ so figured OK, let's see if those promising trailers resulted in at least one out of three worth seeing.

One thing the trailer highlighted is that actor Giovanni Ribisi is the film's director of photography, which seems like a strange flex. The movie itself opens with a big title card, almost like some kind of trigger warning, that the movie was shot entirely on 35mm. Which is great! But not worth such a pretentious call out. (To be fair, the cinematography is really quite good, aside from one scene in a hotel room that goes out of focus twice, for no story reason, which seems like a pretty big goof to include when your movie is touting both the name of the cinematographer, and the film's format.)

The film is broken into six chapters, presented out of order. Willa Fitzgerald plays "the Lady," and Kyle Gallner is "the Demon," two people about to embark on a possible one night stand at a cheap motel. The Lady asks the Demon if he's a serial killer, and I'll say right now, the minute she asked that, I knew what this movie was doing.

The non-linear storytelling makes the predictability of the plot a little more forgivable. You know where this story is going to end up, so learning just how it gets there, puzzle piece by puzzle piece, is a little more enjoyable. Also, seeing Ed Begley Jr and Barbara Hershey pop up as "Mountain People" preparing the most insane breakfast ever is a pleasant surprise. 

All that said, there was something about Strange Angel Darling that kind of rubbed me the wrong way, but saying just why that is would ruin some of the film's surprises (or at least attempts at surprises). I didn't regret watching it, but ultimately I think it proves, as far as those three movie trailers go, we're O-for-three on the movies themselves.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 30: The Appointment (1982)

I first heard of the British horror movie The Appointment after seeing the clip below, which was making the rounds on Twitter and Instagram last year. It was simply labeled "Ridiculous Car Crash" and indeed, it is absolutely ridiculous. Please watch it right now.

Digging into the comments of the clip on Instagram, the movie was identified as The Appointment, and the best reply to that comment was "Well, did he make it on time?" So, yes, I knew I had to see the movie to understand just why such an insane car crash is part of it. 

And damned if I can tell you!

This is one of the strangest films to make it onto this countdown, and I'm still not entirely sure I understand the plot. On the surface it's this: In a cold open, a girl goes missing while walking home from school (that scene is actually pretty effective). Sometime later, a girl at the same school is excited about her upcoming violin concert, but really, really, like weirdly, upset when she finds out her father won't be able to make it because he has an appointment that can't be missed that day. The night before the date of the concert, rottweilers stalk the house, and the family has nightmares about car crashes. The next day, he drives to the appointment...

Aside from the ending (which is actually not surprising, really, but I don't want to spoil things), that is really all that happens in this movie. It's all filmed in an off-kilter way, with takes that last too long, and that, along with a constant churning soundtrack in the background, feels very Lynchian, but without any of David Lynch's sense of humor. I'm telling you, this movie truly is a headscratcher!

The Appointment is available to stream on the Roku channel. The print is good, but unfortunately not in the original aspect ratio. Below is the best trailer I could find out YouTube, which has French subtitles.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 29: Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (2024)

There haven't been a lot of comedies on this countdown this year, so I decided to seek one out, and Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person has been on my watchlist since I first saw its title earlier this year. And while it's not exactly a comedy filled with guffaws, it's definitely offbeat, and really cute.

The vampire rules are a little different in this French-Canadian story. They're bloodsuckers, for sure, and have to avoid sunlight, but they can have and raise children like human families, they just age very, very slowly. Growing fangs is a coming-of-age rite of passage, but young Sasha's haven't come in yet, and a visit to a vampire doctor show's her brain's empathy center is ignited when she see's humans harmed, not hunger, which explains her revulsion when it comes to the idea of killing for food. She relies on blood bags instead, sipping on them like they're Capri Suns.

As she eventually becomes a teen (played by Sara Montpetit), her rebellion continues, until her family forces her out of the house to live with her cousin, who promises to straighten her up. Then Sasha meets a suicidal teenager (Félix-Antoine Bénard), and she begins to rethink her stance.

It's a clever bit of storytelling, equating a vampire's awakening with a teenager's sexual awakening, and I really loved the ultimate resolution to the story. Aesthetically, the movie is borderline twee, though not in a bad way, and reminded me a bit of Wes Anderson, along with a dose of A Girl Walks Home Alone at night, especially when you compare these two scenes. In all, worth seeking out. I watched it on a Blu-ray from my library, but it is available on Mubi, and as an online rental.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 28: The Wailing (2016)

The Wailing has been in my watchlist for several years and I think the main thing holding me back is its imposing running time. At almost two-and-a-half hours, that's a lot of Korean horror to sit through.

And indeed it is a long and convoluted film, with a story that starts out like a zombie and contagion film, and then ends up closer to a demon and possession film. I think. Honestly, I was pretty confused by it all, and it took reading several write-ups after watching for it to finally click and make sense.

A cop in a small Korean village finds himself dealing with sickness, murders, and madness amongst the townsfolk. Many suspect a Japanese stranger living on the outskirts of town may be to blame for it all, and it becomes personal when the cop's young daughter falls ill.

Kwak Do-won is really good as the cop, who is the unlikeliest of heroes because he's pretty cowardly, and not that smart. Kim Hwan-hee, the young actress playing his daughter, is also impressive. It's probably one of the best kid-in-a-horror-movie performances I've ever seen.

I watched The Wailing on Netflix, but it is also available on multiple platforms, including Kanopy, Hoopla, and the Criterion channel.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 27: Seance (2000)

Last year I was turned on to the work of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and included his 1997 film Cure in the countdown. A little while later, I also watched his 2001 film Pulse, which was also pretty good (not as good as Cure, but good!). He has a lot of films in his filmography, but 2000's Seance was one that sounded really intriguing. It was made for TV, and was based on the book Seance on a Wet Afternoon, a book that was also adapted into a British movie in 1964, starring Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough. (It's currently streaming on Criterion and Max, for anyone interested.)

Problem was, Seance is not streaming or rentable online, and my local library did not have it on disc. There are some versions available on YouTube and DailyMotion, but they did not seem to be the full version of the film.

Then, in a weird bit of kismet, I saw that it would be showing for one night at my local Alamo Drafthouse, and despite that showing being at 9:15pm on a weeknight, I bought a ticket...and then they rescheduled the movie to start at 10:15pm, and I seriously began to doubt my ability to make the effort and stay awake that late on a work night. 

But I did! 

Was it worth it? Yes and no. The print was actually a video projection in TV aspect ratio, so not the best quality. But it was the full version of the film, so that was a plus. And the film itself is very good. It follows the basic premise of the 1964 version Seance on a Wet Afternoon. A woman with psychic abilities, but not a lot of clients, decides kidnapping a girl and then "finding" her will help boost her cred, and her husband is roped into the plan. Just how the kidnapping takes place, and the ultimate resolutions, are very different in each film, though neither of them are exactly fun resolutions. And the one big difference between the two? The 2000 Seance is loaded with actual ghosts. 

So that evening was probably the most effort I will ever put into this countdown, but ultimately it was fun. (Even though the waiter at the Alamo never brought me my damn milk for my coffee, which meant I didn't drink that coffee, and staying awake without it was definitely a challenge! Obviously I'm still bitter. Just like that coffee.)

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 26: Castle of the Living Dead (1964)

Castle of the Living Dead is notable for a few reasons. It stars Christopher Lee, for one. He plays a creepy castle dweller who has created an embalming fluid that basically creates instant taxidermied animals - and PEOPLE. It also features Donald Sutherland in his first big film role (actually, three roles, as a soldier, a witch, and an old man). There's also some controversy over who actually directed it, though that's really the result of the need for some Italian pseudonyms, which were created for tax purposes. The director was Warren Kiefer, and yes, he's Kiefer Sutherland's namesake.

But this is a case where the cast and production are more interesting than the movie itself. Castle of the Living Dead was a slog for me, and I could barely finish it. I think in general I tend to have problems with these 1960's period piece horror movies. For instance, while some of Corman's Poe movies are absolutely beautiful, I think most of them are just deadly dull. Castle, set after the Napoleonic wars, has some lovely black-and-white photography,  but it doesn't make up for the deadly pacing and bad dubbing. And despite a story rife with frozen corpses of various species, not enough horror. (Also, I think this movie may have been an influence for the character of Master Blaster in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome??)

Anyway, just not for me, but doesn't mean it won't work for you! 

I watched Castle of the Living Dead on a Blu-ray from my library, but it's also available to stream on Tubi.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 25: Trap (2024)

While Trap does center on the pursuit of a serial killer, it probably falls more accurately into the genre of thriller than horror movie, but I'm going to include it in this countdown anyway because it's directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who's no stranger to the horror genre, both good and bad.

Josh Hartnett plays a dad who is taking his tween daughter to a "Lady Raven" concert at an arena in Philadelphia. Lady Raven is played by Saleka Night Shyamalan, the director's daughter, who is indeed a pop singer, though not in the realm of selling out arenas, which makes this movie just an elaborate ploy by M. Night to give his daughter a concert movie. Nicely played, M. Night. Nicely played.

Within the context of the movie, the concert is also a ploy, in this case an elaborate trap to catch a serial killer called the Butcher. So rude! Ruining a nice afternoon between a serial killer and his daughter!

Trap is a lot of dumb fun. It is not lost on me that Haley Mills, of The Parent TRAP, also plays an FBI profiler. And I don't know enough about the "trap" genre of music to say if the concert qualifies as trap, but I do know a trap door makes an appearance near the film's end, which, be warned, does not contain a "twist," per se, but does include a few swerves.

Trap is currently available to rent online - and just premiered on Max.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 24: Dead Ringer (1964)

Dead Ringer, not to be confused with the David Cronenberg movie Dead Ringers, is one of Bette Davis's hagsploitation horrors, and it's a hoot.

She plays twins Margaret and Edith. When Margaret's rich husband Frank dies, Edith, after years of estrangement, shows up at the funeral. Frank was once Edith's man, but Margaret stole him away, to live a life of luxury, while Edith ended up living above a failing cocktail lounge. 

So she comes up with a plan to steal Margaret's life.

It's clear Davis enjoyed the roles, throwing her full Bette Davis persona into them. (At one point, she even cracks a "What a dump!" about her ramshackle apartment.) The movie was directed by actor Paul Henreid, and the scenes in the bar, especially one where a murder is timed to the drums of the bar band, are wonderfully energetic.

Co-stars include Karl Malden as a cop who is in love with Edith, Peter Lawford as Margaret's lover, and Jean Hagen as Margaret's best friend. (She's woefully underutilized.) In all, an enjoyable bit of psycho biddy horror.

I watched Dead Ringer on TCM, but it is also available to stream free on Tubi.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 23: MadS (2024)

MadS is a French outbreak/zombie movies whose biggest selling point is it was shot in one take and is presented in real time.

Now, having seen the movie, I find it really, really hard to believe that's true, but the director, David Moreau, insists it is absolutely true. He says it took five days to get it right, and the film that we see is what was shot on the fifth and final day. If that's the case, then it really is one of the most impressive feats of filmmaking I've ever seen, and I definitely want a behind the scenes making of documentary!

I would say, even if he's fibbing a little, it is constructed very well, so that there are no moments that could clearly be edit points, and it does really feel like a real time, single cut movie, with all the tension and anxiety that brings. (I'd also like to commend the camera contraption they used, because for something shot handheld, the camera work is steadier than many conventional movies these days.)

As for the plot, there's nothing particularly groundbreaking about that: a rich teenager buys some drugs before a party, and on the way home, a woman covered in bandages gets into his car. She infects him with some kind of contagion that turns people feral, and the film follows that contagion as it passes along. There are several locations in the town, and various means of transportation, so this isn't a single take movie all shot in one place, and thinking about the logistics of that just makes me head hurt. But probably not as much as the infected teens in the story.

MadS is currently streaming on Shudder.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 22: Perfect Blue (1997)

Not quite sure when I first heard about Perfect Blue, but I think it was probably in relation to the works of Darren Aronofsky, a director whose work I generally dislike, except for Black Swan, which owes a lot to this anime film. (Requiem for a Dream, the movie of his I probably dislike the most, also "borrows" from Perfect Blue; this article goes deeper into that.)

The story centers on a pop singer who decides to leave music to pursue an acting career, a stalker who is not happy about that choice, and a series of murders. Of course, there is more to it than that, with some interesting commentary on stardom, personas, and the blurring of fantasy and reality when it comes to fandom.

I'm trying to think of any other animated horror movies that are genuinely scary, and not just cute/scary, and I'm drawing a blank. Perfect Blue is very much a horror drama that just happens to be animated, and I think in that way, it's pretty unique. 

I've always had an issue with anime. It's a style of art and animation that I just don't love aesthetically, and that's entirely on me. But I have to say, after about the first 30 minutes of Perfect Blue, I almost forgot I was watching anime, or at least, I was feeling more engaged in the story and characters than I usually am with anime, and appreciated that there were things being done with the story that could only be done via animation. It hasn't changed my mind entirely about anime, but it did open it up a bit.

I watched Perfect Blue on a Blu-ray from my library, but it is also available to rent online.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 21: Lake Bodom (2016)

I'll admit I really only chose to watch Lake Bodom because it's Finnish--the land of my people!--and I'm always intrigued by Finnish horror movies. Other than that, the premise makes it sound like your average kids-in-the-woods slasher movie. Which it is! But it also goes in some unexpected directions...

Four teenagers venture to Lake Bodom, the scene of a grisly unsolved mystery back in 1960, to recreate and possibly solve the crime. Bad idea right? I mean, when is going into the woods ever a GOOD idea in a horror movie? 

Do the boys have ulterior motives? Do the girls? And is there someone else out there in those dark woods, watching them?

I think the movie benefits a lot from not knowing much more than that, so I will say, I liked the beginning OK, really liked the middle, and was a tad disappointed with the resolution.

I watched Lake Bodom on Shudder.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 20: The Manitou (1978)

The Manitou is the third San Francisco-set horror movie to make it to the countdown this year, and it's also the most bonkers. I mean, this movie has everything: Neck tumors that are actually babies; babies that are actually tiny Native American medicine men; levitating grannies; lasers; gratuitous nudity; Tony Curtis.

Curtis plays Harry Erskine, a sham fortune teller who may actually have the gift. Or is it just a coincidence that his ex-girlfriend, Karen (Susan Strasberg) has a tiny Native American manitou growing on the back of her neck? For a good 30 minutes of the movie, she doesn't seem that concerned about the thing. At least, it doesn't prevent her from taking more than one cable car ride around San Francisco, before hoping into bed with Harry in his Russian Hill apartment.

When doctors can't get near the tumor without getting tossed against walls, or burned by lasers, it's up to the likes of Burgess Meredith, as an anthropologist, and Michael Ansara as medicine man John Singing Rock (note: Ansara was not a Native American, he was actually Syrian) to figure out what to do.

I won't give away what that is, but the ending is truthfully one of the craziest things I've ever seen. This is a movie that just defies any kind of grading system. Is it one star? Is it all the stars? 

Yes. Yes it is.

I watched The Manitou on a Blu-ray from my library, but it's also available to rent online.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 19: Oddity (2024)

Oddity is a fun little horror flick from Ireland that melds a murder mystery with supernatural elements into a nicely compact 98 minutes. It's got a good sense of humor with some genuine jump scares and I liked it a lot!

A year after her twin sister Dani is murdered, blind psychic antiques dealer Darcy (both played by Carolyn Bracken) visits her brother-in-law Ted (Gwilym Lee) and his new girlfriend Yana (Caroline Menton) at the scene of the crime, the old house Ted and Dani had been renovating.

I'll leave it at that, plot wise, since the story's surprises are a large part of the fun, but will add that the film also features a creepy wooden man (see above), several scenes in a psychiatric hospital, a glass eye, possibly some ghosts, and the perfect zinger of an ending.

Oddity is streaming on Shudder, along with director Damian McCarthy's previous film, Caveat, which I didn't like quite as much, but is still totally worth watching.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 18: Death Walks at Midnight (1972)

The giallo thriller Death Walks at Midnight has some nice visuals, most giallo films do, but I will admit I found it to be a huge bore and had to watch it in two chunks because I kept falling asleep.

In typical giallo fashion, the plot it pretty preposterous. Susan Scott stars as Valentina, a fashion model who helps out her journalist boyfriend with an article about hallucinogens by taking LSD and letting him observe her reaction. During her trip, she either hallucinates or witnesses a murder, and the rest of the film follows her trying to find the killer, who continues his killing spree.

There's just nothing particularly special about this one, aside from Scott's amazing hair (see above) and an ending that is, I suppose, kind of exciting, if also kind of silly.

I watched Death Walks at Midnight on the Criterion Channel, which has a whole lineup of giallo films this month.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 17: Hush (2016)

Hush is a home invasion horror movie that doesn't really do anything that original, but it does the familiar really well. It had me wincing aloud and screaming at the TV more than once. 

Kate Siegel stars as a deaf and mute writer who lives alone in the woods, and is stalked one night by one of those random, very determined killers you really only find in movies. The script was co-written by her and her husband, Mike Flanagan, who is also the director. Being a fan of (most) of the horror series for Netflix they've also collaborated on, I'm not sure why this movie just kind of passed me by, especially since it was available on Netflix until last year.

It's a taut little thriller, not even 90 minutes long, and reminded me, obviously, of Wait Until Dark, and a little bit of You're Next, that last one probably because the killer (played by John Gallagher Jr) just reminded me of the kind of killer you'd find in a mumblegore movie. (And for those of you who care about these sorts of things, here's a spoiler: the cat lives.)

Hush is now streaming on Shudder, but a new, black and white, re-edited, director-preferred version of the movie (called the "Shush Cut") is also available on a new Blu-ray release from Shout! Factory. Sounds like another watch may be in order!

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 16: The Ghost of Sierra de Cobra (1964)

The Ghost of Sierra de Cobra started as the pilot to a TV series called Haunted, about an architect (Martin Landau) who does paranormal investigation on the side. The pilot wasn't picked up, rumor has it for being "too scary," so its running time was padded by about 20 minutes, and it was released as a feature film.

It's a notable movie for a few reasons. The writer and director, Joseph Stefano, wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock's Psycho. The cast also features several Hitchcock alums; along with Landau (North by Northwest) we have Diane Baker (Marnie), and Judith Anderson (Rebecca). Lastly, the cinematographer is Oscar winner Conrad Hall.

It's kind of a shame it didn't make it to series; it predated the similarly-premised Kolchak by about 10 years. The story, about a millionaire, his wife, and possible phone calls from his dead mother (this is the second "calls from the dead" movie in the countdown) isn't particularly scary, and you can guess what's really going on pretty quickly. But I will say, the "ghost" in the movie is actually very creepy!

I watched the movie version on Prime. The pilot version is available in YouTube and embedded below. I think it's probably the better version of the two. The movie version has so many moments where the camera just sits on a shot a few seconds too long, to the point of it being awkward, which is clearly just because the running time had to be padded.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 15: Hell House LLC (2015)

Hell House LLC is a frustrating found footage/mockumentary horror movie because it does some things really well, but the majority is a headache inducing muddle.

The film is presented as a documentary about a haunted attraction set up in an old hotel, and how several people died on its opening night. It uses "found footage" and talking head interviews to tell the story, but too often it veers into that ultimate found footage horror movie problem of people filming what no one in real life would actually film, and including footage that no actual documentary would ever include because it's so boring. (There is a lot of footage featuring the annoying characters putting together the haunted attraction. A lot. Too much.)

This movie is the first in what has become a franchise, with three sequels and another on the way. But I don't think I'll be seeking any more of them out.

I watched Hell House LLC on Shudder.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 14: Let's Kill Uncle (1966)

Actress Mary Badham only made two more movies after her memorable debut as Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird; William Castle's Let's Kill Uncle was her last one.

She got the role in the film because her brother, John Badham, was Universal's casting director at the time, and if his name sounds familiar, it's because he went on to direct such films as Saturday Night Fever, Dracula, and WarGames.

While the film is a William Castle picture, it's from the latter half of his career, when he'd let the whole "gimmick" thing go. Which is, of course, a bit of a shame, since without such a hook the movie is pretty lame. Pat Cardi co-stars as Barnaby, an orphaned boy who is in line to inherit millions after his father dies in a car crash. But, as he won't get the money until his 18th birthday, he is sent to live with his uncle (Nigel Green) until then. 

Uncle Kevin, however, has a different idea about who should get that money.

Most of the movie is a game of cat and mouse as Uncle tries to kill Barnaby, and Barnaby tries to kill uncle, none of it terribly thrilling or funny, aside from the ridiculous scenes involving a shark in a swimming pool (see the fin of the shark in the pool; cut to stock footage of a shark obviously shot in the ocean).

This is the second Shower Curtain Film of this countdown, and your guess is as good as mine as to why the movie influenced the title of Morrissey's second solo album, Kill Uncle.

I watched Let's Kill Uncle on a Blu-ray from my library as the versions I found streaming online were not letterboxed. 

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 13: In A Violent Nature (2024)

In a Violent Nature is soooo close to doing something truly original, but to be that truly original film, it would likely end up being one hardly anyone would sit through. As it is, I imagine there are plenty of people who won't sit through it. 

The movie follows the rise of a vengeful killer as he aims to find the necklace that was taken from his woodsy gravesite. And when I say follows, I mean that literally. A good portion of the movie is just following this killer through the woods as he walks from victim to victim.

And that's where I think the movie chickens out a bit. I wanted more real time walking, with fewer edits in his journey. And while that probably sounds nuts, I just felt like the amount of walking in the current film is both too much for the average viewer (I will admit, I dozed off once, and had to rewind a good ten minutes to see what I had missed), but not enough to feel truly transgressive.

What we get between the walking are the ill-fated campers who will eventually meet their dooms, and the kills, which are extremely violent. I'm not sure if it was the actors, the dialogue, or a combination of the two, but the scenes with those campers aren't great, which also had me wishing there was more walking and less talking.

So, while I did appreciate a lot of what the movie tried to do, for me, it didn't really live up to the hype that surrounded it.

In a Violent Nature is currently streaming on Shudder.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 12: Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is a horror comedy mockumentary that plays with the tropes of the slasher genre in sometimes clever ways, but doesn't completely work as a comedy since it's not actually that funny. 

I was immediately reminded of Man Bites Dog (1992) another movie that centers on a documentary film crew following a serial killer around. Though that movie is much, much darker, it succeeds more on the black humor front, which Leslie Vernon could have used more of.

The basic set up is that serial killers like Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees were real life villains, and becoming a legendary serial killer is like a career choice, requiring research and training. A film crew follows Leslie Vernon as he plans to make his serial killer debut, donning the identity of a boy who had been killed by a vigilante mob years before.

The movie is not bad, and the performances, especially from Nathan Baesel as Leslie, are fun, and seeing slasher movie tropes (like slow walking, and lowering your heart rate to feign death) presented as things one must train for is amusing. But I guess I just wanted more, and in the end, the movie becomes a standard slasher, dropping the whole mockumentary set-up.

I watched Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon on a Blu-ray from my library. It is also available to rent online.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 11: Friday the 13th: the Final Chapter (1984)

While I did go to see Friday the 13th Part 3 in 3-D twice in a theater the year it came out, it wasn't because I was particularly fond of the movie, or the series. It was because it was the summer, I was bored, and the 3-D was kind of cool. But after that, I never bothered with another Friday the 13th or Jason movie, so I didn't know know about Crispin Glover’s wackadoo part in Friday the 13th: the Final Chapter until recently. I also seemed to miss completely that Corey Feldman is also in it (as well as the following Friday the 13th: A New Beginning).

Does all of that make this a must see? Probably not, unless you are a fan of the series, and if you are, then you've probably already seen it. To be sure, Cripin Glover's brief scenes are a hoot (the best being his dance scene, which you can get a taste of above). But the Jason movies just aren’t my thing I think! I did find it interesting that for the majority of this one, you don’t even see Jason, just his kills, which made me realize how unimportant the “character” of Jason probably is. At least up to this point. Not sure I’m going to test that theory by venturing further into the series (contrary to the promise of this one’s title, it was NOT the final chapter), but I do think I've gotten enough exposure to the Friday the 13th films to better appreciate the two films that are coming next in this countdown...

I watched Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter via a DVD from my local library, but it, and the rest of the Friday the 13th movies, were recently added to Shudder.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 10: I Saw the TV Glow (2024)

Director Jane Schoenbrun's first film, We're All Going To the World's Fair, made it to the countdown in 2022. I Saw the TV Glow is their follow-up, and while less experimental than World's Fair, it's definitely on the same wavelength, touching on themes of identity, and kinship.

It's interesting to read reactions to the movie, as it's a film that is very open to interpretation. Some people seem to come away from it completely baffled, while others have an immediate emotional response that often stems from their queer identities.

The story centers on awkward teen Owen (Justice Smith) who bonds with a slightly older girl at school named Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) over a supernatural teen TV show called The Pink Opaque. Freaky stuff happens, Maddy disappears, and Owen grows older trying to adjust to a life that doesn't feel right.

Jane Schoenbrun has explicitly said the story is an allegorical one about being trans, coming to that realization, and how one chooses to live their life as a result can be liberating, or scary. And it's this allegorical approach that explains the disparate reactions viewers seem to have to the movie.

Personally, I responded to it as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan, which The Pink Opaque definitely takes its inspiration from. I just wonder if I'd have the same realization on a re-watch that Owen has when he revisits The Pink Opaque as an adult....

I watched I Saw the TV Glow on Max.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 9: Die! Die! My Darling (1965)

I have this cool shower curtain covered with old newspaper ads for horror movies, and I figured I should probably make an attempt to watch all of the films on it I hadn't yet seen. Not sure I'll get to them all this year, but I will get to them! 

Which brings us to Die! Die! My Darling (AKA Fanatic).

This film definitely falls into the genre of "Hag Horror" (AKA "Psycho Biddies," AKA, "Hagsplotation") since it stars Tallulah Bankhead in her final role, (also, she is literally called an old hag in the movie). Like fellow psycho biddies Davis and Crawford before her, she relishes her villainous turn as Mrs. Trefoile, a fanatical Christian living in a creepy house in the English countryside. When Patricia (Stephanie Powers), the former fiance of her deceased son, decides to pay her a courtesy visit while in the country with her new fiance, Mrs. Trefoile deems Patricia's soul hopelessly doomed, and Patricia's visit lasts a little longer than the afternoon she'd planned for.

Die! Die! My Darling has a weird tone, sometimes coming off as a (not entirely funny) comedy, and sometimes going for the horror. It doesn't completely work, but it is worth a viewing, mainly for Tallulah Bankhead's performance. It's also a beautifully colorful film, and the print I watched on Prime was flawless.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 8: Hell Hole (2024)

Movies by the Adams Family of filmmakers have appeared twice before in this countdown, with Hellbender and The Deeper You Dig, both of which I liked, so I was happy to have a new one of theirs to feature this year.

Hell Hole is a departure of sorts in that it leans a bit more towards comedy, does not feature either of their daughters, and is set outside of the U.S., this time in Serbia. John Adams and Toby Poser are both back as two Americans leading a team of frackers in the Serbian wilderness when they accidentally unleash a parasitic monster that begins to take over the crew. 

The movie owes a lot (like, a lot) to The Thing, and to Alien, so not going to give it any props for originality. But what the Adams Family is able to do with limited budgets is always fun to see. The CGI creature is pretty gross, and the tendency for its victims to just explode is amusing. I also liked the heavy metal score that fuels much of the movie. In short, not my favorite of theirs, but it helped solidify Adams Family films as ones I will always happily check out.

Hell Hole is available to stream on Shudder.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 7: Cutting Class (1989)

Cutting Class is billed as a dark horror comedy, but there's nothing very scary or funny in it. Instead, it's really only notable for being one of Brad Pitt's first feature films and for having a bunch of Wall of Voodoo songs on the soundtrack. And I also suppose for being at least one nail in the coffin of the 1980's slasher movie trend.

Donovan Leitch co-stars as a high school student who spent five years in an insane asylum for killing his father. Martin Mull (the film's only real comedic relief) is the district attorney who helped put him away. And Jill Schoelen is his daughter, who he leaves alone for a week so he can go hunting, imploring her to do her homework, not have any boys over, and definitely not cut class. She does all three.

When students and staff start disappearing and dying, the insane asylum alum is of course the number one suspect. But is he really a killer? Or is he being set-up? It takes way too long to get to that answer, and by that time, its neither surprising or scary. Aside for a few interesting shots, including one of a face behind a water cooler that's genuinely creepy, if completely preposterous, the movie is just very, very basic.

I watched Cutting Class on Peacock.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 6: Trauma (1993)

I always try to get a Dario Argento movie into this countdown, and the results have been pretty hit or miss. And I have to say, 1993's Trauma falls into the miss column. 

It was Argento's first film produced in the States (Minnesota is the setting) so it doesn't have a lot of the usual post production dubbing that mars Italian productions, which is a plus, and the story itself is classic giallo. But it falls short in so many other ways.

Asia Argento plays Aura, a traumatized teenager with anorexia who is rescued from a suicide attempt by a TV news employee. She's also being terrorized by a serial killer who is decapitating people associated with the psychiatric hospital she escaped from.

The film is filled with a surprising number of well known actors, including Piper Laurie, Frederic Forrest, and Brad Dourif, and they are all universally terrible in the movie. I'm always amazed when something like that happens. Can a good actor really give a bad performance just because he's following the direction of a bad director? Or is there something else going on?

But aside from that, it's just not a very engaging story, is, for the most part, bereft of Argento's trademarked garishness, and has too many ick factors surrounding Asia Argento, who was 17 when the movie was filmed. Her character is 16 years old, appears topless, and engages in a romantic relationship with the adult hero. No thank you.

I watched Trauma on Prime Video.

Musty TV's Maniacal Movie Countdown - Day 5: The Coffee Table (2024)

The Spanish horror movie The Coffee Table (La mesita del comedor in Spain) was billed as a black comedy, but hoooooo boy, it is perhaps the blackest of black comedies ever made. Unless "black comedy" means you cringe so hard you find it hard to continue watching and you laugh maybe once?

There's no denying The Coffee Table is a horror movie, though not one that has anything to do with the supernatural, mad killers, or science fiction. Its horrors are firmly planted in real life, and that's what makes it an almost unbearable experience. It's a hard movie to talk about! Explain why you found it so difficult to watch and you take away any surprises. But you kind of have to explain why it's so difficult to watch if you want to give fair warning to any potential viewers.

So I will be extremely vague and just say that the movie ultimately proves that bad taste in interior design is no laughing matter, and can lead to more than just aesthetically horrible outcomes.

I watched The Coffee Table via a DVD from my library, but it is also available to rent online.