Oct 3, 2020

SHOCKtober: 885-853



It's day three already, can you believe it? Time indeed does keep on slippin' slippin' slippin' into whatever. But! You are not here to read my incredible philosophical musings, you're here for today's wee chunk o' list, so let's get to it! 

Each of the following films received one vote.

885. Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things -- 1972, Bob Clark
884. Child's Play 3 -- 1991, Jack Bender
883. Christine -- 1983, John Carpenter
882. A Christmas Horror Story -- 2015, Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban, & Brett Sullivan
881. Chronicle -- 2012, Josh Trank
880. Close Encounters of the Third Kind -- 1977, Steven Spielberg
879. Clown -- 2014, Jon Watts
878. Cobra -- 1986, George P. Cosmatos
877. Coherence -- 2013, James Ward Byrkit
876. Cold Prey -- 2006, Roar Uthaug
875. Cold Prey 2 -- 2008, Mats Stenberg
874. Color Me Blood Red -- 1965, Herschell Gordon Lewis
873. Color Out of Space -- 2019, Richard Stanley
872. Come to Daddy -- 2019, Ant Timpson
871. Kokuhaku (aka Confessions) -- 2010, Tetsuya Nakashima
870. Constantine -- 2005, Francis Lawrence
869. Coraline -- 2009, Henry Selick
868. Countess Dracula -- 1971, Peter Sasdy
867. Creep 2 -- 2017, Patrick Brice
866. Creep -- 2004, Christopher Smith
865. Creepshow 2 -- 1987, Michael Gornick
864. Critters -- 1986, Stephen Herek
863. Cronos -- 1993, Guillermo del Toro
862. Cthulhu -- 2007, Dan Gildark
861. Cub -- 2014, Jonas Govaerts
860. Cult of Chucky -- 2017, Don Mancini
859. Cure -- 1997, Kiyoshi Kurosawa
858. The Curse of Frankenstein -- 1957, Terence Fisher
857. The Curse of the Cat People -- 1944, Gunther von Fritsch & Robert Wise
856. Curtains -- 1983, Richard Ciupka
855. Dark Angel: The Ascent -- 1994, Linda Hassani
854. Darling -- 2015, Mickey Keating
853. Dead of Night -- 1945, Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden, & Robert Hamer



  • While "Countess Dracula" should indeed be "Countess Bathory," what's in a name when you have Ingrid Pitt in a Hammer flick imbibing the blood of virgins to maintain a youthful pallor? If nothing else, it's a good reminder to women everywhere: don't grow old!
  • Aw yeah, Cold Prey 2! Imagine, if you will, that Halloween II (1981) was a better film than Halloween (1978). Sure, you could argue that Jamie Lee Curtis's wig in Halloween II automatically makes it a better film than its predecessor, but still. Cold Prey 2 sends our Final Girl to the hospital and then shit gets real. I like Cold Prey a lot, but I like Cold Prey 2 a lot more.
  • Cobra is definitely the "Wha huh?" entry this time, but it's a fairly nasty film. 
  • I find myself SUPER intrigued by Dark Angel: The Ascent, which I'd never heard of previous to its inclusion here. But that title combined with the release year means it's going to have a certain Vampire: The Masquerade aesthetic, if you know what I mean, especially when one peeps a cast list full of Romanian names. Upon further investigation, I came across a review by the inimitable and always terrific Erich Kuersten at Acidemic, wherein he calls it "Guy Maddin meets Silk Stalkings." I need to see Dark Angel: The Ascent!

16 comments:

  1. Curse of the Cat People! So spooky, but also kind of sweet?

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    1. If you really put yourself in Amy's shoes ( the daughter of Oliver Reed and Alice Moore) the film is a very spooky indeed albeit with very charming aspects. I think she (Amy) is very sad, lonely, and rather terrorized by her bright, shiny, happy-go-lucky, all American parents in addition to other more obvious childhood terrors. Why else would she take such comfort in her Serbian fairy princess, Irena?

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    2. Curse plays like a fairy tale to me. It fits the horror genre but it has a sort of gothic whimsy to it, as well. It’s got a lot of heart. Great movie.

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  2. Cobra eats pizza:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SxN_U2H0Xc

    Just want to make sure everyone knows of this weird bit of Stalloneana.

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  3. Alas, Critters was one of the last ones I cut from my top 20 - if I had left it I'm sure it would've jumped several hundred places. Ah well - I've still only seen 1 of my movies make the list (and only 1 of my alternates), so either I am in great company or I am pedestrian in my selections. Take your pick!

    I am also enjoying the offbeat selections - I wouldn't classify Coraline as a horror film, but I also wouldn't argue against it being included, so it is fun to see it pop up on here.

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  4. Cthulhu Is flawed but fun, a Lovecraft pastiche with queer elements which is hampered by a low budget. Sadly, it has one of the most self-critical director’s commentaries I’ve ever heard — he pretty much goes “we tried really hard, but it’s a shitty mess.” It made me want to give him a hug.

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  5. Good to see that someone picked A Christmas Horror Story. What a fun little anthology movie. It was a strong contender for my own list, but it was narrowly beaten out by another Yuletide horror film.

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  6. I was going to consider trying the Cold Prey trilogy, given that it's a Saturday and if I could find part 3. But now I see that Dark Angel: The Ascent is written by Matthew Bright of Freeway fame and I'm all in.

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  7. Don't think I've seen any of mine on the list yet.. But you days favorite and I have to admit my taste is more mainstream. The oddest pick might have been "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil".. although kicking myself..I don't think I included "Buried' with Ryan Reynolds.. That's horror.. and "A Stir of Echoes".

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  8. Yes, COLD PREY 2 is awesome. But then again, I could watch Ingrid Bolso Berdal wait for a bus for two hours.

    I love that woman!

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  9. @ Unknown - I heard COLD PREY 3 was poo. It might not be, but I'd doubt it hits the immense highs of the first two.

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  10. Yes! Countess Dracula was me! Well you know what I mean.

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  11. Oh shoot, I think Creep is mine, but I meant the 2014 Patrick Brice film. I didn't know there was an older one...

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  12. @ John -- nope, the 2014 Creep shows up later. This voter indicated the 2004 version. :)

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  13. @ Stacie then I'm glad that you're smart enough to know which film I meant!

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  14. Yay! Dark Angel was my vote. It's a masterpiece imo and very underrated. Easily the best thing to come out of the Full Moon world and it's a shame we didn't get any more features by Linda Hassani!

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