Saturday, October 7, 2017

The Madness: Ten Years of Fears Week 1 Summary

Sunday October 1st - 34 pts

The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Episodes I - VI

While I no longer keep up with the new episodes of the Simpsons I do make it a point to always watch the annual Treehouse of Horror episodes. Even with varying quality over the years the episodes are tradition for me and I never miss it. Episodes I-VI represent some of the best with send ups on everything from The Twilight Zone to A Nightmare on Elm Street and my all-time favorite segment, "The Shinning".

Episode I- 1pt (child protagonist) 3/5

Episode II - 1pt (child antagonist) 3/5

Episode III - 1pt (child protagonist) 4/5

Episode IV - 1pt (child protagonist) 4/5

Episode V - 1.5pt (child protagonist, classic monsters) 5/5

Episode VI - 1.5pt (child protagonist, Paul Anka plays himself) 5/5

The Monster Squad 1987 - 5pt (child protagonist, man in suit, classic monsters)
Introduced my 7 year old to a childhood favorite and she really liked it. Since she is planning to vamp it out for Halloween she took it as an opportunity to research the mannerisms of a vampire which was pretty entertaining. She also loved Frankenstein's monster. 5/5

Bloody Moon 1981 - 6pt (ATB Video Nasty)
Beheadings, impalement, deformities, incest...just another day in the world of Franco. Probably my favorite of Franco's films, though that bar is pretty low. 4/5

Dimension 404 Episode 2 "Cinethrax" - 4pt (ATB 2017 release)
Patton Oswalt battles space aliens snatching the bodies of moviegoers through a new 3-d technology. Film references abound with a strong tinge of They Live has me pretty excited for what else this series has to offer. 5/5

The Addams Family 1991 - 4pt (Child protagonist, cavern)
I've watched it every madness, opinion remains unchanged. The jokes work, the casting is spot on, sets are great, the story is mediocre. 3.5/5

Road to Halloween Wars - 4pt (2017 release)
My family loves Halloween wars, this was a good primer to the season premiere with introductions to all of the contestants and their skills. 3/5

Channel Zero No-End House Episode 1 - 4pt (ATB 2017 release)
Note to self...if a random house with a reputation for messing with minds pops up near my home, stay away. Episode 1 has me intrigued, I'll probably give episode 2 a chance. 3/5

Monday October 2nd - 13 pts

Anthropophagous 1980 - 6pt (ATB Video nasty)
I was watching this on a bus to work...I should be more careful when watching nasties in public. Fetus consumption isn't everyone's cup of tea. 3/5

Halloween Wars Episode 1 - 4pt (ATB 2017 release)
The theme was hitchhikers. These people created cars out of pumpkins. I feel good when I successfully carve a pupil inside of an eye. 5/5

Ghosted S1E1 - 3pt (ATB 2017 release)
New series on Fox with Craig Robinson and Adam Scott, two actors I really like. Episode 1 was enjoyable enough but ultimately a bit forgettable, I'm hoping the series finds it's legs.

Tuesday October 3rd - 16 pts

Curse of Frankenstein 1957 - 6pt (ATB Peter Cushing)
I have a serious gap in my Hammer film viewing, planning to change that a bit with the Peter Cushing bonus. The film itself is a strong adaptation. Cushing's Victor is the right amount of deplorable and Lee's monster is equal parts gruesome and sympathetic. 5/5

Evilspeak 1981 - 6pt (ATB Video nasty)
So many killer hogs...so many beheadings...so much nastiness...I love it. Evilspeak grows on me with every viewing. After all, who doesn't love Clint Howard?

Dimension 404 Episode 4 "Polybius" - 4pt (ATB 2017 release)
A boy summons a demon while playing an arcade game. Kind of interesting to watch right after Evilspeak considering the similarities. Not as good as episode 2 but I think the series has a lot of potential, it's like a lighter version of Black Mirror. 3/5

Wednesday October 4th - 10 pts

Halloween Baking Championship S3E1 - 4pt (ATB 2017 release)
Next to Halloween Wars this is another family staple during October. The contestants bake candy filled cookies and I would eat all of them. 5/5

South Park S1E7 Pink Eye - 3pt (ATB Kid Zombie)
South Park is overrun with zombies after Kenny is crushed by a satellite. I've been watching South Park since season 1, this episode solidified my obsession with series early on. It's still so good.

Tales From the Crypt S4E7 - 3pt (ATB Kid Zombie)
A radio psychologist tries to help the psychic from Poltergeist deal with her problem child. I remember seeing this when it aired and it really unnerved younger me. Adult me, not as much, but it's still a fun episode.

Thursday October 5th - 25 pts

Delirium 1979 - 6pt (ATB Video nasty)
First time watch though I've known the cover art for a long time...I wish that's how I still knew it 1/5

Axe 1974 - 6pt (ATB Video nasty)
I kind of like Axe. The acting is rough and it seems like it doesn't know if it wants to be Last House on the Left or TCM, but I still kind of like it. One of the weirder nasty titles considering its lack of gratuitous nastiness. 3/5

Vampirina: The Plant Predicament / Mummy Mayhem - 3pt (ATB 2017 release)
A new Disney cartoon about a vampire family that moves to the suburbs. It's kind of fun considering the audience.

Halloween Baking Championship S3E2 - 4pt (ATB 2017 release)
This time the theme is slime. Cookies need to ooze out some kind of filling. The winner was based around a slug theme, pretty nasty but great idea.

Return of the Living Dead Part II 1988 - 6pt (ATB Puppet Zombie)
Nostalgia is a delicate thing. This is one of the first zombie movies I ever saw. It was the late 80's, I was maybe 6 and it was on cable back when you could count on channels like AMC or USA to show a variety of genre stuff. I fell in love with it. I watched it over and over again. It's been years since I've revisited it. Unfortunately what I didn't realize was that in addition to the distributor adding new dialogue to the film the score has been completely changed due to rights. I could only focus on how bad the movie is. I think I need to track down a VHS copy and see if reinstating that original score can restore some of that original fondness.

Saturday October 7th 27 pts

Addams Family Values 1993 - 4pt (child protagonist, cavern)
See comments on part 1, pretty much the same for this, however I really enjoy the camp stuff. Unfortunately the rest of the cast don't have nearly as much to do.

Mad Monster Party 1967 - 5pt (classic monsters, underground lair, stop motion)
First time watch. I wouldn't go out of my way to watch it again. I think something like this requires some nostalgia to really enjoy. I liked some of the songs, but found the movie a bit tedious.

Little Shop of Horrors 1985 - 3pt (puppetry)
My kids loved this. A quote "when the man and the plant are singing it's like when Anna and Elsa were singing" and then, regarding Jim Belushi, "feed him to the the plant!", I wish...

Simpsons Treehouse of Horror VII - 1pt (child protagonist)
The Clinton and Gore bit is so strange now...love the evil twin segment

Halloween Wars Hayride of Horror Episode 1 - 4pt (2017 release)
So I found out tonight that there are two different versions of Halloween Wars this year, and that's pretty exciting for someone looking to rack up those ATB's with little ones around during a year full of nasties. The theme is Hayride of Horror, and it's pretty cool, though the edibles from both teams seemed a bit weak.

Better Watch Out 2017 - 10pt (Opening weekend bonus)
I had completely turned on this, until the last minute or so, at which point it redeemed itself a bit. The tonal shift partway through is really jarring and I felt like I was watching a watered down Funny Games. Maybe I would warm up to it on a second watch, now that I know what it is. Also, the comedy didn't work. 2.5/5

TOTAL WEEK 1 - 125 PTS

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