Usually for my marathon, I try and watch a mix of things I haven't seen and some classics that I have. This year, however, since I expanded the festivities to include all of October, and I already watched a ton of movies I haven't seen, I am sticking mostly to classics this year...
Halloween (1978)
I have mentioned several times in other posts that Halloween is my favorite horror film of all time, so I always include it in my end of the month day long marathon. It needs to be watched at night, so I actually watched it as the first film this year (I decided to start my marathon the night before my scheduled day off from work) - Thursday night was our Trick 'r' Treat night, so I felt this was the perfect film for that night.
I love what John Carpenter was able to do in this film with what little he had (it was made for around $300,000), and he did it without a lot of blood. The film is scarier for how it doesn't show things and lets your imagination fill in the rest. My two favorite scenes are near the end. 1.) Right after Laurie discovers that he friends are all dead, she is standing in the hallway, and you slowly notice Michael Myers in a darkened doorway as he comes into focus. 2.) The very end, where Dr. Loomis goes to look at the body of Michael on the ground below and discovers he is gone (the look of terror on the doctor's face is awesome).
April Fools Day (1986)
I had intended to watch this earlier in the week, not during the marathon, but I never got around to it. Since I had the disc already from Netflix, I decided to watch it. However, I was only half paying attention, since I was really trying to get my last blog post done. I don't have much to say about it, other than maybe I'll try to watch it again next year.
Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987)
I decided to lump these 2 films together, since II is less a sequel and more some sort of sequel/re-make hybrid, only turned up 1000%.
Both films involve a cabin in the woods and evil spirits being unwittingly unleashed to possess people and steal their souls. The first film goes more for horror and scares, while the second throws in more gruesome comedy and over the top spectacle. Both are considered horror classics, and I can't decide which one I like more. I really like the crazy gore of the first one. The effects are cheap, but that adds to the overall enjoyment - it makes the possessed seem even more otherworldly. I also LOVE Bruce Campbell's manic performance in II as he quickly loses his mind. Both films deserve their status among the all time greats.
Poltergeist (1982)
I haven't seen this film in years, and I forgot how great it is. So many great scenes: the steak on the counter, the guy who pulls his own face apart, the corpses in the pool, the killer creepy ass clown doll, the tree. Steven Spielberg, while not the credited director, definitely had a lot of influence on the production. It is a very slick looking film that holds up well today (the version I watched was in HD and looked pretty fantastic).
The Exorcist (1973)
I have said previously that horror movies don't scare me, but I love them any way. This is the only movie that scared me when I first watched it. I was in 8th grade, I was home alone, and for some reason I decided to watch this film with the lights off. This film scared the bejeezus out of me. It took all my effort just to get up and turn the light on when it was done, and the lamp was like 5 feet away from me. the combination of the makeup effects and the gravelly voice Regan uses when fully possessed (not to mention the things that this young girl does and says under the influence of the demon) result in some of the most disturbing scenes ever in a film. Linda Blair does a fantastic job as the possessed little girl. The makeup adds a lot to the portrayal, but she still holds up her end.
The Stepfather (1987)
This film would not be that memorable if not for one thing - the portrayal by Terry O'Quinn of the main character. O'Quinn showed on Lost that he is excellent at playing disturbed individuals that had less than ideal upbringings, and that serves him very well here. The Stepfather is about a man (O'Quinn) who moves from family to family (and identity to identity), killing off the family when they no longer meet his ideal of structure and order. He is striving for the sort of straight-laced, white bread family of the TV shows of his youth (one scene shows him watching and professing his love for Mr. Ed in one scene). When his family is unable to live up to that ideal, he eliminates them and moves on to another. O'Quinn portrays both aspects of his character - the All-American family man and the off the deep end psychopath both with equal creepiness. Its a shame that it took so long after this role for him to get the recognition his acting deserves.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
I was actually able to see this film in the theater on its initial release. I was only 10, and my friend and I convinced his mom to take us, telling her that my dad would be fine with seeing that type of movie since he was the one that too my friend and me to see The Terminator, also rated R (never mind that they were 2 totally different types of films). I managed to avoid any deep psychological damage from watching this type of film at such a young age, bit instead I came away with a love for the character of Freddy Krueger. First, he was unlike almost any other killer in horror films to that point. He had a sense of humor and he wasn't just a mindless killing machine, like Jason Voorhees. he seemed to enjoy what he was doing, which made him that much creepier (Robert Englund always delivered the goods as Freddy, sometimes being the only thing worth watching in the later, lower quality sequels). Also, he had the coolest weapon ever. Every kid who say this film were in love with the finger knives, and Freddy was a very popular Halloween costume for many years.
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