dive right back in.

Hi. So I've been slowly finding my way back to the genre after an extended hiatus, brought about by a combination of (too real) real life stuff and just generally being fed up with bad horror movie after bad horror movie...

It's pretty depressing in itself when you can't watch your once favourite type of film due to feeling too crappy... and when you do feel good enough to take the plunge, they almost always turn out to be stupendously disappointing.

A photo posted by Jo Finlay (@relaxcupcake) on Oct 31, 2015 at 4:09pm PDT

Apart from You're Next. That one I liked.

BUT, I miss it. And I miss writing about it! So with the spooky season upon us I wanted to set myself a little challenge. I'm going to watch at least one horror movie a day throughout October AND I'm going to write about every. single. one.

It may be a proper review... it may be a version of "live-tweeting" the movie as I watch it... it might be somewhere in between those two. Or something else. I don't want to limit myself or promise anything too lofty or specific, because this is really just an exercise in getting back into the swing of horror blogging.

I'm excited about it, which in itself is pretty thrilling!

So I've been working on the list, because I must have films in the barrel ready to go, or else I'll fall prey to the first world Netflix problem of taking longer to choose a film than watch it. So...

Does anyone have any recommendations? 

I've already filled a lot of the slots with movies I've had on my "To Watch" list for a while, so I'm excited to finally have a reason to get through those. The rest are some I've been wanting to re-watch for a while but have held off with this in mind. This leaves space for a few suggestions! (ideally something I can find on US Netflix or Showtime streaming).

This is subject to change, but here we go, so far:

October 1st - Holidays
October 2nd - The Babadook
October 3rd - Stung
October 4th - Housebound 
October 5th - Creep
October 6th - The Dark Hours 
October 7th - The Final Girls
October 8th - Hatchet
October 9th - Honeymoon
October 10th - Mr. Jones
October 11th - Dead Set (eps 1-3) 

October 12th - It Follows
October 13th - Night Breed (fell asleep, oops)
October 14th - The Facility
October 15th - The Pact
October 16th - Trollhunter
October 17th - Bound to Vengeance
October 18th - Creepshow
October 19th - Scream 2
October 20th - Final Destination 3
October 21st - Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, Halloween II, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
October 22nd - 
October 23rd - 
October 24th - Starry Eyes 
October 25th - Hush
October 26th - Black Mirror s:3 e:1, We Are Still Here   
October 27th - The Houses October Built
October 28th - Black Mirror s:3 e:2, 28 Days Later
October 29th - 28 Weeks Later, Zombieland, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
October 30th - The Thing, The Neon Demon, Trick 'r Treat, Dawn of the Dead (2007)
October 31st! - Halloween: Resurrection

Reserve:
Camino
He Never Died
House of Good and Evil 
The Awakening
Tales of Halloween
Halloween (1978) & Halloween (2007) 

Hello! And pushing the boat metaphor a little too hard, perhaps.

Oh Final Girl, not only were you inspiration behind my starting this blog, but you too have been going through a horror dry spell lately!

http://finalgirl.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/real-talk.html

...You see, I started Final Girl to talk about horror movies I love (even if they stink), not whatever happens to be coming out on DVD next month. It should go without saying, but I will say it anyway: this does not mean that I am railing against new horror, or that whatever happens to be coming out on DVD next month isn't going to be wonderful. It just means that hey, writing can be difficult, watching movies you don't really want to watch can be difficult, and I just. Burnt. Out.

And boy do I mean it! Believe me, I haven't been, you know, watching a shit ton of horror and not telling you about it; I've probably seen...mmm, four scary movies? maybe?...since I last posted here. (One of them was Mama and you know what? I really liked it. SO SUE ME.) Here's what is up: I try to give something in the genre a go- by which I mean I browse my Netflix queue- and everything looks the same. All the plot synopses sound alike. None appeal to me enough to give 'em a go. I think about sitting through them, and I start puking boredom out of my eye holes every time! And then I watch something else entirely, like a documentary or an episode of whatever (great show). Or I read or I play a video game. Or I draw some comics. Or I do anything besides watch a horror movie. 

Stacie says it better than I ever could. I am in the same boat. Or an adjacent one - or slightly behind her. Watching.

Anyway yes! Also add to the above a dash of real life getting real horrible there for a while, and you're left with me... Someone who simply can't be tempted by any horror movies even on the now rare occasions she feels like watching one. Sometimes you feel bleak enough already, without a movie providing that for you, you know?

I miss writing. I miss rolling around an opinion in my head and trying to articulate it. To be honest merely getting into conversations tonight about the new Evil Dead started me missing a horror dialogue in my life. I really do hope that my horror blogger mojo is in this boat with me somewhere!

question:

I am English. I want to see À l'intérieur. Is this possible, I wonder...? Cannot find it anywhere and it's driving me mad.

My writing cogs are all rusted up again, and I am panicking. All I need is some time to watch a horror movie that leaves me wanting to write about it! You wouldn't think that would be too much to ask, would you?

the difficult first post.

Inspired by the wonderful Final Girl blog, I started this one to give me somewhere to write about films. Specifically ones of the horror genre. I'm kind of hoping that by making a pretty blog for myself, it may help with the movie-related writer's block I've been suffering from... Hell, dying from. There's little else as frustrating for me as wholly loving (or even hating) certain slices of cinema, and being unable to put down in words just why.

I watched two and a half horror movies last night, hoping that at least one would stir me into writing about it. This is the dubious result.

The first film I slipped into the DVD player last night was, as a small tribute to Stacie Ponder herself (perhaps this is only clear to me, but the first time I read anything of hers, it mentioned she was a fan of this particular flick): Friday the 13th Part 2.

Found here.

I settled down not expecting a whole lot, as the first film hadn't really done anything for me at all. As a huge fan of the genre, I wanted to love it as the classic most others seem to... but I just don't think I get on with "horny teen campsite stalk'n'slash" horror films...? I used to think it was the 'retro' look of them (I'm thinking of The Burning here as well, which was an '81 release too) which put me off, but I love other 1980s horrors, so it can't be that. Also, sometimes it's exactly the off kilter fashions and different, "old" look to a film that makes it if not scarier then certainly more unnerving (off the top of my head: Dawn of the Dead, Black Christmas, Basket Case...).

So anyway, why can't I muster more than a shrug toward the two Friday the 13th films I have seen so far? What's missing?

Well whatever it is, maybe as I watch more of this franchise, and re-watch, I might grow to love them, who knows.

The things I did enjoy about this film were thus:

1) The opening sequence. Despite the fact a large part of it is handy flashbacks to the first film, once these are over with the sense of peril and unexpected (of sorts, remember I'm not familiar with Jason yet) payoff is pretty gripping.

2) Jason wearing a sack/pillowcase on his head (see above artwork). Far scarier than the later hockey mask look. An eye peering through a gap is always creepy!

I still have nightmares featuring this moment from Black Christmas. Remember the homage to it in Saw, as well? I am shuddering as I write this.

3) The fact the dog survived. Hardly ever happens in horror, sadly. Vive le pooch!

The rest of the film is the ups and downs of a slasher film: kids frolic, monster watches from afar, kids fuck, monster come closer, kids don't notice the monster coming at them through the haze of their afterglow, and therefore meet a bloody FX-impressive death. That's simplified sure, but you get the idea.

I think writing this has warmed me to it, slightly. I shall endeavour to borrow the next installment from Gavin, my horror DVD dealer, and see where it heads next. How many films are there in the franchise again?!