Saturday, May 23, 2009

Horrorfest 2009 - How many horror movies can I watch?

When my spouse decided to hit the road for a solo road trip the week of Memorial Day, I decided it was prime time to indulge in my guilty pleasure - horror movies. The good, the bad, and the way below B-quality. I wondered how many I could watch the week he was gone. One friend bet 12, my sister-in-law is betting 25. I'm curious to see which one is closest. So far, I am on movie 5 since he left mid-day on Friday. 

Here's what my viewing schedule has been so far:

  • The Fog: The original, of course. John Carpenter is the king as far as cheesy 80's horror goes. Tom Atkins, Jamie Lee Curtis, and the always lovely Adrienne Barbeau take on spooky sailors who come back to seek revenge on the folks in Antonio Bay, CA who done them wrong. Synth heavy JC music, creepy fog, and lots of spooky sailor ghost action makes this one an old favorite, which in turn makes me so sad the remake sucked so badly (which doesn't matter because I own it anyway). The scene where the possessed driftwood makes the tape recorder creepy ghost voice freaks me out every time. It's downright spooky, no matter how many times I watch it. 
  • Halloween (Unrated): Rob Zombie takes on a John Carpenter classic. It's no where as good as the original, and Scout Taylor Compton is in no way as good as Jamie Lee Curtis was in embodying the terrified, goody-two shoes Laurie Strode. But honestly, I loved watching Malcolm McDowell chew up the screen playing Dr. Loomis, and while I think some remakes suffer from trying to put too much background to the spooky killer, I like the young Michael Myers scenes. It almost loses my attention once Myers grows up and the teenagers get to dying. 
  • The Lost Boys: I haven't watched this one in ages. I remember loving this movie in high school, quoting it endlessly, and having such a huge crush on Alex Winter. Honestly, the music hasn't aged well at all, but it's still a fun, bloody watch. The end kills are just awesome, and Keifer Sutherland is still one of the coolest vampires ever. Even with the age, the dialogue is still snappy, the blood still bloody, and it makes me miss California even more. Any movie with a grandpa that gives you taxidermied animals and kills the head honcho vamp with a truck and a fence post is up for Grandfather of the Year. 
  • 28 Days Later: I haven't watched this one in forever too, so watching it was almost like watching it for the first time. I forget just how perfect this movie is, from the beautiful, haunting soundtrack, to the story, the scary infected, the actors, everything. Truly one of my favorites. Plus, Cillian Murphy is very high on my list. Argue if you must, but I am not sure I would count this as a zombie movie. I just can't make up my mind. Really, it doesn't matter. That rage virus is horrifying whether you attach the zed word to it or not. 
  • 28 Weeks Later: I couldn't watch one without the other. The thing about these movies is they combine three of my favorite ideas - plague, end of civilization as we know it, and well, zombies (there, I said it). The sequel is not as good as the original, but I like how they didn't just retread like a lot of sequels do. Imogen Poots is beautiful (the sister), and I love Jeremy Renner. I'm interested to see what they do with the next one. 

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