Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

Day 24 of 31

Director: Ruggero Deodato
Starring: Robert Kerman, Francesca Ciardi, and Carl Gabriel Yorke . Italy. 1h

Long before the Blair Witch (1999) we had the highlight of video nasties and the most talked about was Cannibal Holocaust a simple but effective found footage film. In an era when it wasn’t so much about the technical aspect but an opportunity to show some ”real life nasties”. Despite being the central part of Deodato’s Cannibal trilogy it was the forerunner, almost running the other two films; Jungle Holocaust (1977) and Cut and Run (1985) into obscurity.  But the first return to man eaters hit many sensitive spots and turned the film into a cult classic.

Filmed on location in the Amazon Rainforest on a budget of $100,000 but earning $2 Million at the box office  it stars Robert Kerman who’s better known for his pornographic work, the most famous being Debbie Does Dallas.

Scanners (1981)

Day 23 of 31

Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Jennifer O’Neill, Steven Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane, Michael Ironside. Canada. 1h 43m

For me early Cronenberg films shine very brightly with imagination and unique fleshy charm. He is certainly one of those directors who can sell a dark concept with a mysterious shroud that gives his audience layers of fear to think through, these concepts were never all that solid but are strong with so many possibilities.

From his early body shocker films like Shivers (1975) and Rabid (1977) he slowly evolved his work to include more science and the emphasis on social interactions gave way to internal chemistry, and in this thriller the mind is the central focus more than the whole body.

Starting out strong, ConSec a private security firm attempts to showcase the abilities of one of their scanners,and boasts a fine tuned collection of mind powers including, telepathy such as mind reading, mind-control, and telekinesis. When the Scanner attempts to interact with a member of the audience, it turns out this individual is a much powerful scanner and the brain battle that ensues leads to one of the most brilliant head explosions ever, i assume Cronenberg couldn’t resist the flesh. The security staff attempt to capture the man but he uses his immense skills to kill the guards and escape.

Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Day 22 of 31

Director: Drew Goddard.
Starring: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchinson, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins . USA. 1h 35m.

This might be the tamest horror on the list! But I can’t not include this comedic gorefest as it’s just literally so much fun, It’s a bit overkill calling it a comedy, yes it does have a few laughs but retains a sense of fascination as it’s a pretty new storyline!

Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre (2011)

Day 21 of 31

Director: Jim Wynorski
Starring : Dominique Swain, Traci Lords. USA.  1h 40m

I understand that this is the era of terribly non scary movies which are so pathetic they are laughable but some of them still manage to entertain or at least flash us some boobs.

yeah this is standard prison uniform for chicks,,

Grave Encounters (2011)

Day 20 of 31

 

Grave Encounters – (Horror, Supernatural, Found footage,  2011) (18) D: Colin Minihan, Stuart Ortiz and others  P: Shawn Angelski, Michael Karlin and others C: ben Wilkinson, Sean Rogerson, Ashleigh Gryko, Merwin Mondesir. 1h 32m. USA.

One of the most easily accessible and favourite found footage horrors, that is literally spread very thickly over YouTube in video’s claiming to have real ghost footage, so I feel like I’ve done myself a disservice by not watching this sooner because it now plays out like a YouTube best ghost clips real and at various points throughout the movie I was in full dejavu mode. Still it’s an uneasy yet engaging supernatural movie. Written and directed by the Vicious Brothers and premiering in 2011, it strives to and succeeded to deliver a few new haunts to the found footage genre.

Ringu / Ring / リング (1998)

Day 19 of 31

Director: Hideo Nakata
Starring.  Nanako Matsushima Hiroyuki Sanada Rikiya Ōtaka Yoichi Numata. Japan.  1h 35m

Oh this movie started some shit back in the day, literally it had started so many cults and urban legends and gave the west the now uber iconic Sadako that we honestly can’t escape from Does this mean we are literally cursed by Sadako? The movie came onto my radar years ago but so long after it’s release, I often thought back and wished that I had a copy on VHS just to keep the mysticism alive, Emma film is Fairley heavily submerged in mysticism,  the basis of the original book was on Japanese folk tale Banchō Sarayashiki. I’m long before the play which has sent us into raging his cereal the ringer have managed to capture the dark imagination of Japanese youth,  stories about haunted video tapes accepting other media became more than just a playground chatter.

In this deeply disturbing psychological horror, which creeps from the screen and into the mind, everything revolves around the legend of a cursed video tape, a legend that circulates among some teenagers. After watching the film at a certain time of night the telephone will ring right after and one week later you will die.

28 Days Later (2002)

Day 18 of 31

Director : Danny Boyle
Starring : Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns, Brendan Gleeson . England/UK. 1h 43m.

I feel quite bad for not reviewing this film earlier but after adding it to this year’s Halloween list I will take a axe to this amazing film that helped re define a genre, change perceptions on low budget films (yet again) and catapulted the careers of Danny Boyle, but all of the main cast. I think it’s a bold statement to say that 28 Days Later was the first film to introduce a new breed of zombie to the big screen but it’s certainly the most iconic film that introduced “the infected” a faster, messier and more irrational and destructive zombie to a stunned audience.

Profondo Rosso / Deep Red / The Hatchet Murders (1975)

 

Day 17 of 31

Director : Dario Argento
Starring :  Macha Meril David Hemmings Daria Nicolodi Gabriele Lavia Giuliana Calandra Glauco Mauri Clara Calamai Piero Mazzinghi. Italy. 1h 46m.

Giallo films are one of the more iconic and unusual forms of horror, terror and suspense, a genre that’s easy to define but not very easy to predict, when I was first introduced to the eccentric brand of Italian slasher, in the weekend marathon I pretty much watched all the biggest names from Dario Argento and Lucio Fulchi. But only a few stood out, this was an instant favourite, not only because of the extensive nightmarish story, but the variety of violence that everyone can identify with.

Rosemarys Baby (1968)

Day 16 of 31

Director : Roman Polanski
Writer :  Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin
Starring : Mia Farrow John Cassavetes Ruth Gordon Sidney Blackmer Maurice Evans Ralph Bellamy Angela Dorian. USA. 2h 36m

A deep tale of Satanism and pregnancy which is actually from frightening than the components, filled with cautionary tales delivered by powerful performances from Mia Farrow and Ruth Gordon.

In Roman Polanski’s first american film adapted from Ira Levin’s  best seller see’s a young vulnerable woman sold down the river by her lover and the Satanic community in her new apartment block. The dank old building is famed for having an equally aged community which the young couple struggle to blend in. Immediately after moving in two noesy neighbors Roman and Minnie Castevet (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon) invite themselves in and after protesting eventually Guy seems to warm to them after their intervention revitalizes his failing acting career, but at what cost? Rosemary potters around trying to make sense of her new surroundings, she befriends a fellow young girl who soon commits suicide and begins losing touch with her husband who is now best friends with the Castevet’s and whose temper gets shorter and shorter with his wife, until one fateful night when everything changes, Rosemary is unknowingly offered as a sacrifice of some sorts.

Trolljegeren / Trollhunter (2010)

Day 15 of 31

Director : Andre Ovredal
Starring : Otto Jespersen Hans Morten Hansen Tomas Alf Larsen Johanna Mørck Knut Nærum Robert Stoltenberg Glenn Erland Tosterud. Norway. 1h 49m.

From the moment I saw the bold blue and yellow poster I was immediately drawn to this strangely stylised movie. Looking like a special shiny rare card from a collection of Monster In My Pocket I knew that this was going to be a different kind of film, just literally from its approach to it’s advertising techniques… yeah I’m that finely tuned.

So after being astonished by a poster alone I was thrilled to find that this is a found footage horror.. With TROLLS! I was so psyched I was nearly ready to explode.