THE TIME HAS COME

Sugarboogerz and I decided to do this again this year. We did a lot of movie watching challenges/projects last year and this one was my favorite so I'm excited. I can never get enough horror

It's gonna work exactly the same. I found this chart on reddit. It shows 39 different horror sub-genres and a couple examples from each one (the person said they did a lot of recent examples instead of the best possible pick at times)



We're picking 39 horror movies that we haven't seen, one from each sub-genre. The deadline is HALLOWEEN. It feels early, but this is about the same time we started last year and 40 movies is a good chunk, that's still 8 movies a month on average to beat that deadline

Jacob and I made our list together again so it's movies neither of us have seen. JOIN IN! Use our list or make your own or make substitutes for what you've seen or don't. Josh? Zersch?? You down again? Where my horror fans at

Also don't start nitpicking the subgenres that we put some movies under pls, we went by what little we know about some of these movies and we don't wanna be spoiled on what exactly the horror element is unless the description says it. Also don't say so and so sucks because it'll make me not wanna watch it at all, pls and ty

OUR LIST: https://letterboxd.com/curtislost23/list/challenge-39-horror-subgenres-20/

For me for reference:

Funny Games [Psychological - Home Invasion]
Santa Sangre [Psychological - Fanaticism]
Session 9 [Psychological - Phobia & Isolation]
Berberian Sound Studio [Psychological - Madness & Paranoia]

The Howling [Monster - Werewolf]
Thirst [Monster - Vampire]
Day of the Dead [Monster - Undead]
The Fog [Monster - Animals & Nature]
The Battery [Monster - Virus]
Critters [Monster - Small Creatures]
Dracula [Monster - Classic]
Colossal [Monster - Giant Monsters]
Creature from the Black Lagoon [Monster - Neo Monster]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Monster - Aliens]

The Perfection [Gore - Torture]
Phantasm [Gore - Splatter]
The Neon Demon [Gore - Cannibal]
Ichi the Killer [Gore - Extreme]

Possession [Paranormal - Possession]
Midsommar [Paranormal - Witches & Occult]
Carrie [Paranormal - Supernatural]
The Haunting [Paranormal - Haunted House]
The Beyond [Paranormal - Devil/Demon/Hell]
Tigers Are Not Afraid [Paranormal - Ghost & Spirits]

The Hills Have Eyes [Killer - Backwoods & Redneck]
Peeping Tom [Killer - Slasher]
Opera [Killer - Crime & Giallo]

One Cut of the Dead [Misc - Meta]
The Love Witch [Misc - Horror Romance]
Pet Sematary [Misc - Creepy Kid]
The Skin I Live In [Misc. - Body Horror]
Irreversible [Misc - Revenge]
Creepshow [Misc - Anthology]
Inside [Misc - French Extremity]
Vampire's Kiss [Misc - Comedy Horror]
As Above, So Below [Misc - Found Footage]
Dracula [Misc - Gothic Horror]
Beyond the Black Rainbow [Misc - SciFi Horror]
Pulse [Misc - Technology]

Pretty excited about this batch. Last year's list had a ton of classics on there so I had seen a lot of the BIG moments from them which was too bad. Not so much for this list at all, I feel like I'm going in way more blind and know less about a good portion of these movies as a whole

Still got some classics tho. Dracula, Day of the Dead, Fog, Black Lagoon, Body Snatchers, Possession, Carrie, Haunting, etc. Some brand new movies like Midsommar and The Perfection. Midsommar is from the guy who did Hereditary and isn't even out yet but I can't wait. The Perfection literally just dropped on Netflix a few hours ago. And we have a good spread of classic horror directors like Romero and Carpenter and Craven and Argento and a couple of King stories. I'm looking forward to it

Only stinker that I think we forgot to replace after our early draft is As Above, So Below. That's our found footage movie. If anyone has some half-decent found footage horror to replace it with lemme know

Two different Draculas! Christopher Lee version and Gary Oldman version

Also Colossal isn’t a horror movie at all so we’re picking Them! for our giant monster movie

I do not suggest Wer

Actually Zersch watch Good Manners for your werewolf movie. I’m pretty sure it’s a werewolf movie but the premise is apparently a bit of a mystery so I wouldn’t look it up. It was almost our pick

IT'S BEGUN

The Haunting

+

It was...aiight. It didn't age very well imo. I'm sure it was pretty horrifying at the time, and the classic scenes like the door warping and the wife in the cellar door were good, but the rest was just fine to me To be honest I kinda half watched it and was pretty distracted. I remember the sounds of the movie being pretty creepy. I watched it last week, I already forget a whole lot of it. It was cool seeing similarities between this and Hill House on Netflix but tbh I only half paid attention to that entire show too. Overall it was half decent ★★★ good/interesting concept/would recommend Paranormal - Haunted House: Last year I'd use this spot to talk about the sub-genre and what my favorite movie that fit that genre was. This time I'm gonna weigh this movie vs. last year's movie in the same category. Last year was the other most classic haunted house movie, House on Haunted Hill. These are probably the two titans of haunted house movies. I gave them both 6/10 but I'd probably give House on Haunted Hill the slight edge, if only for that one crazy effective jump scare alone with the creepy old lady, that was so good Also I'm gonna track the SHOWDOWN wins for each sub-genre. I feel like 2018 is gonna win out since we were able to watch more of the classics from every category and now we might be left with some scraps but WE'LL SEE! 2018: 1 2019: 0

Funny Games [Psychological - Home Invasion]
Santa Sangre [Psychological - Fanaticism]
Session 9 [Psychological - Phobia & Isolation]
Berberian Sound Studio [Psychological - Madness & Paranoia]

The Howling [Monster - Werewolf]
Thirst [Monster - Vampire]
Day of the Dead [Monster - Undead]
The Fog [Monster - Animals & Nature]
The Battery [Monster - Virus]
Critters [Monster - Small Creatures]
Dracula [Monster - Classic]
Colossal [Monster - Giant Monsters]
Creature from the Black Lagoon [Monster - Neo Monster]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Monster - Aliens]

The Perfection [Gore - Torture]
Phantasm [Gore - Splatter]
The Neon Demon [Gore - Cannibal]
Ichi the Killer [Gore - Extreme]

Possession [Paranormal - Possession]
Midsommar [Paranormal - Witches & Occult]
Carrie [Paranormal - Supernatural]
The Haunting [Paranormal - Haunted House]
The Beyond [Paranormal - Devil/Demon/Hell]
Tigers Are Not Afraid [Paranormal - Ghost & Spirits]

The Hills Have Eyes [Killer - Backwoods & Redneck]
Peeping Tom [Killer - Slasher]
Opera [Killer - Crime & Giallo]

One Cut of the Dead [Misc - Meta]
The Love Witch [Misc - Horror Romance]
Pet Sematary [Misc - Creepy Kid]
The Skin I Live In [Misc. - Body Horror]
Irreversible [Misc - Revenge]
Creepshow [Misc - Anthology]
Inside [Misc - French Extremity]
Vampire's Kiss [Misc - Comedy Horror]
As Above, So Below [Misc - Found Footage]
Dracula [Misc - Gothic Horror]
Beyond the Black Rainbow [Misc - SciFi Horror]
Pulse [Misc - Technology]

Let’s see some ranking boiiiiiiiii

Don’t yell at me in front of my friends man

The Perfection

+

Boyyy oh boy, this movie was....a mess People keep calling it Martyrs (my fav of last year's 39!) meets Whiplash which is such a fun idea on paper, but this fell pretty short of that great concept I like Allison Williams a lot. I thought she was mostly good here but the acting overall was still spotty. MVP is Steven Weber for sure, he was so creepy. He played both halves of his character really well The first half was good. Editing and cello score was good. The rewind effect was terrible. And they did it TWICE! I do appreciate how bonkers it was willing to get...even though it made zero sense. I think overall it was still more fun bonkers than annoying bonkers but it definitely danced on that line the entire time. I don't think it was a very good movie but I was certainly entertained throughout so there's that. I always wanted to know what was gonna happen next and the two or three changes kept the pace up and made things fresh so that was well done. It just never came together in any sorta meaningful way to me and was too sloppy by the end. I did like the final two shots Was going 6 after viewing (I watched two weeks ago) but it didn't sit as well with me like a day or two after ★★½ mixed feelings/flawed but fine/some good idea Gore & Disturbing - Torture: Last year it was a unique kinda torture, The Strangers. This movie's torture was just as unique, neither are your standard torture movies at all which is nice tbh, torture isn't my favorite sub-genre. I'm giving this showdown one to The Strangers, a 6/10 for me. It worked better for what it was 2018: 2 2019: 0

Funny Games [Psychological - Home Invasion]
Santa Sangre [Psychological - Fanaticism]
Session 9 [Psychological - Phobia & Isolation]
Berberian Sound Studio [Psychological - Madness & Paranoia]

The Howling [Monster - Werewolf]
Thirst [Monster - Vampire]
Day of the Dead [Monster - Undead]
The Fog [Monster - Animals & Nature]
The Battery [Monster - Virus]
Critters [Monster - Small Creatures]
Dracula [Monster - Classic]
Colossal [Monster - Giant Monsters]
Creature from the Black Lagoon [Monster - Neo Monster]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Monster - Aliens]

The Perfection [Gore - Torture]
Phantasm [Gore - Splatter]
The Neon Demon [Gore - Cannibal]
Ichi the Killer [Gore - Extreme]

Possession [Paranormal - Possession]
Midsommar [Paranormal - Witches & Occult]
Carrie [Paranormal - Supernatural]
The Haunting [Paranormal - Haunted House]
The Beyond [Paranormal - Devil/Demon/Hell]
Tigers Are Not Afraid [Paranormal - Ghost & Spirits]

The Hills Have Eyes [Killer - Backwoods & Redneck]
Peeping Tom [Killer - Slasher]
Opera [Killer - Crime & Giallo]

One Cut of the Dead [Misc - Meta]
The Love Witch [Misc - Horror Romance]
Pet Sematary [Misc - Creepy Kid]
The Skin I Live In [Misc. - Body Horror]
Irreversible [Misc - Revenge]
Creepshow [Misc - Anthology]
Inside [Misc - French Extremity]
Vampire's Kiss [Misc - Comedy Horror]
As Above, So Below [Misc - Found Footage]
Dracula [Misc - Gothic Horror]
Beyond the Black Rainbow [Misc - SciFi Horror]
Pulse [Misc - Technology]

Critters

+

Jesus What a bad movie. First of all, the alien shit at the beginning was so cringey. That weird guy who sent the two bounty hunters? Terrible. And the two bounty hunters themselves were super lame, I have no idea why they were in the movie. The only thing that I liked about them were the couple of cop car driving jokes. The rest was really bad Deaths were lame and I think there were only two, Billy Zane and the first cop. The creatures themselves left a lot to be desired, I didn't find them interesting or threatening. I wish they were more vicious or there were a lot more of them to make them more threatening or something Humor did nothing for me, I didn't like the critter speak. There were like one or two parts that worked but I forget what they were Poor Dee Wallace, she deserved a better movie. She does her best. The rest of the acting is crap. But the great villain from BLOOD SIMPLE is the sheriff! So that's fun. The fun ends there ★★ disappointing/uninteresting Monsters - Small Creatures: Last year it was Gremlins, aka the first Critters movie. They're way too similar, I guess Critters got a lot of rightful flak back in the day for it. But apparently the writer claims it was finished before Gremlins. I find that hard to believe tbh. Gremlins succeeded with fun kills and the rules element which added a different spin. This failed in pretty much every department. Gremlins beats it out for sure 2018: 3 2019: 0

Funny Games [Psychological - Home Invasion]
Santa Sangre [Psychological - Fanaticism]
Session 9 [Psychological - Phobia & Isolation]
Berberian Sound Studio [Psychological - Madness & Paranoia]

The Howling [Monster - Werewolf]
Thirst [Monster - Vampire]
Day of the Dead [Monster - Undead]
The Fog [Monster - Animals & Nature]
The Battery [Monster - Virus]
Critters [Monster - Small Creatures]
Dracula [Monster - Classic]
Colossal [Monster - Giant Monsters]
Creature from the Black Lagoon [Monster - Neo Monster]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Monster - Aliens]

The Perfection [Gore - Torture]
Phantasm [Gore - Splatter]
The Neon Demon [Gore - Cannibal]
Ichi the Killer [Gore - Extreme]

Possession [Paranormal - Possession]
Midsommar [Paranormal - Witches & Occult]
Carrie [Paranormal - Supernatural]
The Haunting [Paranormal - Haunted House]
The Beyond [Paranormal - Devil/Demon/Hell]
Tigers Are Not Afraid [Paranormal - Ghost & Spirits]

The Hills Have Eyes [Killer - Backwoods & Redneck]
Peeping Tom [Killer - Slasher]
Opera [Killer - Crime & Giallo]

One Cut of the Dead [Misc - Meta]
The Love Witch [Misc - Horror Romance]
Pet Sematary [Misc - Creepy Kid]
The Skin I Live In [Misc. - Body Horror]
Irreversible [Misc - Revenge]
Creepshow [Misc - Anthology]
Inside [Misc - French Extremity]
Vampire's Kiss [Misc - Comedy Horror]
As Above, So Below [Misc - Found Footage]
Dracula [Misc - Gothic Horror]
Beyond the Black Rainbow [Misc - SciFi Horror]
Pulse [Misc - Technology]

The Hills Have Eyes

+

This one was a mixed bag for me. First of all, why did it feel like it was filmed in 1825 with a twelve dollar budget. That bugged me. The lo-fi audio quality stunk. I get that it was 77 and they definitely had no money, and it kiiiinda fit with the tone, but it just made it rough to watch at times It was definitely sadistic though which I liked. Boy did I hate the cannibals, I wanted them to all die brutally. The big RV attack scene was especially rough. The blood and gore effects left a lot to be desired ofc. I did like his gnarled ankle and exposed bone after the dog attacked him though What also hurt is that I've seen the remake which was surprisingly exactly the same as this. They barely changed anything. I almost preferred the remake I think? It was the same movie with more disgusting cannibals, much better acting, and modern gore. Also Ted Levine was such a good fit for the dad from this version, he looked just like him at times The acting here mostly stunk, I hated the whiny little brother and some of his choices in facial expressions and delivery were uh..questionable! And the sister shrieking nonstop the entire second half of the movie was awful Dee Wallace DOUBLE FEATURE! She’s in The Howling too, also on our list. She’s the Jeffrey Combs of 2.0 Almost went with a five but I'm going with four. There just wasn't enough that I liked. It was definitely a spooky setup and helpless situation though, I liked that ★★ disappointing/uninteresting Killer - Backwoods & Redneck: 2018 was Wolf Creek, a 6/10 for me. Giving it to Wolf Creek which I definitely enjoyed more. A similar redneck horror premise but more grisly with a better lead villain 2018: 4 2019: 0

Funny Games [Psychological - Home Invasion]
Santa Sangre [Psychological - Fanaticism]
Session 9 [Psychological - Phobia & Isolation]
Berberian Sound Studio [Psychological - Madness & Paranoia]

The Howling [Monster - Werewolf]
Thirst [Monster - Vampire]
Day of the Dead [Monster - Undead]
The Fog [Monster - Animals & Nature]
The Battery [Monster - Virus]
Critters [Monster - Small Creatures]
Dracula [Monster - Classic]
Colossal [Monster - Giant Monsters]
Creature from the Black Lagoon [Monster - Neo Monster]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Monster - Aliens]

The Perfection [Gore - Torture]
Phantasm [Gore - Splatter]
The Neon Demon [Gore - Cannibal]
Ichi the Killer [Gore - Extreme]

Possession [Paranormal - Possession]
Midsommar [Paranormal - Witches & Occult]
Carrie [Paranormal - Supernatural]
The Haunting [Paranormal - Haunted House]
The Beyond [Paranormal - Devil/Demon/Hell]
Tigers Are Not Afraid [Paranormal - Ghost & Spirits]

The Hills Have Eyes [Killer - Backwoods & Redneck]
Peeping Tom [Killer - Slasher]
Opera [Killer - Crime & Giallo]

One Cut of the Dead [Misc - Meta]
The Love Witch [Misc - Horror Romance]
Pet Sematary [Misc - Creepy Kid]
The Skin I Live In [Misc. - Body Horror]
Irreversible [Misc - Revenge]
Creepshow [Misc - Anthology]
Inside [Misc - French Extremity]
Vampire's Kiss [Misc - Comedy Horror]
As Above, So Below [Misc - Found Footage]
Dracula [Misc - Gothic Horror]
Beyond the Black Rainbow [Misc - SciFi Horror]
Pulse [Misc - Technology]

That's where I'm at so far, 4 down, 35 to go. I'm gonna rank after every five like last time

As Above, So Below

+

You know what...didn't hate it! Didn't love it, but didn't hate it I went in with the lowest expectations. I heard it was shitty when it came out and had no interest in seeing it. It was the one movie on our list here that I wanted to replace AND it's the lowest rated movie on Letterboxd on our list. So I was definitely able to manage my expectations going in which definitely helped Thought the idea was pretty fun, I was into the setup. The characters were pretty good, I felt bad when the cameraman died. An tbh kinda felt bad when the tour guy died too, thought he was gonna be a douche but he was fine as it went on. The three deaths were all pretty good, I kinda wish there were more. And I agree that I wish they were spread out more instead of in quick succession I liked the upside down concept too, I kinda wish that was somehow explored me. Also I've always liked the poster and title a lot Thought it was pretty funny that ZED of all people survived the movie, I thought he'd be the first to die. They literally kept him around to be the cameraman so they could keep the two leads in a single shot together. That's pretty amusing The scares were lacking for me. None of the jump scares did it for me at all. I guess the closest was the woman lunging at Theo? But it was easy to see coming. Tbh the scariest part was Theo getting stuck in the bone tunnel. With such a creepy setting they really should've done more sp00ky wise Worst thing about the movie was how often everyone said "we need to keep moving." "we need to go forward." Over and over and over. I kinda wanna make a supercut of it. Whenever someone died or they ran into something mysterious, that's the only thing that someone would say and then the scene would skip to the next Overall it was fine. Good concept, I like Ben Feldman from his Mad Men days, good setting. Bad scares and nothing terribly interesting happens in the second half ★★½ mixed feelings/flawed but fine/some good ideas Misc. - Found Footage: 2018 Hell House LLC which I find very similar to this. Good/unique concepts for found footage that don't really make the most out of it. Neither movie is very great, but I'm gonna give it to As Above, So Below which surprises me a bit. Hell House beats it on the scares for sure, I'll never forget the demon woman crawling up on the guy hiding under his sheets. But I think AASB was more competently made and the ending to Hell House was garbage. Super close tho, ask me on a different day and my answer might be flipped 2018: 4 2019: 1

Funny Games [Psychological - Home Invasion]
Santa Sangre [Psychological - Fanaticism]
Session 9 [Psychological - Phobia & Isolation]
Berberian Sound Studio [Psychological - Madness & Paranoia]

The Howling [Monster - Werewolf]
Thirst [Monster - Vampire]
Day of the Dead [Monster - Undead]
The Fog [Monster - Animals & Nature]
The Battery [Monster - Virus]
Critters [Monster - Small Creatures]
Dracula [Monster - Classic]
Colossal [Monster - Giant Monsters]
Creature from the Black Lagoon [Monster - Neo Monster]
Invasion of the Body Snatchers [Monster - Aliens]

The Perfection [Gore - Torture]
Phantasm [Gore - Splatter]
The Neon Demon [Gore - Cannibal]
Ichi the Killer [Gore - Extreme]

Possession [Paranormal - Possession]
Midsommar [Paranormal - Witches & Occult]
Carrie [Paranormal - Supernatural]
The Haunting [Paranormal - Haunted House]
The Beyond [Paranormal - Devil/Demon/Hell]
Tigers Are Not Afraid [Paranormal - Ghost & Spirits]

The Hills Have Eyes [Killer - Backwoods & Redneck]
Peeping Tom [Killer - Slasher]
Opera [Killer - Crime & Giallo]

One Cut of the Dead [Misc - Meta]
The Love Witch [Misc - Horror Romance]
Pet Sematary [Misc - Creepy Kid]
The Skin I Live In [Misc. - Body Horror]
Irreversible [Misc - Revenge]
Creepshow [Misc - Anthology]
Inside [Misc - French Extremity]
Vampire's Kiss [Misc - Comedy Horror]
As Above, So Below [Misc - Found Footage]
Dracula [Misc - Gothic Horror]
Beyond the Black Rainbow [Misc - SciFi Horror]
Pulse [Misc - Technology]