Day 4: 31 Days of Horror: Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Requiem for a Dream may not be considered a horror movie to some, but it should be. I think it's one of the most psychologically messed up movies I've ever seen. It scared my friend so much that he couldn't sleep for a week thinking about it. That's the kind of movie this is, hard to forget and realistically horrifying.

The film follows four different characters and their downward spiral from drug addiction. Addiction is an ugly, awful thing. It consumes the body, the mind, and ends up ruining lives at a catostrophic level. Requiem does not shy away from showing how awful life can get because of drug addiction. All of the characters end up failing miserably at life. They do not control anything themselves, it's only the drugs. Who is worse off? It's hard to say. One ends up without a limb, the other a prostitute, another in jail, and the fourth ends up in an insane asylum. Moral of the story? Stay away from drugs!

Ellen Burstyn gives one of the best performances I've ever seen. She plays a lonely widow, who craves for something in her life to give her something to live for. She ends up finding that something when she thinks she's going to be on television. She's so desperate for the experience, to be able to be in the spotlight, talk about her husband and son, that she obsesses about it. She decides she needs to get on some diet pills to lose weight in time for her television appearance, so that she looks nice and is able to fit into the pretty red dress she wore to her son's graduation. The amount of emotions she's able to show in her face make this movie so realistic. It also makes the addiction and experience the character goes through that much more terrifying and heartbreaking to watch.

This film is dark and disturbing. Do not watch it thinking that it's not going to freak you out because it will. There's nothing light about this movie.

Day 3: 31 Days of Horror: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari 1920)

There's something about silent horror movies that really gets to me. I think a lot of silent movies are a bit creepy, well, at least the ones that I have seen, but they also have quite a lot of beauty to them. I love The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920).

Dr. Caligari focuses on a terrible memory that a man, Francis, and his wife-to-be have recently experienced. It all starts once the man visits the county fair and sees the Dr.'s act with his somnambulist Cesare, who when awakened from his slumber in the cabinet, is able to tell secrets of the future. A man asks Cesare what his future entails and he is informed by him that he will die by dawn the next morning. After this, a series of homicides begin to plague the town. No one is sure who is behind these heinous attacks, but they soon end up becoming suspicious of Dr. Caligari and his mysterious counterpart. Are they as creepy as they seem or is something else going on? Watch to find out.

This movie is extremely well done. I think that the set is my favorite part. I love the design of the buildings and the town as a whole. It seems as though this sort of design really influenced the art direction of Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

Werner Krauss, the actor who plays Dr. Calgari, was a genius. He knew how to contort his face into some very freaky grimaces. The makeup and lighting in the film really add to the scare factor. So awesome!

Day 2: 31 Days of Horror: Pet Sematary (1989)

As most of you reading probably already know, Stephen King is one twisted guy. At least, he comes up with very disturbing stories, which makes me think he's twisted. Horror is his forte and Pet Sematary (1989) delivers the creepiness.

The movie starts out with an adorable young family moving into an old house out in Maine due to a job opportunity for the father, Louis Creed.  The only thing that seems bad about their new house is the busy road they live on, especially for the family cat. However, unbeknownst to them, there is something much more dangerous and peculiar lurking behind their house, just beyond the neighborhood pet cemetery...

It isn't until his wife, Rachel, and children, Gage and Ellie, go on a vacation to visit the in-laws that Louis begins to understand just how dangerous it is beyond the pet cemetery when his daughter's cat, Church, ends up dead. Knowing how much the daughter loves this cat, Louis' strange, but kind neighbor, Jud Crandall, lets him in on a little secret. There is a burial ground beyond the pet cemetery and anything buried in it will come back to life.  The two end up burying the cat there and it does indeed come back to life, but it's definitely not the same, lovable Church, that the family was accustomed to.

The creepiness of the burial ground doesn't stop there. Louis and his family end up being haunted by a patient who recently passed away. He keeps warning the family, specifically Louis, that no good can come from the burial ground.  However, Louis ignores his warning when tragedy strikes their family. Distraught by the tragedy, Louis decides to give the burial ground another try, despite how badly Church turned out and the warnings from both the dead guy and Jud regarding how dangerous it would be to bury a human there. Sometimes, dead really is better...

The scariest thing about Pet Sematary is not the cat or the ghost of the patient, it is Rachel's deceased sister, Zelda. I don't know why she had to come into the story at all, other than to add an intense amount of terror into the movie watcher. I guarantee that if you have not watched this film, or even if you have, Zelda will be the one causing nightmares. Keep away, Zelda, don't come by me!

Fred Gwynne was the best actor in the movie, he was the perfect choice for Jud Crandall. I think it's his voice that really adds to his performance. It's very distinctive. Dale Midkiff, who plays Louis Creed, tends to go a little overboard with the acting at some points, but it's bearable, he's also not bad to look at. I had put off watching this movie mainly because I thought I was going to be upset about the cat, but it wasn't too bad. It's probably worse in the book. The family tragedy is pretty sad, but not enough to not watch the movie. Check out Pet Sematary, if you haven't yet!

Day 1: 31 Days of Horror: Night of the Creeps (1986)

Oh yes, it is back! The best time of the whole year! The entire month of October! I'm ready to indulge on all things horrific, creepy, and ghoulishly entertaining for an entire 31 days!

First movie up is a campy horror gem that goes by the name of Night of the Creeps (1986). If you are a fan of zombie movies that like to give more laughs than unnerving freakouts, then this is definitely the movie for you. Set on a college campus, with loads of frats and sororities, it focuses in on a nerdy guy, who desperately wants the attention of a sorority girl. In order to win her over, he decides that he must pledge at the most popular fraternity with his best friend.

However, the pledge ends up being a joke on them, and even a bigger joke on the fraternity, when the two nerds accidentally thaw a corpse of an old fraternity member from the 1950s. This corpse happened to be infected by some strange alien brain parasite, which turns all of its hosts into horrible, brain-thirsty, flesh-loving zombies! Once unthawed, these little alien parasites spread like wildfire all over the campus. No one is safe! Will they be able to rid the campus of these monstrous creatures or will they all become zombies?! Watch to find out. 

The corniness of this movie makes it great, as does the zombie makeup. I love 80s movies and I'm glad I stumbled upon this over the summer. It's the perfect movie to kick off the beginning of 31 Days of Horror! Not too scary, but good fun, and there will be more horror movies to come! Not all of them will be campy, some of them will be terrifying, so brace yourselves! 

Horror Movies

I am getting so excited because it's getting closer and closer to my favorite time of the year, the entire month of October! Horror movie/scary something every single day for 31 days! It's glorious! I am doing some 'research' for it right now and I have definitely found some 31 Days of Horror contenders. Getting close, getting close!

RIP Lee Thompson Young

I am still struggling with the death of Lee Thompson Young. Like many others, I knew him from being Jett Jackson in the Famous Jett Jackson and as Johnny Kapahaala's best friend, Sam Sterling. He was always so positive and had a glow about him. His eyes always had a nice brightness to them. Suicide is a very difficult thing to understand, especially when the person who has done it always seemed so full of life. I hope that he is at peace now, but it is a shame that he went out the way he did. My heart goes out to his family, friends, and Rizzoli and Isles cast mates. Also, please, if you ever recognize a drastic change in someone's mood or behavior, do not hesitate to ask them if he or she is ok. I have witnessed someone exhibit a drastic change in mood/behavior and I am still, to this day, happy that I made sure that this person was ok. I also made it apparent that I will always be available to talk and that I care. Sometimes, that is what someone really needs to feel better. Rest in peace, Lee.

RIP Julie Harris

I was sad to learn that Julie Harris passed away. I think she must have been a very sweet woman because she took the time to have someone write a letter back to me, when she was not able to after one of her strokes. East of Eden is one of my all time favorite movies. I felt that she was a great Abra because of how caring she acted towards Cal. I love the scene at the fair and the one where he goes to her window. Ah, such a good movie! Great book, as well.

I like the movie, The Haunting (1963). I actually get angry thinking about the remake. I watched the remake as a kid and it was scary then, but now, that remake is unwatchable. The original Haunting, however, is worth seeing. Not terribly scary, but nice cinematography and set.

87 years is a pretty good lifetime. It's not 100 like my great grandma, but let's face it, that's not an easy age to achieve and 87 isn't that easy either! Rest in peace, Julie.