38. A Blade in the Dark
Look, I've said it said before... with standard issue giallos, even the best ones, I tend to struggle. I've grown to love em more and more once I properly aligned my expectations for sluggish pacing, narrative cul de sacs, and fuck awful dubbing . All about the style, of course. But I still drift and I did at times during this one. There is an exceptionally brutal set piece near the middle and some minor memorable bits scattered about. Some occasional fun editing. After this and Demons 1 & 2 ,I think I'll pause on the Bava Jr. for a bit. (amazon)
39. The Evil (1978)
Standard haunted house on top of a gateway to hell fare. Richard Crenna and some other people are trapped by slamming shutters and locked doors, as demonic powers pick em off one by one. Goofy but commendable capper to the whole thing. A solid Halloweeny movie if you're saving up or making a list. Despite feeling like an Amityville knock-off, this predates it by a year. (amazon)
40. Haunt (2019)
I liked this one a lot more than maybe I should. I appreciate that it gets weirder than it needs to (I was expecting more of a redux of last year's Hellfest, which I also enjoyed). Just a solid slasher throwback with enough style and "new" to make it worth existing. So much shit getting lost in the glut of streaming these days... hope this one finds a bit of a fanbase. Not earth shattering and a bit over reliant on the jump scares early on but stick it out and you'll get a little weirdness along with the touchstone comfort food horror. (shudder)
41. Prey (1977)
I REALLY struggle keeping up pace around this point of the marathon and Prey, while a completely fine and off kilter offering that mixes Man Who Fell to Earth with cottage bound, rainy English horror, lost me. Might chalk my disinterest up to poor marathon placement, but the tension I felt it was going for landed with a thud for me and, sure, yeah... budget constraints and all of that but the laughable make-up effects for our alien deflated ANY horror taking place while he was on screen. Only watched this last week, but my memory of 3/4 of this one has already faded out. Fans of this one: should I give it another try some time? Sell me. (amazon)
42. My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Needed a classic slasher to try and lock back in. Been the better part of a decade since my last viewing. Holds up. Brutal but not without humor, a unique enough set-up, and a varied cast of characters. Deserves its status as one of the best old school slashers. (amazon, hulu)
43. TerrorVision
Charles Band nonsense from the mid-80's is some of the best nonsense. I'd never seen TerrorVision previous to this. It was alright. Fun monster. Goofball tone that misses as much it hits. Stupid. Charming. Stupid. (Amazon)
44. The Ghost of Yotsuya
Ghosts get their revenge on a prick samurai. If you watch any pre-80's Japanese horror, you've seen this story a bunch... standard issue Edo kaidan and it's almost always great. It is here also, if not top tier (Onibaba, Kwaidan, Kuroneko, etc) then maybe just outside. A lot of set-up, making sure you root for the comeuppance when it arrives in the final act. Great use of silence. Ghostly, creepy visuals. (Criterion Channel)
45. The Devil Rides Out
Hammer time. Christopher Lee kicking satanist ass in 1920's England, written by Richard Matheson. I'm in. This was one of Terence Fisher's last directorial offerings, after working for over a decade cranking out genre shit for Hammer and he lets loose his entire bag of tricks that he's learned. The Angel of Death, giant spiders, car chases... this movie is pretty stacked. As with most Hammer, another great Halloween watch. (not streaming)
46. Strays
Man, I knew I was in for one bonedeep moronic time with this one (feral cat castle seige of a country home with Timothy Busfield and Kathleen Quinlan... made for the USA Network in 1991) and it delivered. If it wasn't for the dull stretches (sideplot about Quinlan's sister trying to get it on with Timothy and his irresistible Busfieldity) this would be an undisputed lame classic. So many shots of bored housecats with menacing music laid over em and Quinlan threatening them with a water pitcher. Fuck, this was dumb. Another great time. (Youtube maybe?)
47.One Dark Night
What a great back-to-back this was with Strays. How had I never seen this? Meg Tilly has to stay overnight in a masoleum where a recently deceased telekinetic madman has been interred. Some awesome, gooey effects, atmosphere, and use of its (mostly) one locale. I even think the intentional humor mostly works, which can be rare for buried genre shit. Meg Tilly, the mean girls, and most of the cast are solid and... the fuck is Adam West doing in this? (Amazon)
48.The Plague of Zombies
Back to the Hammer. Not as strong an outing as Devil Rides Out, but a lot of charm anyway. One of the last strong "voodoo style" zombie movies before Romero rewrote the rulebook two years later. Like the bulk of Hammer films, this one coasts by on gothic atmosphere (though this one feels a bit more sinister than many others), with strong visuals and a cool score. The plot was also above average, though (another staple of Hammer films) it just sort of ends in a flurry and fire. Solid old school romp. (amazon)