October exhausted me.
October excited me and then exhausted me.
October is my birth month and I decided to take on a challenge (put forth by Nightmare on Film Street), the #31DayHorrorChallenge which well, started out with a bang but fell off because life got a bit too real and busy for me. So instead of 31 days, I did about 22-23 days which, that’s way more than I thought I would achieve.
It’s always difficult for me, especially lately, to sit down and watch a movie. Sitting and watching a movie during any month has been a hit or miss. Some months, like last year, I can knock out 5-7, this year was more like 3-4 but I am proud that I was able to do so much in a short time frame. Making up for lost time?
Today, I’ll be sharing the highs and lows of this challenge, what my overall experience is and what I could have done differently.
Let’s discuss my #31DayHorrorChallenge of October 2021.
THE HIGH
The films that surprised me would be here. And there’s quite a few of them. I will count The Wicker Man (1973), even though I watched this September 27th, The Lost Boys, WNUF Halloween Special, Sleepaway Camp, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and Grave Encounters as unexpected and enjoyable watches. I see why people talk highly and enamored with The Lost Boys or how groundbreaking The Wicker Man is or how memorable Sleepaway Camp is, even though I know of the ending, it’s the build up and eventual climax that still made me gasp (I wasn’t expecting the head on the lap!). 2000’s Blood: The Last Vampire is an unique take on the vampire mythology and you mix that in with anime, it’s a win/win for me.
THE LOWS
Now, I’m someone who can find SOMETHING good within a bad horror film. And I’m also someone who rarely rants about movies being bad in various ways. BUT, I don’t want to say I had high expectations, I didn’t, but The Beast Must Die (1974) really just astounded me. I looked at my notepad and this is the ONLY film I rated at 3 out of 5. I wish I could take my hours back from this movie. Is it better than The House of Seven Corpses? Yes but not by much. I appreciated seeing familiar faces of Peter Cushing, Michael Gambon and Marlene Clarke and even Charles Gray but the music was such a huge disconnect. Not a full review but was it necessary to have this 70s Shaft-homage music playing every time our lead black protagonist was on the screen? This is not a blaxploitation film ! And the lighting was odd at times as well, sometimes too dark to see the “wolf”.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE DIFFERENTLY
Plan out films ahead! I know it seems simple but I think it could have saved me a lot of struggles and headaches. Some films, I knew what I wanted to watch and how I could fit it in a certain “theme” for the day. But I didn’t do that for the entire month. And that’s probably why I fell off a bit. Some films are easier to find like in my own personal collection but most of what I watched was through streaming.
If I researched ahead, maybe see what Shudder had or Prime, even Paramount+, add that to a “watchlist”, it could have saved me time. However, I can get very overwhelmed and in my head (hello anxiety and depression), and lose interest.
I will personally take the “L”.
STATISTICS
Brand New: 19
Oldies: 3
5/5 Ratings: 4
Below 4/5: 8
In conclusion, l’ll also do a lightning round review post to share my overall thoughts on every single film that I’ve watched. Overall, this was a win. I got to watch a lot of new films I’ve been meaning to watch, have new obsessions and appreciation for more different decades like early 2000s, 70s, etc.
If you watched anything this past October, what did you watch? Anything new or good, comfortable favorites? Leave a comment below!
Shots of Horror 