The final list of films watched were chosen from an initial shortlist HERE. This year I tried to include more first time watches and less obvious titles, although there was a mix of classics and obscurities, and I tried to include a global mix from both the more prolific horror film producing nations such as the USA, UK, Italy, Japan etc to less obvious sources such as Pakistan, Venezuela and Iran. The following are the films I eventually watched listed in alphabetical order (by country), and on the main list below in the actual chronological order I watched them during the month, finally completing my challenge on the final day of Halloween itself! I have also included my post-viewing Twitter mini-reviews here for each film also..............
ARGENTINA (PENUMBRA)
AUSTRALIA (UNDEAD)
BELGIUM (CUB)
CANADA (HELLIONS)
COLOMBIA (THE SQUAD)
CUBA (JUAN OF THE DEAD)
DENMARK (WHEN ANIMALS DREAM)
FINLAND (DARK FLOORS)
FRANCE (EYES WITHOUT A FACE)
GERMANY (GERMAN ANGST)
ICELAND (HARPOON)
INDONESIA (THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC)
IRAN (A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT)
ITALY (BLOOD AND BLACK LACE)
JAPAN (NAKED BLOOD)
MEXICO (KM 31)
NETHERLANDS (SLAUGHTER NIGHT)
NEW ZEALAND (DEATHGASM)
NORWAY (MANHUNT)
PAKISTAN (HELL'S GROUND)
PERU (THE ENTITY)
PHILIPPINES (MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND)
SOUTH AFRICA (NIGHT DRIVE)
SOUTH KOREA (CHAW)
SPAIN (INSENSIBLES)
SWEDEN (FROSTBITE)
SWITZERLAND (SENNENTUNTSCHI)
THAILAND (MEAT GRINDER)
UK (HOWL)
USA (THE WITCH)
VENEZUELA (THE HOUSE AT THE END OF TIME)
SHOCKTOBER 2015
MANHUNT (NORWAY) (2008)
Manhunt: Deliverance Scandinavian style. Visceral & violent, captures the brutality & nihilism of 70s cinema - the decade where it's set.
THE SQUAD (COLOMBIA) (2011)
The Squad: Escalating air of dread & paranoia. Excessive use of wandering about in dark & hysteria but has effectively eerie & nasty scenes.
CUB (BELGIUM) (2014)
Cub: A twisted rites of passage fable which shifts tone from breezy boys' own adventure into dark & disturbing horror mythology. Impressive.
JUAN OF THE DEAD (CUBA) (2011)
Juan Of The Dead: Cultural comment, exotic location, inventive splatter & outlandish humour melded into one of the best & most unique zom-coms.
MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND (PHILIPPINES) (1968)
Mad Doctor Of Blood Island: Nudity, gore, pathetic monster FX, chronic dubbing, inane dialogue, Mondo animal cruelty. Classic trash nirvana.
THE ENTITY (aka LA ENTIDAD) (PERU) (2015)
The Entity: Peruvian found footage horror possibly loses much in translation. It's confusing & covers familiar ground, but has a decent twist.
NIGHT DRIVE (SOUTH AFRICA) (2010)
Night Drive: Brutality in the African bush. A survivalist safari with lots of nasty violence & incidental ritualistic horror. Gory but dull.
BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (ITALY) (1964)
Blood And Black Lace: Exploitation as art. Glamour & gore, Bava's giallo template oozes style & salacity with peerless use of colour & light.
CHAW (SOUTH KOREA) (2009)
Chaw: Jaws with a boar in Korean Eco horror with a broad slapstick comedic tone which proves at odds with grisly creature feature elements.
EYES WITHOUT A FACE (aka LES YEUX SANS VISAGE) (FRANCE) (1960)
Eyes Without A Face: A haunting study of twisted obsession, guilt, deviant surgery & grotesque tragedy. A perversely poetic masterpiece.
KM31 (aka KILOMETRE 31) (MEXICO) (2006)
KM31: Visually impressive Mexican ghost story mixes Latin folklore with J-Horror style. Regurgitates ideas but has an eerie foreboding aura.
HELL'S GROUND (PAKISTAN) (2007)
Hell's Ground: Crude & crazed TCM clone, which manages to shoehorn in zombies & other sundry madness. Its Leatherface surrogate wears a burka!
HARPOON (aka REYKJAVIK WHALE WATCHING MASSACRE) (ICELAND) (2009)
Harpoon: Obnoxious tourists get messily slaughtered in Icelandic maritime massacre. Offensive, aggressively stupid, but delivers the gory goods.
SENNENTUNTSCHI (aka CURSE OF THE ALPS) (SWITZERLAND) (2010)
Sennentuntschi: Absinthe-fuelled Alpine murder mystery teases supernatural secrets as it unravels as a deliciously dark demonic fairytale.
THE HOUSE AT THE END OF TIME (VENEZUELA) (2013)
The House At The End Of Time: Ghosts of the past & future echoes entwined in eerie & emotionally potent tale of spirits & spirituality across time.
DEATHGASM (NEW ZEALAND) (2015)
Deathgasm: Deranged & demonic. In your face splatter & metal up yer ass. The new wave of New Zealand genre cinema delivers another winner!
GERMAN ANGST (GERMANY) (2015)
German Angst: Urban underground anthology of hardcore horror. Misery, suffering, Nazi cruelty, guinea pigs & the year's messiest demon sex
THE WITCH (USA) (2015)
The Witch: Fading light, blighted land, an ancient evil lurking in the shadows. Overwhelming dread & utterly unnerving. Believe the hype.
PENUMBRA (ARGENTINA) (2011)
Penumbra: Intriguing mystery gradually peels away layers revealing a darker, more devious side. Shares common ground with The Invitation.
UNDEAD (AUSTRALIA) (2003)
Undead: Fun sci-fi spin on the zombie genre. With John Woo style gun play, inventive gore & creative cussing, the Spierig Bros debut is a blast!
SLAUGHTER NIGHT (aka SL8N8) (NETHERLANDS) (2006)
Slaughter Night: Contemporary Dutch supernatural slasher/possession pic.
Boasts some grisly kills but mines every cliche in the book.
A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT (IRAN) (2014)
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night: Hypnotic, narcotic, darkly romantic. Striking monochrome visuals & a haunting, ageless dreamlike quality. Special.
WHEN ANIMALS DREAM (DENMARK) (2014)
When Animals Dream: Solemn, portentous & angst-riddled. The drama
mirrors its bleak backdrop, but hits its horror stride for the final reel.
THE QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC (INDONESIA) (1979)
The Queen Of Black Magic: Mad & melodramatic, an exotic Indonesian
supernatural revenge yarn served up via exploding body parts &
flying heads!
FROSTBITE (aka FROSTBITEN) (SWEDEN) (2006)
Frostbite(n): Fun & frantic Swedish vampire flick - a fang in cheek
30 Days Of Night with Nazi origin story, mad science & talking
animals.
MEAT GRINDER (THAILAND) (2009)
Meat Grinder: Sins of the past manifested in a cannibalistic culinary
bloodbath. A muddled mosaic structure, traumatic & darkly tragic.
DARK FLOORS (FINALND) (2008)
Dark Floors: Not the Lordi vanity project I'd feared, this horror
hospital is a pseudo Silent Hill. Low on plot but rich in visual
style.
NAKED BLOOD (aka SPLATTER: NAKED BLOOD) (JAPAN) (1996)
Naked Blood: Extreme ero-guro, pleasure & pain, melds Cronenberg
shock science & graphic mutilation. Provocative, challenging,
transgressive.
INSENSIBLES (aka PAINLESS) (SPAIN) (2012)
Insensibles: Grim mystery plays out in the present & past, revealing
increasingly dark & disturbing secrets. By turns harrowing &
oddly moving.
HOWL (UK) (2015)
Howl: A few obvious cliches & plot contrivances aside, this is solid
pulpy B movie fun with a great basic premise & well crafted
atmosphere.
HELLIONS (CANADA) (2015)
Hellions: Teen pregnancy cautionary tale in guise of blood moon-hued
Halloween horror. Trick R Treat meets Inside with a pink filter fetish.
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