Horrorbound Halloween 2021 Watch List: Week 2
Welcome back to week 2 of Horrorbound’s Halloween 2021 Watch List where we suggest one movie each day for the month of October that is easily streamable for your enjoyment. There are 7 movies to cover in this week’s article so let’s skip the introductions and get right into it. Check out the first week HERE!
Monday October 4th
The Taking of Deborah Logan - Amazon Prime, Shudder, Tubi
From the moment I discovered this found footage/mockumentary horror film it immediately earned a spot on my annual horror watch list. My annual watchlist is very light on the heavy, existential type horror films. No Robert Eggers, no Ari Aster but tons of absolutely terrifying, jump scare filled, exciting films because the watch list is for the whole family and you want to scare them while keeping them entertained. The Taking of Deborah Logan, or as it’s known in my family, “Snake Grandma” is one of those absolutely terrifying, jump scare filled shocking films that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
Tuesday October 5th
Pumpkinhead - Amazon Prime, Shudder
The genre of Hillbilly Horror is fairly limited with most films in the category having to do with crazy hillbilly killers and not many having to do with actual hillbilly folklore. If you ever make your way to Appalachia, like deep into Appalachia you will find there is a whole world of mythical cures to disease, hedge witches and bizarre curses, a world that Pumpkinhead fully captures. It’s a mythology and a monster unlike any other in horror history because it comes from such a bizarro world of hillbilly culture that it’s hard to replicate. A fantastic horror film with outstanding creature effects.
Wednesday October 6th
Inhuman Kiss - Netflix
For the same reason I don’t have artsy films with tons of symbolism, I also don’t include many foreign films in the horror watchlist. It’s a whole family affair and subtitles on the bottom of the screen get the eye-roll faster than some avant-garde weirdness but there are a few exceptions. Inhuman Kiss is a fantastic and compelling fantasy, romance and horror mashup about a tricky love triangle and mythical monsters. Think Twilight but it’s set in Thailand and instead of shiny vampires there is a floating disembodied head with tentacles. It’s bizarre, it’s weird and the story might even make you shed a tear or two.
Thursday October 7th
I Know What You Did Last Summer - Amazon Prime
More known in recent years for the GIF, I Know What You Did Last Summer, or as the cool kids call it IKWYDLS, is a late ‘90s teen horror flick with a top notch cast that, unlike some of its contemporaries, does not hold up well with time. Scream, Final Destination, Idle Hands and even Urban Legend hold up well after almost 30 years (feel old yet) but IKWYDLS makes more questionable choices than Courtney Cox when she chopped her bangs for Scream 3. Is that a reason not to watch it though? Hell no! Absolutely watch this time capsule of a film and enjoy the good old days of the late 1990’s.
Friday October 8th
Thir13en Ghosts - HBOMax
When talking about films that aged well, perhaps none have aged as well as 13 Ghosts, or as the cool kids call it Thir13en Ghosts. I remember when this bad boy hit the shelves at the local Blockbuster and the DVD special features had this whole elaborate backstory for each of the 13 ghosts which was really cool. Now some 20 years later and my horror palette is more refined, I now take note of all the clever little easter eggs hidden in this film. The most notable of course is the glasses that you need to see the ghosts. You see, the original 13 Ghosts is one of those gimmicky movies, like The Tingler, where the film was this whole experience. The gimmick was that they would give you a pair of those red-blue 3D glasses and if you wanted to see the ghosts on screen, you would look through the red side and if you didn’t want to you, look through the blue side. The glasses tech used by the characters in the film is a fantastic homage to the original. And oh yeah, it’s got Matthew fucking Lillard so whats not to love.
It’s Friday and that means a double header. Thir13en Ghosts pairs absolutely perfectly with the 1999 remake of House on Haunted Hill which is also on HBOMax
Saturday October 9th
The Hunt - HBOMax
Remember in 2020 when everyone got mad about a socially charged movie without ever watching it and then the movie release got delayed? Yeah, that was The Hunt, the premise of the movie is that there is a group of wealthy coastal elites who are hunting climate change deniers and gun owners for sport. And you know, I get it, maybe you’re a vegan socialist green peace activist who only eats locally sourced microgreens and you don’t like your comrades being shown as viscous murderers or maybe you’re a gun toting, bible thumping, “Don’t tread on me” bumper sticker on your F-150 having red blooded Gotdamn ‘Merican Patriot and you ain’t happy about no city folks mocking you, the problem is this…
…the movie is about Betty Gilpin kicking ass and that’s about it so drop your tribalism and enjoy the film. Cinema is not liberalism, socialism, conservatism, libertarianism or whatever the fuck, it’s escapism, so shut up and enjoy the movie, weirdo.
If you are looking for a good double header HBOMax also has The Butterfly Effect which also has Ethan Suplee.
Sunday October 10th
Viy - TubiTV, Shudder
Imagine if Walt Disney was Russian and made a horror movie, that’s Viy basically. The movie is about a drunken Russian monk who encounters a swamp witch that he gives a piggy back ride to before he kills the witch and she transforms into a beautiful young woman. The next day, a wealthy landowner requests the monk to read funeral rites over the course of three nights to his recently deceased daughter who is the same beautiful young woman/nasty old swamp witch with that he killed the night before. Oh shit! What follows is three nights of the monk being haunted by the undead swamp witch with the use of optical illusions and camera tricks for full effect. The whole thing culminates with a bunch of booger monsters climbing out of the walls and trying to kill the monk. It’s wild, it’s insane, it’s beautiful in that way that all ‘60s technicolor horror movies are and it’s well worth a watch.
A perfect double-header would be the 1960’s french film Eyes Without a Face because it is the opposite of everything Viy is. It’s black and white, it’s gory, it’s dark, it’s depressing and its on HBOMax.
Stay tuned to our YouTube channel for daily recommendations throughout the month of October and come back here next Monday for another week worth of recommendations. Next week’s suggestions include a George Clooney Movie, a Mike Flanagan movie, a movie from Japan, a movie from Israel, a movie from New Zealand and a movie about carnivorous fish in 3D.
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