Horrorbound Halloween 2021 Watch List: Week 1
Oh it's spooky season and nothing brings a bigger smile to my face each year than when I am able to assemble and watch my October long horror movie marathon. Each year I pick a different movie to watch each night for the entire month of October, sometimes two or three on Friday and Saturday nights. Now you may be thinking, yeah Bud, I do the same thing. And my response is simply:
“No Bud, no you don't”
Listen bubba, when I do a watchlist the entire month has a theme and each week within the month has a theme separate from the monthly theme but still somewhat connected. Each weekend has a theme and each Friday/Saturday doubleheader is meticulously chosen for proper flow from movie to movie. It takes me almost a full year to assemble this whole thing as I am constantly changing movie choices and themes. It’s a lot of work but I enjoy it thoroughly.
Now something I enjoy equally as much is suggesting movies for other folks to watch and this year for Halloween not only will I be screaming about films on the Horror Bound Official YouTube channel, but we will also be publishing these weekly articles giving you an easily streamable movie selection for each night of the month. I’ve scoured the deep recesses of Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBOMax and Tubi searching for the best movies for you to watch. Follow along everyday on YouTube and check back to the site weekly for a new batch of recommendations.
Friday October 1st
Sweetheart - Netflix
Sweetheart was quietly released by Blumhouse on Netflix in 2019 and it’s such a shame it didn't get more fanfare because this is one of the better horror films of the past decade. It’s basically Cast Away but instead of Tom Hanks, the person stranded on the island is the beautiful Kiersey Clemons and instead of a volleyball named Wilson as the only thing keeping them company, it’s an 8 foot tall creepy fishman who lives in a hole just off shore.
The movie does a whole lot with very little. The entire cast is five people and one of those people is just a dead body who somehow made it in the credits and another is the person in the monster suit. Yes, you heard me right, there is a person in a monster suit. Instead of opting for a CGI monstrosity, the creative team kept the budget low and opted for practical effects which is always wonderful to see. The pacing of the film is excellent, the scares are top notch and the only thing more plentiful than the tension in this film is the shocking amount of bathing suits the main character is able to find laying around a deserted island.
A perfect doubleheader would be to pair this film with Jennifer’s Body which is available on Amazon Prime.
Saturday October 2nd
Digging up the Marrow - Tubi or Hulu
Have you ever thought to yourself “Yo, I’d really like to watch a found footage creature feature where an old man feeds pudding to monsters who live in a hole in the park.” Well hope no longer friends, your dream has become reality and it’s called Digging up the Marrow and you can catch this bizarre ass movie on TubiTV or Hulu if that’s your thing.
The film is a pseudo documentary starring real life horror film director Adam Green as real life director Adam Green who is making a documentary about this weird former detective/conspiracy theorist/lunatic who claims to have evidence of real life monsters. What follows is an absolutely bizarre bit of cinema as Adam follows around this lunatic and learns about the numerous monsters in the hole known as “The Marrow”. It’s a bit of a slow burn, but the pacing doesn’t drag as there are numerous bits of comedy throughout. When the monster do eventually emerge from “The Marrow” they are absolutely bizarre and terrifying bits of CGI Free creature effects wizardry.
Do you like monsters in holes? Well then, The Descent would make a perfect double feature and is available on Amazon Prime.
Sunday October 3rd
Monkey Shines - HBOMax
Oh shit! It’s Monkey Shines! Now that you are distracted by a tiny baby monkey with a straight razor, let me go out on a limb and say something crazy. George Romero’s non-Living Dead films might be his best work. Don’t get me wrong, I love Night of the Living Dead and the sequels it spawned but Romero’s films that lack zombies are absolutely incredible and unique in their own right.
There’s of course The Crazies which is kinda sorta like zombies but way more violent. There is his take on the Stepford Wives, Season of the Witch, his bizarre vampire flick Martin, his King adaptation of Creepshow and The Dark Half. He even did an Edgar Allen Poe adaptation with Dario Argento called Two Evil Eyes. Each of these films are seemingly overshadowed by the Living Dead franchise but these films on their own represent one of the most unique filmographies of any horror director dead or alive. I mean, come on, Monkey Shines is about a telepathic, mutant, homicidal Capuchin monkey. Makes zombies seem a little vanilla in the grand scheme of things.
Up until recently I found it almost impossible to find a proper film to pair with Monkey Shines. Sure there is Shakma! Which is about a killer monkey, but that film pairs way better with Man’s Best Friend or even Cujo. This search for a perfect double header ended in 2021 when James Wan released Malignant on HBOMax. Try this perfect double-header and let me know how it fits.
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 Snake Grandmas, Hillbilly Monsters, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Matthew Lillard and floating head tentacle monsters, see you soon kiddos.
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