31 Days of Halloween List For 2001 

I'm going to start with a modern classic and its two sequels:

1). Tremors. The small town Perfection, Nevada (pop. 14) is terrorized by four giant earthworm-like creatures called Graboids that grab you from underneath the ground. The only reason this movie didn't score perfect is one detail: why the heck are there long poles conveniently placed by a rock in the middle of the desert? Despite this silly detail, this modern monster movie is one of the best there is.    Score: 9

2). Tremors 2: Aftershocks. Fred Ward and Michael Gross return in this sequel in which they are hired to dispose of Graboids that are eating the workers of a Mexican oil refinery. But this time, the creatures evolve into ground-dwelling creatures with legs call Shriekers. Hokier, less scary, and inferior to the first film, but still enjoyable.     Score: 7

3). Tremors 3: Back To Perfection. Michael Gross once again reprises his Bert Gummer role as the Graboids return to the small town where it all began. Many of the surviving original cast members return as well. The Shriekers also undertake another evolution into flying creatures called (no joke) Ass Blasters. Mediocre acting and creature effects and more comic efforts than scares make this one the worst of the three. Still, it's pretty entertaining and fans of the series should be pleased.    Score: 6 

4).  Jack Frost 2. The killer mutant snowman strikes again on the survivors from the first film, this time in Bermuda, that's right, Bermuda. This was by far the worst movie I have ever seen. Don't ever watch this.   Score: 1     Click here

5).  Dee Snider's Strangeland. A psycho invites teens over for a "party" via the internet and tortures them with body piercings and by sewing their eyes and lips up. This will probably take the cake for the most disturbing film of the month. I didn't like it at all.   Score: 3     Click here

6).  April Fool's Day.  A girl invites 10 of her college friends to a secluded island for a getaway, and one by one they meet their demise. It's kinda Friday the 13'th meets Ten Little Indians. It's a lot of fun the first time you watch it but dull if you watch it again knowing the surprise ending.  Score:  6

7).  The Blob (1988).  A meteor carrying a pink blob of acidic goo crashes to earth. The blob then begins to devour the local townspeople and grows exponentially. This was a highly enjoyable monster movie. The effects were great back then, but they look pretty bad compared to today's standards.  Score: 8

8).  The Changeling.  A man moves into a house haunted by the ghost of a young boy, and if he wants peace, he has to solve the mystery behind the boy's murder and bring those responsible to justice. Yes, its similar to Stir of Echoes, but we're talking about a 20-year time difference and it doesn't feel like one ripped off the other. If anything, The Others ripped this one off. Slow, but stylish.  Score: 7

9).  The Amityville Horror. This is the story of a family that moves into a house that is not haunted, but possessed. A year earlier, a young man killed 6 people in the house because he heard voices, and the father of the new family starts behaving very strangely. The scares were good, but few and far between.   Score: 5

10).  Children of the Corn: Revelation.  A woman looking for her missing grandmother discovers that her grandmother was the only surviving member of the very fist child cult in 1929. The other children that burned to death have come back for her. Wow, these just keep getting worse.   Score: 3    Click here 

11).  Funhouse. Four teenagers sneak into a funhouse attraction at a carnival to spend the night. They witness a boy carnie worker wearing a Frankenstein mask murder a gypsy woman, and the father of the boy comes after them. This Tobe Hooper fright flick was average.   Score: 5

12).  Joyride. Two brothers drive across country to pick up a girl from her college dorm. They decide to play a prank over a CB by pretending to be a girl wanting to hook up with a truck driver with a handle name of "Rusty Nail." Little did they know, "Rusty Nail" is a psycho and he figures out who they are an pursues them relentlessly. This was exciting and suspenseful.  Score: 7

13).  Child's Play. A mother buys her 6-year old boy a Good Guy Doll for his birthday. Turns out, the doll is possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray who will stop at nothing to get his soul into the boy's body. Some moment of this movie are truly terrifying, and overall it's well-crafted, funny , and entertaining.  Score: 8

14).  Carrie 2: The Rage.  Twenty years after Carrie White's rampage killed over 70 people, her half-sister, now in high school herself, struggles to keep control over her powers. When the popular kids play a cruel and horrible joke at the biggest party of the year, she loses that control and her rage explodes into an all new massacre. A good story and gruesome entertainment  outweigh the disappointing ending.  Score: 7

15).  Bruiser. This is an art-house horror film that is a metaphor for our inner-identity. The plot centers on a nice guy that lets people push him over on a daily basis. One morning he wake s up to find that he has no face, and he uses his newfound anonymity to take revenge on those who have wronged him. Slow and artsy, but OK.  Score: 5

16).  The Fog.  100 years ago, the settlers of a coastal town tricked a pirate ship into crashing into rocks, making the ship crash so they could claim their gold. On the town's 100'th birthday, a fog carrying the ghosts of the pirates rolls into town, and they have their revenge. A nearly perfect John Carpenter classic.  Score: 9

17).  Drive-In.  A retarded boy has been kept under lock and key his whole life, and outside his window is a drive-in movie theater that only shows horror films. One night, he escapes and imitates all those movies he's been seeing for all those years, killing off the unsuspecting workers and patrons. This had a great script and idea, but the acting was atrocious, and the whole thing felt really low-key making everything look low budget and fake. The ironic thing is that the author uses a horror movie to show how horror movies are bad for society. Go figure.   Score: 5

18).  The Believers.  After his wife dies, a psychologist moves to New York to start a new life with hi son. The police get him involved with an investigation into a series of child murders that involve ritualistic sacrifices that an officer is somehow involved in. Now, his son becomes the next target. Truly frightening and well-done.   Score: 7

19).  The Godsend.  Basically a British version of The Bad Seed, a strange woman appears on the doorstep of the home of a man and wife with four children. The woman give birth and vanishes, leaving the unsuspecting family to adopt the newborn girl. As the girl ages, she murders the other children one-by-one. Slow, sad, and frustrating.   Score: 5

20).  Scary Movie 2.  The Wayans brother return with a follow-up to its smash hit predecessor. This time they spoof the older horror films including The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, and Poltergeist. Just as raunchy and hilarious  s the first.   Score: 7

21).  The St. Francisville Experiment.  This is a supposedly real documentary about four people who spend the night in a haunted mansion and uses cameras to document the supernatuaral events that occur during their stay. This was so obviously fake, it wasn't funny. It wasn't very interesting either.   Score: 3   Click here

22).  Link.  A med student agrees to be the assistant to her professor that specializes in ape studies in his secluded mansion. One of the chimpanzees named Link has superior intelligence and murderous tendencies, and she must outsmart Link if she is going to make it out of there alive. Average.   Score: 6

23).  From Hell.  A detective with some psychic ability is assigned to solve the Jack the Ripper murders. As he uncovers pieces of the puzzle, his own life becomes in danger as he  learns that some powerful people may be involved. Pleasantly gory and suspenseful, but is hurt by slow spells and a completely disappointing ending.   Score: 5

24).  Martin. The son of Nosferatu, forever trapped in the body of an 18-year old boy, rapes and drinks the blood from young women. His cousin, an old religious man, is determined to destroy him. This George A. Romero flick is more of a character study film that makes you wonder who the bad guy really is. Interesting, but very drug out.    Score: 5

25).  Bones.  In 1979, a gangsta named Jimmy Bones is killed when a deal goes badly. After four young adults buy his home and turn it into a club, old Jimmy is brought back to life and takes his revenge on his killers.  This was a good idea, and I wanted to like this, but it was very poorly executed despite some cool death scenes.  Score: 4    Click here

26).  13 Ghosts (2001).  A family inherits a strange glass house from their recently deceased uncle. When they go check it out, they become trapped inside with 12 angry and deadly ghosts. Wow, this one really hit the spot. This movie is absolutely fantastic and scary. It has the eprfect amount of violence and gore, decent performances, and a plot that makes sense and doesn't have a whacked out ending. Awesome effects too.   Score: 10    Click here

27).  Wishmaster.  A Djinn (evil genie) is set free after the gem that imprisoned it is found. The Djinn trades twisted wishes for souls, and if the person that releases him makes three wishes, the djinn race can rule on earth. This was pretty good until the climax party scene which was pretty lame with all those things coming to life.  Score: 6

28).  Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies.  The Djinn is once again awakened, and more of the same ensues. But this time, the characters are presented stronger, and they turn to God, which is nice to see these days. A little better than the first.   Score: 7

29).  In Dreams.  A woman and a child murderer become psychically linked and the madman then targets her and her family. This horror-thriller from Neil Jordan (Interview With The Vampire) is beautifully filmed and well-acted, but not for the tastes for those who love happy Hollywood endings.    Score: 7

30).  Sorority House Massacre 2.  Five girls move into a house where murders took place years earlier, and one-by-one they meet there demise in various lingerie. Crappy and disappointing sequel (which had nothing to do with the first film) on all counts. Although, you might say it's easy on the eyes.   Score: 3    Click here

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