2015 October Horror Challenge #99 "Ouija"

I wad excited when this movie came out.  Yeah, it looked like it might be a little silly, the typical "teens get menaced by evil spirit" fare, but I like those movies, so I was hoping I'd like this one, too.  Plus, I just like movies about evil board games.  "Witchboard," "Jumanji," "The Black Waters of Echoes Pond," and on and on.  I dig them all, so I was hoping this one would join the ranks.

Truth be told, it holds up pretty well, especially for a movie with a PG-13 rating.  There's some silliness here and there, but it's a pretty solid spooky flick.  The acting isn't bad, and some of the special effects creeped me out (I get creeped out when things happen to people's eyes).  The plot is pretty standard: teens play with Ouija board, release evil spirits, start dying, have to figure out how to stop ghosts. Nothing I haven't seen before, but it's done pretty well, and Lin Shaye plays a small but memorable role. It's nothing groundbreaking, but I had fun watching it.

2015 October Horror Challenge #98 "As Above, So Below"

This is another movie I've been impatiently waiting to watch for awhile now.  Just the title sounded haunting to me, so I was sure that I'd like it, and I decided to wait until Halloween to watch it, since I had an idea that it would be really scary, and I wanted to save my scariest movies for Halloween (which seemed like a great idea at the time, but now I've watched both this and "It Follows" and I may never sleep again).

I didn't know anything about this movie going in.  Again, I swore all my friends to secrecy under penalty of death to keep them from spoiling the movie, and when I bought it, I didn't even read the cover.  You ain't spoiling me, goddammit.  The result is that all I knew was that the movie was of the "found footage" type, and it had something to do with archeology students.

It turns out that only one if those things is totally true, the other is only partly right, and I was grateful that I hadn't read much about the movie, because everything came as a surprise that way. The actors do a great job here, and though I kind of wanted to stab them, I still felt for them and the horrible situation in which they find themselves.  The movie does a much better job of explaining why everyone kept filming, too (the cameras are attached to their headlamps, so as long as the lights were turned on, they were filming, and you need light to see in dark tunnels, so it makes sense).

The atmosphere is great here, too.  The catacombs are creepy all by themselves, without even needing evil spirits or curses to make them scary.  Plus for someone who's claustrophobic like me, seeing people crawl through small tunnels makes my heart race.  Damn movie. I also had some help being scared here, since there's one scene where the characters suffer a crash, and the sound goes out on their cameras, and there's nothing but a "ringing in your ears" type noise.  My ears picked thst moment to clog up and start ringing.  It's probably just sinus pressure, but it almost made me pee my pants.  In case you couldn't tell, I loved this movie, even the ending.  It's not perfect, but it's close enough for me.

2015 October Horror Challenge #97 "It Follows"

This movie freaked me out so bad I don't want to think about it, and now I have to write this review so I have to think about it again.  Thanks a lot.  I've been hearing about this movie for awhile.  A lot of the reviews were bad (not that this means anything, since I usually like movies other people think are bad, it's almost a guarantee that I'll like a movie if it gets bad reviews) but some friends whose opinions I trust really liked it, so I was looking forward to seeing it.  PLUS I'm always excited when a new horror movie appears in theaters and gets people talking about horror movies.  As a horror geek, that's important to me.

I knew almost nothing about this movie going in.  I avoided trailers and reviews like the plague and threatened all my friends with violent death if they tried to tell me about the movie, since I didn't want to risk spoiling something, so all I knew is that the movie features something killing teenagers, and that sex has something to do with it.  That's all you should know coming into this movie, I swear, because the less you know about what happens, the better (plus I'm not sure it would translate well; the plot sounds kind of silly when I say it aloud, so it's best just to watch it play out onscreen).

Everything in this movie conspired to scare the shit out of me.  The idea of something following you that won't stop until it kills you is freaky to me, no matter what form it takes.  As a person with an anxiety disorder, I sometimes get chills hearing footsteps outside my door or seeing someone walking toward me, even if I know I'm being ridiculous and no one us coming to get me.  In this movie, however, thst person walking toward you probably is going to kill you.  That terrifies me.

It's not just the idea behind the story, either.  The acting is great here too, again even by those playing small roles.  The music is incredibly scary too, often almost becoming another character in the movie, indicating a presence in the room, something waiting to get you.  The movie also doesn't try to overexplain things to death.  The mystery surrounding what's happening helps ratchet up the tension too.  This movie was just such a surprise for me.  I loved it, but now I want to hide in my room and never have sex with anyone ever again.

2015 October Horror Challenge #96 "Jessabelle"

I've been hearing good things about this movie for awhile now.  It sounded like just the kind of movie I'd love, so I've been excited to watch it for the challenge this year.  It's about a young woman who returns to her childhood home and finds that there seems to be a presence there that wants her gone.  I'm a suckered for stories about people who return to their childhood towns as nd homes to confront old secrets, so I was sure I'd like this one (or at least fervently hopeful).

The acting in this movie is great.  I mean even side characters who ate only in the movie for a few minutes are good actors. There's big budget movies that can't be arsed to get good actors for main roles, so the quality of the acting here is a nice surprise.  The setting is beautiful, too.  There's something Haunting about the bayou that sets me up to be scared before anything scary even happens.  I also have to mention the music, because there are plenty of scenes where the music made everything scarier, and for that, I was grateful that the filmmakers put that much extra care into crafting a good scary movie.

The story is brutal, more than I expected it to be.  Suffice it to say that there's no happy family reunion in store for these characters.  The girl's father creeped me out almost as much as any ghostly characters did, and while I can see a sort of retribution in what happens here, it's still tragic to watch it play out.  I won't spoil anything, but suffice it to say this one is worth checking out.

2015 October Horror Challenge #95 "Monster High: Escape from Skull Shores"

Hey everyone!  What do you kniw, I found myself another Monster High movie to watch! I know that you're all excited to hear all about it, right?  Here goes!  In this movie, it's officially Spring Break at Monster High, and Lagoona Blue (daughter of the sea monster) takes her gilfriends across the sea to the Great Barrier Reef, but they are ship wrecked and end up on a mysterious skull shaped island. Ooh, spooky!

While on the island,  they enjoy the local hospitality until they realize that they are being used by a slippery showman named Farnum to lure the rarest, most mysterious monster of them all, "the Beast" into a trap. Anyone thinking of King Kong yet?  So then, Frankie Stein is taken by the Beast, but tables turn and she ends up rescuing him and returning with him to Monster High.

The story gets even more complicated though, because then the girls realize that Frankie has inadvertently led Farnum to the location of the greatest gathering of monsters anywhere...Monster High.  Uh oh.  Of course Frankie abd the other girls have to save the day and protect their friends at Monster High.  It's a lot of fun!

2015 October Horror Challenge #94 "Monster High: Freaky Fusion"

I have to say, I love this theme song.  We are mpnsters, we are proud, we are monsters, say it loud!  Don't stop rocking your right to fright, we are monster high!  Hey, leave me alone, I grew up being called a freak for liking monsters and horror - related things.  I wish I could send this video back in time to my 10-year-old self.  It's going to be ok, kid!

This is the last of the Monster High movies I have this Halloween.  It's a Frankie Stein centric movie, where Frankie goes back in time and brings a friend back with her who causes a lab accident that creates some new monsters.  Whoops!  

This movie also features some hybrid monsters who change schools a lot because they have a hard time fitting in, being made up of two different monsters, but they're hoping to find a home at Monster High.  The girls have to learn to accept those who are different, so this is a cute way to teach your kids about equality (I know some adults who could stand to learn that lesson too).  I really liked this one.  Long live Monster High! 

2015 October Horror Challenge #93 "Monster High: Frights, Camera, Action"

These movies are perfect ways to get your mondter-loving kids excited for Halloween (and really give them an excuse to love monsters and other scary thongs all year long).  I love it, because when I was a little girl, I loved monsters and scary things, and everyone thought I was crazy weird for it.  Nowadays, it's normal, and movies like this made that possible.  I'll always love them for that.  In this movie, Draculaura finds out she's supposed to leave school and be the vampire queen, but it turns out there is an evil plot to pit vampires against all other monsters, and the Monster High girls have to stop it.  They work together, they help each other, there are lots of monster puns, it's a lot of fun.