All Saints Day: A Look Back at Return of Project Horror

Is it November already?  I look back on ths list of movies, and it feels like a lot longer than just one month ago that I watched some of them.  Here, for the interested, is a final scorecard of the month's movies (all ratings are on a 5-point scale):

Date	Block	Title	Rating
10/1	Vampire Variations	30 Days of Night	3
10/2	Vampire Variations	Martin	5
10/3	Vampire Variations	The Addiction	4
10/4	Vampire Variations	Cronos	5
10/5	Vampire Variations	Thirst	2
10/6	Slashers	Maniac!	2
10/7	Slashers	The Deaths of Ian Stone	3
10/8	Slashers	Raw Meat	3
10/9	Slashers	Midnight Meat Train	4
10/10	Slashers	Inferno	1
10/11	Parlez-vous d'horreur?	Calvaire	1
10/12	Parlez-vous d'horreur?	Martyrs	5
10/13	Parlez-vous d'horreur?	High Tension	4
10/14	Parlez-vous d'horreur?	Trouble Every Day	1
10/15	Parlez-vous d'horreur?	Inside	5
10/16	Cult & Indies	Deadland	4
10/17	Cult & Indies	Pontypool	5
10/18	Cult & Indies	Cemetery Man	4
10/19	Cult & Indies	Videodrome	3
10/20	Cult & Indies	Night of the Living Dead	5
10/21	Evil Twins & Children	Basket Case	3
10/22	Evil Twins & Children	Dead Ringers	4
10/23	Evil Twins & Children	The Omen	5
10/24	Evil Twins & Children	The Bad Seed	5
10/25	Evil Twins & Children	The Devil's Backbone	4
10/26	Campy & B-Movies	ThanksKilling	2
10/27	Campy & B-Movies	The Call of Cthulhu	4
10/28	Campy & B-Movies	Rocky Horror Picture Show	4
10/29	Campy & B-Movies	Retardead	1
10/30	Campy & B-Movies	Sleepaway Camp	3
10/31	Danny's Choice	The Halloween Tree	5

Time to crunch those numbers.  There was a tie this time for the top-rated block, between Cult & Indies and Evil Twins & Children (each with an average score of 4.2).  My lowest rated block this time was Slashers (2.6), which just barely edged out Campy & B-Movies (2.8).  Aside from a few movies here and there when I was growing up, my first experiences into horror were slasher films when I was in college.  It was during that whole mid-90s slasher revival.  As far as I knew at the time, that was horror.  Interesting, then, to see that those are now pretty much my least favorite of the group.  Kind of like how I used to really love listening to Morphine when I was in college, but when I pull out their CDs now, they just don't grab me like they used to.  The ones I really seem to enjoy more these days are the ones that leave me with something to think about after the movie.

The other thing that I'm taking out of this month is that Japanese horror is officially over.  There are probably still some good movies coming out of there, but France has absolutely stepped up the intensity of the horror game for the rest of the world.  Of course, I hear that A Serbian Film (from Serbia, naturally) is one of the foulest things ever committed to film, so maybe I'll be looking to Eastern Europe next time around.

A friend asked if I'd list a top five at the end of the month, so here are the ones that I would recommend the most, in no particular order:

1. Martin: a unique take on the vampire genre, and a movie that makes the very most of a small budget
2. Midnight Meat Train: a creepy slasher with truly over-the-top kills
3. The Call of Cthulhu: another low-budget star that evokes the heyday of silent film creature features
4. Martyrs: I am very cautious about recommending this one.  It is powerful, startling, and original, but it is also one of the most difficult viewing experiences I've ever had.
5. Pontypool: probably my biggest surprise this year.  I'll defnitely watch this one again, and you can, too, because it just became available on Netflix instant streaming yesterday!

I'd like to bring Project Horror to a close with a huge thanks to everybody who took part in this with me.  For those of you who watched along, or who commented either on the blog or on Facebook, I always enjoy hearing what you think of the movies, or what you think about what I thought.  Special thanks to all of my guest reviewers this month, Kyle, Scott, Will, Clay, and Blake!  Thank you to Damon for letting me interview you about Deadland!  I appreciate all of you taking the time to do this with me, and for making it a success.

Also, thank you Davis Neves for being friendly, and a good actress.  And cute.

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"Professor Holwerda, is it... dead?"

"It's impossible to say, but we've done all we can, Johnny.  Not even the vilest fiend could survive a stake through the heart, a silver bullet through the eye, and being burned at the stake.  I think we've seen the last of Project Horror."

(They leave the room, partially closing the door behind them.  The last ray of light coming through the door's frame falls upon Project Horror's terribly burned countenance, AND IT OPENS ITS EYES!)

PROJECT HORROR: TO BE CONCLUDED IN OCTOBER 2012, WITH

BRIDE OF PROJECT HORROR!