I have to be honest with you, I had no idea how to start this article/post or for that matter what to title it. This series of posts is going to be a bit of a mixed bag. I've mentioned before how I have joined a stack of horror and Hallowe'en themed movie challenges this year. I've also mentioned how normally for the last decade, I've had my own 13 Days of Hallowe'en which would usually start on the 19th of October and run till the 31st; that I would normally post elsewhere on my social media. I would do movie reviews, comedy skits and recipes. Not so much this year. This year, it's all between here and Letterboxd.
First up, is my own Hallowe'en movie based challenge. I posted about this back in August. I'll be watching a movie every day during the month that corresponds to the themed topic/sub-genre of the day. That list is here. Today, October 1st is Black and White Monster movie.
I chose the 1931 version of Dracula. Not much of a shocker there for anyone.
We follow both the Count and Renfield as they make their way to England from Romania. The Count seduces his way into the heart of polite society while our Renfield finds himself in the mental hospital. Not long after, Van Helsing arrives and begins to hunt them.
I am going on the assumption that pretty much everyone on the planet has seen this version of Dracula, or at the very least, knows the basic plot. I'm not going to get into any more detail than the basic plot right now, as I do have a full week of vampire themed stuff coming up; and I will be returning to the topic of Dracula in general then.
I'm also taking part in the 31 Days Horror Challenge being hosted by Nightmare on Film Street. I'll be posting the daily movie both on here and on a separate Letterboxd list.
Their theme today is Trapped. I chose to watch the 1980 movie Terror Train.
The plot to this is fairly simple. A group of college students become the target of a killer who is out for revenge. It just happens that the killer decides the best time to do it would be the New Year's Eve costume party that the university is throwing on a train.
When this movie came out, it was such an original idea. A little bit Halloween, a little bit Murder on the Orient Express. Okay, a lot of Murder on the Orient Express. But I think that is what makes this movie work so well. It plays into an idea that at the time, many mystery audiences were familiar enough with, and still gave it enough of a horror spin to keep slasher fans in their seats. You've got a few great horror tropes here too, the unknown killer, locked arena and fear from within. Isolation and claustrophobia will always work when looking to build a simple but effective plot. I just think I would have liked this more if I had not already seen the two remakes.
Don't forget, I'm also still doing my One Movie A Day Challenge on my Letterboxd and today is Day 274 of 2023. That main list is here. As well as the 100HorrorMoviesIn92Days challenge. That list is here. There was some overlap today with the movie Terror Train. As I had never seen this original version before, it counted for three out of the four challenges.
Some days, I'll post more than just the movie review. But, you will be able to follow along here and on my Letterboxd list.
Don't forget to check in tomorrow to see what tricks and treats I dug up.
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