It's Day 284 of my One Movie a Day for 2023. It's also Day 11 for both my own 31 Days of Hallowe'en and the 31 Days of Horror Challenge that is being hosted by Nightmare on Film Street. Plus, I have to mention the 100HorrorMoviesIn92Days challenge I joined back in August.
Every day of this series, I've also mentioned, how for the last decade I did my 13 Days of Hallowe'en project on my old social medias, where I would do movie reviews, comedy skits and recipes. This year, I'm just keeping it more contained by doing the movie challenges here on this site and my Letterboxd.
My mini theme for my 31 Days of Hallowe'en is Vampires. In fact, this is vampire week.
I picked the 2023 movie Captive.
A group of friends break into what they believe is an empty house to party for the weekend. After hearing strange noises coming from the basement, they see a man has been taken hostage. Helping him, they soon realize he's actually a vampire. Before the night is over, he's turned one of the women, causing her to completely loose her humanity. But when the owners of the house return, we learn nothing is what it at first appeared.
I loved the red herring in this. It's set up to make you think that the owners are vampire hunters, but that ends up not being the case. I have to admit, as sleek and beautiful as this looks, it feels like it's set up to be a television series. I have no idea if that is the case, but it does have that pilot vibe. You're never sure who you should be cheering for here? The group of friends are breaking into someone's house and destroying it. But then we're introduced to the vampire who slaughters half the neighbourhood.
The mini theme for the 31 Day Horror Challenge being hosted by Nightmare on Film Street, is Tony Todd. I picked the horror western West of Hell.
It's the mid 1800's as we follow a wanted criminal as he boards a night train. Quickly, we're introduced to the group of travelers also on the train, a priest, a rich lady and her maid, and a young woman and her paid bodyguard. Our criminal, played by Tony Todd, is there to get revenge for the death of his daughter. He's planning on killing the young woman in the same brutal way her father had killed his own daughter. The bodyguard captures him for the bounty, but before they get too far into their travels, he escapes. The group are then visited by a shapeshifting ghost, who tells them they must pay for their sins, as they are on their way to hell. We then see each individual character be judged for their actions and the punishment they receive, as they come face to face with the Devil.
This had the idea of being something great. It had a wicked lineup of horror talent with Tony Todd, Michael Eklund and Lance Henriksen. But, it gets muddled no more than 20 minutes into it, jumping it's story a bit. Once you realize what's actually going on, the movie picks up it's pace a bit and draws you in. It could have done with even five more minutes of air time, as the ending does come across as rushed.
Come back tomorrow for round 12 and see what I have on the slab.
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