Thriller (Part 1/2)

I love horror movies.  My issues with horror movies are that most scary movies are not scary, they have terrible writing and/or acting, they rely way too heavily on gore, the endings ruin what was a decent movie, and the list goes on.  However, I always get a kick out of them no matter how horribly bad they are.

Earlier in the week I decided I wanted to watch a horror movie everyday for the month of October to get in the Halloween mood.   The only problem was we were already almost two weeks into the month so I had some serious catching up to do.  Besides going through the painfully slow process of fixing my Europe blog after all of the pictures decided to erase themselves, I've been watching movies pretty much back to back to get on track (although it was fun to reread those Europe posts).

In no particular order, here are the first 15:

1. *Sinister- An author who writes about unsolved crimes moves into a murder house, unbeknownst to his family, and starts to see a connection between a series of murders.  I really enjoyed this one.   
2. Eden Lake-  Set in Britain, a couple goes away for a weekend only to be continuously harassed by a group of local teens.  Apparently this caused some controversy in the UK over class prejudice against the working class.  It was alright, nothing too special.  The ending was unsettling.
3. The Mist- Based on the Stephen King book, a group of people are trapped in a grocery store when the town becomes engulfed in a mysterious and deadly mist.  I like Stephen King but this got boring real fast.  It does show an interesting conflict of religion vs. rationalism in a crisis.
4. *1408- Another Stephen King inspired film, a skeptic author who writes about haunted locations stays in room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel where no one has ever survived more than an hour.  I liked it.  I felt like the back story with the family took away from the suspense and the ending was sub par but overall, I recommend.
5. Signs- After mysterious crop circles appear around the world, a farm living family must deal with the strange occurrences happening outside their door.  I had seen this one before.  It has some really dull parts and relies a little too much on religion for my liking but it does build good suspense.
6. World War Z- A worldwide zombie-like virus outbreak forces an ex UN investigator to help figure out a cure.  Good action throughout with a great last scene.  I don't like zombie movies that much but I enjoyed this one.
7. Willow Creek- A couple makes a documentary trying to seek out the legendary Bigfoot.  A bit slow to start but the tension builds quickly towards the end.  A decent and entertaining found footage film.
8. Missionary- A Mormon missionary becomes obsessed with a separated mom trying to reconnect with her husband.  I still don't know how I feel about this one.  It was alright.
9. The Sacrament- With a few changes, this is pretty much the story of the Jonestown massacre.  It's a found footage setup and is quite disturbing seeing as most of what they act out in the movie actually happened.
10. *The Tunnel- Set in Sydney, a reporter and crew go into underground tunnels to figure out why the government suddenly stopped plans to use the tunnels to help with a water shortage.  Another found footage deal but it's made like a documentary.  The documentary style makes it seem more real although you will know from the start who survives due to the interviews.  Good stuff.
11. You're Next- A black comedy/slasher, a family reunion leads to people being picked off one by one by mysterious killers.  Really over the top but if dark humor is your thing, you should like it.  Make sure to pay attention to the dialogue during the chaotic scenes.
12. Wolf Creek- Set in the Northern Territory of Australia, an Aussie and two British friends road trip up north and find themselves stuck in the Outback after their car mysteriously breaks down.  This was pretty terrible.  Very predictable and the girls were incredibly annoying.  Supposedly based loosely on a true story.
13. The House of the Devil- Desperately needing money, a college girl accepts an odd babysitting job and soon finds out it's not what she signed up for.  Made in 2009, this is a great throwback to 80's style horror films.  Although fairly predictable, it was still entertaining and kept my interest.
14. Home Movie- Found footage tapes show the home movies of a couple (pastor and psychiatrist) and their twin children who are displaying disturbing behavior.  I want to like this but there are some major plot holes and the couple wins the award for dumbest/most obnoxious people of all time.  I found myself rooting for the "bad guys" half the time just to hopefully get the parents off screen.  There are some interesting plot elements though, most notably the debate between if the kids are possessed or if they have a mental disorder.
15. The Abandoned- An adopted woman goes back to Russia to learn more about her dead parents' past.  This took me two sittings to get through and I think I fell asleep a few times.  Some people on IMDB loved it but I thought it was beyond boring.

* mark my top 3, once again, in no order

There's a good list to get you started if you want to watch some horror this month (and here is part 2).  Maybe sleep with the lights on tonight.

Going into a creepy attic to take this after watching a bunch of horror movies was not the best idea

That's all for now.  Bye.