Day 1: Oddity (2024)
Kicking off 31 days of horror with this new Shudder release. Irish filmmaker Damien McCarthy is 2 for 2 in my books with his previous film, the strange contained chills of ‘Caveat’ & now ‘Oddity’ which is equally ‘odd’ while also telling a slightly more conventional narrative. After a cracker opening scene, the film seems to dangle various threads before entwining them into a satisfying whole. While a couple of the twists are well signposted there are some sterling reveals and jolts, one of which (the tent scene) caused me to utter ‘fuck me!’ Really enjoyed this and can’t wait to see what he cooks up next.
4/5
Day 2: Curtains (1982)
I had started but never finished this film a couple of times over the years but the 80s slasher completionist in me finally committed. And it was a nice mix of slasher and melodrama, even with the highly implausible scenario of a film director taking all the contenders for lead female role in his next film to an isolated snowbound chateau for a twisted audition process. John Vernon, character asshole actor extraordinaire is at his most charmingly despicable here and Samantha Eggers from The Brood is his equal as his wronged mistress who desperately wants the part. Of course the cast starts being picked off one by one and there is the legendary hatchet wielding hag ice skating scene. The films a bit choppy but the final reveal was a great one and I will hunt down a Blu of this one day.
3.5 / 5
Day 3: V.F.W. (2019)
Joe Begos makes fairly derivative films but through sheer force of personality & DIY craft, makes them work, even if they never really transcend their influences (Bliss excepted as it feels like it’s 100% coming from Begos’ fevered mind and is all the better for it.) Here, he mashes up 2 Carpenter jams - Assault of Precinct 13 (contained siege movie) and Escape From New York (post-apoc vibes + score) into a fun but slight 90-minute gory action fest. Begos slathers his screen with 16mm film grain, scuzz, metal vibes and, of course, buckets of blood, but it’s the cast of veteran actors that bring the most value. Stephen Lang anchors the film as the centre of a bunch of hard-drinking war vets, leaving room for Martin Kove, William Sadler, Fred Williamson, David Patrick Kelly and George Wendt to have all the fun as they fight off a rampaging gang of drug-addled freaks. These old boys are clearly having a blast and it’s infectious, even if the siege itself is a bit repetitive.
3.5 / 5
Day 4: Terror Train (1980)
I finally scratched this early post-Halloween slasher off the list. As is the norm for these early slashers, they set the stage with a (pretty fkd up) prank gone horribly wrong then cut to a few years later for the revenge-motivated killing spree to start. Also the norm is the endless scenes of filler (in the summer camp movies it would be bickering teens, skinny dipping, boozing and sexcapades) here it’s boozing, bickering couples and a lot of scenes with a young creepy looking David Copperfield doing magic tricks to fill in the long stretches between kills. On the plus side, it’s nicely shot with the train drenched in coloured lights to craft some atmosphere and the cramped carriages trapping the cast really add to the vibe. The last 30 minutes ramps up and manages to wring some genuine tension from the various tropes. The scene where Jamie Lee locks herself in a flimsy cage is a nice little nail-biter and the killer reveal (and subsequent dispatch) is well handled.
3.5/5
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