With October comes Halloween and my passion for classic era horror films and scares which I share previously in my Why Horror? Why Not? feature.

Last year I broke the month down into 4 weeks of watching movies courtesy of the boutique label, Scream Factory. This year I’m doing the same though in one celebration here at Mike’s Take in a monthly review.

31 titles in 31 days. I’ve tried to vary the eras in which the films were released going as far back as 1941 forward into the 1990’s. Some re-watches, some new to me. Here they are listed by their release date accompanied with a short comment or two.

Be sure to keep score and let me know how many thrills you’ve sat in on.

Horror Island (1941) One time singing cowboy star and conqueror of Kharis the Mummy, Dick Foran, stars in this light hearted search for a missing fortune on an island that just happens to have an abandoned old castle that may be haunted. A fun entry in the Universal Horror cycle that most likely finds it’s inspiration in the knockout Bob Hope comedy of 1940, The Ghost Breakers.

I Bury the Living (1958)

A fun drive-in feature starring an unlikely Richard Boone as a cemetery caretaker who soon learns that he has the power of life and death in his hands thanks to a large map of the grounds and the many plots that have been sold to those intending to be buried on the premises. A change of pace from the normal heavies that Boone was most identified with prior to his run as Paladin on Have Gun Will Travel.

The House on Haunted Hill (1959) Director/Showman William Castle hit pay dirt with this Vincent Price thriller that sees everyone’s favorite star of the macabre inviting guests to stay in the famed house and challenged to spend the night in order to collect a cash payout. Of course they won’t all make it but don’t let that stop you from accepting an invite to watch. Among the guests are Elisha Cook Jr. and Richard Long.

Doctor Blood’s Coffin (1961)

This British entry was helmed by director Sidney J. Furie who went on to a lengthy career with titles ranging from a classic spy thriller, The Ipcress File (1965) to the letdown of Superman IV (1987). This coffin plays much like a Hammer film though it’s minus the Gothic setting. Kieran Moore plays the title character who is dabbling with murder and serums to raise the dead while at the same time romancing his leading lady and early Scream Queen, Hazel Court. Like Hammer Horrors this one is filmed in vivid color to allow for some blood-red scares.

Tower of London (1962)

A rather disappointing effort from the Roger Corman/Vincent Price school of thrills in that it’s missing a key component. Color photography. It’s budget limitations are easy to see thru if you are at all familiar with the 1939 version starring Basil Rathbone as Richard III along with Boris Karloff and a very young Vincent Price who has graduated to the Rathbone role of the sadistic Richard murdering all those who stand in the way of his gaining the British throne. Murdering children on camera rarely elicits any ghoulish fun. Stick to the Poe titles unless you are a Price completist like me.

Munster Go Home! (1966) What’s not to love? Herman, Lily and Grandpa Munster head to England to claim Herman’s inheritance. All he has to do is stay alive despite the many attempts on his life by the one and only Terry-Thomas. This is a must for those of us who loved the original sitcom.

The Lost Continent (1968) Dennis Wheatley novel adapted by Hammer proves to be a bizarre effort where a ship lands in a lost world with strange creatures and a devil worshipping crowd thrown in for good measure. Has it’s fans I suppose but not one of my favorites when it comes to Hammer Horrors. But don’t kid yourself, I still have a one sheet in my collection.

The Vampire Lovers (1970) A Hammer classic featuring Ingrid Pitt in the role of Carmilla from the novel by Sheridan Le Fanu. She’s a vampire preying upon young women of the social set in this finely crafted period piece that also stars Madeline Smith, Kate O’Mara and the legendary Peter Cushing as the man out to stake and behead Miss Pitt. A memorable effort from Hammer and director Roy Ward Baker that proved to be the first film of their Karnstein Trilogy.

Fright (1971)

Edge of the seat thriller hasn’t aged overly well yet Susan George scores as a baby sitter being terrorized by an escaped lunatic wonderfully played by Ian Bannen. The catch? She’s babysitting his own child. Honor Blackman is his ex-wife and a survivor of domestic violence and justly terrified when she learns that Bannen is on the loose. I recall this one playing TV as a youngster and taking a peek at it when my parents weren’t looking. Finally sat in and watched it start to finish.

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

A true classic of the era and one that deserves to be better known beyond the world of horror aficionados. Poor Jessica having just had a mental breakdown moves to a secluded farm in the country with her husband and his best friend. Not the friendliest area and then there’s a mysterious woman who befriends them weaving herself into their everyday life. Is she the same woman in the antique photo found in the old farm house? The same woman who according to legend drowned in the nearby lake a century ago on her wedding day? Creepy as hell and highly recommended.

The Velvet Vampire (1971) Another minor gem from the rash of vampire films during the early 1970’s. A no name cast star. A young couple accept the invitation of an attractive woman to visit her desert location estate. They’ll soon learn that she has a taste for warm red blood. In case you’re wondering, that was screen tough guy Robert Tessier as a rapist in the opening minutes. Tessier is likely best remembered as the bald headed opponent Charles Bronson squares off against in a memorably staged fist fight in 1975’s Hard Times.

Tales From the Crypt (1972)

An anthology winner from Amicus featuring five tales of terror wrapped around Ralph Richardson as the Crypt Creeper. Joan Collins meets Santa Clause, Richard Greene suffers a fate worse than death, Peter Cushing is the victim of a St. Valentines Day prank, Patrick Magee dishes out some justice at a home for the blind and Ian Hendry finds himself leaving his wife and kids for his lover. A fine addition to the world of anthology thrillers that Amicus was known for.

Night of the Lepus (1972) Jumping Jack Rabbits! Before it became a sub genre of it’s own following the success of Jaws, this nature strikes back tale has oversized rabbits attacking a group of star players who had seen better days. Among those hoping to land themselves a lucky rabbit’s foot are Rory Calhoun, Janet Leigh, Stuart Whitman, Deforest Kelly and old pro Paul Fix. Who the hell comes up with these bizarre ideas?

Vault of Horror (1973) Once again Amicus gathers an above average cast for an anthology thriller meant to give us all a good scare with a laugh or two mixed in. Terry-Thomas is somewhat of a neat freak which clashes with his wife’s (Glynis Johns) house keeping habits, Curt Jurgens is a magician willing to kill for a new trick, Tom Baker is an artist who isn’t fond of his agent Denholm Elliott’s book keeping habits, Daniel Massey thinks he’s found a great restaurant after the sun goes down but he doesn’t like the menu. If you have a taste for these you’re going to enjoy this one.

Hunchback of the Morgue (1973) Spanish horror favorite Paul Naschy adds a Hunchback to his gallery of monsters in this Euro thriller. He’s snatching bodies from the morgue and killing a few enemies along the way. Hell, he even gets laid which might be the first and only time a “horror hunchback” ever did in a movie. I like this sort of thing and it’s another Naschy effort that works for me in the “guilty pleasure” vein.

Sssssss (1973)

A very rare opportunity presents itself with this thriller. A chance to see famed character actor Strother Martin score a leading role. He’s taken on the role of a mad scientist conducting experiments with snakes and their venom. He’s even perfected a way to turn his young assistant into a King Cobra. I’m serious. Some pretty cool make up jobs in this one that I saw ages ago as a youngster on TV. Strother’s great line, “What we have here is failure to communicate” is perfectly suited to those in the film who don’t understand his love of snakes.

Captain Kronos : Vampire Hunter (1974) One of Hammer’s final horrors was an attempt at launching a new series that never caught on. Sword in hand, Horst Janson is the title character fighting evil in a gothic setting. You know he’s gonna have to put his life on the line when the gorgeous Caroline Munro is in danger from a family of bloodsuckers. It might have failed to find an audience on it’s initial release but it’s a fun entry gifted to us by the Studio That Dripped Blood.

King Kong (1976)

I’ll always have a soft spot for this Dino De Laurentiis production with the cool movie poster thanks to Mom taking me see it on the big screen as a little tyke on it’s initial release. No need telling you the story. Jeff Bridges plays the hero, Jessica Lange plays the gal who steals Kong’s heart and Charles Grodin plays the greedy yet likeable businessman who figures Kong is his ticket to Broadway. Overall the first hour plays better than the last.

Empire of the Ants (1977) Laughable is being generous concerning this Bert I. Gordon flick apparently taking it’s name and inspiration from H.G. Wells. Joan Collins is a shady land developer looking to sell plots of acreage to a group of tourists. Problem is there has been a leak of nuclear waste and the ants have grown to elephant like proportions. See it with a friend to find the humor in it if you can. A career low point for Joan, Robert Lansing and Albert Salmi.

Jaws of Satan (1981) Kind of boring snake on the loose effort with Franz Weaver as a priest battling a demon snake. Of note is a very young Christina Applegate turning up prior to catching on as Kelly Bundy in Married With Children.

Q : The Winged Serpent (1982)

A bird/reptile in the sky is snatching victims from rooftops in this throwback to giant sized monster movies from cult director Larry Cohen. A solid genre entry with a trio of well known leading men to match. David Carradine and Richard Roundtree are police detectives trying to track the beast and Michael Moriarty is a street savvy criminal who knows where the beast is nesting. Well worth your time if you’ve never given this one a look.

Creepshow (1982)

George A. Romero and Stephen King joined forces to give us another anthology of spooky tales and enlisted a great cast to do so. A long time favorite of mine with E.G. Marshall memorably battling cockroaches, Leslie Nielsen having a splendid time murdering Ted Danson, Hal Holbrook finds the perfect way to dispose of his overbearing wife, Adrienne Barbeau, Jon Lormer comes back from the grave to celebrate Father’s Day though Ed Harris isn’t liking it and finally Stephen King himself appears as a goofy farmer who shouldn’t have touched that meteorite.

American Gothic (1987) With their best days long behind them, Rod Steiger and Yvonne De Carlo play an old couple living on a secluded island. They have three adult children who have never grown up mentally and the five of them all have murder on their minds when a plane carrying a party of 6 are forced to land in the waters surrounding the isle. On one hand I feel sorry for Rod and Lily Munster yet on the other this one is kind of a guilty pleasure. See it at your own risk.

Prince of Darkness (1987) Third time around and despite it looking great on blu ray I still don’t really “get it.” John Carpenter flick about some sort of demonic power playing havoc with mankind. Carpenter regular Donald Pleasence stars as does Victor Wong and Alice Cooper.

Pumpkinhead (1988)

A definite winner starring Lance Henriksen. He’s out for revenge when a bunch of “city folk” leave his small son for dead after a motorcycle accident. He pays a visit to an old mountain top witch who uses her black magic to raise Pumpkinhead from his grave to seek vengeance on Lance’s behalf. Some great practical F/X in this one and easy to recommend. If I remember correctly this was a great example of a movie that found an audience on home video back in the VHS rental days. And besides that, who doesn’t love Lance Henriksen?

Night of the Demons (1988) Plenty of gore highlights this one that once again sees a gang of teens with sex on their mind deciding that a late night party at a long closed funeral parlor is a great idea. Demons rise and teens fall. Better than you think and suits the Halloween season.

Edge of Sanity (1989) The less said about this take on Jekyll and Hyde the better. I say that out of respect for Anthony Perkins who is admittedly a good fit for the role but not in this bizarre film that nearly borders on a soft core version of the famous story.

The Crawlers (1991) Oh boy. They can’t all be winners. The trees are alive and no this isn’t the Yellow Brick Road. Thanks to a company dumping all kinds of Nuclear waste in the woods nearby a small town, people are disappearing and turning up mutilated. Seen it all before but not necessarily with such an inept troop of actors. Some really laughable performances here so best viewed with a friend to share a good laugh together.

Omen IV : The Awakening (1991)

It’s the Omen “lite”. TV Movie rehash gives us a gender swap with a little girl adopted by a young couple who have no idea they have there very own anti-christ growing up as a member of the family. Played on a pedestrian level but it does have a solid performance from Michael Lerner as a P.I. hired to track down the truth of the adopted girl. Picks up steam towards the end but overall this one has very little imagination.

The Resurrected (1991) Chris Sarandon stars in this blood soaked affair based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. He’s playing Charles Dexter Ward and dabbling in gruesome experiments. I much prefer Vincent Price playing the same character in the 1963 flick, The Haunted Palace.

Alligator II : The Mutation (1991)

No need to see part one (which is a genre classic) if you’re curious enough to see Joseph Bologna as a cop hunting a giant gator roaming the sewers looking for a bite to eat. It has plenty of Jaws trappings including a Mayor refusing to cancel a lake side celebration that could prove to be a smorgasbord for our title character. Also turning up for the picnic are Dee Wallace, Brock Peters and as our big game hunter, cult favorite Richard Lynch. Totally watchable for many of the wrong reasons.

Time for my personal scoreboard.

New to me – 7 titles leaving 24 rewatches.

Movie posters in my collection? Just 7.

Best rewatch goes to Let’s Scare Jessica to Death with Creepshow and Munster Go Home as close runner ups.

So how’s your scorecard? Any favorites? Or maybe a solid dislike? Let me know and thanks for visiting.