I Sea Monsters, #Spooky, Haunted Grandma. The Horrors of 2020.

Happy Halloween all you ghosts and goblins. We finally made it. Day 61 of the Candy and Corpses Halloween Horror Countdown. That's my top three films (plus lots of bonus films) a day starting with the year 1960 and up. That's a whole lot of spooky. Yes, this year has been awful and challenging but at least we've have some good fun film scares to drown out the real scares for a minute. We had underwater Cthulhu, zoom meetings gone horribly wrong, and grandma is being creepy again. I hope you all have a safe and spooky Halloween. Eat lots of candy, put on your creepiest costume, and watch lots of scary movies. Until next time! xoxo

2020

1. Underwater (Directed by William Eubank)

IMDB plot: A crew of oceanic researchers working for a deep sea drilling company try to get to safety after a mysterious earthquake devastates their deepwater research and drilling facility located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

2. Host (Directed by Rob Savage)

IMDB plot: Six friends hire a medium to hold a seance via Zoom during lockdown, but they get far more than they bargained for as things quickly go wrong.

3. Relic (Directed by Natalie Erika James)

IMDB plot: A daughter, mother and grandmother are haunted by a manifestation of dementia that consumes their family's home.

Bonus Films!!! Surprisingly in a year pretty sparse in horror films there were quite a few films I really enjoyed. Native zombie apocalypse and wolf cops galore.

Blood Quantum (Directed by Jeff Barnaby)

IMDB plot: The dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi'kmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants who are strangely immune to the zombie plague.

The Wolf of Snow Hollow (Directed by Jim Cummings)

IMDB plot: Terror grips a small mountain town as bodies are discovered after each full moon. Losing sleep, raising a teenage daughter, and caring for his ailing father, officer Marshall struggles to remind himself there's no such thing as werewolves.

Well hell. Here we are. This is the end. For now. xoxo

The Future's So Bright, Flower Power, The Other Me. The Horrors of 2019.

Do you remember last year when we all went about our business, buying useless crap, breathing on each other, pining for the following year to reclaim American democracy. If only we knew what real life horrors the following year was going to bring. Anyways, instead of swimming around in a toilet of anxiety and despair let's pretend if only for a minute that "this is fine" and talk about spooky shit. So what are the chances that Nicholas Cage tops my fave horror lists two years in a row?! WTF dude. The guy is on a role! Colors Out of Space is probably my favorite Lovecraft films ever. It's so beautiful and messed up. Everything always looks so entrancing in those bright pinks and blues. I want to mainline that neon 80s SynthWave mood straight into my veins. There is nobody better than Richard Stanley (see: Hardware) to direct this and I really do hope the rumors are true that a trilogy is planned. Then there is the gorgeously deranged piece of art that is Midsommar. A slow burn that is a feast for your eyes. Also, crappy boyfriends around the world, you are hereby on put notice. Now go put on your bear snuggy. Lastly but not leastly, Us is a brilliant take on the duality of human beings. Evil doppelgängers are freaky man. Also Lupita Nyong'o is both stunning and horrifying in this film. What would you do if your evil twin showed up at your door?

2019

1. Color Out Of Space (Directed by Richard Stanley)

IMDB plot: A secluded farm is struck by a strange meteorite which has apocalyptic consequences for the family living there and possibly the world.

2. Midsommar (Directed by Ari Aster)

IMDB plot: A couple travels to Sweden to visit a rural hometown's fabled mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

3. Us (Directed by Jordan Peele)

IMDB plot: A family's serene beach vacation turns to chaos when their doppelgängers appear and begin to terrorize them.

Bonus Films!!! Fucked up families who love to play fucked up games and what could go wrong with a haunted house in the middle of nowhere?

Ready or Not (Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett)

IMDB plot: A bride's wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game.

Haunt (Directed by Scott Beck, Bryan Woods)

IMDB plot: On Halloween, a group of friends encounter an "extreme" haunted house that promises to feed on their darkest fears. The night turns deadly as they come to the horrifying realization that some nightmares are real.

That's it creeps. Tomorrow is the big day. I hope you have your jack-lanterns carved and your costumes picked out and your candy bowls filled. Get ready, Halloween is nearly here.