Horrorfest has begun

I think I unofficially started my annual horror movie tradition. Evey year since I was in college and heard about MonsterFest on AMC, I have been trying to actively watch horror movies throughout the "holiday" season. That holiday being Halloween.

Over the weekend, I was bored and needed to step away from the computer for a little bit. After digging through many of the DVDs I currently own, I realized that I didn't want to watch any of them. Either they would be too classic and I would fall asleep because I was starting the viewing around 1AM, or they just didn't fit the mood I was looking for. I like movies like the Gary Oldman Dracula and the DeNiro Frankenstein, but they were something I already watched. I decided to look to cable for my salvation. There is a onDemand channel called Fear.net (which is actually fearnet.com). As the name implies, it is pretty much horror based movies. After wading my way through the All Movies option, I came across something that looked intriguing. It was Del Toro's Devil's Backbone.

I have heard of the director because I liked the Hellboy movies. Also, it doesn't hurt that this is the guy that did Pan's Labyrinth and is slated to do The Hobbit. Devil's Backbone was something mentioned in articles, I never actually searched out watching it. I figured since it was free, I would give it a shot. I didn't know it was going to be in Spanish.

It doesn't surprise me that it was in a foreign language. I own Pan's Labyrinth, and that is in Spanish. Del Toro is Spanish. The movie takes place during the Spanish Civil War. Fair enough, at least I can read subtitles.

I don't want to post a synopsis. To say the least, I liked it. It wasn't really a horror movie, but a ghost story. There were some suspenseful elements, but it dealt more with human evil than a supernatural one. The effects were excellent. It seemed like the budget wasn't that huge, but they made everything they did work. The ghost, itself, was a fantastic visual. I would definitely recommend Devil's Backbone to anyone interested in a good story.

On top of that, I decided to organize some comics last night. It was a few hundred comics. Over 4 long-boxes full if you can grasp the volume that way. I am not done. Still, during the process, I needed something in the background. Since I can't watch Veronica Mars while doing it, I had to settle for television. Wednesdays are usually my double shift, but my coworker, Kyle, filled in for me because I covered for him on Monday night. I have no idea what it on Wednesday nights. I decided on Ghost Hunters because they were replaying the episode of Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia. I have actually been there. My brother, Matt, used to work there when they were renovating it to become an attraction. I had not actually seen the investigation before. It was good and pretty much proved the place was haunted. I even watched the following episode about a museum/funeral parlor/church up in Buffalo, NY. It was also a decent one, but nearly as intriguing as Fort Mifflin.

With those out of the way, an little else on TV, I checked Fear.net again and decided on Unearthed. Apparently, Unearthed was one of the After Dark Horrorfest movies from 2007. It wasn't really that good, but had some decent people in it, like Charlie Murphy and M. C. Gainy. The whole movie was about awaking a dormant creature that proceeds to kill most of the town to harvest DNA. If anyone knows what a Tyranid from the Games Workshop line of Warhammer 40K, it looked like a Gaunt. Even though the movie was pretty crappy, it still fits into the theme of the season.

So, I have begun my festive experience. It is now time for me to dig out the movies I haven't seen yet, but still own. There are plenty still in the wrappers, like Hellraiser 1 and 2, Re-Animator, and some B-Sci-Fi movies with giant creatures. As per a friend's suggestion, I found a copy of Outpost, and will be watching that soon. Hopefully, this Halloween preparation will go well.

Feel free to suggest anything for me to watch, or even if you want to get together at some point for a movie night. Everyone likes a good scare.