Day 7 of Horror Movie Month: The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)

This isn’t technically a horror movie, but I found it creepy and uncomfortable to watch. Jodie Foster is an adolescent girl who lives alone in her father’s home, keeping the secret about his absence with excuses to the landlady. She’s a typical 70’s latchkey kid, managing her own life, when Martin Sheen as a pedophile starts creeping around and tries to build a relationship with her. He is suspecting that she’s lying about her parents’ absences and is terrorizing her, but she has her own upper hand against him. It’s a really weird thriller, but is anchored by the great performances by Foster and Sheen, and just stood out as a interesting little movie with a very “of its time” premise.

Day 6 of Horror Movie Month: Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993)

This is likely one of the most romantic horror movies I’ve ever seen. It’s a Romeo and Juliet story with zombies, and I loved the combination of the sweet teen romance between two punk kids and the excellent makeup and special effects work put into this. Melinda Clarke was fantastic as the heroine Julie, with stunning eyes and a total gameness to look weird while playing the role with a lot of heart and compassion. The final reveal of her transformation is really badass in a BDSM kind of way.

Day 5 of Horror Movie Month: Bride of Chucky (1998)

This is one of my favorite horror comedies, and next to the first two movies, my favorite in the Child’s Play franchise. I really love the heavy metal vibe of it, the use of Rob Zombie music in two scenes (particularly a cute and hilarious moment of Chucky rocking out to some White Zombie), and the great chemistry between Brad Dourif and Jennifer Tilly as demented lovers Chucky and Tiffany.

Tilly in particular just owns this movie. She just dives right into the self-aware dark comedy of it all, and just relishes playing a sexy psychopath stuck in a doll body, done up 90’s biker chick style in a leather jacket, bridal gown, and bleached blonde hair. I don’t care about the plot with Katherine Heigl and her boyfriend or any of the other stuff, it’s just the scenes between Dourif and Tilly that give the film its most fun and heart as a joyfully weird horror comedy.

Day 4 of Horror Movie Month: Stir of Echoes (1999)

I didn’t go into this movie expecting much, but I was blown away by how good this film was. Kevin Bacon plays his character with this lived-in blue collar warmth that made the guy just feel like a neighbor you’d know, and the psychological thriller really had this creeping vibe that pulled me in. He plays a guy who gets hypnotized as a party game, despite his skepticism, then starts seeing strange visions that correlate with the disappearance of a local teen girl, so he is trying to piece the mystery together, obsessionally digging holes to try to find her. This movie was just way better than I expected, and was a great surprise to come across.

Day 3 of Horror Movie Month: Inside (2007)

Inside is a French horror film, and likely one of the most brutal films I’ve ever seen. A young pregnant widow is being terrorized by another woman on Christmas Eve, trying to invade her home to kill her and cut out her baby, as the then-current Paris riots are going on in the background. Beatrice Dalle as the intruder is psychotically fantastic, as she just had this twisted mouth and intense eyes, and the movie just does not care about the audience’s comfort at all while watching it, it’s incredibly bloody and violent and visceral. I really found this film to be incredibly tense and rough to watch, and have only seen it once, but thought it was incredible.

Day 2 of Horror Movie Month: The Others (2001)

This is just a really good ghost story. I loved the gothic vibe of it, and how it felt so isolated and self-contained. It takes place in the 1940s, but has a Victorian Gothic style to it. Nicole Kidman was just fantastic as she becomes more determined to protect her children from danger and being more paranoid about ghostly presences in their house by the sea. She is fixed with worry over her husband in the war, her children with their light sensitivity diseases, and feeling stuck in her own head. It’s spooky and eerie and I adore it.

Day 1 of Horror Movie Month: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

This is likely the scariest horror film I’ve ever seen. This movie shook me up a lot because it’s shot and acted in such a cold and remote way, and was disturbing to me, it felt like a snuff film to me. I first saw it at a midnight movie screening when I was 23, and walked out feeling traumatized. I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t a documentary. I watched it again years later online, and still felt really uncomfortable with it. It’s a great film, and Michael Rooker was chilling as the serial killer, but this definitely left a lasting impression on me.