Final Round KO

21. Best Family in Horror: The Myers Family

Well, let's see. There's Laurie Strode and her brother Michael Myers (whoops, spoilers), her daughter Jamie Lloyd - who survives two whole movies as an 8-year-old - and her son from an alternate universe who is Josh Hartnett and thus a modern Hercules.

22. Worst Recent Horror Movie You've Seen: Paranormal Activity 4 (2012)

The very first movie I reviewed, way back when when I was on Tumblr and I called myself Blogreel. Those times have since been lost to the wind. Unfortunately, this movie has not. It will forever go down in history as the horror movie that got so obsessed with itself that it forgot to be scary.

23. Favorite 1970's Horror: Suspiria (1977)

A violent Italian surrealistic Technicolor horror fantasy epic (the more words it takes to describe a movie, the better it is), Dario Argento's masterpiece of horror cinema is one of the most truly bizarre and off-putting films ever to grace the silver screen.

24. Favorite Horror Theme Song: Slumber Party Massacre II (1987)

Honestly one of the flat out weirdest slasher movies to come out of the late period. I talk about it in more detail at CinemaBeach, but let's just say the guitar wielding killer sings an ode to his drill called "Let's Buzz" and leave it at that.

25. Best Version of Jason Voorhees: Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)

This film features Kane Hodder in his first appearance as the hockey-masked curmudgeon, and just look at that attention to detail. It's no big surprise that director John Carl Buechler was also a make-up artist. With his inexplicably massive frame and impeccable physical acting, Hodder is the ruler of the kingdom of Crystal Lake.

26. A Horror You Can't Wait To See: The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982)

I've been obsessed with this film ever since Randy mentioned it in Scream 2. Don't ask me why, because I couldn't tell you. I think I'm drawn to the title. But anyway, it has been nearly impossible to find in a non-janky edition but I got it! It's coming in the mail! I am so Excitebike right now.

27. Best Beheading: Friday the 13th (1980)

Oh, Pamela Voorhees and her man hands (played by Tom Savini). A blissfully crass ending to a wonderfully bad horror movie that ignited a generation (and the flames of my burning heart).

28. Favorite B-Movie Horror: Eight Legged Freaks (2002)

You could film David Arquette eating a potato and I would give it a five star review. But throw him in the mix with giant spiders, and I'm so down I've come through on the other side of the globe.

29. Most Righteous Killer (For Good): Leatherface in Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)

He murders the hell out of Trey Songz and for that, I thank him. Also, he does pretty great at protecting his cousin.

30. Horror With An Ending You Didn't Expect to Happen: Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Spoilers: [                   PENIS                         ]

Word Count: 502
Reviews in This Series
Horror Lover Challenge Part 1 (August 16, 2013)
Horror Lover Challenge Part 2 (August 25, 2013)
Horror Lover Challenge Part 3 (August 28, 2013)

Level Two

Again, thanks to Freddy in Space for the inspiration to to this challenge. On with the next questions!

11. Most Ditzy [sic - this is from Twitter, sorry] Character: Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt)

The girl who somehow survives both I Know What You Did Last Summer and the insipid I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. During the course of the two films, Julie spends her time running full speed down the wrong track after red herrings, refusing to get out of the way when a killer is after her, and once even manages to get herself locked in a tanning bed. In fact, the entire plot of the second film is based on the fact the she doesn't know the capital of Brazil.

12. Favorite Horror Movie From the Past Year: You're Next (2013)

In my rave review for You're Next, I talked about the butt-kicking Australian lead, the whip smart dialogue, and the pitch perfect balance of terrifying and hilarious. This is all still true.

13. Best Impalement: Final Destination 3 (2006)

Just when it seems like everything is safe and a girl is saved from accidental lynching, a flag pole is sent launching straight through somebody's abdomen. The clincher? The flag says "Liberty or Death." God, I love these movies.

14. Killer Who Has the Best Weapon: Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund)

No need for a second thought on this one. I barely needed a first thought. Freddy Krueger's razor glove (designed by Wes Craven to emulate the common fear of animal claws) is one of the most creative and terrifying inventions of the horror genre. I have so much to say about A Nightmare on Elm Street, but you guys are just gonna have to wait on that. We've got a big day planned.

15. A Horror-Love Story: Cold Prey (2006)

The beautiful Jannicke (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) is hesitant to move in with her boyfriend for fear of moving things too fast. The awkward and single Morten Tobias (Rolf Kristian Larsen) has been nursing a crush on her for quite some time. When their snowboarding group gets attacked by a deranged mountain man, the truths come out, but unfortunately Morten Tobias doesn't live long enough to see his dream realized. One of the only times my heart has been broken by a slasher film.

16. Best Throat Slicing: V/H/S 2 (2013)

Another one that I have previously talked about. In the segment "Safe Haven," directed by Gareth Evans and Timo Tjahjanto, a documentary crew visits the compound of a cult on what happens to be their Armageddon day. Things don't quite go as planned and the throat slitting is one of the most visceral and exciting gore effects in the entire film, which is chock full of bizarre and off-putting sights.

17. Favorite Sequel to a Horror: Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987)

I love this film, and the whole Prom Night gang. While the original was a fairly run-of-the-mill slasher flick (although it did feature Leslie Nielsen and Jamie Lee Curtis and seven minutes of disco dancing), its sequel is an absolutely nutso balls-to-the-wall post-Nightmare on Elm Street special effects extravaganza that owes just as much to Carrie as it does to Freddy Krueger.

18. Best Horror Movie in the Woods: The Burning (1981)

I know I'm snubbing my beloved Friday the 13th series, but even I know they're bad movies.

With special effects by Tom Savini and a raft massacre scene that landed it on the Video Nasties list in the UK, The Burning is a surefire slasher classic. The first time I saw this film was at a midnight movie in LA with Shannon. I was expecting to show her first dumb slasher movie. I was disappointed. This movie is fantastic.

19. An Actor You Enjoyed to Watch Get Murdered: Michelle Trachtenberg

I. HATE. DAWN. SUMMERS.

The remake of Black Christmas was a dream come true.

20. Most Attractive Horror Movie Killer - Adam Carr (David Boreanaz)

Sorry about spoilers but mmmmmmmm....

I'm pretty sure David Boreanaz is an actual undead vampire because he has aged maybe three months since Buffy started in 1997. 

Valentine is an absolutely fabulous movie because of how much it sucks. Despite coming out after Scream and Buffy, two genre-bending self aware horror genre tentpoles, this film is still just a straightforward slasher flick, which I have a lot of respect for despite the stigma that comes attached to that.

Word Count: 746
Reviews in This Series
Horror Lover Challenge Part 1 (August 16, 2013)
Horror Lover Challenge Part 2 (August 25, 2013)
Horror Lover Challenge Part 3 (August 28, 2013)

Challenge Accepted

I was patrolling the blogosphere when I checked out the newest post on Freddy in Space, a blogger I definitely want to be friends with. Some girl on Twitter created this challenge, and I'm gonna follow in his footsteps and fill it out too! Ten questions at a time, now, this ain't a Tolstoy novel.

My only rule for myself was that I couldn't use the same movie twice, and I mostly managed to avoid using multiple movies from the same franchise. Here we go!

1. Scariest Kid Character: Santi (Junio Valverde)

Horror is full of kids that scare the living bajaysus out of us, but the one that most frequently sticks in my mind is the ghost Santi from Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone. Santi isn't necessarily an evil character - he's the ghost of an orphaned boy who was killed by the caretaker of a Spanish war shelter - but for the first half of the movie, before we learn his intentions, he is a truly terrifying specter. In life, Santi was shot in the head and drowned in a pool, so his ghost is doomed to spend eternity surrounded by a haze of water, blood swirling up out of his wound. It's... unreal. Del Toro's second tier visual effects masterpiece, right behind Backbone's sister film - Pan's Labyrinth.

2. Best Sex Scene Murder: Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971)

A classic is a classic. This is the scene that inspired many a Friday the 13th. Two randy teens sneak into an empty house and get it on in a stranger's bed, only to be speared mid-coitus, forever locked in an embrace of death. Or, you know, boning.

3. Creepiest Dead Body: Creepshow (1982)

After Upson Pratt's apartment is overrun by vermin, leading the villainous businessman to an untimely death, we get a skin-crawling close-up of cockroaches pouring out of his mouth, then bursting out of his skin. I just... I can't. Moving on.

4. A Horror Musical You Enjoy: Evil Dead the Musical

With slapstick comedy, gory zombie mayhem, and peppy musical numbers all rolled into one, Evil Dead The Musical is right up my alley. In fact, I don't think anything in the world is more up my alley than this show. I had the privilege of getting to see this show with some friends of mine in Las Vegas last October, and it was akin to a religious experience (much like when I went to see The Exorcist at the Geffen Playhouse with Cassidy). We sat in the VIP Splatter Zone and got covered in sickly red Kool Aid blood during one of the most fun nights of my life.

5. Funniest Horror Movie Character: Reg Morgan (Damon Herriman)

As the snivelly little brother of the Morgan Organic duo in Australia's 100 Bloody Acres, Damon Herriman creates a character that is simultaneously unwittingly dangerous and uncommonly adorable. Somebody buy me a DVD of this movie.

6. Favorite Woman in the World of Horror: Jamie Lee Curtis

I refuse to believe that anybody out there put any other actress as an answer to this question. Jamie Lee Curtis is the scream queen. The daughter of Psycho's Janet Leigh, she found her first movie role as the virginal Laurie Strode in John Carpenter's Halloween. She made mistakes (don't drop the knife, Jamie!), but she clawed, stabbed, and fought her way through the film and two more sequels. She found success in the horror genre and made her way through Prom Night, Terror Train, The Fog, Halloween II, and Halloween H20, becoming a massive star along the way, both within the genre and without.

7. A Horror You'd Be In: Scream franchise

Ask any of my friends, they'd say the same thing. With my knowledge of horror movie trivia, my keen awareness that my life is a slasher film, and my infinite supply of sarcasm, I'd be a perfect fit for this franchise. I could get in on the next sequel as Randy's counterpart, and I'd definitely live to see Scream 6. No promises beyond that though.

8. Favorite Alien-Related Horror Movie: The Thing (1982)

John Carpenter's film is scary for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which are some utterly grotesque practical effects. A team at an arctic facility discover an alien space ship buried in the ice, and soon realize that they're not alone. A shape-shifting alien creature has taken up with them, masquerading as various members of the crew as it slowly devours them one by one. Who is the Thing? Who isn't the Thing? A classic paranoia thriller that I'm sure is a metaphor for the Cold War or something smart like that.

9. Best Horror TV Series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 - 2003)

Possibly the gayest thing horror has to offer. Buffy is tough, she's spunky, she's fabulous. With a crew of wisecracking friends (God, I'm making this sound terrible), Buffy battles vampires, demons, and even the manifestation of Evil itself. Featuring one of TV's first lesbian couples and a bevy of strong female characters, Joss Whedon launched a new wave on onscreen feminism. Hush, The Body, and Once More With Feeling are three of the best hours television would ever see.

10. A Serial Killer You Hate: Jigsaw

The one subgenre I have absolutely no patience for is torture porn and Saw is responsible for the worst of it.

Word Count: 901
Reviews in This Series
Horror Lover Challenge Part 1 (August 16, 2013)
Horror Lover Challenge Part 2 (August 25, 2013)
Horror Lover Challenge Part 3 (August 28, 2013)