I love doing Horrorfest and I am so happy that this year I was able to do all 31 days!
Let me apologize for the messy postings, they weren’t as edited and full of images as I would have liked but I was so eager to have 31 posts done for publishing that I didn’t take the time I should have to make sure they were fully ready for publishing.
But I did it!!!!!!!
Great choices
So let’s see I promised you horror, suspense, mystery, film noir, monsters, ghosts, Alfred Hitchcock, Lifetime movies, aliens, witchcraft, murder, and cyborgs.
And what did I deliver?
Hmmm…
So lets start off with our yearly films. We always have Alfred Hitchcock, this year with me finally reviewing The Birds and a nod to Psycho with a Boy Meets World episode. Our Tim Burton film with Edward Scissorhands; a double dose of Disney with Maleficent and The Great Mouse Detective; an animated film with The Great Mouse Detective; yearly Stephen King film with The Tommyknockers; and a double dose of Vincent Price with Edward Scissorhands and The Great Mouse Detectives.
Our Lifetime movie in The Stranger Beside Me. I watched a ton of them but only reviewed one-probably because this one struck close to home.
AHHHHHHH!!!!
Had some spy action in The Glass Bottom Boat andThree Days of the Condor
And a lot of film-noir with The Blade Runner, The Blue Gardenia, Deadline at Dawn, A Letter to Three Wives, and Possessed
I also for the first time, reviewed a video game It Lives in the Woods for Horrorfest. I’m thinking about doing it again next year.
We had horror-comedy in Fashion Model and The Glass Bottom Boat
Lots of psychopaths: multiple family members in American Gothic; the husband in Double Jeopardy; the dad in The Good Student; Griffin in The Invisible Man; the car jackers in Nocturnal Animals; the criminals in Rawhide; and the husband in The Stranger Beside Me.
We had quite a few literary nods-Sherlock Holmes with Basil of Baker Street, Agatha Christie’s Crooked House, H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man, Carolyn Keene’s Nancy Drew, and Phillip Pullman’s Ruby in the Smoke.
Had our Jane Austen fix with the final review of Death Comes to Pemberley. Now I guess I’ll have to review Pride & Prejudice & Zombies in order to keep Jane Austen in Horrorfest.
Mystery, you say?
Aliens in Independence Day and Tommyknockers:
Witches in a Murder She Wrote episode:
Cyborgs in The Blade Runner:
Classic monsters with Dr. Jekyll in Sccoby-Doo, Dr. Jekyll in Dr. Jekyll Versus the Werewolf, and the Invisible Man in his first film appearance.
So as you see, there is something for everyone. For all the films and TV shows reviewed:
Woman! Woah-man! Wooaahhhhh-man! We had love, not just sex. Is she Mrs. X? I had to run for my life… Jane, get me off of this crazy thing called love.
I had always heard of this movie, but never had the opportunity to watch it. Every time I tried I would come in the middle or miss pieces. Then one day my friend and I were looking through Hulu and spotted it, deciding to watch it.
**Spoiler Alert**
Charlie Mackenzie (Mike Meyers) is a Scottish poet living in San Francisco. He performs at a coffee shop doing his riffs on love.
One day he stops at a butcher shop, Meats of the World, to pick up some haggis for his family dinner and meets the butcher-Harriet.
When he visits the family, his mother feels it is her duty to let him know of female serial killer, Mrs. X, that she read about in the tabloids. She hopes that Charlie will be careful and not end up he next victim.
Charlie Mackenzie: Hey Mom, I find it interesting that you refer to the Weekly World News as, “The paper.” The paper contains facts.
May Mackenzie: This paper contains facts. And this paper has the eighth highest circulation in the whole wide world. Right? Plenty of facts. “Pregnant man gives birth.” That’s a fact.
Charlie can’t get Harriet out of his mind and goes back to the butcher shop to spends time with her-actually being hired on as an assistant. There he entertains Harriet, they go out and eat, and ultimately spend the whole day together-and night.
The next morning Charlie meets Harriet’s sister who is really odd.
Huh?
They way she talks about her sister Harriet is a bit off.
Rose Michaels: Well… you know Harriet.
Charlie Mackenzie: Well, actually, I don’t.
Rose Michaels: But you did have sex with her.
Charlie Mackenzie: Hello!
Rose Michaels: Let me make you some breakfast.
Charlie Mackenzie: Oh, gee, you know, I’d love to. But you know, I’m really running late, but thanks!
Rose Michaels: What would you say to silver-dollar pancakes, fresh-squeezed orange juice, bacon, and Kona coffee?
Charlie Mackenzie: Well, that sounds great!
Rose Michaels:[Cut to Rose pouring cereal in Charlie’s bowl] Sorry. I didn’t have those other things.
Charlie Mackenzie: No, no, that’s fine. That other stuff will probably kill you… whereas “Froot Loops” are light, and reasonably high in fiber. I care for “Apple Jacks” a great deal.
But while Harriet is fun, charming, and gives Charlie a great time; there is something not quite right about her.
Hmm…
She is evasive, needy, and slightly odd. She also has all kinds of things from all over the country that were given to her by “friends”. These friends being similar to Mrs. Xs husbands.
Hmm…
He tries to do some research into Mrs. X:
Obituary Writer: There’s another one here. Native San Franciscan. Plumber. Elliot, Ralph. Moved to Dallas, disappeared four months ago, body was found in a sewer.
Obituary Employee: Well, guy takes his job too seriously, life goes down the drain. [both laugh]
Charlie Mackenzie: Did they mention anything about his wife?
Obituary Employee: All right, okay. Look, I know that we’re talking about real people here. I’m sorry.
Charlie Mackenzie: No no, I’m serious. Did they mention the wife?
Obituary Employee: Look, I’m sorry you know. You know, I didn’t mean to make a joke about other people’s lives.
Charlie Mackenzie: No no, I’m really serious. Did they mention the wife?
Obituary Employee: You win, you win okay? I’m a bad person!
Obituary Writer: Just take it easy!
Obituary Employee: No, he’s sayin’ I’m insensitive! He’s sayin’ I’m a s***!
Obituary Writer: He’s not sayin’ you’re a s***!
Charlie Mackenzie: [yelling] Did they mention the wife? Did they mention the wife?
Obituary Employee: No! No! They didn’t mention the wife! Ya happy? [speaking to the whole office] YEAH! Oh yes, yeah. I’m insensitive! I’m a very insensitive man! Stop you’re job, look at the insensitive man! That’s what they’re paying you for! [leaves]”
So he then asks his police friend Tony Giardino. Tony tells him that Harriet is not likely to be Mrs. X; but Charlie isn’t convinced. He starts watching Harriet closely on their dates and her behavior is odd and off.
hmm…
He eventually gets so terrified that he breaks up with Harriet, happy to have outlived Mrs. X.
Or is he happy? He misses Harriet and keeps thinking about her.
Hmm…
Was he wrong to break up with her? Then his friend, the police detective Tony, tells him that they caught Mrs. X. It wasn’t Harriet!!! Charlie was wrong! He overreacted! His imagination ran away from him!
He tries to get back with Harriet, but after he dumped her no dice.
Does he give up?
So sweet, right?
Aw!
Everything is going well, so well that Charlie asks Harriet to marry him.
“Charlie Mackenzie: Marry me.
Harriet: No.
Charlie Mackenzie: Please?”
It is weird how Harriet was trying to make them more formal and pushing the relationship forward, but at marriage she balks. After Charlie explains how much he cares and talks to her, Harriet agrees, but then at the wedding acts weird again.
Hmm…
They head off to a romantic honeymoon. All is going well!
Yay!!!
Meanwhile, Tony is working when he finds out that the woman who claimed to be Mrs. X is a compulsive liar!
He tries to get a hold of Charlie, but a storm knocks out the power lines and the message is cut off. Tony heads up to their hotel to try and save them, he ends up commandeering a car from the dad from Beethoven and living out his fantasies of being a TV cop.
So now Charlie is trapped with an ax murderer!
So while they make it seem as if Harriet is an ax murderer, I was convinced the whole movie that it was really Rose?
Huh?
I know, Rose has like only a few minutes in the film but while Harriet is weird-
Rose seemed like:
Yeah, a real psycho. I think I suspected her because of the way she talked about “their” home and how Harriet always leaves for a little while, but then “always comes back.” The way she said “always comes back” made me think she was either obsessed with her sister or afraid of losing her forever-and was killing Harriet’s husbands without her knowing. Yep, I think Rose is:
Meanwhile, Charlie is terrified of Harriet-thinking she is going to kill him.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!
But when he gets alone he discovers a “Dear Jane” letter. A letter that appears that it was signed by him! Saying he was leaving her!
What?
To make things even more surprising he finds Rose in his honeymoon suite!
And she has an ax!
AAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now he gets in a game of cat and mouse as he has to run for his life!
In the end they all live happily ever after. Rose gets the help she needs in prison, Harriet knows that she wasn’t dumped and left and that Charlie loves her, and Charlie loves Harriet and knows she won’t kill him.
No facebook cover for this one either. Man the movies I have picked have been hard ones to find a moment to use. Oh well.
The other day I woke up at four in the morning, having fallen asleep while watching TV, with an upset stomach. It turned out to be pre-period cramps.
Yep, that pretty much sums it up.
As I knew it was going to be impossible to go back to sleep right away, I decided to go to the bathroom and brush my teeth, wash my face, maybe do a mask or scrub, etc.-until the pain passed. While I was in the bathroom I heard a noise that went like this:
Scritch, scritch, scritch, scrith…
It sounded as if something was clawing under the window.
So the window in the bathroom is really old. It is a slat window that has to be opened with a lever, and because of its age it never shuts completely. And the acoustics are really good there as people who are across the yard sound as if they are right next to you.
Ugh.
So at first I wasn’t freaked out. I figured it must be a raccoon or possum or something just digging around in the yard or on a trash can.
Meh.
But then I heard it again and it was louder…and it wouldn’t stop…and it sounded like it was right next to me.
Ahhh!
For a split second my mind went to there is a monster out there:
In fact it made me think of that old “scary” story that everyone told at slumber parties; where the two people are stranded in a car and the boyfriend leaves to go for help. While he is gone the girlfriend continuously hears a scratch, scratch, scratch (or tap, tap, tap) while the boyfriend is gone. In the end, a psycho has been scratching at her car or the boyfriend has been killed and his body is hanging overhead.
So yes, I went there but then I bounced back. I was certain it was no big deal and going to scare off whatever animal was making that noise.
The gun is a metaphor. I wasn’t going to shoot any animals.
I was just about to walk out of the bathroom and go check outside when something jumped into the window!!!!!!!!!!
And then I saw clawed fingers poking into the cracks of the window!!!!!!!
And I have to admit:
But then this thing started to meow angrily.
And my brain realized that the clawed fingers were just the clawed paws of my cat. Lack of sleep, cramps, it being early morning, whatever-had made me not realize that the hands I saw were tiny cat paws not monster hands.
Yes, since I had fallen asleep watching TV, I didn’t bring my cat in and I guess she heard me in the bathroom, or saw the light-but somehow figured out I was in there and was trying to get my attention to let her in.
But hey, I will take being trolled by my cat over a real psychopath (or rodent) scratching under my window any day.
But there is another book(s) that I used to read over and over, Sherlock Holmes short stories.
As I have mentioned before, I grew up reading the Great Illustrated Classics series and that introduced me to the character Sherlock Holmes. After I read one children’s’ collection, I read every short story there was about him written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
I even read stories based on him, like the Sherlock Holmes Solo Mysteries, (which was like Choose Your Own Adventure), and I was a giant fan of Basil of Baker Street.
So yeah, I was obsessed.
I thought Sherlock Holmes was so cool and wanted to be like him.
The only thing I didn’t read were the Sherlock Holmes novels, I guess because my library didn’t have those available in children’s form. I actually didn’t read those until I was an adult.
Oh well.
I remember one day we were traveling somewhere and were listening to Sherlock Holmes on tape; and I was the only one in the car who had read the ones being read before hearing them on cassette. It was weird as a child to think I knew something my parents didn’t.
So there are a lot of stories to choose from and of course I don’t have the time to talk bout them all. In fact out of all the stories I remember the most, they are from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, so I choose that collection over any other.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
So I will only pick three stories: A Scandal in Bohemia, The Man With the Twisted Lip, and The Adventure of the Copper Beeches.
***Spoilers***
A Scandal in Bohemia
So many have probably read this story, seen the Sherlock version (which I hated), or heard of it.
I know this
A Bohemian Prince comes to Sherlock, first in disguise but of course Sherlock sees through that, to ask for his help. He is to be married, but before the engagement had sent letters and a photograph with the beautiful Irene Adler. He has tried to get it back through begging, payment, bribery, theft, etc; but nothing has netted it.
Sherlock does some reconnaissance on her and ends up being the witness at her wedding!
This strange turn of events doesn’t prepare Sherlock for how things will turn out for him.
Sherlock continues on his plan, dressing up as a minister and having Watson create a fuss about fire in order to determine the secret hiding place of the photo. He sees it as she goes to protect it; and thinks the case is finished, preparing to return the next morning before she leaves.
On the way home he is greeted by a young boy, one he does not know but that isn’t very odd, after all he is a known figure. People are always addressing him.
The next day the three men set out to retrieve the painting, and find Irene gone.
She left a note explaining that she thought there was something suspicious about the “minister”, dressed up as a boy to research him, and figured out the plan of Sherlock Holmes. Instead of allowing him to do his plan, she bests him by leaving that night instead of the next day.
Not good
She leaves the picture behind, as married she no longer needs it; forever going down in history as the one who bested the greatest detective, and becoming the woman. The only one that ever beat him.
The Man With the Twisted Lip
A wife is worried about her missing husband and calls upon Sherlock Holmes to help her. One day her husband was at work and she was walking down the street running an errand when she just happened to look up at a building and sees her husband!
What’s going on?
He’s in a room above an opium den! And he is so scared!
She rushes up there as quick as she can but no husband, only a disgusting, deformed, dirty man.
What
She calls the police and as they investigate they discover his clothes in the river, blood in the room, but no body. They believe him to have killed her husband but they can’t figure out what happened to the body. For now he sits in a jail cell, with nothing being able to get him to talk or bath.
Sherlock is puzzled and looks into the history of the man, but there is little to be found. All he can find out is that he moved there and makes good money to care for his family.
Hmmm….
Sherlock believes the husband has been killed, but then a letter turns up in his handwriting with his signet ring. Sherlock is stuck…
Until he goes to the bathroom and solves the case by looking at a bar of soap.
He goes to the jail where they are holding the man and force him to clean up, revealing that he is the husband.
It turned out that he used to be a reporter and went undercover to write a story about beggars. He was a great actor and did so well at doing nothing, he ended up making more money that way than being the reporter.
He continued this lifestyle, hoping to never be found out and was surprised to find his wife; reacting quickly and not thinking of his actions. Sherlock makes him stop the begging as it is against the law, and another case solved.
I’m on FIRE!
Ever since I read that story every time I see people beg, this story comes back to me. He made more money begging than working? It just shocked me and makes me wonder if people today are like that guy in the story.
The Adventures of the Copper Beeches
Violet Hunter goes to Sherlock Holmes for advice about whether or not she should take a position as a governess They are willing to pay her £120, but she has to get her hair cut short. It seems odd as her previous position only paid £48.
Nothing else seems amiss so Violet takes the job, Sherlock telling her to telegram him if they need anything.
After a fortnight (14 days), Sherlock gets a telegram. Things have gotten weirder since she started working at the house. They have her sit in the window wearing an electric blue dress and have her back to the window. After doing this for a while she hides a mirror in her handkerchief and sees a man staring up at her through the window.
The child she is supposed to care for is a psychopath
There is a mastiff that is always hungry and let out at night, keeping Violet from being able to leave in the evening.
She also comes upon a drawer with her her hair in it!
AAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But it turns out to not be her hair but someone elses.
What?
And then there is the mysterious wing that they can’t go in.
Never a good sign.
One day she sneaks in and she a shadow…
It freaks her out so she hurriedly leaves and gets away as soon as she can to post the telegram.
Sherlock arrives with Watson in tow and the two investigate. It appears that the family has been hiding someone away. As Sherlock studies everything, he comes to the conclusion that the family’s daughter is the one they are hiding. They chose Violet because she could pass for the daughter and used her to get rid of the daughter’s fiancé.
They look in the room, but the daughter is missing. The father, Mr. Rucastle, gets angry at them and sets the dog out after him. The dog has been starved more than usual and kills Mr. Rucastle.
Afterwards, they find the daughter, Alice, and her fiancé. It turns out that when Alice came of age she came into money from her mother’s will. The father was trying to get the money, but when the daughter wouldn’t give it she became sick with brain fever.
As thought earlier, he hired Violet to pretend to be Alice and get rid of him. After this experience all go their separate ways, with Violet later becoming a principal of a girls’ school.
I liked this one because it was really creepy. The child is horrid, and the rest so mysterious.
So those are just three out of the many wonderful Sherlock Holmes stories. If you haven’t read them, you should get started immediately. They are sure to wow you at every turn. And if you have read them already, they are always worth another read; no matter how many times you do it!
It was first published in 1883, and has stayed a popular carol since. Many attributed it to Martin Luther as being the writer, but that was discredited a long time ago. We don’t know who read it, but I’m sure Arthur Coan Doyle heard it so I thought it would be the perfect pairing with this book.
I love this song, as like the book reviewed, it was a big part of my childhood. It was probably the first Christmas Carol I ever learned and is one I sing every year.
The artist I choose was Bing Crosby, I just can’t get enough of him.
The ghosts are moving tonight, restless… hungry…In just a moment I’ll show you the only really haunted house in the world.
I have been trying to review this film since the first Horrorfest, but something always seems to gum up the works. This is one of my all time favorite horror films and my favorite Vincent Price film.
I had never heard of this film, but if it has Vincent Price you know I’m all over it.
Then I watched it and saw it is one of the best horror films ever made, with everything you could want:
So do you dare continue on?
So the film starts off with the scariest opening I have ever seen. All we have is a black screen and screaming from men and women.
Can you imagine hearing that full volume in a darken theater?
I can imagine people were freaking out.
We then are met by Watson Pritchard (Elisha Cook Jr.) who warns us about the house and how we should stay away:
Watson Pritchard:The ghosts are moving tonight, restless… hungry. May I introduce myself? I’m Watson Pritchard. In just a moment I’ll show you the only really haunted house in the world. Since it was built a century ago, seven people, including my brother, have been murdered in it. Since then, I’ve owned the house. I only spent one night then and when they found me in the morning, I… I was almost dead.
AAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We then cut to wealthy businessman Fredrick Loren (Vincent Price). He has rented the House on Haunted Hill for a party,
inviting five people to attend and promising them each $10,000 if they stay the whole night.
As soon as they pull up to the house, strange things begin happening. A chandelier almost kills a guest when it falls,
And another guest gets knocked unconscious,
And it doesn’t stop there. It turns out that all is not happy with the Loren life. Fredrick is angry with his wife as he believes her to be a gold digger and trying to murder him.
Frederick Loren: Do you remember the fun we had when you poisoned me?
Annabelle Loren: [laughs] Something you ate, the doctor said.
Frederick Loren: Yes, arsenic on the rocks…[grabs Annabelle] Annabelle, you’d do it again if you thought you’d get away with it, wouldn’t you?
But Annabelle (Carole Ohmart) says that he is a jealous, crazy psychopath who has already killed three wives and is going to add her to his dead list.
Annabelle Loren: My husband is sometimes insane with jealousy. Nothing matters to him!
Lance Schroeder: Would he hurt you?
Annabelle Loren: He would kill me if he could…You know, of course, that I’m his fourth wife. The first simply disappeared; the other two died…All his doctors said heart attacks. Two girls in their 20s. Lance… I don’t want to join them.
Who is telling the truth? Who is lying? And which is a killer?
We are given the history of the house with its gruesome murders, from beheadings to being thrown in acid.
Ahhh!
They are locked in with no way out, one guest is nearly strangled to death, one having a nervous breakdown, and one murdered!
AAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Which one is the killer? Or is it a ghost?
Watch it yourself to find out. I will not ruin the ending of this masterpiece.
By the time this posts, I know Horrorfest won’t be finished, so you know what I’ll be doing tonight; but whatever you do I hope you have fun, get candy, and stay safe!
Woman! Woah-man! Wooaahhhhh-man! We had love, not just sex. Is she Mrs. X? I had to run for my life… Jane, get me off of this crazy thing called love.
