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31 Days of NETFIX: Countdown to Halloween

October always revives Netflix’s inventory of more Horror films than you’ll ever have time to watch in a single month.

Lucky for you, I’ve selected one for you to countdown each and every wonderful day in October.

Why wait until Halloween?  The countdown starts now.  The best are saved for the last week.

Think of it as a sort of twisted digital advent calendar for geeks.

October 1st- The Dunwich Horror

Vintage horror, based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft!

Helmed by veteran television director Daniel Haller (Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, Kojak).

That’s Ed Begely Jr.’s dad as Dr. Armitage, by the way.

October 2nd – Black Sunday

Mario Bava at his most Bravo!

Creepy, classic, and a tad campy.

October 3rd – The Asphyx

This one was a staple of Saturday afternoon horror television, and it’s also creepy as hell.

The Asphyx of the title is a capturing of spirits of the dead.

October 4th – Let the Right One In

The remake, LET ME IN, is also a welcome substitute, but if you’ve not seen the original, you owe it to yourself.

October 5th – The House of the Devil

This babysitting nightmare movie is a throwback in style and story to a early 80s VHS rental store shelf shocker.

October 6th – The Ninth Gate

Highly misunderstood adaptation of The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. Roman Polanski doesn’t approach the brilliance of his Rosemary’s Baby (also streaming on Netflix here), but it is a hell of a film.

October 7th – Audrey Rose

As long as we have Satan on the slate this past week, check out this “other” demon possession movie from the 70s.

More eerie than scary.

October 8th – Scream

Not that you need an excuse to watch the original Scream again, but here it is in HD.

With the original films it celebrates and mocks not actually on Netflix (though many of the sequels are), it’s a fine alternative and a modern-day classic.

October 9th – The Horror Show

This is one of many “Scream Factory” titles also on Netflix this holiday season.

If you never picked up their incredible physical releases with bonus features (and you should), at least check out this sick 80s entry.

Originally titled House 3, though it had nothing to do in plot with the first two.

October 10th – Maniac

A merge of retro art-horror and disturbing scares.

Highly recommend watching later in the evening.

Lights off, volume up.

Way up.

October 11th – Stage Fright

Finally, a Slasher Flick with Jazz Hands.

You can check out my full review from this past SXSW here.

October 12th – Dead Silence

After Saw, but before Insidious, James Wan went big(ger) budget for Universal Pictures with this original killer doll tale.

You can revisit my case for it here from a few years ago.

October 13th – Cursed

Less known than Scream is this also Wes Craven/Kevin Williamson team-up that attempted to reinvent the werewolf backstory.

It suffered major reshoot and recut work, but the final film is still kind of fun.

October 14th – The Frighteners

Few studio horror films are as outlandish or far-out as The Frighteners.

Enjoy it again, like it’s the first time you’ve seen it.

October 15th – Children of the Corn

Yes, it’s kind of bad, and totally misguided, but there’s still a really creepy thing going on with the music and production design.

That ending though is almost as bad as the freeze-frame ending to Cujo.

October 16th – Bram Stoker’s Dracula

While Dracula Untold hits theaters, I thought it would be good to watch when it was told best, prior to now.

And pre-CGI for the most part.

October 17th – Creepshow 2

The original took place on Halloween, so it’s kind of more suitable, but the sequel has its moments.

Especially the middle story, The Raft, which comes directly out of King’s Skeleton Crew.

October 18th – The Human Centipede: First Sequence

Avoid the second, but the first sequence in this more talked-about than actually-seen, gross-out thriller is pretty interesting.

Suggested snack – gummy worms.

October 19th – Haunter

I loved this moody little tale.

It’s a ghost-version of Sixteen Candles, sort of mixed with Groundhog’s Day and Donnie Darko, but for moody emo pre-teen girls.

October 20th – Count Yorga, Vampire

It was originally planned as a soft-core porn exploitation film, which is the way it was marketed.

The actual film is more tame, but still kind of kinky considering when it was released to general cinemas.

October 21st – Fun Size

Not a horror film, but I recommend this too-raunchy-for-Nickelodeon comedy flop.

Kudos for being set in the suburbs at Halloween.

Extra kudos to the original pairing of Jackson Nicoll and Johnny Knoxville, who would later make Bad Grandpa.

October 22nd – Re-Animator

Stuart Gordon brings a great mix of horror and comedy to the H. P. Lovecraft story “Herbert West–Reanimator.”

October 23rd – The Legend of Hell House

Atmospheric, and well paced classic haunted house movie with bursts of violence that adds to its scare-factor.

October 24th – Invasion of the Body Snatchers

We’re getting into the final stretch of films now, and this is the perfect way to set it in motion.

A Halloween viewing essential

October 25th – House on Haunted Hill

You can tell Vincent Price is having a blast in this twisted Agatha Christie inspired William Castle classic.

If you’re really dedicated, you’ll wire a skeleton to fly from behind the television at just the right moment.

October 26th – The Hole

If you missed this recently under-released Joe Dante film, you’re in for a treat.  

The Hole is an old-school spooky hoot. By the way, it’s suitable for the kids too (so completely switchable with October 31st, if you need something more family friendly).

October 27th – Night of the Creeps

It’s a throw-back to classic cold-war Science Fiction invasion films, but also a classic zombie film in its own day.

Also, Tom Atkins in a mustache.

October 28th – Event Horizon

One of the most terrifying movies ever made. Period.

October 29th – The Innkeepers

Another modern classic, The Innkeepers takes time to become a proper horror film/ghost story, but it’s worth the wait.

October 30th – Fright Night

The original HD release on Blu-ray was limited edition (Twilight Time), and way out of reach unless you want to drop hundreds of dollars on eBay.

Here’s a way to catch it looking better than it ever did on VHS, Laserdisc or DVD.

October 31st – Night of the Living Dead

One of the must watch movies of All Hallows’ Eve, and luckily always easy to find online anywhere since it’s in the public domain.

The version on Netflix is acceptable.

Feel free to pull out your worn out VHS for nostalgia if need be.

Note: Above-mentioned titles available to WATCH INSTANTLY on Netflix October 2014. All are subject to the studio’s deal with Netflix. All are recommended to watch before November 1, 2014.

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