Editorials
31 for 31: Through the Decades Challenge – Week One
It’s that time of year! Halloween is only a few brief weeks away. For the time being, for most horror fans, in October it’s as if the rest of the world is finally on our spooky wavelength. Fright flicks flood the multiplexes and our VOD services. Creepy decor of cut-out witches and stringy spider webs adorn every store we frequent. Pumpkin manages to find its way into EVERYTHING, and all is well in the world. Halloween season is also the perfect opportunity to take our favorite pastime of watching horror films and crank it up to 11. A lot of people do variations on 31 films for the 31 days of October, but I like to mix things up a bit. Or, you know…more specifically, make shit difficult for myself.
What do I mean by that? Last year for my “31 for 31,” I assigned a theme for each day of the week that I had to adhere to. For example, Witch Wednesdays meant the film I watched had to be – Yeah, you get it. This year I wanted to branch out a bit. I realized that most of the films I watch are generally from the 80s (with a sprinkling of late 70s). To push myself outside my norm, I’m donning this year’s adventure “31 for 31: Through the Decades Challenge”. Simply put, each day will correlate to a specific decade, and I must watch at least one film a day. No exceptions! Of course, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I had to make a further set of rules for myself to ensure I’m getting lots of variety. Those rules as follows:
- One film must be watched from each decade (50s – 10’s)
- One film must be watched from a major horror franchise.
- One film must be watched from one of our late-great masters (Craven, Romero, or Hooper).
- One film must be watched that deals with witches or witchcraft.
- One film must be watched that deals with the undead.
- One film must be watched that stars either Christopher Lee or Vincent Price.
- One film must be watched that contains sci-fi/horror elements.
- One film must be watched that is a remake.
- One film must be watched that is from Italy.
- One film must be watched that takes place during Halloween.
There you have it! That’s my unnecessarily complicated guideline for October viewing! If any of you guys want to accept the challenge, feel free to start from today, stick to the rules, and get to watching some scary movies! Let me know what you come up with in the comments below.
October 1st – The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)
Rules Met: 1, 7
“Three astronauts are launched into space aboard a rocket designed by Professor Quatermass, but the spacecraft returns to earth with only one occupant, Victor Carroon (Richard Wordsworth). Something has infected him during the spaceflight, and he begins mutating into an alien organism which, if it spores, will engulf the Earth and destroy humanity.”
The Quatermass Xperiment (released in the US as The Creeping Unknown) is an early Hammer Films production, before they’d hit gold with revamped updates of the Universal monsters. Hammer is a HUGE blind spot on my genre history watchlist, and I’m aiming to squeeze a few of their films into this year’s challenge. Quatermass was a great way to start. I knew next to nothing about this film going into it other than it was an adaptation of a hit BBC serial from 1953 (Note: as an adaptation of a TV show, I did not consider this a remake to meet the requirements of Rule #9). The film has wonderful atmosphere as panic and mystery surround the landing of the spacecraft and the one surviving astronaut. The plot slowly builds and morphs in unexpected directions, and an eerie “found footage” sequence is sure to crawl under your skin. This is high on the list of recommendations for fans of B&W horror.
October 2nd – Witchfinder General (1968)
Rules Met: 1, 4, 6
“A disturbing tale of evil set during the English Civil War. When Matthew Hopkins is appointed Witchfinder General by the Puritans under Cromwell, he is empowered to travel the countryside with his henchmen and collect a fee for each witch from whom he extracts a confession – a policy which is exploited to the full.”
Vincent Price in an uncharacteristically nasty role is a highlight for those fascinated by witch trials of the 1600s. The film is loosely based on the real life historical figure, Matthew Hopkins, and feature various scenes of intense torture and persecution of “witches”. Witchfinder General (aka The Conqueror Worm) feels very much in spirit with a lot of the Corman pictures of the time but with a sharper edged mean streak and a total downer ending.
October 3rd – Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972)
Rules Met: 1, 9
“A reporter and a promiscuous young woman try to solve a series of child killings in a remote southern Italian town that’s rife with superstition and distrust of outsiders.”
I was so excited to receive in the mail Arrow’s gorgeous new release of Lucio Fulci’s lesser known giallo, Don’t Torture a Duckling, that it almost immediately got flung into my bluray player. It’s a beautiful transfer of a film that has not been treated that well in the past. While this is far removed from the director’s later intestine-munching efforts, it’s clear here that he is beginning to experiment with effects and extreme violence. The mystery is fairly obvious but even having seen the film before, it’s remarkable how effective the story remains. The paranoid villagers afraid of the things they don’t understand and the subtext of the murders/murderer still carries with it substantial meaning all these years later.
October 4th – Pet Sematary (1989)
Rules Met: 1, 5
“Behind a young family’s home in Maine is a terrible secret that holds the power of life after death. When tragedy strikes, the threat of that power soon becomes undeniable.”
In recent years I’ve seen much ado about how terrifying this adaptation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary is, especially the kinder-trauma that was Zelda. I remember catching this when I was younger on MonsterVision with Joe Bob Briggs. It played as a double feature with the sequel. I also happen to remember not caring for the film but thinking the much-maligned sequel was far more entertaining. Considering my recollection must have been clouded by the ignorance of youth, I decided to revisit Mary Lambert’s adaptation. Well, all I can say is Zelda is pretty creepy. Everything else just felt like a huge mess to me with some of the worst acting I’ve seen in a major Hollywood production. Maybe I’ll give the sequel another chance? Of course, some memories are better left buried.
October 5th – Jason Goes to Hell (1993)
Rules Met: 1, 2
“The secret of Jason’s evil is revealed. It is up to the last remaining descendant of the Voorhees family to stop Jason before he becomes immortal and unstoppable. This is the final (?) battle to end Jason’s reign of terror forever. “
I’ve been a staunch defender of Jason Goes to Hell for some time. I get that it’s not really a Friday the 13th film, but much like the similarly despised A New Beginning, I’ve always felt it functions as a fun, gory slasher flick. Voorhees be damned! That said, this viewing didn’t tickle my fancy as much as I remember in the past. Part of the problem was the version I had available was the R rated theatrical cut. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to seek out the unrated version. For a slasher film, gore is as integral to the entertainment value as the punchline to a joke in comedy. Cut out the punchline and what are you left with?
October 6th – The Toolbox Murders (2004)
Rules Met: 1, 3, 8
“A historic Hollywood hotel houses a supernatural evil. It’s been subdued for decades, but when renovations start, a series of murders take place.”
Tobe Hooper’s The Toolbox Murders is the type of film that we don’t get enough of. Upon its initial release, I recall thinking it was a perfectly entertaining slasher movie with heaps of style and a strong final girl performance from the always reliable Angela Bettis. Upon rewatching the film the other night I realized several things. One, this is truly Hooper’s last great film, and it’s basically Hooper doing a cover of Argento with his own fetishistic flourishes on display. Two, this is exactly the type of film that will be looked back on fondly years from now. Just like us horror fans get excited today about the re-release of some random 80s slasher on bluray, The Toolbox Murders remake will eventually be re-discovered and cherished. It won’t be because it’s revolutionary or wholly unique but, instead, because it takes simple genre conventions and does what it sets out to accomplish perfectly. This is a roller-coaster ride of gory kills, suspenseful chases, and tongue in cheek black humor.
October 7th – Tales of Halloween (2015)
Rules Met: 1, 10
“Ten short stories revolve around ghosts, ghouls, monsters, the devil, aliens, and ax murderers who terrorize a suburb on Halloween night.”
Tales of Halloween is the type of anthology film that will leave some fans ecstatic and others cold. It’s the definition of a mixed bag. Ultimately, there’s something for everyone, from comedy to slow burn horror, Tales has it all. It’s certainly worth a watch, and Neil Marshall’s segment begs for a feature rendition for itself. For me, I found Tales to be a load of fun worth the tradition of an annual Halloween screening.
BONUS WATCH: The Bad Seed (1956)
This was my first viewing of this killer tot thriller. It manages to oscillate between uncomfortable tension, wrenching drama, and high camp. Simply put, I loved it (minus the mega cringe-worthy credits sequence).
There you have it! Week one and done! Are you doing 31 for 31? Do you want to take the “Through the Decades Challenge?” Sound off below, fiends, and Happy Early Halloween!
College kids, strippers and vampires—those were Donald P. Borchers’ only requirements when he approached Richard Wenk about writing and directing a movie for New World Pictures. As requested, Wenk cooked up Vamp (1986), a tailor-made blend of the decade’s teen movie craze as well as its horror boom.
Grim and earnest stories were still very much a part of the ’80s horror landscape, yet Vamp is something of a comedy. One difference between it and, say, Saturday the 14th, though, is the former avoids using schtick. Wenk’s movie proves that horror comedies also don’t have to subtract thrills from their recipes. Of course, it takes a minute before reaching that point; college antics and culture shocks preface this one macabre misadventure.
Vamp‘s initial setup is apt for a typical college-set, sex-driven comedy; to bribe their way into a fraternity house, two pledges (Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler) go looking for some adult entertainment. Without wasting time on any further exposition, the characters embark on an all-in-one-night trip that quickly detours into terror.
To procure their elusive MacGuffin—a stripper willing to gyrate for some frat boys—Keith (Makepeace) and AJ (Rusler), plus a third wheel named Duncan (Gedee Watanabe), trade the safety of their remote college campus for the seediness of some unnamed city. The setting is recognizably L.A. by day, but as soon as night falls, downtown, along with the characters, slips into a kind of surreal universe. Director of photography Elliot Davis gave this early entry on his prolific résumé an unusual yet distinctive look; that Mario Bava-esque, magenta-green lighting is omnipresent, so much so that it’s almost its own character.
Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler in Vamp
The faint comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s After Hours are merited, although not just because of Vamp’s distinguishing nighttime aesthetic. Save for the primary characters, the supporting roles in Wenk’s movie are also quite colorful and transactional in their behavior. The difference here, though, is the additional urge to ruin Keith and his friends at every turn. Some of that harm is humorous and tolerable enough, whereas the moment Vamp dishes out its first fatality, it’s abundantly clear how this movie qualifies as horror.
Vamp falls into that category of horror movie that reveals its genre with a scream rather than a series of whispers. The opening scene can function as a hint of what lies ahead—things are not at all what they appear to be—but otherwise, Wenk is more than happy to hold off on the horror. When that time does come, though, it catches the viewer off guard. In addition to the pure shock value is that sudden decision to upend the movie’s foremost feature. Or so it would seem.
If afraid of major spoilage, those new to Vamp would be wise to stop reading here. There’s just no skirting around the fact that the central fellowship in this buddy movie hits a serious snag when AJ is killed. That development causes the story to become more of a “long, bad night” journey for Keith and his romantic interest. So while Wenk scores points for subverting expectations, there is also a touch of sadness in his decision. Because if Vamp does anything well, it’s making the characters likable.
Something that comes easily to Vamp—and other teen horror movies from this same era—is its ability to invent young characters worth caring about, or at the very least, are interesting and not so immediately off-putting. More impressive is how Wenk did all this without actually fleshing out those characters. Still and all, Keith and his kind are a grade above cookie-cutter, and in some cases, aren’t completely devoid of growth.
Grace Jones in Vamp
Vamp appeals with an assorted cast of characters. No two are the same, nor are they operating on the same wavelength. The cinematically extroverted AJ, whose actor conveyed charm and vulnerability in near equal amounts, comes alive when he’s at his most undead. Makepeace then makes the chronically cautious Keith a sympathetic fellow, even as he’s more and more affected by the night’s bizarre events. Meanwhile, Duncan is indeed the designated loser of the whole bunch, but Watanabe still manages to humanize him. As a bonus, the role didn’t require him to pull a Long Duk Dong.
As for Dedee Pfeiffer, she is plain adorable as the mysterious After Dark server nicknamed “Amaretto”. She spends all night fixing her dress strap while at the same time trying to get Keith to remember how he knows her. As their offbeat romance grows, it becomes another highlight of this movie. Whether or not Pfeiffer’s character is really a vampire also creates some welcome tension in the story.
Like a lot of its contemporaries, Vamp went on to become a bit of a cult classic. That current status is determined by several factors, but without a doubt, the casting of Grace Jones is the most considerable. The image of her writhing on that unique-looking chair, a Keith Haring original, springs to mind whenever this movie is brought up.
Chris Makepeace, Billy Drago and Paunita Nichols in Vamp
Prior to that first display of unequivocal horror, local vampire queen Katrina (Jones) took to the stage and delivered a strip show like no other. One would expect nothing less from that renowned model and performance artist. By now reports of Jones’ tardiness on set are no secret, yet it’s also hard to deny her commitment to the part of Katrina. It was, in fact, Jones who took charge of her character’s appearance—on top of Haring painting her body and that now-iconic chair, she had Andy Warhol handle her costuming. And not too many actors could seize a room’s attention without saying a single line of dialogue.
In 2022, Vamp received a retrospective novelization from Encyclopocalypse. This literary union of preexisting source material—Wenk’s original screenplay—and new ideas from author Christian Francis amounts to a more comprehensive visit to the After Dark Club. The basic story there is no different than what’s shown on screen; however, Francis gets creative with the characters’ origins and designs, and he enhances a number of key scenes.
The novelization expands on the urban and social decay of the main setting, and supplies a background for the After Dark Club. Sandy Baron’s character, Katrina’s emcee and familiar, is given ample motivation for sticking around; up until the fiery end, he is loyal to his friend and former business partner “Squeak”, who looks like he was “fed through a combine harvester, and left as nothing more than a heap of mangled remains”. Then there is Billy Drago’s character Snow, the leader of a street gang called The Dragons. His reason for menacing Keith and AJ is more altruistic than in the movie; he and his peers act tough to scare off any potential food for the vampires.
Lisa Lyon in Vamp
If not for all the backstories, Francis’ Vamp would be a hell of a lot shorter. Instead, this tie-in read dives into how AJ met Keith—the orphaned Anthony Joseph hailed from a broken home back in Brooklyn—and how their friendship flourished over the years. Keith’s archership is no longer just an assumed part of his entire being; it’s a confidence-building extracurricular for a boy who got picked on before coming into the protection of the new kid in town. These supplemental, in-depth looks at the protagonists, plus their close connection, are maybe unnecessary. The movie already did a fair and concise job of addressing their platonic intimacy without the need for flashbacks and insights, specifically in that scene where AJ lays it all out as he sacrifices himself.
Where the novelization gets off course is its approach to the minor characters. Intermittently backstorying the likes of Katrina’s indentured servants, Seko (Leila Hee Olsen) and Vlad (Brad Logan), ends up disturbing the flow of the writing. Was it absolutely essential that readers know Vlad was the Grand Duke of the House of Romanov, or how Snow’s accomplice Maven (Paunita Nichols) became so dentally challenged? No, not really. However, one’s mileage with these random biographies may vary.
The novelization is a more substantial experience, but for a movie like Vamp, less is more. And as plentiful as they are, it never simply coasts on its campy charms, either. The character work sits comfortably in that realm between cursory and meticulous, the script is sharper than first realized, and Greg Cannom’s vampire makeup is straightforward yet effective. Most of all, the movie didn’t squander its out-of-the-box concept. Richard Wenk made his vision of a “comic nightmare in which just about anything that can go wrong does” come true, and it is very enjoyable.
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