PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2019

A HORROR MARATHON, SIX YEARS UNDER

Perhaps the scariest aspect of this sixth Octoblur horror movie marathon is how out-of-shape I am with regard to movie blogging. Will I be able to survive another month of 31+ horror movies, or will this form of self-mutilation lead me to an early grave?

Nevertheless, I’ve been stockpiling horror movies since the end of last Octoblur — it’s only through rigorous self-discipline that I have managed to resist watching most of these during the rest of the year — and am leaning more heavily than ever on the recommendations of Elric Kane, whose Pure Cinema and Shock Waves podcasts have become my most fertile sources for obscure discoveries.

For mainstream horror, I will dip a foot or two in popular franchises, including filling-in-the-blanks of the HALLOWEEN franchise. Last year, I watched John Carpenter's original HALLOWEEN and the 2018 sequel. This year, I'll watch the rest of that series (some of them for the first time) as I listen to the new Stitcher Premium podcast, In Myers We Trust With Gyers And Rust.

Here are links to our past Octoblur projects:

• Octoblur 2014 (48 movies)
• Octoblur 2015 (43 movies)
• Octoblur 2016 (47 movies)
• Octoblur 2017 (45 movies)
• Octoblur 2018 (38 movies)

Octoblur 2019's 65 movies, from best-to-worst:

1. 1. Dead End Drive-In (1986) | Dir.: Brian Trenchard-Smith | Flickcharted: #748 (83.76%)
2. 2. Carrie (1976) | Dir.: Brian De Palma | Flickcharted: #769 (83.21%)
3. 3. Race with the Devil (1975) | Dir.: Jack Starrett | Flickcharted: #902 (80.27%)
4. 4. The Lighthouse (2019) | Dir.: Robert Eggers | Flickcharted: #1064 (76.91%)
5. 5. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014) | Dir.: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon | Flickcharted: #1125 (75.44%)
6. 6. Bliss (2019) | Dir.: Joe Begos | Flickcharted: #1154 (74.83%)
7. 7. The Mephisto Waltz (1971) | Dir.: Paul Wendkos | Flickcharted: #1165 (74.51%)
8. 8. Child's Play (2019) | Dir.: Lars Klevberg | Flickcharted: #1384 (69.91%)
9. 9. Theater of Blood (1973) | Dir.: Douglas Hickox | Flickcharted: #1382 (69.80%)
10. 10. The Black Cat (1934) | Dir.: Edgar G. Ulmer | Flickcharted: #1427 (68.69%)
11. 11. Piercing (2018) | Dir.: Nicolas Pesce | Flickcharted: #1435 (68.54%)
12. 12. Little Monsters (2019) | Dir.: Abe Forsythe | Flickcharted: #1567 (65.78%)
13. 13. Pin (1988) | Dir.: Sandor Stern | Flickcharted: #1629 (64.54%)
14. 14. Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) | Dir.: Robert Aldrich | Flickcharted: #1724 (62.46%)
15. 15. The Witch (1952) | Dir.: Roland af Hällström | Flickcharted: #1758 (61.79%)
16. 16. You'll Like My Mother (1972) | Dir.: Lamont Johnson | Flickcharted: #1778 (61.25%)
17. 17. Evil of Dracula (1974) | Dir.: Michio Yamamoto | Flickcharted: #1844 (59.64%)
18. 18. We Have Always Lived in the Castle (2018) | Dir.: Stacie Passon | Flickcharted: #1855 (59.53%)
19. 19. I Saw What You Did (1965) | Dir.: William Castle | Flickcharted: #1865 (59.33%)
20. 20. Fade to Black (1980) | Dir.: Vernon Zimmerman | Flickcharted: #1900 (58.77%)
21. 21. Shanks (1974) | Dir.: William Castle | Flickcharted: #1888 (58.73%)
22. 22. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) | Dir.: Tommy Lee Wallace | Flickcharted: #2038 (55.65%)
23. 23. The Old Dark House (1932) | Dir.: James Whale | Flickcharted: #2022 (55.60%)
24. 24. The Unknown (1927) | Dir.: Tod Browning | Flickcharted: #2110 (53.69%)
25. 25. The Leopard Man (1943) | Dir.: Jacques Tourneur | Flickcharted: #2195 (51.92%)
26. 26. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) | Dir.: Dwight H. Little | Flickcharted: #2210 (51.90%)
27. 27. Hell Fest (2018) | Dir.: Gregory Plotkin | Flickcharted: #2193 (51.83%)
28. 28. Nightbeast (1982) | Dir.: Don Dohler | Flickcharted: #2220 (51.78%)
29. 29. Halloween (2007) | Dir.: Rob Zombie | Flickcharted: #2225 (51.66%)
30. 30. Satan's Rhapsody (1917) | Dir.: Nino Oxilia | Flickcharted: #2229 (51.54%)
31. 31. Escape 2000 (1982) | Dir.: Brian Trenchard-Smith | Flickcharted: #2252 (50.84%)
32. 32. Cry of the Banshee (1970) | Dir.: Gordon Hessler | Flickcharted: #2251 (50.82%)
33. 33. The Mummy (1932) | Dir.: Karl Freund | Flickcharted: #2252 (50.77%)
34. 34. Lake of Dracula (1971) | Dir.: Michio Yamamoto | Flickcharted: #2267 (50.37%)
35. 35. Housewife (2017) | Dir.: Can Evrenol | Flickcharted: #2276 (50.09%)
36. 36. The Mind's Eye (2015) | Dir.: Joe Begos | Flickcharted: #2372 (47.99%)
37. 37. Bereavement (2010) | Dir.: Stevan Mena | Flickcharted: #2652 (41.92%)
38. 38. February (2015) | Dir.: Oz Perkins | Flickcharted: #2673 (41.75%)
39. 39. The Vampire Doll (1970) | Dir.: Michio Yamamoto | Flickcharted: #2974 (34.82%)
40. 40. Monster in the Closet (1986) | Dir.: Bob Dahlin | Flickcharted: #3008 (34.48%)
41. 41. Mausoleum (1983) | Dir.: Michael Dugan | Flickcharted: #3151 (31.38%)
42. 42. Malevolence (2004) | Dir.: Stevan Mena | Flickcharted: #3141 (31.22%)
43. 43. Mill of the Stone Women (1960) | Dir.: Giorgio Ferroni | Flickcharted: #3156 (30.77%)
44. 44. The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) | Dir.: Katt Shea | Flickcharted: #3173 (30.77%)
45. 45. Malevolence 3: Killer (2018) | Dir.: Stevan Mena | Flickcharted: #3162 (30.72%)
46. 46. The Conjuring 2 (2016) | Dir.: James Wan | Flickcharted: #3207 (29.81%)
47. 47. Marrowbone (2017) | Dir.: Sergio G. Sánchez | Flickcharted: #3233 (29.30%)
48. 48. Night of the Demons 2 (1994) | Dir.: Brian Trenchard-Smith | Flickcharted: #3268 (29.11%)
49. 49. Mortuary (1983) | Dir.: Howard Avedis | Flickcharted: #3258 (28.90%)
50. 50. Halloween: Resurrection (2002) | Dir.: Rick Rosenthal | Flickcharted: #3291 (28.50%)
51. 51. The Curse of La Llorona (2019) | Dir.: Michael Chaves | Flickcharted: #3352 (27.10%)
52. 52. When Michael Calls (1972) | Dir.: Philip Leacock | Flickcharted: #3344 (27.10%)
53. 53. Night Killer (1990) | Dir.: Claudio Fragasso | Flickcharted: #3394 (26.30%)
54. 54. Halloween: H20 (1998) | Dir.: Steve Miner | Flickcharted: #3397 (26.18%)
55. 55. Night of the Demons (1988) | Dir.: Kevin Tenney | Flickcharted: #3450 (25.15%)
56. 56. Satanic Panic (2019) | Dir.: Chelsea Stardust | Flickcharted: #3416 (24.96%)
57. 57. The Nun (2018) | Dir.: Corin Hardy | Flickcharted: #3440 (24.74%)
58. 58. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976) | Dir.: Charles B. Pierce | Flickcharted: #3471 (24.18%)
59. 59. Superstition (1982) | Dir.: James W. Roberson | Flickcharted: #3543 (22.81%)
60. 60. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) | Dir.: Joe Chappelle | Flickcharted: #3959 (13.88%)
61. 61. Halloween II (1981) | Dir.: Rick Rosenthal | Flickcharted: #3970 (13.34%)
62. 62. Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017) | Dir.: Issa López | Flickcharted: #3967 (12.97%)
63. 63. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989) | Dir.: Dominique Othenin-Girard | Flickcharted: #4019 (12.55%)
64. 64. Itsy Bitsy (2019) | Dir.: Micah Gallo | Flickcharted: #4020 (11.75%)
65. 65. Halloween II (2009) | Dir.: Rob Zombie | Flickcharted: #4552 (1.11%)