It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The temperature is starting to dip below 90 (sometimes), the trees are starting to show off their colors leaf by leaf and there’s a certain feeling in the air. Fall will be here before you know it.
This is my third year participating in Cinemonster’s Hooptober and my ninth year doing some kind of Halloween movie challenge. My daughter just turned a year old and we’re moving into a bigger house. Life moves fast! My wife and I are still working from home since Covid and we have no plans to ever go back to our offices, so we’re moving closer to the beach and family and further away from the city.…
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The temperature is starting to dip below 90 (sometimes), the trees are starting to show off their colors leaf by leaf and there’s a certain feeling in the air. Fall will be here before you know it.
This is my third year participating in Cinemonster’s Hooptober and my ninth year doing some kind of Halloween movie challenge. My daughter just turned a year old and we’re moving into a bigger house. Life moves fast! My wife and I are still working from home since Covid and we have no plans to ever go back to our offices, so we’re moving closer to the beach and family and further away from the city.
I still go back and forth on how to title this. The obvious answer is “Hooptober 9 from Outer Space” since we have to watch a space horror and the number 9 fits in with PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. But since I’ve been naming my Hooptobers using sequel subtitles related to life events, maybe I need to incorporate something about a haunted house. I’m a dad and husband with an adult job and a dog and a mortgage and this is the kind of stuff I think about more often than not. But I digress.
We’re moving in early September so hopefully by mid-September I’ll have a good film viewing setup. Maybe some LED mood lighting for the basement TV. It’s amazing the kind of purchases I can get away with by saying “It’s for the new house!” Speaking of purchases, I started collecting physical media again. So far just 4k special editions and films I’ve supported. In the wake of the HBO Max fuckery and the streaming landscape in general, it’s more important than ever to consider physical media and to help independent filmmakers when you can.
Anyway, let’s get down to it! I will watch at least 31 films. I will write a review for each one. One film can cover multiple categories. Once again I’m going with all first-time watches. Obviously I’ll still be viewing my Halloween favorites as well, but they won’t be included on this list.
Note that films are subject to change based on availability, but I'll update the list if I need to make any revisions.
10/24 UPDATE: Welp, fitting these movies in has been harder than usual with everything going on. I'm at 16 films and we're a week from Halloween. I'd ambitiously planned to keep 1 film = 1 category but I'll need to break that and use multiple categories. I removed the bonus films because I probably won't make it to that. I'm still having a blast this Hooptober and I'll try to finish the month strong. I might make a separate list of films I'll be watching over Halloween weekend.
CATEGORIES
6 countries:
- Saloum (Senegal)
- Tombs of the Blind Dead (Spain/Portugal)
- Halloween Ends (USA)
- House (Japan)
- Dark Glasses (Italy/France)
- Incantation (Taiwan)
8 decades:
- Frankenstein (30s)
- The Tingler (50s)
- Castle of the Living Dead (60s)
- Tombs of the Blind Dead (70s)
- Lady in White (80s)
- Perfect Blue (90s)
- Feast (2000s)
- Dark Glasses (2020s)
2 insect centered films:
- Mosquito
- The Bees
1 horror film set in space or the future (relative to when it was released):
- Creature
2 animated films:
- Perfect Blue
- Wicked City
1 bloodthirsty old person/people film:
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
2 1970s regional US films:
- Squirm
- I Drink Your Blood
The worst horror sequel from the 1990s that you haven't seen and can access:
- Amityville Dollhouse
1 German silent film:
- Nosferatu
5 films from David Cronenberg, Ti West, Bill Rebane, Charles B. Pierce, William Grefe and/or Joy N. Houck Jr:
- X (West)
- The Giant Spider Invasion (Rebane)
- The Dead Zone (Cronenberg)
- Sting of Death (Grefe)
- Death Curse of Tartu (Grefe)
2 Christopher Lee films:
- Castle of the Living Dead
- The City of the Dead
1 film with a (real life) musician or band in it:
- Feast
1 Stephen King adaptation that is not the first go around:
- Pet Sematary (2019)
1 Lon Chaney film:
- London After Midnight (Reconstruction)
1 Tobe Hooper Film (There must ALWAYS be a Hooper film):
- Mortuary
Thank you Cinemonster for unleashing this madness and keeping it going, and thank you all for participating and making this such a fun community event. Happy Hooptober to all! Enjoy the season. There’s magic in the air, and the veil between the living and the dead is thinner than usual.
Check out my previous Hooptobers and other October marathons here: I | II | III | IV | V |
VI | VII | VIII