The 31 Days of Horror- #25

A Gialli masterpiece, a vengeful doll, some wacky ghosts, and an updated version of the shape...

The 70's

The Bird With the Crystal Plumage(1970)- The directorial debut of Horror legend Dario Argento, this early 70's Giallo film is one of the best of the genre, and some say Argento's best film. It says a lot about a director when so many of his movies are said by many to be their best. In true Giallo style, this movie gives us a creepy masked killer with black gloves, a great score, bloody deaths and a twisty mystery that makes little sense at the end. This is a great movie, and maybe the most evenly balanced film (style and substance) that Argento has made.

The 80's

Child's Play (1988)- How can a doll be scary? When he screams obscenities at you, tries to kill you, then rolls under the couch. This is a great movie, and even though much of it is tongue in cheek, it's still effective on a pretty creepy level. I remember going on my first "real" date to see this movie, and she ended up in tears... that was mainly because of me though. I would avoid the sequels unless you're in the mood for a laugh or two, but this is a must see.

The 90's

The Frighteners (1996)- Peter Jackson strikes again. Many know that he's the master of all things Hobbit, but lesser known is that he made some pretty damn good movies before tackling Tolkein, and most of them were horror. This was a horror comedy starring Michael J. Fox as a geek who can see spirits, and of course he has to save the day when the grim reaper comes knocking. You can definitely see Jackson's directorial style at work here, and also get a peek at the special effects that would one day win him a few Academy Awards. Fun times.

The 2000's

Halloween (2007)- This is a movie that I'm torn about. We all know the story about Michael Myers killing his sister and growing up to be one of the best movie maniacs of all time, but did his story need to be remade? On one hand, Halloween should never have been touched. The original is about as good as it gets when it comes to Horror, and is an all-time classic. On the other hand, Rob Zombie's "re-imagining" was pretty damn good. It got some things wrong, but it got just as many right. The story about Michael when he was a kid was great (minus some of the over top "white trashy" scenes.)

This version is in no way as good as the original, but it doesn't really need to be. It's very effective on its own for what it is.

See you tomorrow with #24...