With the start American Horror Story’s 9th Season + October just around the corner, our focus turned to Halloween, and Bingetober was born!
Bingetober -/binjˈtōbər/
Definition: An autumn festival held in the month October, devoted to the watching of 31 films in 31 nights! We’ll be suggesting one film each day until Halloween, to get us all in the spooky-spirit.
Join the celebration! Follow @The_bingewatchers on instagram & twitter – we’ll share a new suggestion each day throughout the month.
HORROR FANS
Check out our blog post with our list all the horror-movie references we noticed in the premiere of AHS 1984: bingewatchers.home.blog: ahs1984-premiere
(You’ll find some of our inspiration for #Bingetober there.)
List: 31 movies in 31 days
October 1st: It (2017, 2019)
Kick things off with a double feature.
Villain: It; aka. Pennywise; aka. every nightmare you’ve ever had. Your worst dream come true. Everything you ever were afraid of.
Hero: The losers.
October 2nd: Friday the 13th (1980)
(THE ORIGINAL)
We know, the famous hockey mask does not appear until Friday the 13th Part III, but with hockey starting today, we couldn’t help ourselves.
Villain: [SPOILER ALERT] in one of the most iconic twists of all time… the killer is revealed to be Pamela Voorhees, Jason’s grieving mother.
Hero: Alice Hardy
DID YOU KNOW:
“ki ki ki maa ma ma ma” (aka the creepy breathy-voice sound effect in horror movies) ORIGINATED from Friday the 13th. The film’s composer, Harry Manfredini, created the sound by reducing the words ‘kill’ & ‘mommy’ down to 2 syllables – taken from audio of Pamela saying “Kill her mommy!” in the 1980 film
October 3rd: Blade (1998)
New York Comic Con starts today! In honor of #NYCC, we’re watching movies inspired by comics. Starting with today’s pick, Blade.
Hero: Blade; Eric Brooks; The Daywalker
Villain: Vampires; Deacon Frost aka. La Magra, the vampire blood god
HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE REBOOT?
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Marvel is creating a Blade reboot starring Mahershala Ali!
October 4th: Joker (2019)
Happy #SmileDay! Today’s comic-book inspired film is Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix. In theaters today!
This joker installment is an origin story set in 1981, that follows Arthur Fleck, a mentally ill failed stand-up comedian who turns to a life of crime in Gotham.
Hero: unclear (Batman makes no appearance)
Villain: the joker
October 5th: The Crow (1994)
On the third day of New York Comic Con, we chose the comic-book-turned movie, The Crow (1994) based on James O’Barr’s 1989 comic by the same name. The film stars Brandon Lee in his final film appearance, who shockingly died on set.
Hero: The titular Crow aka. Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) rises from the dead to take revenge against the violent gang who murdered him and his fiancé; assuming the gothic mantle of ‘The Crow’, a supernatural avenger.
Villain: T-Bird and his gang.
DURING FILMING THEY USED RAVENS, NOT CROWS.
Animal trainer Larry Madrid trained five ravens for the production. Because The Crow filmed at night—when ravens sleep—he had to get the birds accustomed to that, as well as flying in the rain (which is also unnatural for the birds) and in a wind tunnel. One of the ravens also had to be trained to be comfortable sitting on Lee’s shoulder.
October 6th: The Sixth Sense
(we are not against cheeky numerical references and puns. far from it. you have been warned.)
Villain: Ghosts, on the surface. But really the ghosts aren’t really good or evil. The film explores themes of grief, fear, isolation, communication and of course the supernatural – using ghosts as conduits for these greater discussions.
Hero: No one really.
WHAT’S IN A NAME
The main characters’ last names are subtle hints to their fates. Cole Sear (pronounced see-er) is able to see things ordinary people cannot; Malcolm’s last name, Crowe, sounds like crows–a bird often associated with death (see previous entry!).
SEEING RED
The color red is scarcely used in the film, but when it is used in isolated shots it represents, according to M. Night Shyamalan, “anything in the real world that has been tainted by the other world”.
October 7th: SE7EN (1995)
Our seventh choice is Se7en (sensing a pattern here?), David Fincher’s film about two detectives (Morgan Freeman + Brad Pitt!!) chasing after a murderer whose kills are based on the seven sins.
Villain: John Doe
Hero: Detective William Somerset (Freeman) and Detective David Mills (Brad).
WHAT’S IN THE F*CKING BOX?
There are a few “head shots” throughout the film – subtle cinematography choices that foreshadow the gut-wrenching ending.
Several times throughout the film the camera cuts to Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), with a square framing her head, separating it from her body…
(like we imagine John Doe does in the box. sorry).
GR8FUL
See you tomorrow for our next entry, which thankfully is not Ei8ht, the planned sequel for Se7en. A film that Fincher said, upon receiving the script, that he’d rather have cigarettes put out on his eyes than make.
October 8th: The Shining (1980)
“Herrrrrrrre’s Johnny!“
With a month left til the release of the sequel (Dr. Sleep) we thought it most fitting that our today’s movie be, The Shining – based on the novel by Stephen King.
The film is about Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a man who plans to live for the winter with his wife and son as the caretaker of the snowbound Overlook Hotel. The hotel’s owner warns Jack that the previous caretaker murdered his wife and two daughters, before committing suicide, but Jack reassures him: “You can rest assured, Mr. Ullman, that’s not gonna happen with me. And as far as my wife is concerned, I’m sure she’ll be absolutely fascinated when I tell her about it. She’s a confirmed ghost story and horror film addict.”
Yup. Yup. Yup.
“All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy” is NOT in the book
Like so many other moments (the elevator scene, the maze, “Here’s Johnny!,” the TWINS…) it was made up for the movie.
Perhaps most significant difference is the role Danny’s gift, “the shining,” and his imaginary friend Tony, have in the novel. “The shining” is telepathic ability that enables those who posses it, Danny to possess psychic abilities, read minds and have premonitions.
Stephen King famously dislikes Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of his novel, because he completely changed King’s story.
We say, they each created a masterpiece of horror.
KUBRICK & THE MOON LANDING
There is a popular conspiracy theory that The Shining is the director(Stanley Kubrick)’s confession to faking the Apollo 11 moon landing.
Supporting “evidence” includes:
- Danny’s Apollo 11 sweater.
- the presence of Tang in the Overlook Hotel’s pantry (a well known astronaut-favorite).
- The room is Room 237 because the Moon is “237,000 miles from Earth.”
- … and a theory that the dead twins symbolize the failed Gemini space missions.
October 9th: Carrie (1976 )
Our binge today is another horror based on a Stephen King novel (his first actually!): Carrie. 1976 or 2013 film? Why not make it both?
Even if you haven’t watched the film, you’ve probably seen the infamous depiction of the titular character, Carrie, covered in blood at prom. While it’s a horrifying image, Carrie is a tragedy as much if not more so than it is pure horror.
Carrie White, magnificently played by Sissy Spacek in the original film, is a teenager with no friends, who is sheltered by her religious mother and bullied at school. Carrie begins to discover she has telekinetic powers, and after being humiliated at prom, she unleashes them on her classmates …violence ensues.
THE CAST OF COULD HAVE BEEN IN STAR WARS
Did you know directors Brian De Palma and George Lucas are good friends? (In fact De Palma was one of the first people ever to see STAR WARS along with Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and John Landis.) They were part of the so called, “Movie Brats” the first generation of filmmakers who hadn’t come up via theatre, novels or television; instead learning film as film. De Palma also directed a lil’ movie called, Scarface.
Anyway, back to Carrie. In 1975, when De Palma was holding casting for his upcoming film (Carrie), George Lucas’ was casting for his Star Wars and the two decided to hold joint auditions!
What if Carrie Fisher was cast as Carrie?
October 10th: Alien (1979)
You’ve gotta know today’s movie, and if not, you’re welcome. Ridley Scott’s Alien.
“In space, no one can hear you scream”
This movie is a treasure. A horror movie set in deep space, this story follows the crew of the starship Nostromo, who is awakened from their cryo-sleep early to investigate a distress call. On an alien ship. On an unknown planet. The horror begins when the crew, which includes our heroine, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), encounters a nest of eggs inside the ship. Say it with me, I will never investigate alien organisms all willy-illy, because I am not Natalie Portman in Annihilation (aka a biologist who knows better). Something from inside one of the egg leaps out and attaches itself to Kane (#facehugger)…
Alien has a number of sequels, but unlike so many other movie franchises, (most of*) these hold their own:
- Alien*** (1979)
- Aliens*** (1986)
- Alien 3** (1992)
- Alien Resurrection* (1997)
- AVP – Alien Vs. Predator (2004)
- Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (AVP 2) (2007)
- Prometheus* (2012)
- Alien: Covenant* (2017)
So if you have the time, just make a day out of it.
H.R. Giger
The xenomorph was designed by a Swiss artist named H.R. Giger. He was part of the special effects team that won an Academy Award for design work on the first Alien. Sadly, Giger passed away in 2014 (Rest in peace sir).
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This infographic…
Evolution and kill count of the Xenomorphs throughout the Alien series. Artwork by Aaron Lecours (Found on Reddit.)
October 11th: The Babadook (2014)
Villain: Today’s movie’s, the Babadook is a monster from a seriously messed up children’s book. It may not sound like much but he is downright terrifying. It’s unclear how the book came to be in the main characters possession, but Amelia, a widow, reads it to her son Sam anyway… The monster.
Hero: Another movie with perhaps no hero
Many theorize that the Babadook is actually a symbol of Amelia’s grief. Her son Sam (and the audience) watches her through the 5 stages: denial, anger, bargaining, and depression in battling the Babadook, before finally coming to acceptance of the idea that the Babadook, like grief, will never truly go away.
FAN LOVE
Immaculate and terrifying Babadook-cosplay by instagram user @undeadmidnightcosplay.
October 12th: Us (2019)
Hard to believe this movie came out just this year, it’s already made such an impact.
Jordan Peele’s second movie movie follows the Wilson family, a mother Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o), her husband, and their son and daughter, who return to Adelaide’s childhood beach house. As we all know from the trailers, masked strangers arrive to the home, terrorizing the family – and we discover are the family’s doppelgängers.
This movie is worth seeing without knowing any more. For the same reason, the “hero” and “villain” are complicated. The sad parts almost out way the scary parts. But there’s some really terrifying imagery in this film. And be prepared to have Luniz’s I Got Five On It ruined for you…
BingeWatchers 