31 Nights of Halloween: Hello

Sometimes, I watch a short film and wish it was just the beginning of a feature. "Hello", a tale of mysterious phone calls and serial killings, was one of those! (And even if you don't find yourself imagining where a story might go if the action continued past the end credits, I'm pretty sure this will help stir the Halloween spirit within you, as the 31 Nights of Halloween continue!)

Hello (2013)
Starring: Claire J. Foy, Hugh Sweeney, and Iggy Roddy
Director: Hugh Sweeney
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

31 Nights of Halloween: NoEnd House

Haunted House attractions are popular this time of year, and they pop up everywhere; some of you may even attend one or three to enjoy some safe Halloween scares. Just be sure they really are just safe scares, or you may end up the hero of tonight's short film.
While there are a couple missteps in "NoEnd House", it is generally tense and creepy... and great use of sound design, lighting, and some very subtle visual touches crack up the tension as David (Keene) tries to make it through the house's scary rooms.


NoEnd House (2018)
Starring: Connor Keene
Director: Ethan Lindner
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Feature Review Friday: 'The Head'

The Head (1959)
Starring: Horst Frank, Michel Simon, Karin Kernke, and Helmut Schmidt
Director: Victor Trivas
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

A mad scientist (Frank) keeps the head of a brilliant doctor (Simon) alive so that the doctor can consult on an operation to transplant the head of Brandt's beloved--a hunchback nurse (Kernke)--onto a sexy body.

Writer/director Victor Trivas's greatest claim to fame is that his directorial debut--"Hell on Earth" (1931) was outlawed and destroyed by the Nazis in 1940, with no copies known to have survived. His second greatest claim to fame was being nominated for an Oscar for the script for Orson Welles' "The Stranger". And then there's "The Head".

"The Head" is an extremely cheezy, intentionally schlocky film that surprised everyone involved (except maybe auteur Triva) by becoming a hit across Europe and in the United States. But for all the melodrama and dodgy scripting and the prerequisite for big-time suspension of disbelief for the film to even work (but if you're not already planning on doing that, you wouldn't be watching this film to begin with), it's got stylish visuals and it delivers its story with a high degree of tension.

Unfortunately, as the film builds toward what should be a weird, over-the-top, insane climax, it starts to sputter and lose steam. It doesn't quite stall out, but the final act drags to a conclusion instead of roaring toward it, giving this otherwise dark and fun ride a slightly disappointing in. It's still worth your while if you like movies with mad scientists doing mad things.

31 Nights of Halloween: Lilith

Tonight's selection is a sharply focused and spooky tale of a young mother, her baby, and a baby-stealing demon. It's strong effort that, sadly, doesn't end as powerfully as it should. Still... it's well worth the five minutes it will take to watch it.

Lilith (2019)
Starring: Andrea Gilder and Aria Gilder
Director: A.M. Borbón
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Pet Sematary by Helalyn Flowers

In 2013, Helalyn Flowers included a cover of "Pet Sematary" on their White Me In/Black Me Out CD. This Italian rock duo put their original spin on the song while still maintaining the spirit of the Ramones throughout. My only complaint is that the mixing seems off; I wish the lead vocalist was a little clearer.

Still, it's an excellent version that should have you nodding your head to the beat as the October shadows grow darker during this Halloween season...

31 Nights of Halloween: Bad Mistake

They say French films are tres magnifique... because they're French films. If they're talking about tonight's excursion into horror, they're right. It may not break any new ground, but it's well acted, well-executed on every technical level, and it doesn't waste a single second of screen time on ineffective "tension building" (which is an all-too-common mistake I find in these short films).

Bad Mistake (aka "Mauvaise Erreur") (2009)
Starring: Anne-Gaelle Ponche, Caroline Previnaire, Laurent Denayer, and Philippe d'Avilla
Director: Xavier Hibon
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

The weekly "scary movie night" with friends gets a little too real for Sophie (Ponche) on her walk home...


(Before anyone writes me: I KNOW this is a film made by Belgians, not Frenchmen. But I rarely get to mock film snobs, so I had to take this opportunity, no matter how weakly motivated it was.)

Tuneful Tuesday with Lindsey Stirling

Lindsey Stirling, the Dancing Violinist, performs her original composition "Moon Trance" and attends the biggest zombie dance party since the one Michael Jackson threw in the 1980s...

Every Tuesday from today through Halloween. there's be another fun or spooky music video to help get you in the proper mood, as we once again celebrate the 31 Nights of Halloween here at Terror Titans. 

31 Nights of Halloween Double Feature!

There's some thing lurking around deserted parking lots at night... so beware! We're starting this, the second week of  the 31 Nights of Halloween with two cautionary tales. We'd hate for any of our visitors to fall victim to the Moonlight Man!

(These are both really nicely done mini fright films, especially the first one. It's particularly nice the way writer/director Danny Donahue varies the tone of the two shorts.)


The Moonlight Man (2016)
Starring: Casey Fichtner and Philip Kreyche
Director: Danny Donahue
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars




The Moonlight Man (2017)
Starring: Bradley J. Herman and Philip Kreyche
Director: Danny Donahue
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

31 Nights of Halloween: Okay Google...

Tonight's selection for your 31 Nights of Halloween viewing pleasure is another example of how horror always keeps pace with the march of technology. It's a nice little chiller... but I feel like it ends just as it's starting to get good!

Okay Google (2019)
Starring: Calvin Young
Director: Levi Morgan
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

31 Nights of Halloween: Curtain

There was a time when the only place horror movie characters were safe was in the bathroom... because no-one in Movieland ever went into bathrooms. Those days are long gone, however, as you'll see in tonight's mini fright-film!

Curtain (2019)
Starring: Allison Elaine and Vincent Bombara
Director: Greg Vogt
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars


If you're a seasoned horror movie watcher, there isn't anything in "Curtain" that will shock you (or even surprise you), but it's well-acted, features some nice cinematography, and great sound design. It's a well-done little bit of filmmaking.

31 Nights of Halloween: Scratch

I watched tonight's selection twice, and I still am left wondering what exactly is going on in it. Maybe that's because I've never been a drug-addled 1950s housewife, maybe it's something else... but despite the cartoon question marks floating in the air above my head, this is a perfectly crafted, excellently acted, very creepy, and highly engaging piece of work that's worthy of the 31 Nights of Halloween. Check it out! Tell me what's happening in this film in the comments, please!


Scratch (2016)
Starring: Bel Deliá, Camron Robertson, Kate Avery, and Alexandra Bard
Director: Emma Bell
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Feature Review Friday: 'Night of the Demon'

For old time's sake (reaching all the way back to 2009 - 2012) there will be an actual horror movie review here at Terror Titans every Friday until Halloween arrives!


Night of the Demon (1957) (aka "Curse of the Demon")
Starring: Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, Niall McGinnis, Liam Redmond, and Athene Seyler
Director: Jacques Tourneur
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

An American (Andrews) travels to England to help investigate a demonic cult, and he finds himself targeted by supernatural forces unleashed by the cult's leader (McGinnis).

"Night of the Demon" is a by-the-numbers horror film where a skeptic is beset by supernatural forces and the only way he can survive is to turn the tables on those who have unleashed them. The fact that it's straight-forward with only one unexpected and shocking moment isn't a strike against it, because the story is expertly paced and structured, and so excellently acted by ever cast member that the predictability of the story becomes irrelevant.

The mood grows increasingly intense as the film unfolds, and the trainyard climax is perhaps one of the best finishes to a horror film I've ever seen. What's better, the film delivers its scares through quality acting, lighting, sparse use of soundtrack music, and perfect pacing; who could have imagined that a piece of paper fluttering away on a breeze could be such a source of suspense? I highly recommend this film to anyone who likes their horror with a minimum of gore.

With all the praise I'm heaping on the film, you may be wondering why I'm only giving it a rating of Eight Stars? It's because of the film's one and only misstep; it establishes right from the beginning that the supernatural powers of the villainious cult leader (played with just the right amount of slimeness and pomposity by the underappreciated character actor Niall McGinnis) are real. While on the one hand, it accelerates the viewer's sense of apprehension for the death-marked hero, it undermines takes away any mystery in the story. We don't even the a startling reveal of the demonic creature, as that, too, is shown to us in the very beginning. It's hard for to judge if the film would have been better with the more standard "is it all a hoax or is it supernatural forces" approach, but I leaning toward thinking it would have. Therefore, I am assigning it a rating of a High Eight.

"Night of the Demon" was released in the United States in 1958 under the title "Curse of the Demon", with a running time that's roughly 7 minutes shorter than the original British version. The most recent DVD release contains both cuts of the film, and I was sure that part of the cut material would be from the opening sequence where we see a character get killed by fire demon. I was wrong; instead, character building bits, and a crucial exposition scene were cut from the film.

31 Nights of Halloween: Agatha

Bathing is potentially a very dangerous activity for beautiful young women during the 31 Nights of Halloween, as tonight's offering shows. My advice, ladies? Use wash cloths, plenty of deodorant and an extra dash of perfume from now until November 1.

Agatha (2017)
Starring: Devyn LaBella
Director: Alex Goyette
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars