The October Horror Movie Challenge

Each October, in a tradition that stretches back to my childhood, I try to see as many horror movies as I can. I call it ‘The 31 Days of Halloween’ reveling in the happiness that scary movies and the coming of Fall weather give me. I’ve been keeping track of the films I watch for this blog for a couple of years now but I think I’ve found a new, fun way to make this October’s horror movie binge more interesting. Over on the DVD Talk site there is a game called The October Horror Movie Challenge. Somewhat like a game of bingo the idea is to reach 100 movies in the month (which I will not be trying, thank you very much). I’m more interested in using their categories list to play my own version of the game. For my version the idea will be to check off as many of the categories listed with the fewest movies. And since a single movie can tick far more than one box on the list I think this way of playing will be far more fun.

Here’s the list—

The DVDTalk October Horror Challenge Expanded Checklist/Bingo Card

Watch one film from every decade of film history.
--- 1890 - (insert film title here)
--- 1900 -
--- 1910 -
--- 1920 -
--- 1930 -
--- 1940 -
--- 1950 -
--- 1960 -
--- 1970 -
--- 1980 -
--- 1990 -
--- 2000 -

Watch a film for each rating:
--- Unrated (pre-MPAA) - (insert film title here)
--- G -
--- PG -
--- PG-13 -
--- R -
--- NC-17 -
--- X (not porn; several horror films were rated X) -
--- Unrated (post-MPAA) -

Watch films in at least three formats (DVD, BD, HD DVD, Laserdisc, TV, online, UMD, theater, iPod, etc).
--- First format, (insert format), (insert title).
--- Second format, (insert format), (insert title).
--- Third format, (insert format), (insert title).

Watch a film starring:
--- Bela Lugosi - (insert film title here)
--- Lon Chaney Sr. -
--- Boris Karloff -
--- Lon Chaney Jr. -
--- Vincent Price -
--- Peter Cushing -
--- Christopher Lee -
--- Robert Englund -
--- Bruce Campbell -
--- Jamie Lee Curtis -

Watch films in at least two languages other than English.
--- First language, (insert language), (insert title).
--- Second language, (insert language), (insert title).

Watch a film in each of the following subgenres/types:
--- Vampire - (insert film title here)
--- Frankenstein -
--- Werewolf -
--- Mummy -
--- Invisible Man -
--- Ghost/haunting -
--- Witchcraft/satanic/religious -
--- Zombie -
--- Slasher/psycho/homicidal maniac -
--- Monster/creature feature/Godzilla -
--- Documentary -
--- Musical -
--- Spoof/comedy -
--- Revenge -
--- Killer/evil doll -
--- Killer/evil animal -
--- Killer/evil child -
--- Giallo -
--- J horror -
--- MST3K/rifftrax/CT -
--- film and its remake -
--- based on a video game -
--- based on a novel -
--- directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis or Uwe Boll or Ulli Lommel -
--- won an Academy Award -- any category -
--- silent film -
--- Criterion version film -
--- with commentary -
--- film and at least two of its sequels -
--- anthology film -
--- takes place on a holiday -
--- takes place in space -
--- takes place on or under the sea -
--- animated film -
--- called "Night of ..." -
--- called "Return of ..." -
--- called "Revenge of ..." -
--- called "Attack of ..." -
--- with the words "Living Dead" in the title -

(One film could fill multiple items. Example: Dracula would fill one for decade, rating, actor, vampire, based on novel, and maybe others as well.)
(Use a * to mark first time viewings.)
(Change "---" to "-X-" or some similar mark when you have completed
that line item.

This will be fun and a good way to think about my horror viewing as I go along this month. Now I’m off to watch DEATH SHIP (1980)! Let’s see- that hits the 1980s category and it takes place on the sea. Do I get points for George Kennedy?