They're supposedly remaking / continuing the American Grudge line... I'm getting tired of "remakes" although I guess it depends on how remade it is. Usually remakes aren't as good and sometimes they're remakes of films that weren't even great to start with. I actually liked the first Grudge flick, it's got some genuinely unsettling moments, the edit isn't cut in time sequence (which makes it more mentally stimulating to piece together), etc. I don't really have a film I watch every year, I just make a list of films for the last 13 days of October and then watch one a day -- typically ones I haven't seen, along with 1-2 I really like.
This year has been kind of a dud, even with some films I thought would be decent. However, I do have to say that Black Sunday (1960) which I watched last night was a winner. It's only 1:23 long. It's filmed beautifully in black and white. The tone is consistent, which basically amounts to "over the top" throughout. It opens with this hilarious text warning about how the film is terrifying and you have to be at least 14 years old to watch it. And the first 10 minutes is just insane, compared to my expectations for a 1960's movie. I only really saw Hammer movies from that time period, and those are kind of flat. I actually yelled "Holy Shit!" at the screen and was agape at what I thought would be a rather ho-hum first 10 minutes. There's even a fight in the middle that far excelled what I expected of a film from that time period. We actually see a dead body reincorporating ... in 1960 special effects, and it's half-decent. The director had decent sensibilities despite the lack of hi-falutin CGI at the time. Just... delighted.
There's also a list of trailers from that time period on my bluray and they're just crazy. I guess this was leading into the giallo years in Italy?
Tonight on my list, I'm treating myself to a film I've already seen -- Let the RIght One In. I enjoyed the first viewing some years ago and even read the book, after.
I look forward to Rob Zombie's Three From Hell. Devil's Rejects and House of a 1000 Corpses were great. I'm surprised I didn't like his Halloween movies.
I just saw my first RZ movie -- The Lords of Salem. Some fun banter/interactions, and some unsettling imagery/sound, but kind of a mess story-wise and it felt longer than necessary. Despite any of the film's plusses, I was kind of bored or at least detached by the end.
I do plan to watch the three you mention (once 3 from hell comes out), I usually see Devil's Rejects touted as his best. Hard to believe one of those three leads is pushing his late 70's now and still filming in this genre.
I think my distaste for the Halloween series (the sequels, at least) has to do with how the sequels and remakes have tried to over-explain Michael Myers' origins and motives. The original was such a great, pure film; it didn't go into a whole backstory or weird convoluted subplots about mommy issues or secret satanic cults. He was just the faceless Shape, a mindless killing machine, and that was really all the audience needed to know.
Yeah, I mean, I guess that's how the original worked. Sometimes that is all that is necessary -- it doesn't have to be over-explained, and if you're going to explain it, it better be worth it.
I finally saw Halloween straight through for the first time last year. I was kinda meh over it, and have little desire to watch any of the others. I've never been big on the Friday 13th stuff either (with Jason), although I was amused and occasionally horrified at Freddy Krueger. At least with Freddy, the mythology / rules reinforce why you should be scared of him: (1) you can't tell what is real versus fake and (2) this means you have nowhere to hide, because when you think you're safely not asleep, you could be completely wrong and (3) we have to sleep.