Robert Forto

october

31 Nights of Horror: Night 1: Trick ‘r Treat

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Cover of "Trick 'r Treat"
Cover of Trick 'r Treat

Every year for at least the past decade the Forto clan takes part in a fright fest. Each night in October we watch different scary movie. Sometimes it is the classic monster stuff like Dracula, Frankenstein or the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Other nights it is one of the 80’s slash ’em flicks like Friday the 13th of A Nightmare on Elm Street, and sometimes its the cheezy stuff like you might see on Elvira’s show.

Each October we always start and end with the same movies: the first one being Trick ‘r Treat (2007) about a cute little monster in footie p.j.’s named Sam and we end it with Carrie (1974) a coming of age film about a girl with supernatural powers.

Tonight’s movie: Trick ‘r Treat

Plot summary:

Four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the one guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband.

What is your favorite scary movie? 

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31 Days of Horror. Day 23: The Devils Rejects

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Every year we have a tradition in the Forto house where we celebrate the greatest month of the year, October, with scare your socks off, hide under the covers, turn on all the lights, sleep with one eye open, fright fest, movie marathon everynight of the month! We call it 31 Days of Horror

 

In Rob Zombie’s continuation to his first film, The House of 1000 Corpses, Captain Spaulding, Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie) and the rest of the demented family return to wreck havoc in Ruggsville, Texas.

 

Captain Spaulding

 

The Devils Rejects is one of the most graphic films I have ever seen. Not necessarily the special effects but the storyline really makes you sit back and think: WOW! How could someone think this twisted? Rob Zombie proves that he can and his demented sense of horror brings this film to the crescendo in an otherwise bleak world of cut-um-up slasher flicks.

 

This is is a must see if you a horror fan!

 

Plot: In Ruggsville, Texas, the police under the command of Sheriff John Quincy Wydell attack the house of the sadistic serial killers Firefly family (a.k.a. The Devil’s Reject) and they arrest mother Firefly, but Otis B. Driftwood and Baby Firefly escape from the siege. Tiny is wandering nearby the house and also escapes. Otis and Baby call their patriarch, the mad clown Captain Spaulding and they schedule to reunite at an isolated motel in the desert. When Otis and Baby arrive, they kidnap two families of singers, using sadism and violence against the harmless persons. Meanwhile, Sheriff Wydell promises to capture and kill the runaways, seeking revenge for the death of his brother, the Deputy George Wydell.

 

 

 

 

 

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31 Days of Horror. Day 21: Snowbeast

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Every year we have a tradition in the Forto house where we celebrate the greatest month of the year, October, with scare your socks off, hide under the covers, turn on all the lights, sleep with one eye open, fright fest, movie marathon everynight of the month! We call it 31 Days of Horror.

My wife bought me a collection of videos called 50 Chilling Classics. They appear to be public domain films and most of them have appeared on Elvira’s Movie Macabre.

Tonight’s movie is sure to be an instant favorite (not!). It is a 70s made-for-tv movie: Snowbeast. It was made just two years after JAWS and is almost a direct knock off from the spooky big-fish movie except this time it is on the slopes of colorful Colorado.

It is a beautiful little B-movie. Well maybe I am giving it a little too much credit. Maybe a solid C. There just is not enough Yeti to make it suspenseful enough for my tastes. Sure any movie with a man running around in a Bigfoot costume is designed to not only bring some chills but some laughs as well. In one scene the yeti’s shadow crosses to the left but all the sudden his arm comes through the window to the right.

Look at it this way… We still have 49 chilling classics to watch. I am sure to find a gem in that rough!

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31 Days of Horror. Day 18: Creepshow

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Every year we have a tradition in the Forto house where we celebrate the greatest month of the year, October, with scare your socks off, hide under the covers, turn on all the lights, sleep with one eye open, fright fest, movie marathon every night of the month! We call it 31 Days of Horror.

Plot: Five tales of terror are presented. The first deals with a demented old man returning from the grave to get the Father’s Day cake his murdering daughter never gave him. The second is about a not-too-bright farmer discovering a meteor that turns everything into plant-life. The third is about a vengeful husband burying his wife and her lover up to their necks on the beach. The fourth is about a creature that resides in a crate under the steps of a college. The final story is about an ultra-rich businessman who gets his comeuppance from cockroaches.

What is your favorite scary movie? We would love to hear from you!

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31 Days of Horror. Day 17: Misery

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Every year we have a tradition in the Forto house where we celebrate the greatest month of the year, October, with scare your socks off, hide under the covers, turn on all the lights, sleep with one eye open, fright fest, movie marathon every night of the month! We call it 31 Days of Horror.

31 Days of Horror–Day 17 Movie: Misery

Another King thriller is on tap tonight. This is a good one. Not for the gore but the sheer terror of “this could be me”. Think about it. You have a freakazoid fan out there, you are somewhat famous and all the sudden it turns into a nightmare. We had all heard the stories of the stalkers out there. I might just become agoraphobic!

Fun Facts:

After seeing The Shining. Rob Reiner was immediately inspired to direct a movie based on a Stephen King novel.

The main character Paul Sheldon’s novels are published by Viking, the same publishing company that published Stephen King’s books at that time.

A video of When Harry Met Sally… (also directed by Rob Reiner) is visible in the general store.

The “guy who went mad in a hotel nearby” is a reference to The Shining, also based on a novel written by Stephen King.

Jack Nicholson was offered the role of Paul Sheldon but passed because he wasn’t sure he wanted to do another movie based on one of Stephen King’s novels after what he had experienced with Stanley Kubrick on The Shining.

One of Stephen King’s first typewriters had a malfunctioning “N” key, just like the one used by James Caan in the movie.

Stephen King had originally planned to release the novel under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman. While writing it, however, it was discovered that King was Bachman. King subsequently published the novel under his real name, and announced that Bachman had died from “cancer of the pseudonym.”

Stephen King was quite impressed with Kathy Bates’s performance in this film, so much so that he later wrote to more roles for her. The title role in his novel Dolores Claiborne was written with Bates in mind. King also wrote the script for The Stand. His original novel featured a (male) character named Ray Flowers. Upon hearing that Bates wanted to be involved in the mini-series, King re-wrote the part as a woman, just so Bates could play the part.

In 1991, Kathy Bates became the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress in a horror/thriller for her role as Annie Wilkes.

As of 2010 this is the only Stephen King adaptation to receive an Academy Award.

According to the director Rob Reiner, Annie Wilkes’ killing spree is loosely based on that of Genene Jones, a nurse who is believed to have killed as many as 50 children who were in her care over a two-year period.

Kathy Bates reportedly was disappointed that a scene was cut in which she kills a young police officer by rolling over him repeatedly with a lawnmower. Director Rob Reiner was afraid that the audience would laugh at it.

Annie (Kathy Bates) places a wooden block between Paul’s (James Caan) ankles and uses a sledgehammer to “hobble” him. In the book written by Stephen King Annie cuts his feet off with an ax. The scene was changed so that there wasn’t too much gore.

What is your favorite scary and/or Halloween movie? I would love to hear from you!

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