October is here once again, which means all things spooky, creepy, and outright horrifying are currently making their way into the homes of millions of people – through their screens, of course. All Halloween aficionados know that this is the month where we attempt to watch as many horror movies as we can, marathoning as much blood and guts as anyone might be able to stand (or delight in). It may as well be a sacred tradition.
In that spirit, Knotfest has called on our very own Ryan J. Downey as well as resident film critic Nicolás Delgadillo to put together two individual lists of vital Halloween horror picks for every day of the month. The wide variety of macabre favorites range from classics to more obscure cult films and feature zombies, demons, serial killers, vampires, and monsters of all kinds from all different eras.
Today's picks feature a cult favorite collaboration between legendary artists and a modern slasher with a time loop twist.
Downey's Choice:
'The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires' (1974) Directed by Roy Ward Baker & Chang Cheh
The combination of Hammer Films Productions and the Shaw Brothers Studio is the stuff of cult movie matinee and drive-in theater double feature dreams. And it actually happened!
Who needs a Christian cross when one touch of a golden Buddha statue sets a vampire alight?
A year after Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon came The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, a British and Hong Kong coproduction featuring Hammer regular Peter Cushing (as Professor Van Helsing) going up against seven vampires in rural China led by Count Dracula himself.
Roy Ward Baker, who directed Hammer’s The Vampire Lovers (1970), took the job. But the Shaw Brothers weren’t happy with his action sequences. Enter Chang Cheh, whose filmography eventually included nearly 100 films, most of them with the Shaw Brothers. The resulting mixture of footage shot by two directors with divergent styles makes The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires a true mashup. While there are better Hammer and Shaw Brothers movies to be seen, the fact this collaboration happened at all is a beautiful gift to film history.
Nick's Choice:
'Happy Death Day' (2017) Directed by Christopher Landon
Truly great horror comedies are few and far between, but Happy Death Day stands out thanks to its premise of Groundhog Day meets Scream as well as its alarmingly wonderful lead performance from Jessica Rothe. Rothe stars are Tree Gelbman, a college student who finds herself stalked and attacked by a stranger in a creepy baby mask on her birthday. When the stranger successfully murders Tree, she finds herself waking up in bed and starting the day all over again, and is forced to relive everything again and again until she can survive and discover who the killer really is.
Happy Death Day is nonstop fun, uproariously funny, and surprisingly heartfelt by the film’s end. There’s plenty of slasher carnage to juxtapose with its lighter tone as well, a style that Landon would perfect with the film’s equally as brilliant sequel Happy Death Day 2U and Freaky, the filmmaker’s 2020 blend of slashers and body swap movies. If you’ve missed this hilarious and sharp surprise, now’s the time to give it a watch so we can finally get the third entry for a completed trilogy.
Knotfest 2021 Halloween Horror Coverage:
Screen Crusades Daily Picks: Oct 18th, 15th, 14th, 13th, 12th
The 10 Best Horror Movies You Can Stream Right Now
The Best of Blumhouse: 10 essential flicks from one of cinema’s most forward-thinking specialists
The fifth ‘Scream’ film gets terrifying new trailer
‘V/H/S/94’ Has Some of the Best Found Footage Horrors of the Franchise
The 10 Best ‘V/H/S’ Short Films
Paranormal Activity Returns With The First Trailer for ‘Next of Kin’
The First Terrifying Trailer for Scott Derrickson’s ‘The Black Phone’ Has Arrived
Cult Horror Film ‘Arrebato’ Receives First Ever U.S. Release
