30 Days of Fright - Prologue

I find getting out of bed in the morning to go to work extremely difficult. I always have and I suspect that I am not alone in my loathing of the alarm clock that signals the end of another too short a night of slumber. Each day I try to get motivated as I climb from my pit. A favored technique of mine (though frankly it's bugger all use) is to tell myself that this day could be the best day ever, that it'll be an adventure, that something amazing could happen to me on the cutting edge of Irish commerce.

Like I said, this technique is bugger all use and each morning is a terrible struggle. However, the theory is sound; each day is filled with promise though it's the kind of promise that's rarely fulfilled. Any period of time has that same type of potential and summers are particularly full of the stuff. I love the onset of summer with the ideas that spring to mind (if you'll pardon the pun) as I daydream about how to fill those long evenings.

Like everyone else I know I piss away those long evenings, so when summer ends it's more then a little bit sad, it's a fucking tragedy. So tragic in fact that back in the day, waaaaaay back in the day, the festival of Samhain kicked off in these parts to mark the death of summer, and that festival eventually led to the holiday we know as Halloween, which in turn has led to the greatest annual horror film review series of all time: “30 Days of Fright”.

In a strange twist, once those long evenings are gone I actually get motivated to do something with my free time and so during the month of October I plant myself in front of the TV or home cinema (which sounds grander then it is) and watch a horror film each night. As I am totally incapable of keeping my opinion of a film to myself, the next day I write up a review and post it on the Internet for the entire world to see.

The usual rules of the series apply this year. I've gathered up a collection of DVD's and recordings off the TV and compiled a list of films to be viewed and reviewed but should I get my grubby mitts on something I consider worth a look at the last minute then it'll get dropped in. As in previous years, which you can check out here: 2008, and here: 2009, I hope to make you smile and maybe even make you think.

Each film is rated on it's merits and assigned a final score based on my rather unusual scoring system:

Two Thumbs Firmly Down = One of the worst films ever, never mention this film to anyone nevermind actually watching it!

Two Thumbs Down = A crap fest

One Thumb Up, One Thumb Down = Meh, don't go out of your way for it but don't try to avoid it either

Two Thumbs Up = A brilliant movie, well worth a look

Two Thumbs Firmly Up = A must see, a trully excellent motion picture you should make it your business to see as soon as you can

There is another score that is only used in the most extreme of cases: No Thumbs = no rating as the film is beneath contempt due to the handling of its subject matter - when you consider that these are horror films then that's a pretty extreme rating to get and has so far, thankfully, only been applied once.

The first film in this years series gets it's viewing tonight so the first review will be available tomorrow - be ready, as this years series is gonna be a scream!