30 Days of Fright - Prologue

The final days of September 2011 were, in Ireland and the UK, unseasonally warm with the all too short days sunny and hot. This unusual weather is far from what we're used to but no one missed the chance at some point to enjoy the heat, if only for a little while. The first of October has arrived and brought with it the wet and grey conditions we're far more accustomed to. Looking back over the past week it feels like summer had one last dying gasp and that October has turned up in its funeral clothes to mourn the seasons loss and trumpet the impending winter. In a matter of hours thoughts that were sunny  and bright have turned to darkness.

The darkness of a winter in the northern hemisphere is welcome as it brings the chance to sit by the fire and enjoy hearty foods and strong drink to fortify against the cold gloom. It also brings the quiet fear of what may lurk in those long nights and that makes it the perfect time to play to those fears and enjoy a series of horror films that can only make matters worse!

My annual quest to bleat on about films most people don't care about in a funny manner has morphed from an interesting distraction in the weeks before Halloween into a full-blown crusade to bring the true value of these films to the masses in a funny manner. I'm also keen to find out how long I can keep this type of bullshit going for!

Like the very best self-imposed nonsense a small collection of rules and procedures have sprung up around the 30 Days of Fright, and these rules are once again unchanged. I've assembled a small collection of DVD's and recordings off the TV and compiled a list of films to be viewed and reviewed. Should something interesting cross my path then it'll get snuck in, especially if someone makes a suggestion or request for a particular film to get the treatment.

The previous years reviews are available for your consideration here: 2008, here: 2009, and here: 2010 and hopefully like the first three years you'll find year four to be entertaining, a bit of a laugh, and maybe just maybe a little bit interesting.

The scoring system is the same as it ever was, with each film rated on it's merits and assigned a final score on my rather unusual thumb-based scale:

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, only been applied to one nasty little film.

Now the fun starts as the first film gets its showing tonight... let the 30 Days of Fright begin!