Eyes Without a Face (1960)

If your first thought was the Billy Idol song, yup, this is where the title came from. It's also thought to have influenced the appearance of Michael Myers in Halloween. But contemporary critics hated it, and one of the few positive reviews nearly got the writer fired (not even in France). That might be why it was marketed deceptively as The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus in the U.S. I was pretty reluctant to watch it myself, not for lack of reputed quality but for disturbing premises. Still, I mustered the courage.

Christiane (Edith Scob) has been facially unpresentable since a car accident. Dr. Génessier (Pierre Brasseur), being her father, a reconstructive surgeon, and the cause of the accident, takes it upon himself to give her skin grafts. Of course, it's hard to find a willing donor for a face transplant, so with the help of assistant Louise (Alida Valli)...well, you can guess. And no, once isn't enough.

Blade (1998)

Before 2000, almost all Marvel Comics movies bombed. I'd heard that this was the one standout, however mixed its reception. At least it garnered a trilogy. I chose to watch for its seasonally appropriate theme and so I'd know Wesley Snipes from something other than the Bad music video, what little I recall of Murder at 1600, and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.

Modern L.A. is far more populated -- and dominated -- by vampires than you might guess. Nevertheless, Eric "Blade" Brooks (Snipes) is unusual: His mother (Sanaa Lathan) having been bitten moments before she gave birth, he has inherited most of their powers and only one weakness, the need for blood or its chemical equivalent. Under the influence of Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), he has moved away from preying on humans and toward taking down vampires. By the beginning of this story, he is their bogeyman, "the Daywalker." But he doesn't scare vampiric playboy Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), who believes that Blade can unwillingly help him awaken a dark god worshipped in ancient times.

Friday the 13th (1980)

Rarely is there such a discrepancy between a movie's popularity and its enduring influence. This one got middling ratings at best across the board, both when new and at present, yet it spawned a long series with a highly iconic character. I thought I knew enough not to bother watching, but Scream called my attention to my ignorance. I doubt my new knowledge will spell the difference between life and death for anyone, but it couldn't hurt, could it?

Seven counselors (Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Jeanine Taylor, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Robbie Morgan, and early Kevin Bacon) and their director (Peter Brouwer) prepare to reopen Camp Crystal Lake for the summer, disregarding local rumor of a fatal curse on the area based on a series of unsolved murders and suspicious "accidents" starting in the late '50s. I'm relieved to say there are no campers yet when the "curse" strikes again, with the eight getting picked off one by one, primarily at night with an unreliable power source. It's quite late in the movie before anyone who isn't already a victim has any idea that people are dying.

Monster House (2006)

At one time, I was actually a little afraid to watch this PG animation, because I worried about the poor dog from the trailer. Then I looked up a synopsis, confirmed the dog's lack of injury (necessary for the PG rating, it turns out)...and worried that I now knew too much to enjoy watching. Fortunately, I had forgotten most of what I read, or else I'd skimmed more than I realized.

In '80s suburban Wisconsin, 12-year-old outcast D.J. (Mitchel Musso) obsessively spies on the decrepit house across the street, where cranky old recluse Horace Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi), the subject of uxoricide rumors, scares away any kid who drops something on his yard. When Nebbercracker has a heart attack right before Halloween, the house continues to show signs of activity -- and not just the kind you expect with living inhabitants. People and animals who come too close tend to get swallowed up. With no authorities believing in a threat, D.J. teams up with friend "Chowder" (Sam Lerner) and newly acquainted candy salesgirl Jenny (Spencer Locke) to try to end the haunting with their own ingenuity.

Shock Corridor (1963)

I already had this near the top of my queue when someone invited me to a (virtual) Meetup session to discuss it. The disc arrived in the nick of time, so the following review incorporates a few insights from other viewers.

A murder at a mental hospital has gone unsolved for a while, with only uncooperative patients as witnesses. Reporter Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck) hopes to get through to one of them and tell the world...by getting himself "involuntarily" committed, the staff having no idea that he faked his way in. Johnny has had a lot of training for this, but he underestimates how hard it will be to hold onto his sanity in those conditions.

The Last House on the Left (1972)

I don't normally watch movies with mediocre ratings across sites, but this one was pretty influential. I gave it priority over the 2009 remake, which some consider better and others worse; I suspect the remake is gorier. If nothing else, this version is only 84 minutes -- short enough that I watched a couple of the documentary shorts on the disc. Which, personally, I liked better than the feature itself. Hey, my main goal was education.

Since a couple scenes were shot in New York City, I take the setting to be mostly rural upstate New York. Slightly rebellious teens Mari (Sandra Peabody) and Phyllis (Lucy Grantham) go looking for some weed at night. They ask the wrong guy, who leads them into a trap. Four young adult captors take them out to the woods for sexual assaults and a bit of other torment, after which, well, they can't very well leave survivors, can they? Since it's late and the crooks are far from their base, they seek shelter in the titular house, which, as luck would have it, is Mari's. Her parents (Eleanor Shaw and Richard Towers) follow the evidence and plot a fittingly brutal reprisal....

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (2013)

When I moved this up in my queue, it hadn't occurred to me that I would receive it in October, which I normally fill with Halloween-y viewings. On further reflection, I decided to keep it that way. Gotham's pretty gothic in its own right.

In light of many vigilantes less principled than Batman (Peter Weller) springing up, new Commissioner Ellen Yindel (Maria Canals-Barrera) issues a warrant for his arrest, passing word for Superman (Mark Valley) to step in if necessary. Batman might have re-retired at this point if not for the Joker (Michael Emerson) reappearing in public. The Joker may have only one accomplice left, Abner (Townsend Coleman), but Abner's tech skills are all they need to make a big, bloody splash. At the same time, the Cold War is heating up as the U.S. fights the U.S.S.R. for dominion of the fictional island of Corto Maltese. You know it'll spill over to Gotham somehow.