By It’s the most, spookiest time, of the yeeeear… October, the Halloween season always seems to have an extra special connotation for movie-lovers: It’s the time of year where they can convince anyone and everyone that a binge of blood, guts, and terror in the form of excessive consumption of horror films is normal! Well, look no further than the Criterion Channel for all of your creepy cravings, as their programming wizards have brought a terrific slate of classic (as well as some slightly-hidden) horror from the 1970’s to your sleep-deprived eyeballs this month.
Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers and, of course, the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre are absolute must-watches.
For me though, the single-biggest film here is actually Kim Jee-woon’s 2000 film The Foul King, starring Song Kang-ho as a luchador-masked amateur wrestler whose style is one marked by cheap moves and dirty play. Hence, “the Foul King.” I’ve wanted to see this movie for years, and been unwilling to outright buy a poor DVD, missed the few theatrical opportunities where it screened, and so on. I’ll finally get to give it a go, all thanks to the Criterion Channel.
So this October 2020, in a year marked in particular by our own fears and anxieties and stresses, cozy up for the impending cool weather, pour yourself a hot beverage, and turn off the lights, and tune in to some Criterion selections.
October 1st
Directed by Pedro Costa
Casa de lava (1994), Ossos, (1997), In Vanda’s Room (2000), Colossal Youth (2006), Vitalina Varela (2019)
October 2nd
Double Feature: Prying Eyes
Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960) and Odd Obsession (Kon Ichikawa, 1959)
October 3rd
Saturday Matinee: The Yearling (Clarence Brown, 1946)
October 4th
’70s Horror
Trog (Freddie Francis, 1970), The Vampire Lovers (Roy Ward Baker, 1970), Daughters of Darkness (Harry Kümel, 1971), Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (John D. Hancock, 1971), The Nightcomers (Michael Winner, 1971), Dracula A.D. 1972 (Alan Gibson, 1972), Images (Robert Altman, 1972), Death Line (Gary Sherman, 1972), Season of the Witch (George A. Romero, 1972), The Crazies (George A. Romero, 1973), Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg, 1973), Ganja & Hess (Bill Gunn, 1973), Sisters (Brian De Palma, 1973), Theater of Blood (Douglas Hickox, 1973), The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973), Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 1974), Deathdream (Bob Clark, 1974), It’s Alive (Larry Cohen, 1974), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974), Shivers (David Cronenberg, 1975), The Tenant (Roman Polanski, 1976)*, The Witch Who Came from the Sea (Matt Cimber, 1976), The Hills Have Eyes (Wes Craven, 1977), Rabid (David Cronenberg, 1977), Coma (Michael Crichton, 1978), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman, 1978), Long Weekend (Colin Eggleston, 1978), The Brood (David Cronenberg, 1979), The Driller Killer (Abel Ferrara, 1979)
October 5th
Directed by Barbara Kopple
Harlan County USA (1976), American Dream (1990)
October 6th
Short + Feature: Chaos Reindeers
Deer Boy (Katarzyna Gondek, 2017) and Antichrist (Lars Von Trier, 2009)
October 7th
We Need to Talk About Kevin** (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
October 8th
Watching the Polls
Primary (Robert Drew, 1960), The Best Man (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1964), Shampoo (Hal Ashby, 1975), The Last Party (Mark Benjamin and Marc Levin, 1993), The War Room (Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker, 1993), Election (Alexander Payne, 1999)
Criterion Collection Edition #248 Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983)
October 9th
Criterion Collection Edition #833 Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942)
Double Feature: Slime Time
The Blob (Irvin S Yeaworth Jr, 1958) and Beware! The Blob (Larry Hagman, 1972)
October 10th
Saturday Matinee: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (Nathan Juran, 1958)
October 11th
Starring Joan Crawford
The Unknown (Tod Browning, 1927), Our Dancing Daughters (Harry Beaumont, 1928), Our Modern Maidens (Jack Conway, 1929), Possessed (Clarence Brown, 1931), Grand Hotel (Edmund Goulding, 1932), Dancing Lady (Robert Z. Leonard, 1933), Sadie McKee (Clarence Brown, 1934), Love on the Run (W. S. Van Dyke, 1936), The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (Richard Boleslawski, Dorothy Arzner, and George Fitzmaurice, 1937), Mannequin (Frank Borzage, 1937), The Women (George Cukor, 1939), Strange Cargo (Frank Borzage, 1940), A Woman’s Face (George Cukor, 1941), Above Suspicion (Richard Thorpe, 1943), Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz, 1945), Humoresque (Jean Negulesco, 1946), Possessed (Curtis Bernhardt, 1947), The Damned Don’t Cry (Vincent Sherman, 1950), Harriet Craig (Vincent Sherman, 1950), Sudden Fear (David Miller, 1952), Queen Bee (Ranald MacDougall, 1955), Autumn Leaves (Robert Aldrich, 1956), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962), Strait-Jacket (William Castle, 1964), Trog (Freddie Francis, 1970)
October 12th
Criterion Collection Edition #1039 Town Bloody Hall (Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker, 1979)
October 13th
Short + Feature: Someone’s Watching
Influenza (Bong Joon Ho, 2004) and Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005)
October 14th
Films by Jenni Olson
The Joy of Life (2005), The Royal Road (2015), with the shorts Blue Diary (1998), 575 Castro St. (2009), and In nomine Patris (2019)
October 15th
Criterion Collection Edition #170 Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch, 1932)
October 16th
Double Feature: Twisted Sister
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962) and Sisters (Brian De Palma, 1972)
October 17th
Saturday Matinee: Buck Privates (Arthur Lubin, 1941)
October 18th
Race, Sex & Cinema: The World of Marlon Riggs
Ethnic Notions (1986), Tongues Untied (1989), Color Adjustment (1992), Black Is . . . Black Ain’t (1994), I Shall Not Be Removed: The Life of Marlon Riggs (Karen Everett, 1996), with the shorts Long Train Running: A History of the Oakland Blues (Marlon Riggs & Peter Webster, 1981), Affirmations (1990), Anthem (1991), and Non, je ne regrette rien (No Regret) (1993)
Inspired by Marlon Riggs
Walk for Me (Elegance Bratton, 2016), 100 Boyfriends Mixtape (Brontez Purnell, 2016), A Drop of Sun Under the Earth (Shikeith, 2017), The Labyrinth 1.0 (Tiona Nekkia McClodden, 2017), A Guide to Breathing Underwater (Raven Jackson, 2018)
October 19th
Criterion Collection Edition #789 Burroughs: The Movie (Howard Brookner, 1983)
October 20th
Short + Feature: Let’s Talk About Sex
Dirty (Matthew Puccini, 2020) and Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)
October 21st
Women Filmmakers of New World Pictures
The Student Nurses (Stephanie Rothman, 1970), The Velvet Vampire (Stephanie Rothman, 1971), Humanoids from the Deep (Barbara Peeters and Jimmy T. Murakami, 1980), Slumber Party Massacre (Amy Holden Jones, 1982), Suburbia (Penelope Spheeris, 1983)
October 22nd
Directed by João Pedro Rodrigues
O Fantasma (2000), Two Drifters (2005)**, To Die Like a Man (2009)**, The Ornithologist (2016)**
October 23rd
Double Feature: Woman on the Edge
Christine (Antonio Campos, 2016) and Kate Plays Christine (Robert Greene, 2016)
October 24th
Saturday Matinee: Kirikou and the Sorceress (Michel Ocelot and Raymond Burlet, 1998)
October 25th
New Korean Cinema
The Quiet Family (Kim Jee-woon, 1998), Nowhere to Hide (Lee Myung-se, 1999), Barking Dogs Never Bite (Bong Joon Ho, 2000)**, The Foul King (Kim Jee-woon, 2000), Joint Security Area (Park Chan-wook, 2000), Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Park Chan-wook, 2002), A Tale of Two Sisters (Kim Jee-woon, 2003), Crying Fist (Ryoo Seung-wan, 2005), Lady Vengeance (Park Chan-wook, 2005), The Host (Bong Joon Ho, 2006)**, Mother (Bong Joon Ho, 2009)**
October 26th
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father (Kurt Kuenne, 2008)
October 27th
Short + Feature: Booze and Blood
It’s Not Just You, Murray! (Martin Scorsese, 1964) and The Public Enemy (William A Wellman, 1931)
Observations on Film Art #39: The Voice in Ousmane Sembène’s Black Girl
October 28th
Directed by Catherine Breillat
Romance (1999), Fat Girl (2001), Bluebeard (2009)**, Sleeping Beauty (2010)**, Abuse of Weakness (2013)**
October 29th
Six Films by Faith and John Hubley
Of Stars and Men (1961), Everybody Rides the Carousel (1976), with the shorts Date with Dizzy (1955), Tender Game (1958), Moonbird (1959), and The Hole (1962)
October 30th
Double Feature: Twice Bitten
Nosferatu (FW Murnau, 1922) and Nosferatu the Vampyre (Werner Herzog, 1979)
October 31st
Saturday Matinee: The Illusionist** (Sylvain Chomet, 2010)
Criterion Collection Edition #666 The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro, 2001)**
How’s that for a perfect finish?
Source: Criterion