Hello, everyone, and welcome back to a very special edition of Netflix Dumpster Dive! Today marks the One Year Anniversary of Netflix Dumpster Dive’s inception. As I’ve said multiple times, my intent is to find the movies that almost no casual Netflix user would watch if they were looking for something to throw on. These underappreciated and underknown films hold a very important place to me, in terms of entertainment and, at times, comedic value.

I’ve been inconsistent with my updates in the past, and that is my biggest regret about the past year of work on writing here. Unfortunately, life comes at you fast, and I grappled with a lot of issues in both my personal and (semi)professional life. Now that I’m in college as well, I cannot say for certain if my frequency will approve. What I can say is that I appreciate all the support I’ve received for this series thus far. Everyone who has come to my site because of Netflix Dumpster Dive and has decided to stick around, you are extremely important to me. I don’t want to let you all down, but I know in a lot of ways my lack of availability has done just that. However, I hope to make it up to you with this piece.

It’s Halloween once again, and that means that the same vibe as when Netflix Dumpster Dive is in the air. Little gatherings of people who aren’t interested in the big costume parties are looking for a movie to watch. I am here to deliver. And, I’m not just delivering one movie. I’m coming with options.

That’s right. This is something I toyed around with for other installations of Netflix Dumpster Dive. However, I feel like with many of the films I’ve previously reviewed, I wanted a bit more of an intimate time with the film. This time around, I’m going for a catalog vibe. I don’t want you to know exactly what you’re getting into.

Ten films, different categories, with no real rhyme or reason to the categories except being genre/horror related. Some of these films I have covered in the past, and some I plan to go in depth on in the future, but all of these are going to be high recommendations from me.

Without further ado, here is my Halloween movie catalog for this year:

 

Category 1: Vampires

I am a big fan of vampires in concept. Past readers of Netflix Dumpster Dive know I feel the same way about zombies. The issue with both of these is that they are often weakly executed. I’d argue that vampires are more poorly done than zombies at times.

I think with our first category I’ve found two films that execute vampires in a great way. Ironically, they do them in an almost zombie-like fashion, but with unique twists and turns. Oh, and if you haven’t already figured out by this point, this is a double feature.

Stake Land & Stake Land II

The Stake Land movies are packed with visual spectacle and character-driven stories. I cannot recommend them enough. These are heavy movies, however, so my suggestion is to only watch them if you’re into a serious movie night.

Judging each movie respectively, I think Stake Land is better than Stake Land II. However, II is still great and I would recommend it just as much. I also think II is a stronger film if you watch it right after the first. If you’re going to pick just one to watch, the first film is definitely the best choice. I do intend to cover these in depth one day as a single piece. There is a possibility for a sequel to come and wrap up the narrative in a trilogy, but this is still a few years down the line potentially, so for now we’ll have to enjoy these two, which isn’t hard at all.

Category 2: Zombies

Speaking of zombies, here we go. I couldn’t make a list like this without including zombies in it. Zombies were my big cinematic tether into horror and they’ll always have a place in my heart.

Of course, much like vampires, the struggle becomes trying to discover the well-executed zombie movies. I was originally going to include my favorite on here, Pontypool, but guess what? It’s no longer on Netflix! This is incredibly heartbreaking for me, of course, but nonetheless I have more for you. Unfortunately it will not be nearly as strong as it would have been with Pontypool, but whatever, I’m not bitter.

What We Become

What We Become is a heavy movie, man. However, it’s a great zombie flick nonetheless. I covered it here, so I won’t bother getting too crazy with descriptions here. Definitely recommend. It has that old school zombie vibe with a modern flair. It was also the movie that kicked off Netflix Dumpster Dive.

Contracted

Okay, so this is kind of a spoiler. Sorry. The big reveal of Contracted being a zombie film is a surprise. Most of the film is psychological horror, revolving around an STD. If you’re squeamish, not the film for you by any means. But definitely check this out. Don’t watch Contracted II though, for the love of God.

Category 3: Comedy

Horror-comedy speaks for itself. Fun and scary or shocking. It’s a good party genre, because there’s usually something for everyone in these movies. Even if they aren’t great.

I’ve covered two of these films before, and the other I have special things planned for.

Tales of Halloween

Good God, Tales of Halloween is the textbook definition of shitshow. And, that isn’t a bad thing. It’s supposed to be crazy and chaotic, and I kind of love it. I hated it much more the first watch, but it’s grown on me since. In my original review I struggled with whether I should call this movie good or bad and I’m still not sure which is objectively true. It’s an anthology flick, so that might not be your thing, but if it is, please go on this fever dream of a movie’s journey. You won’t be disappointed. Probably.

Deathgasm

I LOVE Deathgasm. It’s that age-old “punk/metal band makes deal with devil/demons for fame” story, but God damn it is so much more than that. It’s self aware in a way that makes every comedic beat in the movie strong. I cannot express how much I love this movie, and I will be doing something with it with my friend who loves it just as much.

Knights of Badassdom

This movie is another one of my favorite horror-comedies. Now, it isn’t all horror, but it draws many aspects of horror into itself that it earns its place in the genre. It’s an especially fun film for nerds like me who love RPGs and LARPing, which I detailed in my review of it. Much of what makes this movie great is related to Deathgasm.

Category 4: Misc.

This category is here primarily just to give all my extra movies for this list a home with other movies instead of having crazy categories all their own.

They’re Watching

I reviewed this film originally because I thought it was going to be a ripoff of Blair Witch (2016). However, I was pleasantly surprised to find a unique flair to They’re Watching that I haven’t seen in many found footage flicks. Characters, plot, suspense, all so expertly done. And then, it gets ruined by its ending. Watch this movie if you can live with the last ten minutes dramatically shifting everything you were watching to that point.

 

V/H/S 1 & 2

More anthology flicks! These two moves are always a treat. V/H/S/2 is genuinely one of the best anthology films, horror or not, I have ever seen. I would have included the entire trilogy, but V/H/S: Viral took what made the first two movies powerful and frightening and perverted it into something so much worse, and not in any good way. It doesn’t deserve a place in this series. If you want to watch these movies, pretend Viral never happened.

And that is that, folks. A long list of movies for you to pick from this Halloween. I want to once again thank everyone for their support. I hope to continue doing this for a long time to come. Here’s to a year, and to many more.

-Vincent

 

©2017 Vincent C. Russo. All Rights Reserved.
I claim no rights to any film mentioned here. All rights to these films and the images used go to their respective owners. This post is intended for review only, and constitutes fair use.