512/—‘Scanners’ My favorite Cronenberg still stands up after all this time. Dave plays with real-life 50s preggie drug scare, Thalidomide, but here the kids turn out to be scanners, folks with telekinetic and telepathic abilities, and the baddies want to make more #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

511/—‘Swamp Thing’ #HouseofSvengoolie Wes Craven’s take on the superhero genre, telling the story of a scientist who is changed by a formula to help feed the world with a mixture of cross-pollinated plant/animal DNA. The bad guys want it for immortality so ST gets busy #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

510/—‘Exit 8’ When did video games get so deep (film is based on a game)? A guy is trapped in a subway station as he considers fatherhood, with the trap having something to do with guilt and remorse. Eerie without being terribly scary, it still grabs tight and holds on #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

BONUS: If your ‘One Wish Willow’ isn’t working out the way you planned (trust me, it won’t), call (771) 023-4567. Staff is standing by to help you realize just how f***ed you are

509/—‘Obsession’ It’s broken records for a reason. This Barker kid is for real; top to bottom, it sings. Then again, the lead deserves all the awards. ‘Nikki’ the horror icon is born! (Move over, Gladys!) Lovelorn kid makes a wish and it comes true (you know the drill) #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

508/—‘The Bride!’ A box-office bomb that one day might be considered a masterpiece. Visually arresting, with top-tier acting from Buckley and Bale, it does throw a mess of themes at the viewer, but ultimately it is a love story and a bit of think piece on loneliness #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

507/—‘The Long Walk’ The first novel King wrote, way back as a freshman at UMaine. I read this Bachman book in college and it stuck with me, still maybe my favorite King story. The film stayed mostly true to the book, with one big change <No Spoiler>. Scary good #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

505/—‘The Mummy’ Best of the reboots, and really the best version of the material. 1920s Egypt and Weisz, bro, and Fraser find ancient City of the Dead and Imhotep, the disgraced priest who diddled the Pharaoh’s squeeze. Im ain’t happy about being dead so… adventure! #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

504/—‘The Exorcist: Believer’ This one didn’t get a lot of love but its worlds better than ‘E2: The Heretic.’ Two barely teen girls do rituals, inadvertently summon demon(s). More focus on the families than the monsters. OG Reagan and Mom show up, elevating material #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

503/—‘They Will Kill You’ Zazie Beetz is an ex-con who takes a job as a maid at a posh Manhattan co-op called the Virgil. Turns out it’s Satan’s NY crib and all the residents are immortal. Satan needs a blood sacrifice and Zazie is on tap, but she has a sister so… #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

502/—‘Village of the Giants’ #Svengoolie In Smalltown, Cali, Opie invents ‘Goo,’ a substance that makes everything—geese, dogs, teenagers—grow. Those teens use the formula to make themselves into giant hip-swiveling go-go dancers who then turn town into a beach party #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

501/—‘Escape From New York’ Another iconic collab between Carpenter and Russell. Prez crashes into Manhattan, now a walled-in prison. Govt types send in the best, Snake Plissken. Hunt for the prez leads to the Duke of NY, A-#1! Lots of JC regulars run around NY at nite #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

501/—‘Coma’ Crichton’s medical nightmare, focusing on a Boston Hospital that fronts as an organ farm for the wealthy sick. Bujold is a doc whose friend goes in for minor surgery, ends up in a coma. She investigates as the baddies give chase. Murder disguised as surgery #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

500/—‘Tokyo Gore Police’ Transgressive Cinema night on #TLDI so we get the pinnacle of Japanese ‘Splatter Punk.’ Girl from ‘Audition’ is a cop for private police force hunting ‘engineers,’ genetically-modified humans who grow weapons when limbs are lost. Gore galore! #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

499/—‘The Death Kiss’ Disliked actor shot on Hollywood studio set after a ‘death kiss’ from costar. Writer investigates. More murder, red herrings, incompetent cops, and a reveal that fails to answer the question, ‘Why?’ (I think). Features main cast from ‘Dracula’ #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

498/—‘Return of the Living Dead 3’ Couple of kids in love and on the run. Oh, and one of them is the living dead with a piercing fetish. The military restarts the super-soldier program with 2-4-5 Trioxin and things do not go well. <Spoiler> An ending we’ve seen before #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

497/—‘Lee Cronin’s The Mummy’ Complicated tale of an ancient Egyptian demon held in check by mummification and let loose on a family through the possession of the eldest daughter, who had been entombed for years only to be liberated by accident. Unusual ‘mummy’ story #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

496/—‘Return of the Living Dead Part II’ Poor Frank and Freddy and Ed and Joey, they do suffer… again. This time they’re grave robbers in the Cemetery of the Living Dead, and though they don’t cause the ruckus, once again they do snort a healthy dose of 2-4-5 Trioxin. #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

495/—‘American Grindhouse’ The history of indie exploitation cinema throughout the 20th century, touching on landmark films, directors, studios, and the back-and-forth between makers of such films and the people who would censor them. Sex, violence, and transgression #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

494/—‘Invisible Agent’ #Svengoolie The grandson of OG Invisible Man helps the Allies during WWII by turning invisible, parachuting into Germany, and stealing the list of German and Japanese agents planning sabotage in the US. He finds love and evil Nazis along the way #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

493/—‘Explorer From Another World’ A love letter to 50s invasion from outer space movies with an alien who has a face like a coelacanth shooting up Smalltown, USA while scouting for a new planetary home. Crazy kids, a HS professor, and the local sheriff intervene. Fun! #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

492/—‘They Look Like People’ Two childhood friends reunite in adulthood, one is manic-depressive and the other is schizophrenic. More mood piece than story, with the viewer seeing through the eyes of the mentally unbalanced. Committed performances make it interesting #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

491/—‘Marathon Man’ Late 60s/early 70s produced a handful of political thrillers where ‘paranoia’ was the Big Bad, i.e., ‘Parallax View,’ ‘All the President’s Men,’ and others. A ‘Mengele’-type wants his diamonds stolen from Jewish CC victims. Dustin stands in his way #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

490/—‘Resident Evil’ The original breach of Umbrella Corp’s Raccoon City underground lair. The Red Queen computer shuts down the facility. Alice and friends investigate, discover T-virus infected and have to turn around and get outta there fast. Expect the inevitable #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

489/—‘Destroy All Monsters’ #Svengoolie Kaiju have been collected on Japanese island. Fem ETs use mind control to have the gang attack big cities round the world. Us humans find their mind control devices, busted them up, and then let Kaiju do their thing on the aliens #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

488/—‘The Stendhal Syndrome’ #GangDoesGiallo Late Argento, with poor Asia as a Rome cop with Stendhal Syndrome—deep psychological reaction to art—searching for a serial killer. The killer catches Asia and does bad things to her, causing her <spoiler> to lose her mind #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

487/—‘Big Trouble in Little China’ Not quite horror, still has evil gods, Chinese ghost emperors with awful grooming habits, and 3 Jason-like unstoppable killers so… one of the great pairings of Carpenter and Russell ‘We really shook the Pillars of Heaven, Wang’—JB #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

486/—‘The Detective/Ring of Death’ #GangDoesGiallo Nero plays a Rome cop who has lost his mind. He’s searching for the killer of a record-producing blackmailer because… money? To kill time? Models, mothers and millionaires (briefly) stand in his way. Beyond confusing #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

485/—‘The Andromeda Strain’ Another I’ve seen before but feel as though I’ve never really seen it. Satellite crashes in small-town NM covered in space goo. Team of scientists have to figure out what to do when the goo kills. Heart-racing, ticking time bomb mystery #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam

484/—‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Surprised me. Anger/disfunction borne of grief/feelings of responsibility, family secrets, all topped w/ shoutouts to ‘Chopping Mall’ and Chuck-E-Cheese. Hutch lost a brother, takes night security job while trapped in dreams and the past #Horror365Challenge #MutantFam