Unidentified Flying Oddball
on September 28.
The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin
on September 30.
Halloweentown
on October 1.
Toy Story of Terror!
on October 2.
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
(1973) on October 3.

Glad you agree.

The Big Parade
That was what I thought about The Big Parade too, but in the end the slow start and depictions of the more mundane aspects of life worked well to contrast with the horrors of war.

First viewings:
The Big Parade / King Vidor
(1925). The idle son of a wealthy family (John Gilbert) enlists in the army during World War I. When he’s sent to France, he falls in love with a peasant woman (Renée Adorée), but must leave her when moved to the frontlines. This is the film that established Vidor as one of the top directors of the age, and rightly so. It gets off to a really slow start, spending a lot of time on the romance and Gilbert’s friendship with his army buddies, but it finally really gets going half way through when Gilbert when goes into battle and learns the horrors of war. Highly recommended for that alone. (On Tubi, Plex and on TCM until October 29th)
Life Sentence / Garry Simpson
(1953). A thirty minute episode of the “Campbell Summer Soundstage,” starring James Dean and Georgann Johnson, it’s the story of a woman who feels trapped living next to a prison and a young imprisoned felon working next to her property who catches her attention. Shot live, it’s a fascinating view into young Dean’s early work, which is excellent, as is Georgann’s. Both are at their best with the good script and direction. And I’m kicking myself right now, because I knew Georgann back in the day, but I didn’t know that she had worked with Dean. I would have asked her so many questions! Anyway, I saw this on TCM and, of course, it’s very much worth a look for Dean fans, if you can find it, because it’s not on TCM now. And this is the only image I could find:
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Show Boat / James Whale
(1936). A musical adaptation of Edna Ferber’s novel by Oscar Hammerstein and Jerome Kern, it tells the story of a Mississippi riverboat captain’s (Charles Winninger) daughter (Irene Dunne) who marries a roving gambler (Allan Jones — father of Jack Jones). It’s an interesting story, which covers many years in the lives of its characters, and, of course, it also has some wonderful songs, especially Robeson singing “Old Man River.” I found the narrative interesting enough that it actually made me want to read the novel, which I have a feeling I would like better than the film.
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Re-watches:
Pickup On South Street / Samuel Fuller
(1953). A spy and the FBI hunt a petty thief (Richard Widmark) who lifted microfilm from a woman’s (Jean Peters) purse. One of Fuller’s best noir classics with excellent performances by all the cast, including Jean Peters, but especially by Thelma Ritter in her brilliant, Oscar nominated role. Strongly recommended. (Available on Plex and Tubi)
Shepherd of the Hills / Henry Hathaway
(1941). Field) An Ozarks moonshiner (John Wayne) and his sweetheart (Betty Field) befriend a fatherly stranger (Harry Carey) who helps people in need after he arrives. But when he buys a tract of land called Moanin' Meadow, it evokes a complicated family history that takes its toll on everyone. This is a very good adaptation of the Harold Bell Wright novel, with a wonderful supporting cast that includes Beulah Bondi, Marjorie Main, Ward Bond, and John Qualen. One of Wayne’s best, most subdued performances, it’s a film that I always enjoy seeing.

The Red Danube
1949 - ***
My Forbidden Past
1951 - ***
Holiday
1938 - ****
Smiles of a Summer Night
1955 - (Swedish subtitles) - ***
The Third Man
1949 - ****
The Red Danube
and
The Third Man
both take place in post WWII Vienna. Both mainly involve the British and Russian contingents in Vienna.

T
he Phantom Carriage (1920)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0012364/
Victor Sjostrom wrote, directed, and starred in this early Swedish silent with a grim reaper story. It is not really a a horror, but more of a fantasy drama. The story has a bit of Christmas Carol, and a strong religious message of redemption. From what I read, this was restored from pieces in US and in Sweden put together. The version I watched is a recent restoration released on the Criterion Collection, which is available on YouTube but you need to find the subtitle elsewhere. The special effect was impressive at the time, in showing ghostly images and soul leaving the body. The musical score is amazing. I don't know who is the composer in this version I watched. The story is broken into 5 parts, and it went into several layers to reveal the background. The movie is an adaptation of a 1912 novel Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness! by Selma Lagerlof.

This week I began my October horror watching in earnest.
Mad Love (1935)
Directed by Karl Freund
While this film isn't on the same level as Robert Wiene's silent version (1924's
The Hands of Orlac
), Peter Lorre is brilliantly creepy in his first American film and a strong supporting cast which includes Colin Clive, Frances Drake and Three Stooges frontman Ted Healy helps guide the plot even through it's sillier moments. The film is visually stunning, but that's only to be expected with Gregg Toland handling cinematography and German cinematography legend Karl Freund in the director's chair.
8/10
Eyes Without a Face (1960)
Directed by Georges Franju
Rewatch. Beautifully shot French horror film with an excellent cast and perfect ending. A proto-slasher film for sure, although it's really just the typical mad scientist B-movie of the era elevated to high art. Not a film for the squeamish. I wasn't a fan of the carnival music score and I felt like a couple of scenes could have been excised without losing anything.
9/10
Night Tide (1961)
Directed by Curtis Harrington
This movie drags slightly in the middle, but an intriguing premise, excellent camerawork, some stylistic choices which speak to the director's background in experimental film, and fine performances by a brooding young Dennis Hopper, veteran character actor Gavin Muir, and especially Linda Lawson as the tragic Mora make it worth a watch. This was classified as horror, but I'm not sure that it is exactly. I certainly think that even non-horror fans would find something to appreciate here.
7/10
Even the Wind is Afraid (1968)
Directed by Carlos Enrique Taboada
An atmospheric gothic horror film set at a girl's boarding school. The spooky elements are very well-executed, although it does waste a lot of time getting there.
6.5/10
Targets (1968)
Directed by Peter Bogdanavich
Rewatch. Boris Karloff deserved an Oscar for this, his final American film. While he was always a great actor largely confined to a genre rarely taken seriously by critics - and an underrated comedic actor to boot - he displays a vulnerability here that is startling among his body of work. His role here is very meta in nature, an elderly horror legend being courted by a hotshot young director (played by Bogdanavich himself) to accept a very different sort of role in his upcoming movie. As events unfold, it becomes clear that Karloff's Byron Orlok is on a collision course with Tim O'Kelly's Bobby Thompson, a much more frightening monster than any he'd made a career of portraying. Drawing inspiration from the University of Texas shooting a few years earlier, this remains a highly effective and, sadly, highly relevant film. This is Bogdanovich's best work and easily the best film of the latter portion of Karloff's career.
10/10
Also watched:
Dead Man's Shoes (2004), Shane Meadows
Martyrs (2008), Pascal Laugier
Come to Daddy (2019), Ant Timpson
Enys Men (2022), Mark Jenkin
Draft Barron Trump

Animal Crackers (1930) - Rewatch. The second Marx Brothers movie. The plot of course doesn't much matter, it's them running around acting nutty. I like it even though some of the bits fall flat for me, in particular a longish Groucho parody of a Eugene O'Neill play I have no familiarity with.
The Duellists (1977) - Ridley Scott's first movie, inspired by Barry Lyndon, about two men in Napoleon's army who duel each other over the years as an allegory for Napoleon and his wars. Harvey Keitel is good as a hotheaded, irrational officer but I didn't think Keith Carradine was great as his rival.