The Introduction For The Second Annual Halloween 31 For 31: World Championship Edition

Last year for October I covered 31 films for all 31 days of the month or so forth. Realising how insane that was, I apologise if I cheat a little and prepare slightly for the second edition of this idea at the end of September as well as into the month proper. The good news is that it's the return of said Halloween blogathon covering any film or work that fits the mood of the month, even those that aren't horror films but hopefully most will so no one gets suspicious and calls shenanigans. It feels like a century has passed since the first one to be honest, but it was only last year. My tastes have modified definitely. With this year, I am continuing my obsession with films from around the world, making it a continental journey that, in compensation for not having a passport, can nonetheless be done in the cinematic image. I covered a lot of English language films last year too, and to be honest I do worry about this discrepancy in my viewing even though the English language films can be great too. Remember, before I start this year on the first day of October, that just because a film is from another country than yours, or mine, doesn't mean it's actually good. Hopefully there will be good films to compensate those that prove this point. It will be hopefully be varying. The main goal is to be as diverse as possible in countries, and if need be, I will even go as far as divide the United Kingdom up into Wales, Scotland etc. to emphasise the differing origins of the film, co-productions and all.

There will be repetitions of countries, but it will try to be as distinct in each choice as possible. Topic repetitions will be taken into account, and depending on my obsession with letting random choice affect the choices too, I could find myself with some fascinating comparisons from completely different locations across the globe. Like last year, there will be no restrictions, even beyond feature films hopefully, so that anything appropriate for the macabre season will be celebrated. The main goal is to show and celebrate the diversity of the world through the single medium of the motion picture, and far from just being an educational trip that sadly great non-English language films get lumped into, this will hopefully show the tentative boundaries between art house/entertainment, bad/good, high/low art, and at least suggest some recommendations for the readers and provide me with some great works, maybe even canonical gems. The creepy, the weird, the erotic, the silly, the disturbing, any of these emotions and more will hopefully be covered. Maybe even the one that makes me want to burn the DVD copy of a film, but that one I could live without. Even if tropes repeat themselves, the various interpretations will give a look at how different cultures depict those materials that linger in the dark of the mind of every person. Beyond that, we'll see what happens by the end of October itself and then I'll make a statement if I was right to consider any of these ideas.