Identikit (1974)

October Challenge Day 30

We are here, folks! Final Horror Habit October Challenge Day for 2026! Tomorrow I'll be sharing 18 short horror films to check out, and then I'll check out for a bit and dive into the holidays (relatively) internet free. 

To celebrate this year's final day, I'm going to be talking about a film I watch three times in a three days. 

THREE TIMES IN THREE DAYS

I'm talking about none other than the wildly unhinged:

Identikit (aka The Driver's Seat)

From Letterboxd

I usually share poster images from IMDB but I had to share this one from Letterboxd because this is the most accurate portrayal of the film. The look, the style, the form, that agony: all of it, accurate. Painfully beautiful.

Here we have Liz Taylor being completely disconnected from reality and we're going to join her on this little grippy sock-needed vacation.

Also, she's my perimenopausal queen here. WORSHIP HER and RESPECT.

Our highness has had a mental breakdown and decides to fly to Italy in search of her not yet found "boyfriend" for a "specific purpose". She encounters characters with intent to harm her (she's not detoured) and characters trying to love her (she's not detoured, she's on a mission).

Everything about her character, right down to the unkempt hair, reminds me of a woman I met on a Norwegian cruise to Alaska last year. This woman on the ship was so wildly chaotic she was the topic of discussion from everyone I met on the massive ship. The woman loved me, though! Whenever she saw me she physically grabbed me to join her for lemon drop drinks (even at 9:30 AM).

She later shared that her husband put her on this cruise ship and that he has been threatening her with divorce. I broke it to her that she needs to call a lawyer as soon as we have internet access again because he's most likey packing the house as we speak and she may not have a home when the ship docks.

She was later whisked away from one of the cruise ship bar's, in a wheelchair, one morning, and I never saw her again. 

The character in this film is also so determined to see her demise JUST as she wants it. JUST As SHE wants it, because she is in the driver's seat. Additionally, every single experience this character has, I can put money down, every single woman has had at least once in her life. Making our chaos queen so relatable.

The story is written by Muriel Spark, who also wrote The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. I have a lot of complicated feelings about The Prime - frankly, I did not like it, but I was not surprised that this story elicited raw, vulgar, uncomfortable, wrong and intense feels. Except I liked this story much more than The Prime... I certainly understood it better, in any case. 

I really can't share much more about this film because it should be experienced nearly entirely blind. Just .... just go into this .... alone. I believe this film is a message for woman, particularly woman in peri and menopause. Or at least woman will understand this film one way or the other. 

Ladies, best watched when you physically feel the version of yourself that you thought you knew, suddenly and violently leave. You Know What I'm Talking About.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Thank you for joining me on this journey since 2012!

Be good to yourself and others, stay curious, kick ass and watch horror films!

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

October Challenge Day 29

I somehow managed to watch Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 first, years ago. I think it was at about that time I was a law firm's Santa one year - my friend who worked there talked me into it somehow. When I walked out to greet the holiday party, ho ho ho-ing, a kid shouted "That's a girl!". Hahahaha. Ah. Hilarious, times. 

Let's start over because these instances are not all the same (even though Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 is made up of 40 mins of Part 1) as:

Silent Night, Deadly Night

Yeah, I see the camp and tits, but it's so much more! This is actually ... heartfelt? 

Here we have the tragic story of a young boy who witnesses his parents being murdered by a psychopath dressed as Santa Claus. As an orphan he's tortured in a Catholic school for kids and and received little to no support to help him with his grief and trauma - in fact, creating more grief and trauma. The kid, in short, grows up fucked in the head.

Years later he's working in a toy store and the holidays come around, and with it, a Santa....

So I watched this, as the end of October is swiftly upon us, while planning my holiday crafts for the year. I have some good ideas but so does this Santa!

PUNISH

Officially insane, our young man/psychopathic Santa is on a killing rampage and everyone in his path (particularly if you've been "bad") is in grave danger. 

Is this a story about generational trauma? Cyclical trauma? Untreated trauma? Probably all of it. This is a holiday story about: trauma.

The kills scenes are wildly clever and excellent, the story is well told, the characters engaging, and the overall experience is pretty messed up! Perfect for the holiday season drama! So as we move out of Spooky Season into Spooky Season 2.0 might I recommend cozying up to this egads of a film.

Pairs with a cold, dark, night or a snow day afternoon. Watch with a shared trauma buddy or your counselor. 

NAUGHTY

I watched this film on Shudder or use the Find It! Watch It! links on Horror Habit's side bar to see where else you can catch this classic slasher hiding in the dark.

Hotel (2004)

October Challenge Day 28

Despite its unfortunate unoriginal name, this one is original. Let's talk about the Austrian chiller:

Hotel

We Have:

Menacing drapes!

Squeaky wood floors!

An uncomfortably small indoor pool!

A witch?! A ghost?! A possession?! Who KNOWS

This is the story of a young woman who is hired to live and work at a remote hotel in the depths of the Austrian woods. 

AUSTRIAN WOODS!

The hotel she is hired to work at is .....gross..... I've seen some reviewers say it reminds them of the hotel from The Shining but I disagree. Very much disagree. While the hotel is very, very creepy, it's its own awkward place. 

The people she works with are hard, cold, blunt, mean, and guarded. No one is telling her about the woman she replaced because that young woman disappeared without a trace...

Was it the witch in the cave who took her?!?!?! Was it the aggressive young men who linger at the dance club in town??!?!

This might be a cultural thing but there is an eye appointment in this film and it is the strangest eye doctor appointment I have ever seen. No wait! The dance club scenes - those are the strangest! What was going on in Austria in early 2000s with your eye doctors and dance clubs? Threw me for a loop.

Our ghostly film here is not for everyone. It's a SLOW BURN and you have to pay attention to every second. I'm sure I'll notice even more things on a second, third, fourth, viewing - which it is deserving of. 

There are no jump scares or creatures, just a *fear* lingering around every corner. I enjoyed it!

Best watched alone, just before going on a trip overseas or to a remote village. Pairs with a dark, dark, night - preferably in the woods. 

I watched this film on Kanopy (support your local libraries!) or use the Find It! Watch It! links on Horror Habit's side bar to see where else you can find this spine-chiller. 

Bambi: The Reckoning (2025)

October Challenge Day 27

I walked into this without a drop of expectation. I was feeling whimsy and devil-may-care though, so I dove in with eyes wide. Let's talk about:

Bambi: The Reckoning (2025)

The original cartoon naturally traumatized me as a kid - in two ways. One: It's BAMBI, it's traumatizing. Second: when I came home from watching the movie in the theater, Mom and I found Dad and my older brothers in the shed with a dead deer hanging from the rafters! 

I was inconsolable. 

Took me a long time to even watch the cartoon film again. 

So here I am, decades later, giving ol' The Reckoning a try! And I frickin' loved it!!!

This is the heartbreaking bloodbath story about how Bambi grew up without his Mom, because she was shot by hunters, he makes it through, grows up, falls in love, him and the doe raise their little one, life is grand, and then BAM!

His family is murdered, he encounters toxic waste, and turns into this wild beast of a creature and he has one mission: TO KILL

Bambi is pretty scary here, pretty fun scary. With the combination of the dark woods and sound effects, he was animated effectively. Again, this is a gruesome story so hang on to your heads!

Oh and there are bonus killer Thumpers!

This movie is diabolical for it's one last kicker: You'll Be SAD. Bambi is going to Break Your Heart Again! Just brilliantly diabolical. Made even more wail-inducing by the soundtrack at the end.

Evil geniuses. 

Best watched at night with friends who love to hoot and holler at the TV or alone with headphones on. Pairs with a classic childhood dish.

I watched this film on Shudder or use the Find It! Watch It! links on Horror Habit's side bar to see where else you can find this surprise.

Crystal Lake (Television Show, 2026)

My Mom died suddenly, 10 years ago. She would have been 80 today. Let's do a little mama celebrating with:

Crystal Lake

As stated in my Carrie review, I knew I was going to be talking about this eventually.  Hell, heartbreakingly, nearly 10 years ago exactly I wrote my review on Friday the 13th (and about a memorial for Mom). 

OH LIFE. 

YOU ARE FUNNY

I absolutely loved this show. Absolutely loved it.

Right away, we see Jason as the kid we all knew was there. Just a .... kid. A smart and curious kid who is wildly loved by his mother. It's a shame about his face, head, and the  radiation....

And we see his mother! A dedicated and hardworking single Mom making ends meet with side jobs and maybe hiding out from something.

This show is *slick*. I mean that in multiple ways. Where the original movie is, perhaps, grainy and loosey goosey, this show ties up frayed ends and really connects the viewers to the humanity behind the "monsters". 

Naturally, we have sex curious teens, to be expected, but they don't play the same role as they do in the movies. Not exactly. They are acknowledged and almost act as tributes - with rather spectacularly gory death scenes, and their morals and downfalls are not really the terror of the film.

This show is about heartbreak, friendship, madness, desperation, psychosis, insane scientists, abusive relationships, and those unfortunate to be caught in the cross fires of all that.

This is the 8 episode story of a Mom trapped and the lengths she'll go to protect a child who the world would otherwise abandon or exploit. 

Mama just loved her kid.

I think what made this series work so well is that it really felt like it was made with LOVE (not necessarily a Mama's love) by people who understood the Jason lore. They understood the first film (and the 3rd....), in particular, and took all the great parts and refined them. Sharpened them. Doubled down. 

Again, I love this show! It's not for the newbies though. I really think you need to see *at least* the first movie to appreciate the series. Also, it's a gore fest - a shockingly delightful blood bath, so get your rain/splatter gear on and hold tight.

Best watched with Moms. Pairs with cafeteria food and canned beverages. I watched this show on Peacock or use the Find It! Watch It! links to see where else you can eventually find this SLASHER.