Are your eyes straining from all the white subtitles on white backgrounds we all had to suffer through during week two? I sure hope not, because week three is already upon us, and the Challenge doesn’t stop!

Week three of the Sixth Annual Cinefessions Summer Screams Challenge presents a first for the Challenge: a double feature of Featured Films! Hearkening back to our Battle of the Decades in the Fourth Annual Challenge, which featured the 1970s vs 1980s, this week is all about films from the golden era of sci-fi, the 1950s, and the real start or the modern era of horror, the 1960s. Though there is a “versus” in the titling, it’s not really about one over another, but a celebration of both decades of excellent genre cinema. Any horror or science fiction film released in the 1950s or 1960s is worth two points instead of the standard one.

This week’s Featured Films represent their respective decade as well as any could. First up is the 1953 alien invasion film It Came from Outer Space. This Jack Arnold directed film – inspired by a Ray Bradbury story – was released recently on Blu-ray in both 2D and 3D versions from Universal. It is also available to rent on disc from Netflix.

 

The second Featured Film this week is one from exactly ten years later: The Haunting from 1963. This film, which was remade in 1999, is directed by Robert Wise, and often finds its way onto many different “best of horror” lists, so if you haven’t seen it before, you should be in for a real treat. Turner Home Entertainment released this film on Blu-ray and DVD back in 2013. It’s also available to rent on disc from Netflix.

 

Just as the previous two weeks, there will be bonus points available this week as well! This time around, if you watch a film from the 1950s or the 1960s for the very first time, you receive an extra bonus point. That means that this week’s additional bonus points come in the form of first time viewings. This gives us all a great excuse to watch some of these sci-fi and horror gems that we may have missed previously. There is no limit to the amount of bonus points you can score this week, meaning that any film you watch for the first time from the 1950s or 1960s this week net you one extra bonus point. That means, if you’re watching It Came from Outer Space and/or The Haunting for the first time this week, those will be worth four points each instead of the normal three points! Note that the film MUST follow the Weekly Theme in order to qualify for the first time viewing bonus point this week (meaning it must be a film from the 1950s or 1960s).

Remember that week three ends at 11:59 pm on Saturday, June 17th, 2017!

Be sure to discuss CSSC6 by using the tag #CSSC6 on Twitter! If you have any questions about any of the rules of the Challenge, please direct them to @Psymin1 or @Cinefessions. If you’re not on Twitter, you can email us at contact[at]cinefessions[dot]com for any questions that might come up.