Going into this year's spooky season, I had had a couple of ideas for an overall theme to the viewings - one was to watch a couple of full franchises like Child's Play or Halloween and the other was to celebrate the 10th anniversary of doing the October Challenge by revisiting all of my favorites from the previous nine years - but we ended up just watching a bunch of random, for the most part, movies again.
We started very early in September, but still barely managed to get to 31 movies watched, and the whole exercise seemed a little off to me. I can't explain why, but I just wasn't ensnared by the spooky spirit this year. Even writing this blog piece, I'm not really feeling it and am doing it to just keep the tradition alive. I'm hoping next year is better!
The highlights of the month (rewatches not included), from best to worst:
The Worst of the Worst
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| * I wish I had as much fun watching the movie as Art does killing people * |
Terrifier 3 (2024) -- 2/10 Considering how popular the Terrifier movies are and how ubiquitous Art the Clown is online and at stores like Spirit Halloween, my opinion of the series has to be in the small minority. I liked the first film - it was lean and mean, packing in some great kills and a wonderfully fun central performance. The sequel was 45 minutes too long and filled with gore for gore's sake. This most recent entry is a little shorter, but somehow even worse. The Christmas setting is a huge positive for me, but it can't save the movie. Huge plot points are skimmed over (or entirely omitted) and major characters are killed off screen. It seems that, in an effort to reduce the run time a bit, the filmmakers decided to cut out actual story beats instead of trimming away 25% of the gory attack scenes. This seems like the work of a college freshman instead of a guy working on his fifth feature film.
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| * The worst part of the movie: this tiny, blue alien who may or may not be real * |
Street Trash (2024) -- 2/10 Sometimes I wonder why I pick the movies I pick. Out of the literal hundreds of available titles, I also stumble upon a handful of completely unknown (to me) and awful horror flicks each October. My wife routinely gives me a hard time for adding these to our list of potential viewings. This remake of a cult favorite from the 80's has some impressive physical effects and that's about all I could give it credit for. The writing and acting are bottom of the barrel and the whole thing felt like a chore to sit through.
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| * It's hard to enjoy your art book when flanked by two nearly naked young women * |
Knock Knock (2015) -- 3/10 Eli Roth strikes again. At this point, I'm just a completionist fool, a glutton for cinematic punishment. Knock Knock looks good - both the cinematography and the actresses - and it's unintentionally hilarious in parts, but that's about all the positives I can think of. Keanu Reeves has almost always been a terrible actor, but he's otherworldly bad here, especially in his big monologue near the end. It's the kind of performance that Nic Cage could have probably pulled off, but he's smart enough not to work with Eli Roth.
A Step Up, But Still Not Good
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| * You shouldn't wander around strange houses in the dark * |
Match (2025) -- 5/10 This one has some really interesting and somewhat unique moments that elevate a pretty tired, basic plot. I was surprised with how well acted and written the lead character was. Humberly Gonzalez really gives it her all and hits a good balance between hysterical fear, intense pain, and unrelenting desire to overcome her awful circumstances. There's a scene about a third of the way through that will definitely have you wondering "What the fuck am I watching?" and the gore often times seems like gore-for-gore's sake. If these characters were 50% smarter and made more human-like decisions, it would improve the movie's score by a point or two.
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| * This is one of the best and most disturbing 'eye trauma' scenes I've ever seen * |
Dead & Buried (1981) -- 4/10 The above mentioned AWESOME syringe to the eye scene is, by far, the highlight of this well regarded "oldie" that I found a bit too silly and shallow to be actually good. The premise - a small town full of murders who attack interlopers - was interesting, but probably should have been either 20 minutes longer or 30-40 minutes shorter. It either needed more fleshing out, of the characters and plot, or to be reduced to an hour long TV episode of The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror. The acting, for the most part, already seems made-for-TV worthy, so the actors wouldn't have had an issue with the latter option.
Worth Watching Once
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| * It's all fun and games until the vicious killers join in * |
Severance (2006) -- 6.5/10 A pretty effective UK horror comedy. Not exactly scary, but there are some solid moments of dread and a bunch of interesting kills. The film's low budget is evident in some scenes - especially those with the dreadful CGI blood - but overall, it's not a hindrance. The performances are all average-to-solid, but the writing is where this one shines. It's laugh out loud funny in several moments and clever pretty much throughout. The characters are well drawn and make human-like decisions, which is not always the case in horror movies or comedies. I'm happy to have stumbled across this little flick!
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| * One of the many references to The Shining, an easy way to score points from me * |
The Substance (2024) -- 6.5/10 I was really looking forward to this one and was slightly disappointed, but it's still interesting, well made, and full of fun performances. The production design and cinematography were magnificent and both Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley were fantastic, but the movie really starts to drag near the end. The last 15 minutes or so go completely off the rails and while I understand what the filmmakers were going for, and laughed several times at the tremendous amount of over-the-top gore, I think it just missed the mark. The whole film takes place in a slightly surreal and fantastical world and I would have liked it if they leaned more into that, playing up the satire more.
Very Good and Highly Recommended
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| * Hey, this is how they usually have to get people to watch Eli Roth movies... * |
The Girl with All the Gifts (2016) -- 7/10 I knew practically nothing about this film before watching it and that's definitely the way to go. There are twists and turns throughout and - maybe more importantly - the story beats and character actions often went in different directions than what I expected. All the main performances are very good, with the standouts being Glen Close turning in her normal, fantastic work and newcomer (at the time, at least) Sennia Nanua really dazzling as the titular girl. Both of their characters are really well developed, interesting, and three dimensional. I was somewhat disappointed by the final few scenes and that's the only thing holding this one back from an 8/10. Endings are tough to stick sometimes and reading online, I guess the book that the movie is adapted from had the same issues.
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| * Gladys - one of the best horror villains in recent memory * |
Weapons (2025) -- 7.5/10 For about half of the movie, Weapons doesn't really feel like a horror movie. But that changes when Gladys arrives on the scene. Portrayed by a nearly unrecognizable Amy Madigan, the character is equal parts mysterious, funny, and terrifying and she elevates the entire film, especially with the climatic sequence. I'm not sure how well the movie will hold up to repeat viewings once you know the answers to the mystery and are aware of what to expect, but for an initial watch, it's one of the best of the season, for me. With this and Barbarian under his belt, I'd say I'm on board for whatever writer/director Zach Cregger does next, but since that's going to be a Resident Evil movie, I'm not quite so sure. Maybe he'll surprise me!
The Best of the Best
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| * This cat has the same wide-eyed look that was often on my own face during my viewing * |
Bring Her Back (2025) -- 9/10 After seeing Talk to Me, probably the best horror film of 2022, I was definitely game for whatever the directing duo of Michael and Danny Philippou made next. Somehow, they topped themselves with this one. Equal parts terror, suspense, dread, and gore mixed with perfectly placed moments of humor and genuine heartbreak, this film is a marvel of horror filmmaking. Every performance is pitch perfect, the screenplay is great, and the direction is fantastic. It's bleak and devastating, like a lot of my favorite horror films, and it might leave you rattled, but I've been thinking about it on and off for days and I'm excited to watch it again sooner than later. Do yourself a favor and check it out!
Full list of what I watched during the month, in chronological order:
* = rewatch
Terrifier 3 (2024) -- 2/10
Knock Knock (2015) -- 3/10
* It (2017) -- 8/10
* It: Chapter Two (2019) -- 8/10
Severance (2006) -- 6.5/10
The Girl with All the Gifts (2016) -- 7/10
I See You (2019) -- 3/10
Night Shift (2023) -- 2/10
Bring Her Back (2025) -- 9/10
The Boogeyman (2023) -- 3/10
Cat People (1982) -- 3.5/10
* End of Days (1999) -- 5/10
The Substance (2024) -- 6.5/10
House of Wax (1953) -- 3/10
Azrael (2024) -- 3/10
Street Trash (2024) -- 2/10
Match (2025) -- 5/10
* The Orphanage (2007) -- 7/10
* Honeymoon (2014) -- 5.5/10
The Lost Boys (1987) -- 3/10
* Maximum Overdrive (1988) -- 2/10
Weapons (2025) -- 7.5/10
Truth or Dare (2018) -- 4/10
* From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) -- 8/10
Dead & Buried (1981) -- 4/10
* The Skeleton Key (2005) -- 6/10
Maniac Cop (1988) -- 4/10
The Exorcism (2024) -- 3.5/10
Bloody Axe Wound (2024) -- 2/10
* A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 (1987) -- 2.5/10
The Empty Man (2020) -- 5/10
Average rating of the 31 titles: 4.95/10 --- Pretty much the average of all 10 years so far.
Did any of you watch any good horror movies recently? Any that you'd recommend? I'm always on the lookout for new movies to watch!
Thanks for reading!