Halloween Horror-Thon 2023 (The Scariest One Yet)

[Tommy]

Happy Halloween everyone, pretty much flicks all day, hope everyone is well

[mattgreenbean]

Halloween may be over, but I plan on continuing my onslaught of horror till Sat when I'll finish off with Insidious: The Red Door.

Leading up to Oct.

* = 1st time watch
$ = bad
$$ = ok
$$$ = good
$$$$ = awesome

Sept 24 Triangle * $$$
Sept 25 Waxwork * $$$
Sept 26 Frozen $$$
Sept 27 Smile * $$$
Sept 28 The Wicker Man * $$
Sept 29 Three Extremes * $$$
Sept 30 Before I Wake * $$$

31 days of Horror

* = 1st time watch
$ = bad
$$ = ok
$$$ = good
$$$$ = awesome

Oct 1 No One Will Save you * $
Oct 2 The Deep House * $$$
Oct 3 Body Snatchers '93 * $$$
Oct 4 The Outwaters * -$
Oct 5 The Pope's Exorcist * $
Oct 6 Sweeny Tood: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street $$$
Oct 7 The Final Girls $$$$
Oct 8 The Bay * $$$
Oct 9 The Mangler * $$$
Oct 10 Spirit Halloween: The Movie * $$$
Oct 11 Saw $$$
Oct 12 The Exorcist III * $$$
Oct 13 Tower of Terror * $$
Oct 14 The Hills Have Eyes 2006 $$$
Oct 15 Jeepers Creepers: Reborn * $$
Oct 16 Boar * $$
Oct 17 Blood The Last Vampire 2009 * $$
Oct 18 The Gate $$$
Oct 19 The Requin * $$$
Oct 20 Scooby Doo The Movie $$$
Oct 21 Leatherface 2017 * $$$
Oct 22 The Children * $$$
Oct 24 The Possesion $$$
Oct 25 Firestarter 2022 * $$$
Oct 26 Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever $$$
Oct 27 The Nun II * $$
Oct 28 Hell House LLC $$$$
Oct 29 Seventh Moon * $$$
Oct 30 Gwen * $$
Oct 31 The Houses October Built $$$$

Halloween Cooldown

* = 1st time watch
$ = bad
$$ = ok
$$$ = good
$$$$ = awesome

Nov 1
Nov 2
Nov 3
Nov 4

Reviews:

Oct 29 Seventh Moon * $$$ From Blair Witch Project alumni Eduardo Sanchez. Filmed like found footage, but not by the people it's happening to. People are essentially lost in the woods again. This time in China. It's low budget, but I thought the story was worth it.

Oct 30 Gwen * $$ The cover and synopsis makes this sound like a horror from Shudder (a horror streaming service.) It isn't and that disappointed me. But for a depressing story about a mother and 2 daughters sometime before people were happy in someplace England and the depressing life they endure, it works wonderfully.

Oct 31 The Houses October Built $$$$ Found footage of a group of friends going through haunted house attractions. Then there is a arch that slowly builds till the end.


[Disclaimer: These are of course just my opinions]

Past Years

2019

Oct 1 The Pit & The Pendulum 1991 (Bernie Wrightson is thanked in the credits) * $$
Oct 2 Ghost Stories 2018 * $$
Oct 3 Pandorum 2009 (Space Horror) $$
Oct 4 Paranormal Activity 2009 (we watched PA 3, 2, 1 for the chronological order) $$$
Oct 5 Child's Play 2019 $$
Oct 6 The Hallow 2015 (creature feature) $$
Oct 7 It Chapter II 2019 (Wow epic!) * $$$
Oct 8 Nosferatu the Vampyre 1979 * $
Oct 10 Dagon 2001 (lovecraftian) $$
Oct 12 Sometimes They Come Back 1991 $$
Oct 13 Dark Ride 2006 * $$
Oct 15 It Follows 2014 $$$
Oct 16 Fright Night 1985 $$
Oct 17 The Invisible Man 1933 $$
Oct 19 Paranormal Activity 4 2012 $$
Oct 21 The Barn 2017 * $$ (crowdfunded low budget, so I valued it on a different scale)
Oct 22 An Incident On and Off A Mountain Road 2005 $$$ (one of the best Master of Horror movies)
Oct 24 The Black Cat 2007 $$ (another masters of horror)
Oct 27 Crawl 2019 * $
Oct 28 Gothika 2003 * $$$
Oct 29 Hell House, Llc 2015 $$$$
Nov 1 Killer Klowns From Outerspace 1988 $$

2020

Oct 1 Tusk $$$$ The guest star is a little odd, but other than that, I find this film pretty crazy. There is a bonus feature with the podcast where Kevin Smith comes up with the story beat-by-beat for the film on the spot. I'm fairly sure he's hitting the bowl during this

Oct 2 White Noise * $$$ I thought I watched this back when it first came out, but I didn't remember any of it while watching. Had so jump scares that worked really good. It was refreshing to watch this after years of Ghost Hunters and the like, (I really despise that guy.)

Oct 3 The Forest * $$ Unique location with an okay story. Natalie Dormer apparently has a lopsided face, and I'm not knocking her for it, but her smirk made most of the serious scenes not as believable. Although, she's not to blame for the story.

Oct 4 Demon City Shinjuku * $$$ Anime Horror. Some really cool monsters. This is by the Ninja Scrolls writer/director. Adult animation.

Oct 4 The Terror Within * $$ Hmmm, Alien, but on Earth, with a small budget. I'd like to see a 60 min version. This is OK as a low budget film.

Oct 5 The Fourth Kind * $$$ I genuinely got goosebumps watching this. But, one of the main characters whines her entire performance, and that really worked against the film.

Oct 6 Dream Cruise $$$ Master of Horror, nice foray into the Asian horror genre.

Oct 7 Shrooms $$$ You would think this would go into the spoof arena, but it's a pretty solid horror flick from the Emerald Isle, (The characters are American though.)

Oct 8 Sinister $$$$ Creepy and macabre!

Oct 9 Drag Me To Hell $$$ Lots of fun.

Oct 10 Blood Tea and Red Strings * $$$ Weird stop motion film

Oct 11 Hell House LLC II * $ NONONONO, such a disappointment.

Oct 12 Wishmaster * $$$ Great special FX!

Oct 13 City of The Living Dead * $$$$ Man I loved this, great atmosphere and zombies. I can't believe I never saw this.

Oct 14 Haxan * $ I'm not sure what I expected from this, but it wasn't interesting to me.

Oct 15 Marble Hornets * $$$ This is the origin of the Slenderman myth. Well, the ppl/person who posted the story, then turned around and started posting videos online the next day. I watched 2 hours of what was posted. There's a lot more. Some of it is meh, but other parts are definitely creepy.

Oct 16 The Grudge 2020 * $$$ Not the best/Not the worst in the series by far. This would actually be a pretty solid follow up to the original for a person who hasn't seen the american versions of the Grudge movies. (The Netflix series is pretty good as well.)

Oct 17 Casper $$$ When my kids got bored with it, I kept watching.

Oct 17 Black Christmas 2019 * $$ It had some good moments, but it was too heavy handed in it's message to be a fun watch.

Oct 18 Friday The 13th The Final Chapter * $$ A lot of killing and nudity. Watching this by myself was kinda boring.

Oct 19 Books of Blood 2020 * $$$ A couple of connected stories. No comedy, and that's usually how I like my horror. No corners cut here on budget or acting.

Oct 20 All Hallows Eve * $$$ Low budget anthology with strange presentation. There are plenty of cheap horror anthologies out there, but the low budget look works in it's favor here.

Oct 21 Death House * $$ Back when SyFy channel was The Sci-Fi Channel, they used to make respectable movies. This would have been one of those, but with language and nudity.

Oct 22 Lovely Molly * $$$ Typical story of moving into a house and being possessed. But the acting and story are pretty believable. I think I'll probably watch this again sooner than later.

Oct 23 Nightbreed: Director's Cut $$$ I never saw the theatrical cut, and I probably never will. This is like Little Monsters for adults, if that makes sense.

Oct 24 Vampire Hunter D * $$ I liked this story better

Oct 24 Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust * $$ but I liked this animation better

Oct 25 Unfriended * $$ Everything about this was just okay, bordered on the bad.

Oct 26 Evil Dead II $$$ I like all the Evil Dead movies.

Oct 27 Friday The 13th V: The New Beginning * $$$ Found this one to have a decent story in the timeline.

Oct 28 Highway to Hell * $$$ Thought is was pretty good. It's somewhere between the movies Monkeybone and Wristcutters.

Oct 28 Body Melt * $$$ Australian version of a David Cronenberg movie.

Oct 29 Wounds * $$$ Weird and at points disturbing.

Oct 30 The Cell 2 * $$ Not as much horror as the first, or even much of a sequel. But for a cheap rehash, it wasn't bad.

Oct 30 The Conjuring 2 $$$$ A lot of creepy "monsters" makes this one top of my list.

Oct 31 The Cabin In The Woods $$$$ The whole thing craftily uses horror tropes to create a unique movie.

Nov 01 Hubie Halloween * $$$ You'd have to know the Happy Madison movies to get many of the jokes. Kind of like the Goosebumps movies. But I do, and I enjoyed it.

2022

Sept 25 Hatchet II * $$$ Slasher/Swamp/Gore/Nudity. Pretty much went by the book, but it itches that itch pretty good.

Sept 26 Extraterrestrial * $$$ Alien Slasher? Yeah, that's what it is!

Sept 27 Resident Evil Welcome To Raccoon City *$$$ This was the version of R.E. that should have been made before. This had action, but it wasn't an action film like the previous series of movies.

Sept 28 Ghostbusters II $$$ Vigo vs Statue of Liberty. Bill Murray is classic.

Sept 29 The Puppetmaster * $$$ I could definitely imagine this being a book and enjoying said book a lot. It had a lot going for it in weird magic, big mansion, creepy puppets. I think I would have enjoyed the heck out of it when I was younger.

Sept 30 Rawhead Rex * $$$ I'd compare it to John Carpenters Prince of Darkness. Not at the top of any lists, but it has some great moments in it that lifts the whole movie up.

Oct 1 Mirrors * $$$ One of those J-Horror films with a vengeful spirit. Keifer has a strange way of acting. Mirrors in the dark have always creeped me out, so I thought it was good.

Oct 2 Demons * $$$$ This was perfect for me. Simple story, blood, sparse comedy, demons, and plenty of weirdness.

The Haunted Mansion was pretty cool. My daughter really liked it. Although, it had some language my kids aren't used to hearing. I'd never seen it. There's a new one coming if you hadn't heard.

Muppets Haunted Mansion was altogether boring. Had a tough time keeping the kids in the room.

Oct 3 V/H/S $$$ Lots of weird stuff in this anthology. This is NOT a movie that you would say, hey "family member" want to watch a scary movie tonight? At least the first part of it anyways.

Oct 4 Barbarian @ Theater * $$$$ Well, that was memorable! I think the name was a tad misleading. It's a fairly well worn story given a pretty unique vision.

Oct 5 Mr. Harrigan's Phone * $$ So this wasn't a bad movie. For me, it was a good Lifetime Channel movie. I'd never watch it again.

Oct 6 Planet Terror $$$$ Hits so many highs from beginning to end. Style, Gore, One Liners!

Oct 7 Hellraiser 2022 *$$ This is how the movie goes, play the puzzle box, Cenobites show up, someone dies. This happens over and over and over. At 2 hours, I was bored with the repetition. If it were trimmed down, and the Cenobites hidden for later in the movie, I would have enjoyed it more.

Oct 8 A Quiet Place *$$ Nice story, until every move the characters make are written specifically to bring on more calamity.

Oct 9 The Cannibal in the Jungle *$$$ A found footage, documentary, Animal Planet movie. I was pretty entertained by it. There's some blood, guts, and terror in it. It's on Discovery+, but was kinda hard to find there.

Oct 10 Manhattan Baby *$ I listened to a review of this movie, by someone who liked it, after viewing it. Listening to that review was better than watching the actual movie. The editing wasn't very captivating. The big moments fell flat.

Oct 11 Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003 * $$$ I've always enjoyed the original, but the acting they did back then was very odd. This remake, (of several now) is pretty good. Maybe not as unsettling as the bizarre original, but very menacing regardless.

Oct 12 Night of The Demons * $$ This fell kinda flat. But, there is an f/x with a lipstick tube that was super impressive.

Oct 13 Monsterland * $ Anthology of some low quality horror.

Oct 14 Wickerman Remake * [I still need to watch, but I'm keeping it on the list.]

Oct 15 The Rite * $$$ I've seen my fair share of exorcism movies, and this one stood it's ground among them.

Oct 16 Don't Breathe 2 * $$$ Not perfect, but plenty of it was great.

Oct 17 Hush * $$ There's no story. Just a person being chased around her house. I would rate it bad, but there's worse out there.

Oct 18 Joy Ride * $$$ A dark version of Duel.

Oct 19 Haunted Asylum * $$$ Pretty cool found footage usage in this one. But since I had to read the subtitles I couldn't focus on what was happening on screen at all times and that definitely ruined some of the "what's that in the background" moments.

Oct 20 Feardotcom * $$$ Strange vibe from this one. It pulled from films of it's time, but I think it probably inspired some after it.

Oct 21 The Wicker Man Remake * $$$$ Great! Strange place. What the hell is going on here? Cage is awesome.

Oct 21 Evil Dead Remake * $$$$ Gross out to the max! Very dark version.

Oct 22 The Haunting 63' * $ Maybe it was the story, or maybe the direction, but I was pretty bored. The remake certainly upped the action from this version.

Oct 22 Believers * $$ On the outside, this is a cheap movie. But the story is actually interesting. Because of production, it left this as just okay.

Oct 23 An American Werewolf in London $$$$ Classic. Solid story, great horror, awesome ending.

Oct 24 Cthulhu Mansion * I still need to watch

Oct 25 8 Legged Freaks $$$ Very cool giant monsters film. But it went on too long.

Oct 26 Train To Busan * $$$$ Wow, I was really impressed. I'm used to hype around movies being disappointing, but this one actually delivered.

Oct 27 The Exorcist I still need to watch

Oct 28 Gremlins I still need to watch

Oct 28 Fall * $$$ It's similar to The Descent, 47 Meters Below, Frozen. This was in a vertigo inducing location and had some nice twists. I'd definitely recommend it if you've been wanting to see it.

Oct 29 We All Scream For Ice Cream $$$ The way victims die in this Masters of Horror, satisfy me every time I watch it.

Oct 30 Goosebumps $$$$ I never read the books, but feel like this really gives a good idea of them.

2023

Sep 24 Triangle * $$$ Maybe not horror, but there is a killer on the boat. The boat is an old cruise liner that a group of stranded seafarers have boarded. Things get very strange. Think of it as Christopher Nolan inspired.

Sept 25 Waxwork * $$$ People are disappearing in the wax museum. But where they go was what made this a cool movie. If your a fan of House, you should like this.

Sept 26 Frozen $$$ The characters make a couple of bad decisions, but still, the film moves quickly and keeps you waiting for what happens next. For fans of Fall.

Sept 27 Smile * $$$ Really, I thought that this was going to be another shiny-new-film-that-just-doesn't-get-what-makes-horror-good deal. But, even with it being like many other J-horrors of the past, it was still enjoyable. Better than some in fact.

Sept 28 The Wicker Man * $$ Some of the scenes just were too long. Some of the scenes were ridiculous. The climactic ending was underwhelming. That said, I'm sure it would have something special when it came out 50 yrs ago. My opinion, watch the Nic Cage remake from 17 yrs ago. The reworked story is better.

Sept 29 Three Extremes * $$$ I liked the 3rd story best because of it's strangeness, 1st story next because of it's straight-faced dealing with the story, 2nd story the least because it tried playing some of it as (I guess) funny. Overall, they were quality Asian Horror.

Sept 30 Before I Wake * $$$ This felt like a late 90's/early 00's horror film that would have had horrible CGI. You want to yell at the main character, but the story still works. If this movie had come out in 2006 it would have been Sean Bean and Virginia Madsen.

Oct 1 No One Will Save you * $ Please stop making movies where the actors "can't" talk. This time, it wasn't even for a reason. The alien design was boring. Every scene I wanted to blurt out some critique. Then there was a dance number. Nah, not for me.

Oct 2 The Deep House * $$$ Found footage. I'm gonna like it. This time in a haunted house at the bottom of a lake with a decent story. Not much to it, just a bit of anticipation of what will pop out in front of the shaky camera. (Has one of Mick Jaggers sons.) (Has a post credit scene.)

Oct 3 Body Snatchers '93 * $$$ I liked the '78 version a lot, so I expected this to be good as well. This one is almost like The Fly remake by Cronenberg with the gooey effects. Has that 90's look of "normal people" looking actors. Not fast paced, or much to grab your attention. It was a bit dreamlike watching it.

Oct 4 The Outwaters * -$ This is the worst found footage I've ever seen. It was made solely for the writer/director/actor/wrote-the-music to enjoy himself. Some reviewers have tried rationalizing why it's a good film, these reviewers are misguided. You want a descent into Hell found footage, watch As Above, So Below.

Oct 5 The Pope's Exorcist * $$$ I wouldn't say there's any twist that made this exorcism movie that different from others. But, it had an interesting story that wraps around the actual exorcism.

Oct 6 Sweeny Tood: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street $$$ A musical horror. Gets gory. The story is dark and the songs work.

Oct 7 The Final Girls $$$$ One of my top 10 of any genre. Fun, funny, great story, great acting, great music, never a dull moment.

Oct 8 The Bay * $$$ Docu/Found Footage. Unfolded pretty well for the most part. Not everything made sense, but it was still entertaining.

Oct 9 The Mangler * $$$ Some of the acting was a little bizarre. I liked the setting. The story and subplots were interesting.

Oct 10 Spirit Halloween: The Movie * $$$ Like a Nickelodeon tv movie. Low budget. It was a commercial for Spirit Halloween. But I thought it was a fun movie. Very family friendly.

Oct 11 Saw $$$ More interesting twists than there was gore. It's been a long time since I last watched this. I'm obviously desensitized, because the "torture porn" was pretty mild.

Oct 12 The Exorcist III * $$$ I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I liked The Heretic, this was different, but tied back into the origin nicely.

Oct 13 Tower of Terror * $$ Kids supernatural made for tv Disney movie. Even through kids lenses, I thought it was a little boring. But, for the reason that it expands the story of the ride, it is worth a watch.

Oct 14 The Hills Have Eyes 2006 $$$ Never saw the original, but this one is good, bloody, they make bad decisions, puts you on the edge of your seat.

Oct 15 Jeepers Creepers: Reborn * $$ The story was okay and the kills were just fine.

Oct 16 Boar * $$ TV movie vibe with a cool giant killer boar.

Oct 17 Blood The Last Vampire 2009 * $$ The beginning was really strong and then went down hill after 30 mins.

Oct 18 The Gate $$$ Easy story to follow with a plot that doesn't stagnate.

Oct 19 The Requin * $$$$ Another stranded in the ocean movie, but Alicia Silverstone really sells it.

Oct 20 Scooby Doo The Movie $$$$ The kids enjoyed it for the kid jokes and we enjoyed it for the adult jokes. I've seen this one many times and it's always good.

Oct 21 Leatherface 2017 * $$$ A Lot of killing for killing sake. As an origin for TCM, not sure it worked. But as a horror movie, I thought it was good.

Oct 22 The Children * $$$ The characters don't always make bright decisions, but overall I liked the winter setting and kill scenes.

Oct 24 The Possession $$$ Most of the movie is just ok, but, I think the end of the movie makes it good. Also, it's got a unique reason for the possession.

Oct 25 Firestarter 2022 * $$$ Is it as good as the original, hmm, maybe. I'd have to watch them together. But I enjoyed it for what it was. I thought the little girl did a good job.

Oct 26 Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever $$$ The originality of the first was lost on this one. But it gets pretty stomach turning. It also does well at directly tying into the first movie.

Oct 27 The Nun II * $$ 1hr 50 mins of very nice set pieces and running around. But by the end, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open.

Oct 28 Hell House LLC $$$$ One of my favorite found footage movies. It's creepy, has multiple stories that tie up by the end, and the footage, even though it's edited together, makes sense why it was being filmed.

Oct 29 Seventh Moon * $$$ From Blair Witch Project alumni Eduardo Sanchez. Filmed like found footage, but not by the people it's happening to. People are essentially lost in the woods again. This time in China. It's low budget, but I thought the story was worth it.

Oct 30 Gwen * $$ The cover and synopsis makes this sound like a horror from Shudder (a horror streaming service.) It isn't and that disappointed me. But for a depressing story about a mother and 2 daughters sometime before people were happy in someplace England and the depressing life they endure, it works wonderfully.

Oct 31 The Houses October Built $$$$ Found footage of a group of friends going through haunted house attractions. Then there is a arch that slowly builds till the end.

[becca69]

Here's my list so far:
Chopping Mall
Trick R Treat
Halloween: Resurrection
Psycho
Separation
Event Horizon
The Sentinel (1977)
The Corpse Bride
Ghost Ship
Hellraiser: Hellworld
Hellraiser III
Totally Killer
When a Stranger Calls (1979)

Deadly Friend
Buffy the Vampire Slayer*

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Halloween
Halloween H2O
Scream

Carnival of Souls
World War Z
Housebound
Jugface

[Tommy]

When Evil Lurks on Shudder might just be the best horror film I've seen this year. Been thinking about it for days. It goes hard but it is a fantastic take on possession.

[mattgreenbean]

Alright, last one of the season. I feel like I climbed Mount Everest watching a horror movie every night. Some nights I was just too tired so I'd fall asleep half way through one only to have to finish it the next night along with watching a whole other one.

My favorites of the bunch. ($$$$) The Final Girls, Hell House LLC, and The Houses October Built. All of which I've enjoyed and watched several times.

Out of the rest ($$$) Triangle, Waxwork, The Children, and Seventh Moon were movies that I was surprised by. They were new to me and I thought they were pretty good.

Leading up to Oct.

* = 1st time watch
$ = bad
$$ = ok
$$$ = good
$$$$ = awesome

Sept 24 Triangle * $$$
Sept 25 Waxwork * $$$
Sept 26 Frozen $$$
Sept 27 Smile * $$$
Sept 28 The Wicker Man * $$
Sept 29 Three Extremes * $$$
Sept 30 Before I Wake * $$$

31 days of Horror

* = 1st time watch
$ = bad
$$ = ok
$$$ = good
$$$$ = awesome

Oct 1 No One Will Save you * $
Oct 2 The Deep House * $$$
Oct 3 Body Snatchers '93 * $$$
Oct 4 The Outwaters * -$
Oct 5 The Pope's Exorcist * $
Oct 6 Sweeny Tood: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street $$$
Oct 7 The Final Girls $$$$
Oct 8 The Bay * $$$
Oct 9 The Mangler * $$$
Oct 10 Spirit Halloween: The Movie * $$$
Oct 11 Saw $$$
Oct 12 The Exorcist III * $$$
Oct 13 Tower of Terror * $$
Oct 14 The Hills Have Eyes 2006 $$$
Oct 15 Jeepers Creepers: Reborn * $$
Oct 16 Boar * $$
Oct 17 Blood The Last Vampire 2009 * $$
Oct 18 The Gate $$$
Oct 19 The Requin * $$$
Oct 20 Scooby Doo The Movie $$$
Oct 21 Leatherface 2017 * $$$
Oct 22 The Children * $$$
Oct 24 The Possesion $$$
Oct 25 Firestarter 2022 * $$$
Oct 26 Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever $$$
Oct 27 The Nun II * $$
Oct 28 Hell House LLC $$$$
Oct 29 Seventh Moon * $$$
Oct 30 Gwen * $$
Oct 31 The Houses October Built $$$$

Halloween Cooldown

* = 1st time watch
$ = bad
$$ = ok
$$$ = good
$$$$ = awesome

Nov 1 Saw II * $$$
Nov 2 The Lost * $$$
Nov 3 Widows Point * $$
Nov 4 Insidious: The Red Door * $$$

Reviews:

Nov 1 Saw II * $$$ Having just watched Saw I figured I'd double up on the franchise. I don't remember seeing this, (although I knew the twist, so maybe I have), and although it wasn't as poignant as the first, I still enjoyed the story and the tie backs to the first.

Nov 2 The Lost * $$$ IMDB doesn't call this horror, yet Psycho is. The main character in this movie is psycho for sure. There's a large body count by the end. It certainly arrested my attention.

Nov 3 Widows Point * $$ Would have fit right in with the USA movies of the 90's. Take that for better or worse.

Nov 4 Insidious: The Red Door * $$$ I've enjoyed the Insidious franchise better than the Conjerverse, and although this didn't blow my mind, it had a better story than The Nun II.


[Disclaimer: These are of course just my opinions]

Past Years

2019

Oct 1 The Pit & The Pendulum 1991 (Bernie Wrightson is thanked in the credits) * $$
Oct 2 Ghost Stories 2018 * $$
Oct 3 Pandorum 2009 (Space Horror) $$
Oct 4 Paranormal Activity 2009 (we watched PA 3, 2, 1 for the chronological order) $$$
Oct 5 Child's Play 2019 $$
Oct 6 The Hallow 2015 (creature feature) $$
Oct 7 It Chapter II 2019 (Wow epic!) * $$$
Oct 8 Nosferatu the Vampyre 1979 * $
Oct 10 Dagon 2001 (lovecraftian) $$
Oct 12 Sometimes They Come Back 1991 $$
Oct 13 Dark Ride 2006 * $$
Oct 15 It Follows 2014 $$$
Oct 16 Fright Night 1985 $$
Oct 17 The Invisible Man 1933 $$
Oct 19 Paranormal Activity 4 2012 $$
Oct 21 The Barn 2017 * $$ (crowdfunded low budget, so I valued it on a different scale)
Oct 22 An Incident On and Off A Mountain Road 2005 $$$ (one of the best Master of Horror movies)
Oct 24 The Black Cat 2007 $$ (another masters of horror)
Oct 27 Crawl 2019 * $
Oct 28 Gothika 2003 * $$$
Oct 29 Hell House, Llc 2015 $$$$
Nov 1 Killer Klowns From Outerspace 1988 $$

2020

Oct 1 Tusk $$$$ The guest star is a little odd, but other than that, I find this film pretty crazy. There is a bonus feature with the podcast where Kevin Smith comes up with the story beat-by-beat for the film on the spot. I'm fairly sure he's hitting the bowl during this

Oct 2 White Noise * $$$ I thought I watched this back when it first came out, but I didn't remember any of it while watching. Had so jump scares that worked really good. It was refreshing to watch this after years of Ghost Hunters and the like, (I really despise that guy.)

Oct 3 The Forest * $$ Unique location with an okay story. Natalie Dormer apparently has a lopsided face, and I'm not knocking her for it, but her smirk made most of the serious scenes not as believable. Although, she's not to blame for the story.

Oct 4 Demon City Shinjuku * $$$ Anime Horror. Some really cool monsters. This is by the Ninja Scrolls writer/director. Adult animation.

Oct 4 The Terror Within * $$ Hmmm, Alien, but on Earth, with a small budget. I'd like to see a 60 min version. This is OK as a low budget film.

Oct 5 The Fourth Kind * $$$ I genuinely got goosebumps watching this. But, one of the main characters whines her entire performance, and that really worked against the film.

Oct 6 Dream Cruise $$$ Master of Horror, nice foray into the Asian horror genre.

Oct 7 Shrooms $$$ You would think this would go into the spoof arena, but it's a pretty solid horror flick from the Emerald Isle, (The characters are American though.)

Oct 8 Sinister $$$$ Creepy and macabre!

Oct 9 Drag Me To Hell $$$ Lots of fun.

Oct 10 Blood Tea and Red Strings * $$$ Weird stop motion film

Oct 11 Hell House LLC II * $ NONONONO, such a disappointment.

Oct 12 Wishmaster * $$$ Great special FX!

Oct 13 City of The Living Dead * $$$$ Man I loved this, great atmosphere and zombies. I can't believe I never saw this.

Oct 14 Haxan * $ I'm not sure what I expected from this, but it wasn't interesting to me.

Oct 15 Marble Hornets * $$$ This is the origin of the Slenderman myth. Well, the ppl/person who posted the story, then turned around and started posting videos online the next day. I watched 2 hours of what was posted. There's a lot more. Some of it is meh, but other parts are definitely creepy.

Oct 16 The Grudge 2020 * $$$ Not the best/Not the worst in the series by far. This would actually be a pretty solid follow up to the original for a person who hasn't seen the american versions of the Grudge movies. (The Netflix series is pretty good as well.)

Oct 17 Casper $$$ When my kids got bored with it, I kept watching.

Oct 17 Black Christmas 2019 * $$ It had some good moments, but it was too heavy handed in it's message to be a fun watch.

Oct 18 Friday The 13th The Final Chapter * $$ A lot of killing and nudity. Watching this by myself was kinda boring.

Oct 19 Books of Blood 2020 * $$$ A couple of connected stories. No comedy, and that's usually how I like my horror. No corners cut here on budget or acting.

Oct 20 All Hallows Eve * $$$ Low budget anthology with strange presentation. There are plenty of cheap horror anthologies out there, but the low budget look works in it's favor here.

Oct 21 Death House * $$ Back when SyFy channel was The Sci-Fi Channel, they used to make respectable movies. This would have been one of those, but with language and nudity.

Oct 22 Lovely Molly * $$$ Typical story of moving into a house and being possessed. But the acting and story are pretty believable. I think I'll probably watch this again sooner than later.

Oct 23 Nightbreed: Director's Cut $$$ I never saw the theatrical cut, and I probably never will. This is like Little Monsters for adults, if that makes sense.

Oct 24 Vampire Hunter D * $$ I liked this story better

Oct 24 Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust * $$ but I liked this animation better

Oct 25 Unfriended * $$ Everything about this was just okay, bordered on the bad.

Oct 26 Evil Dead II $$$ I like all the Evil Dead movies.

Oct 27 Friday The 13th V: The New Beginning * $$$ Found this one to have a decent story in the timeline.

Oct 28 Highway to Hell * $$$ Thought is was pretty good. It's somewhere between the movies Monkeybone and Wristcutters.

Oct 28 Body Melt * $$$ Australian version of a David Cronenberg movie.

Oct 29 Wounds * $$$ Weird and at points disturbing.

Oct 30 The Cell 2 * $$ Not as much horror as the first, or even much of a sequel. But for a cheap rehash, it wasn't bad.

Oct 30 The Conjuring 2 $$$$ A lot of creepy "monsters" makes this one top of my list.

Oct 31 The Cabin In The Woods $$$$ The whole thing craftily uses horror tropes to create a unique movie.

Nov 01 Hubie Halloween * $$$ You'd have to know the Happy Madison movies to get many of the jokes. Kind of like the Goosebumps movies. But I do, and I enjoyed it.

2022

Sept 25 Hatchet II * $$$ Slasher/Swamp/Gore/Nudity. Pretty much went by the book, but it itches that itch pretty good.

Sept 26 Extraterrestrial * $$$ Alien Slasher? Yeah, that's what it is!

Sept 27 Resident Evil Welcome To Raccoon City *$$$ This was the version of R.E. that should have been made before. This had action, but it wasn't an action film like the previous series of movies.

Sept 28 Ghostbusters II $$$ Vigo vs Statue of Liberty. Bill Murray is classic.

Sept 29 The Puppetmaster * $$$ I could definitely imagine this being a book and enjoying said book a lot. It had a lot going for it in weird magic, big mansion, creepy puppets. I think I would have enjoyed the heck out of it when I was younger.

Sept 30 Rawhead Rex * $$$ I'd compare it to John Carpenters Prince of Darkness. Not at the top of any lists, but it has some great moments in it that lifts the whole movie up.

Oct 1 Mirrors * $$$ One of those J-Horror films with a vengeful spirit. Keifer has a strange way of acting. Mirrors in the dark have always creeped me out, so I thought it was good.

Oct 2 Demons * $$$$ This was perfect for me. Simple story, blood, sparse comedy, demons, and plenty of weirdness.

The Haunted Mansion was pretty cool. My daughter really liked it. Although, it had some language my kids aren't used to hearing. I'd never seen it. There's a new one coming if you hadn't heard.

Muppets Haunted Mansion was altogether boring. Had a tough time keeping the kids in the room.

Oct 3 V/H/S $$$ Lots of weird stuff in this anthology. This is NOT a movie that you would say, hey "family member" want to watch a scary movie tonight? At least the first part of it anyways.

Oct 4 Barbarian @ Theater * $$$$ Well, that was memorable! I think the name was a tad misleading. It's a fairly well worn story given a pretty unique vision.

Oct 5 Mr. Harrigan's Phone * $$ So this wasn't a bad movie. For me, it was a good Lifetime Channel movie. I'd never watch it again.

Oct 6 Planet Terror $$$$ Hits so many highs from beginning to end. Style, Gore, One Liners!

Oct 7 Hellraiser 2022 *$$ This is how the movie goes, play the puzzle box, Cenobites show up, someone dies. This happens over and over and over. At 2 hours, I was bored with the repetition. If it were trimmed down, and the Cenobites hidden for later in the movie, I would have enjoyed it more.

Oct 8 A Quiet Place *$$ Nice story, until every move the characters make are written specifically to bring on more calamity.

Oct 9 The Cannibal in the Jungle *$$$ A found footage, documentary, Animal Planet movie. I was pretty entertained by it. There's some blood, guts, and terror in it. It's on Discovery+, but was kinda hard to find there.

Oct 10 Manhattan Baby *$ I listened to a review of this movie, by someone who liked it, after viewing it. Listening to that review was better than watching the actual movie. The editing wasn't very captivating. The big moments fell flat.

Oct 11 Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003 * $$$ I've always enjoyed the original, but the acting they did back then was very odd. This remake, (of several now) is pretty good. Maybe not as unsettling as the bizarre original, but very menacing regardless.

Oct 12 Night of The Demons * $$ This fell kinda flat. But, there is an f/x with a lipstick tube that was super impressive.

Oct 13 Monsterland * $ Anthology of some low quality horror.

Oct 14 Wickerman Remake * [I still need to watch, but I'm keeping it on the list.]

Oct 15 The Rite * $$$ I've seen my fair share of exorcism movies, and this one stood it's ground among them.

Oct 16 Don't Breathe 2 * $$$ Not perfect, but plenty of it was great.

Oct 17 Hush * $$ There's no story. Just a person being chased around her house. I would rate it bad, but there's worse out there.

Oct 18 Joy Ride * $$$ A dark version of Duel.

Oct 19 Haunted Asylum * $$$ Pretty cool found footage usage in this one. But since I had to read the subtitles I couldn't focus on what was happening on screen at all times and that definitely ruined some of the "what's that in the background" moments.

Oct 20 Feardotcom * $$$ Strange vibe from this one. It pulled from films of it's time, but I think it probably inspired some after it.

Oct 21 The Wicker Man Remake * $$$$ Great! Strange place. What the hell is going on here? Cage is awesome.

Oct 21 Evil Dead Remake * $$$$ Gross out to the max! Very dark version.

Oct 22 The Haunting 63' * $ Maybe it was the story, or maybe the direction, but I was pretty bored. The remake certainly upped the action from this version.

Oct 22 Believers * $$ On the outside, this is a cheap movie. But the story is actually interesting. Because of production, it left this as just okay.

Oct 23 An American Werewolf in London $$$$ Classic. Solid story, great horror, awesome ending.

Oct 24 Cthulhu Mansion * I still need to watch

Oct 25 8 Legged Freaks $$$ Very cool giant monsters film. But it went on too long.

Oct 26 Train To Busan * $$$$ Wow, I was really impressed. I'm used to hype around movies being disappointing, but this one actually delivered.

Oct 27 The Exorcist I still need to watch

Oct 28 Gremlins I still need to watch

Oct 28 Fall * $$$ It's similar to The Descent, 47 Meters Below, Frozen. This was in a vertigo inducing location and had some nice twists. I'd definitely recommend it if you've been wanting to see it.

Oct 29 We All Scream For Ice Cream $$$ The way victims die in this Masters of Horror, satisfy me every time I watch it.

Oct 30 Goosebumps $$$$ I never read the books, but feel like this really gives a good idea of them.

2023

Sep 24 Triangle * $$$ Maybe not horror, but there is a killer on the boat. The boat is an old cruise liner that a group of stranded seafarers have boarded. Things get very strange. Think of it as Christopher Nolan inspired.

Sept 25 Waxwork * $$$ People are disappearing in the wax museum. But where they go was what made this a cool movie. If your a fan of House, you should like this.

Sept 26 Frozen $$$ The characters make a couple of bad decisions, but still, the film moves quickly and keeps you waiting for what happens next. For fans of Fall.

Sept 27 Smile * $$$ Really, I thought that this was going to be another shiny-new-film-that-just-doesn't-get-what-makes-horror-good deal. But, even with it being like many other J-horrors of the past, it was still enjoyable. Better than some in fact.

Sept 28 The Wicker Man * $$ Some of the scenes just were too long. Some of the scenes were ridiculous. The climactic ending was underwhelming. That said, I'm sure it would have something special when it came out 50 yrs ago. My opinion, watch the Nic Cage remake from 17 yrs ago. The reworked story is better.

Sept 29 Three Extremes * $$$ I liked the 3rd story best because of it's strangeness, 1st story next because of it's straight-faced dealing with the story, 2nd story the least because it tried playing some of it as (I guess) funny. Overall, they were quality Asian Horror.

Sept 30 Before I Wake * $$$ This felt like a late 90's/early 00's horror film that would have had horrible CGI. You want to yell at the main character, but the story still works. If this movie had come out in 2006 it would have been Sean Bean and Virginia Madsen.

Oct 1 No One Will Save you * $ Please stop making movies where the actors "can't" talk. This time, it wasn't even for a reason. The alien design was boring. Every scene I wanted to blurt out some critique. Then there was a dance number. Nah, not for me.

Oct 2 The Deep House * $$$ Found footage. I'm gonna like it. This time in a haunted house at the bottom of a lake with a decent story. Not much to it, just a bit of anticipation of what will pop out in front of the shaky camera. (Has one of Mick Jaggers sons.) (Has a post credit scene.)

Oct 3 Body Snatchers '93 * $$$ I liked the '78 version a lot, so I expected this to be good as well. This one is almost like The Fly remake by Cronenberg with the gooey effects. Has that 90's look of "normal people" looking actors. Not fast paced, or much to grab your attention. It was a bit dreamlike watching it.

Oct 4 The Outwaters * -$ This is the worst found footage I've ever seen. It was made solely for the writer/director/actor/wrote-the-music to enjoy himself. Some reviewers have tried rationalizing why it's a good film, these reviewers are misguided. You want a descent into Hell found footage, watch As Above, So Below.

Oct 5 The Pope's Exorcist * $$$ I wouldn't say there's any twist that made this exorcism movie that different from others. But, it had an interesting story that wraps around the actual exorcism.

Oct 6 Sweeny Tood: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street $$$ A musical horror. Gets gory. The story is dark and the songs work.

Oct 7 The Final Girls $$$$ One of my top 10 of any genre. Fun, funny, great story, great acting, great music, never a dull moment.

Oct 8 The Bay * $$$ Docu/Found Footage. Unfolded pretty well for the most part. Not everything made sense, but it was still entertaining.

Oct 9 The Mangler * $$$ Some of the acting was a little bizarre. I liked the setting. The story and subplots were interesting.

Oct 10 Spirit Halloween: The Movie * $$$ Like a Nickelodeon tv movie. Low budget. It was a commercial for Spirit Halloween. But I thought it was a fun movie. Very family friendly.

Oct 11 Saw $$$ More interesting twists than there was gore. It's been a long time since I last watched this. I'm obviously desensitized, because the "torture porn" was pretty mild.

Oct 12 The Exorcist III * $$$ I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I liked The Heretic, this was different, but tied back into the origin nicely.

Oct 13 Tower of Terror * $$ Kids supernatural made for tv Disney movie. Even through kids lenses, I thought it was a little boring. But, for the reason that it expands the story of the ride, it is worth a watch.

Oct 14 The Hills Have Eyes 2006 $$$ Never saw the original, but this one is good, bloody, they make bad decisions, puts you on the edge of your seat.

Oct 15 Jeepers Creepers: Reborn * $$ The story was okay and the kills were just fine.

Oct 16 Boar * $$ TV movie vibe with a cool giant killer boar.

Oct 17 Blood The Last Vampire 2009 * $$ The beginning was really strong and then went down hill after 30 mins.

Oct 18 The Gate $$$ Easy story to follow with a plot that doesn't stagnate.

Oct 19 The Requin * $$$$ Another stranded in the ocean movie, but Alicia Silverstone really sells it.

Oct 20 Scooby Doo The Movie $$$$ The kids enjoyed it for the kid jokes and we enjoyed it for the adult jokes. I've seen this one many times and it's always good.

Oct 21 Leatherface 2017 * $$$ A Lot of killing for killing sake. As an origin for TCM, not sure it worked. But as a horror movie, I thought it was good.

Oct 22 The Children * $$$ The characters don't always make bright decisions, but overall I liked the winter setting and kill scenes.

Oct 24 The Possession $$$ Most of the movie is just ok, but, I think the end of the movie makes it good. Also, it's got a unique reason for the possession.

Oct 25 Firestarter 2022 * $$$ Is it as good as the original, hmm, maybe. I'd have to watch them together. But I enjoyed it for what it was. I thought the little girl did a good job.

Oct 26 Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever $$$ The originality of the first was lost on this one. But it gets pretty stomach turning. It also does well at directly tying into the first movie.

Oct 27 The Nun II * $$ 1hr 50 mins of very nice set pieces and running around. But by the end, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open.

Oct 28 Hell House LLC $$$$ One of my favorite found footage movies. It's creepy, has multiple stories that tie up by the end, and the footage, even though it's edited together, makes sense why it was being filmed.

Oct 29 Seventh Moon * $$$ From Blair Witch Project alumni Eduardo Sanchez. Filmed like found footage, but not by the people it's happening to. People are essentially lost in the woods again. This time in China. It's low budget, but I thought the story was worth it.

Oct 30 Gwen * $$ The cover and synopsis makes this sound like a horror from Shudder (a horror streaming service.) It isn't and that disappointed me. But for a depressing story about a mother and 2 daughters sometime before people were happy in someplace England and the depressing life they endure, it works wonderfully.

Oct 31 The Houses October Built $$$$ Found footage of a group of friends going through haunted house attractions. Then there is a arch that slowly builds till the end.

Nov 1 Saw II * $$$ Having just watched Saw I figured I'd double up on the franchise. I don't remember seeing this, (although I knew the twist, so maybe I have), and although it wasn't as poignant as the first, I still enjoyed the story and the tie backs to the first.

Nov 2 The Lost * $$$ IMDB doesn't call this horror, yet Psycho is. The main character in this movie is psycho for sure. There's a large body count by the end. It certainly arrested my attention.

Nov 3 Widows Point * $$ Would have fit right in with the USA movies of the 90's. Take that for better or worse.

Nov 4 Insidious: The Red Door * $$$ I've enjoyed the Insidious franchise better than the Conjerverse, and although this didn't blow my mind, it had a better story than The Nun II.