Halloween Movies

If you're not into horror films, feel free to skip this post.

These are the films I watched for Halloween, starting in August. Some were good, some were very bad. For the ones that weren't amazing I am including a "watch instead" option. Spoilers have been written in white text, highlight the text to read it.

Haunt (2019)

5 stars

I rewatched Haunt, which I think is the best haunted attraction horror films. The other film that comes near in quality is Hellfest, which is also really scary, but this one has great cohesian with the cast of villains, and the main character's back story is a good addition which makes us more able to sympathise with her. 

If you know any other good Halloween haunt films, let me know. 

Scarecrow Slayer (2003)

0.5 stars

This was one of the worst films I have ever seen. The script was terrible and there was some really bad computer graphics to top it off. The main girl trying to make out with her awful frat boy ex not long after her nice guy boyfriend dies in a prank the ex sent him to do. The guy's best friend is obsessed with him on a whole other toxic level to the point he doesn't want him to date, which ends with a really bad fight scene. There is a scene where someone is cut in half with some of the worst graphics ever. It would have been better just to skip the scene than use graphics that bad. Honestly, it sounds funnier describing it here, but it really isn't. 

Watch instead: I'm still looking for a good scarecrow horror film, let me know if you have any suggestions.

House of Fears (2007)

2.5 stars

This was a pretty generic Halloween haunt film. The sets weren't bad, it looked like they used a real haunted house. It was fun enough, and the theme of the two different step-sisters having to band together was decent. There was an enjoyable scene where the sisters fought a monster together.

Watch instead: Haunt (2019)

House of Purgatory (2016)

0.5 stars

Thirty-somethings who look their age play teens in a low budget film that tries to rely on shock factor: gay bashing, childbirth, sexual assualt and a really badly acted pedophile uncle.

There was a confusing scene at the beginning where one of their mothers was played by an actress who was clearly the same age as them. They didn't even make the characters university students to make the actor's ages less ridiculous.

Definitely give this one a miss.

Watch instead: Hellfest (2018)

Choose or die (2022)

3 stars

This was an interesting take on a retro themed evil game but sadly fell short. The main character is a sad girl stuck in a dead end job trying to take care of her damaged mother while being sexually harrassed by a drug dealer, but it just felt like they were ticking all the boxes for sympathy. The challenges were all over the place with the thread sometimes not being really based on a choose your own adventure game (SPOILER the tape challenge looked good aesthetically but was basically a lose- lose situation whereas other games such as the rat game and what happened in the swimming pool had actual choices.) The final boss fight was decent. The ending was a little saccharine (SPOILER the girl lets the game continue but only to hurt bad people.)

Watch instead: Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)

Nocturne (2020)

3 stars

While this film has a decent budget and cast, it is a pretty average tale of a sad girl who just wants to be successful and is willing to resort to dark magic. It is really hard to relate to the main character, who seems to do nothing but sulk and be jealous of her more talented and popular twin, until finding out that there is a supernatural way to get what she wants. While the film is self-destructive, it fails to go to the dark places Starry Eyes and Brand New Cherry Flavor do.

Watch instead: Starry Eyes (2014), Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021)

Last night in Soho (2021)

4 stars

I expected a cheesy retro outing with this one and got way more than I bargained for. Through the fragile psychic Eloise we experience seeing the increasingly dark memories of her sixties counterpart Sandie. Mild spoiler, the character in the past gets forced into sex work instead of the career she dreamed of and things get confronting and spooky. I actually had to stop watching at one point as this one really got under my skin. 

Gretel and Hansel (2020)

4 stars

This film was cruelly underrated. The world in which they live is a particularly dark setting, where a job offer for Gretel turns out to be no more than an offer for her body, and even the woodsman who saves them from a monster implies Gretel has no use other than as a plaything for men. Alice Krige was wonderful as the witch who takes in young Gretel and her brother and tempts her with teachings of power. The film was visually rich and I loved the themes. As someone else mentioned in a review, if this film had been released by A24, it would have got higher ratings, as it is just their kind of film.

My Best Friend's Exorcism (2022)

3.5 stars

A retro 80s horror comedy about a girl who tries to save her best friend from a demon. It has comical moments such as the weightlifting bible show, but also some truly horrific moments such as well, let's just say something with intestinal worms. The girls' bond and the power of the love between them was sweet. While this has been unfavourably compared to Jennifer's Body, I don't think that is a really fair comparison as Jennifer's Body is really in it's own league and this was more of a fun 80s nostalgia piece.

Blood Fest (2018)

4 stars

Blood Fest is a meta horror comedy, think of the bantering film commentary of Scream, but set in a horror park. Dax is an adorably dorky twenty-something who defies his psychiatrist father to go to the premier horror movie event of the year. He and his friends become trapped when it all goes wrong. The villain is a rich director who has gone so far as to actually resurrect corpses as zombies among other things. There is also a fun twist, but I won't give it away. 

The Dark Half (1993)

3.5 stars

While Timothy Hutton does a great job playing both the hero and villain of the piece, the movie ends rather abruptly. As other reviewers mentioned, SPOILER the film just ends with the enemy being completely physically destroyed, so how is he supposed to prove he's innocent?

I liked the psychopomp sparrows.

Watch instead: Malignant (2021)

Candyman (2021) 

4.5 stars

This new film is a successor to the original 1992 Candyman. The retelling of the plot of the original as an urban legend was clever. A young black artist living in the now gentrified Cabrini Green seeks inspiration in the history of murdered black men but finds the spirit of the Candyman is following him and killing those around him. It all ties into the first film very well and is a harrowing link to the still current social issues. The shadow puppet show of murdered black men and youths at the end was particularly moving.

Master (2022)

4 stars

This film is more psychological horror than spooky. It was mostly about the microagressions black people deal with on a daily basis. Well worth watching, but don't go into it expecting something supernaturally scary. It is more about how the dark history of racism haunts us than an actual ghost.

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

5 stars

A scathing but pretty spot on satire of Gen Z kids losing their minds when they are trapped in a house without electricity and an escalating number of bodies. The deadpan humour throughout is great. It was a fun modern take on the closed circle murder mystery. I can't really say too much without giving anything away, and this is a film where it's best to go into it not knowing much.

Don't Breathe 2 (2021)

5 stars

I was very interested to see a sequel to Don't Breathe in which the Blind Man becomes an anti-hero. After all, in the first one he was only defending himself, but he did some pretty messed up things and hid a dark secret. I won't say anymore than that in case you somehow have avoided hearing about the plot but it is definitely worth seeing.

The second movie delivers with another twisted plot. The Blind Man is now living off-grid in an isolated house outside of a dying town with vibes of both Detroit and Escape from New York. He has an adopted child who is sometimes allowed into town with another military veteran, a kind woman who sells the plants he grows. But when there is a bulletin on the news about organ traffickers, and a strange man sees the girl in town, we know there is going to be trouble. 

True to it's title, it is hard not to hold your breath during this film. It was very intense with some wild twists and a lot of violence. It's not for everyone but if you enjoy horror and action you'll love this one.

Spree (2020)

4 stars

Another meta horror comedy. Joe Keery of Stranger Things fame plays a rather pathetic wannabe influencer, who, after years of getting less than 10 viewers to his channel, decides to become famous by killing his ride-share passengers. The film is mostly quite funny, although it does get a bit tense near the end. Joe Keery's portrayal of someone who desperately wants to be famous is such a spot-on portrayal of some people out there on social media. It was also nice to see a cameo from David Arquette.

Halloween (1978)

3.5 stars

I rewatched this with my partner who had never seen it. I only saw it a couple of years ago, it came out before we were born. It's funny because this movie was responsible for so many classic horror tropes that it now feels really cliché to me, even knowing those exact tropes were new at the time. The soundtrack by John Carpenter is great, I really like the music he makes for his films.

Scream (2022)

4 stars

Another meta film- in fact the 5th in the series of the original meta horror films. This "requel", as it calls itself,  reunites us with originals Sydney, Gale and Dewey and the original killer (in visions) as yet another slasher targets the kids of Woodsboro. This time, quite a few kids are related to the original killers and victims. As a nice twist the main character Sam is the illegitimate daughter of the original killer and sees visions of him talking to her. The films are always enjoyable with humorous nods to horror tropes and always follow the rules set up in the first film, although the secret killers often act ridiculously insane once revealed.

Wendell and Wild (2022)

5 stars

A beautifully executed stop-motion film by director Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, James and the Giant Peach), with a script by Jordan Peele. An orphaned girl returns from her time in reform school to find her town almost empty and about to be bulldozed by greedy businesspeople to build a huge prison. When two hapless demons offer to resurrect her beloved parents in exchange for getting them out of hell she agrees, causing more chaos. The story also features a transgender character (Raul) and queen bee character who is actually friendly and not mean which is a nice change. It remains fun and spooky despite tackling issues such as funnelling disadvantaged kids into prisons and government corruption.

I ended up watching this the weekend after Halloween as my friend Emily and I had been planning to see it together and we weren't able to get together until after Halloween.

Did you see any good Halloween movies?