Another year, another October, which means another steady stream of horror movies getting reviewed. A little something I like to call “Horror Month”.
If you don’t know, I’ll be watching and reviewing movies almost every day, from big movies in theaters to smaller-budget streaming movies.
Just anything I happen to watch that week in the horror genre. And when the week is over, I’ll be posting a full breakdown of everything I’ve seen thus far.
You can also check out my reviews early on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Cpeachfuzz or find any previous years with the hashtag #HorrorMonth.
Unfortunately, Horror Month is happening at the same time I’m moving across states, so I might be handing off a few of the theater-only reviews to Reals. He actually had a chance to see Saw X in theaters this weekend, which I couldn’t, so expect a review from him soon.
Like every year, I made a list of everything I hope to see this month. There don’t seem to be as many this year; round out to maybe 20. But I’m sure I’ll find some hidden ones along the way, waiting to be found. Which is the goal for Horror Month, so find that undiscovered gem.
As of right now, the one to beat is Cobweb. I absolutely love this movie. Hank did a Cobweb script review if you want to check that out.
Before I dive into a few I’ve already seen before the month started, here is the list of what’s coming.
THE LIST:
All Fun and Games
Appendage
Creepy Crawly
Dark Harvest
Dear David
Deliver Us
Don’t Look Away
Elevator Game
The Exorcist: Believer
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Influencer
My Animal
Natty Knocks
No One Will Save You
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines
Saw X
Slotherhouse
Suitable Flesh
Til Death Do Us Part
Totally Killer
V/H/S/85
The Exorcist: Believer is the only other one aside from Saw X coming to theaters. One thing about me: I absolutely hate exorcist and/or possession movies. They bore the living shit out of me. Every single one of them. So I’m not exactly looking forward to a new Exorcist movie being on the list.
So there is a small chance I might swap it out for something else.
And like I mentioned, I did see a few other horror movies before the start, so here are my thoughts on those. And like always, I’d love to see what you might have watched or can recommend.
First up-
Cobweb is beautifully directed, playing with shadows and expectations, and it does a good job portraying the parents as creepy. You know something is off with them; you just don’t know what. You know there’s something in the walls talking to this kid, but what it is or why it’s there remains a mystery until the exciting and gory final act. I absolutely loved this movie, setting it on Halloween and making it not just a horror movie but an actual Halloween movie. Also, it features a child Busey. You can tell immediately that it’s a Busey because they all look identical to Gary Busey. Which has led me to believe they are just clones. If you haven’t seen Cobweb yet, absolutely do so. There’s more I’d like to say about this movie; however, I really want to avoid spoilers. And maybe skip watching the trailer. Not that it spoils anything; I just found it pretty misleading. Either way, this gets a big SEE IT!
The Boogeyman – I honestly didn’t know it was PG-13 until just now. They really knew how to push it just on the edge of an R rating. Having Stephen King’s names attached is really what got me interested in seeing this one. Like Cobweb, I felt this did a good job playing with shadows, which is important for a creature that lives and functions in the darkness. There really wasn’t much that screamed based on King, except however the bits involving the dead mother that has our lead hung up on. I didn’t like this as much as Cobweb, but it still grabbed me. I also really enjoyed the freaky creature design. This is a SEE IT.
Talk to Me is an A24 horror movie that once again has everyone talking. I debated waiting to watch this until Horror Month started, but this was the movie I was most anticipating to see. And honestly, I found it only okay. When a movie is over hyped like this, you’re only going to be let down, which I mostly was. It had some moments, mainly that second-party scene of them testing the hand and how it went wrong. But after that, it felt kind of like they didn’t know what else to do. I did, however, enjoy the ending, which brought everything back around again. I just wanted more from it, as it basically became insidious. I’ll give it a RENT.
Speaking of insidious…
Insidious: The Red Door – I enjoy these movies a great deal, at least the sequels, as 3 and 4 were prequels and also not good. 5: The Red Door is a true sequel, picking up a few years later where Chapter 2 left off. I love the concept of these movies, where it’s about astral projection, and as you leave your body, it leaves it vulnerable to possession by spirits. Insidious might be the only possession film I enjoy, just because they try to do something different with it rather than demon. Red Door isn’t perfect by any means; it’s better than the prequels but not nearly as good as the first two. But I still think this entry is worth checking out. It even managed to get a few jumps out of me, which is rare these days. I’ll give this a solid RENT.
El Conde – If you ever wondered what a Wes Anderson vampire movie would be like, look no further, as I have your answer. It’s this Netflix film, “The Count”. It plays with some interesting ideas, like if a dictator was a vampire. Or if this vampire with a family wants to die, how does he divide up his estate and riches? If that sounds interesting to you, then by all means check this one out. I mostly lost interest in the second act. The introduction to a vampire killing nun posing as someone doing his finances was interesting at first, but then, like most of the plotlines, it lost me. It’s wonderfully shot, but the plot just wasn’t there to keep me engaged. I’m going to give this a SKIP.
And lastly…
No One Will Save You – The trailer was fantastic; I’ll give it that. But then I noticed something. No one says a word in it. Which had me curious if they were doing a gimmick of a dialogue-free movie. And yeah, my suspicions were right. I understand the reason for it: the lead character is isolated and shunned by the town she lives in; no one wants to hear her. But it’s such a gimmick; when she’s alone, I understand, but literally, when she’s hurt or around others, she’s silent. Even with a dead alien in her living room, she’s tight-lipped. The film already has a gimmick, as this is a home invasion, but instead of burglars, it’s curious gray aliens. Because it lacks any dialogue, things aren’t explained very well, as you have to piece them together yourself. Which I’m usually an advocate for. However, when a simple thing could be cleared up with a single line of dialogue that isn’t there, I’m taking points away. I loved the look of the aliens; however, each had its own unique look. I thought maybe it was just this visiting family of aliens, and one gets killed, so now the alien family is after our lead, but now. It’s a lot dumber than that, I guess. I liked parts and hated others. The ending is absolutely terrible, so a weak RENT from me.
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