You doing this 31 horror movie Halloween thing or what?
Yeah man I'm 16 movies deep so far.
Just been keeping track on the RYM forum instead, here's my list so far and some notes:
1. Bride of Re-Animator
Way better than I remembered it being. A funny, dark and creative sequel on the level of Return of the Living Dead III (Brian Yuzna directed both). God I miss practical effects like these movies had.
2. Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead and
3. Wyrmwood: Apocalypse
Cool, fun, post-apocalyptic action/splatter films that are very Australian. Both are rewatches.
4. The Woman
This ruled. I had no idea it was part of a trilogy though, so now I'm kinda annoyed I accidentally started in the middle lol. Some great satire here, and it's also quite brutal, even though it doesn't really have a horror movie atmosphere.
5. Monster Man
The comedy in this makes American Pie seem intellectual. Fun though, and the old school effects/crazy monster truck they built is what saves this movie for me.
6. Offspring
First film in that Woman trilogy. Definitely an interesting one. On one hand the plot, script and acting all feels like a made-for-television movie (but in a good way) but then on the other hand it's ultra-violent and pretty sadistic, which makes for a strangely appealing mixture. Not as good as The Woman was, but still good.
7. Wrong Turn
About as mid-tier as I remember it being. I was hoping after a decade or so since the last time I saw it, it would've aged better in retrospect, but nope. The effects and kills are still cool, but the plot and characters feel even worse at this point. How fucking "huwhite" is it that they trespass into the house of the mutants to find a phone, and the one woman uses their bathroom? The first thing she does is check herself in the mirror. It'd be one thing if this was satire...
8. Darlin'
Third film of that Woman trilogy. Definitely the least overtly horror, genre-wise, and much heavier on the social commentary stuff. Directed by the actress who plays 'the woman' in the previous films, with more of a supporting cast role this time. I definitely recommend the whole trilogy. One of my favourite discoveries in Shocktober this year (so far).
9. The Empty Man
Super fucking mid-tier mystery/cosmic horror. Poor pacing and overly long. Decent acting saved it from being "bad" but only barely.
10. Night of Fear
50ish minute short film(?) that was intended to be a pilot for a series called "Fright." Aussie hixploitation with no dialogue that is mostly famous for being similar to Texas Chainsaw Massacre but came out 2 years before it.
11. Altered
Eduardo Sánchez's first solo project after The Blair Witch Project and it's really cool. Has that 00's indie horror charm, with tons of crazy practical effects, and the plot throws you right into the middle of things with no explanation. A real commitment to mystery.
12. The Cave
I loved the first half, the exploration of the cave systems, the mystery etc, but I feel it jumps the shark once the explicit horror elements start coming in, with some pretty crap CGI at times, and the ending was fucking corny.
13. Skyline
A mid-budget alien invasion war movie with a body horror side element. I respect its vision and what it was trying to do, but the casting is pretty crummy and the CGI hasn't aged very well since 2010. I mostly watched it because I want to see the sequels.
14. Les affamés (aka Ravenous)
This was awesome, a French-Canadian zombie/virus outbreak drama I found on Netflix. Lots of beautiful, haunting rural scenery and bloody violence. Pretty bleak.
15. Paranormal Activity
Still about as mid as I remember it being all those years ago. However, this time around I really clued into the (possibly unintentional) patriarchal critique, with how Katie is in a tug-o-war between a demonic entity that wants to possess her and her boyfriend who, as per toxic masculinity, refuses to seek out help and wants to handle everything himself. All while regularly violating Katie's boundaries (much like the demonic entity). Might be a clever film if it weren't so stupid and gimmicky. Also Micah is one of the most hateable characters ever created.
16. Saw
An excellent film exists in there, but it's utterly held back by the stilted acting and crappy script. Really badly wants to be a 90's Fincher film. Fantastic editing and cinematography though, which is where its strengths are.
