Since this year's Scary Movie Month smoothly transitions into a Saturday, why don't we talk about our favorite finds and/or standout horror movies we watched in October? I'm as anxious as everybody to talk about the non-horror stuff we've watched, but so much great stuff we watched the past 31 days deserves a second look. In no particular order:
--DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE ('31): lives up to the hype. Dark, atmospheric, disturbing. Fredric March's da man. --SLEDGEHAMMER ('83): a SOV slasher that starts so slow, yet the final act goes so crazy it's amazing. David A. Prior's nuts! --70's INSECT DISASTER MOVIES: Bees disturbing Mardi Gras, tarantulas messing orange crops... and kids aren't safe. The 70's really didn't give a fuck. --MYSTICS OF BALI ('81): Indonesia's wildest cinematic export ever. Flying head dragging her inner guts around was nuts!
A few more SMM '25 since l jumped the gun posting at 3am ET. Apologies in advance for misspellings, not used to posting on the phone in a subway train on my way to work. 🙄
--ELVES ('89): As batshit insane as Christmas-themed PG-13 movies can get. I knew of Dan Haggerty from pop culture, but watching his sad puppy eyes as a destitute mall Santa that kicks butt made me fall on love with the man. 😍
--TOM SAVINI'S NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: UNCENSORED CUT ('90): watched on the big screen with an appreciative Brooklyn Horror Festival crowd. It doesn't get better than this to make the seconds of long-repressed gore shine. 🤩
--Tina Romero's QUEENS OF THE DEAD ('25): speaking of Savini, his cameo here is embarrassing. But while the movie as a whole isn't great, there's joy in seeing George's daughter carry on the tradition of zombie gore (not that graphic or impressive) and social commentary (LGBQT). A 2nd viewing might improve standing.
--MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM ('33): l miss Vincent Price's cheese from the 50's version. But watching a Michael Curtiz-helmed Fay Wray flick more interested in the reporter hijinks than the mad, revenge-driven killer and his wax statues was quirky fun. Pre-code early Hollywood never fails to deliver. 😃
It's been a long SMM, so I'm catching up on stuff I couldn't talk about. Between the baseball series and being sick for a week, I didn't watch much.
Bringing Out the Dead (1999): This one's for you Patrick. Totally forgot John Goodman was in this, and most of the supporting cast which is filled with cool people. I paid the big bucks to get this, just for that glorious 4k. The HDR really elevate the dirtiness of 90s New York and the particular look of the movie. Back then it was described as Taxi Driver in an ambulance, and I get it, because that's what people do, they compare stuff against other stuff. The movie is obviously more than that. I'm not saying it's better or worse, it's its own movie, with strengths and flaws, like any other movie has. This release has a couple of interesting interviews (I'm sure they can be found on YouTube). Too bad the distributor never cared for it and never got a proper Blu-ray release before this. How Scorsese keep getting disrespected like that will always baffles me. They finally did a limited release, that scalpers quickly scooped up and sold for twice the price (regular price is already very high). Being a collector is a pain in the a@@ nowadays.
Seven Samurai (1954): I've been playing a lot of the videogame Ghost of Yotei, which is a highly anticipated sequel to the game Ghost of Tsushima, where you play a samurai (there's even a Kurosawa mode in both games, and a Takashi Miike mode in Yotei). Anyway, it's been a while since I've seen Seven Samurai, and the game kinda put me in the mood for samurai stuff, so I got the 4k disc. Still a masterpiece. What other samurai movies are still talked about today other than this one?
Nouvelle Vague (2025): A biopic on the making of the classic movie A Bout de Souffle (Breathless, 1960). It's a fun, light movie, but the Godard character keeps saying quotes and citations about life, art, or movies, it gets repetitive. Watching the movie just made me want to watch the original one, which I did the next day.
Gunfight at O.K. Corral (1957): John Sturges has done some classics in his career. This is not one of them. Despite the star-studded cast, I found the movie a little bit too 'classic Hollywood' for my taste. I guess I'm more of an Italian-Western guy. Also, Mel Brooks parodied the song for Blazing Saddles, so that doesn't help. The aforementioned gunfight is evidently the best part.
Cypher (2002): Vincenzo Natali makes interesting sci-fi. Or at least, made. Now he's mostly doing tv, which is too bad, but at least he's working. He gained cult status with Cube, but was never able to really cash in on the status he gained, though he tried. The movie doesn't have the craziness that Cube had, but it's a very cool neo-noir-spy-scifi story, with twists and turns, obviously made on a tiny budget, that managed to score Lucy Liu as the femme fatale. And of course, David Hewlett is in it.
My Science Project (1985): Not a good movie, but very much worth it for the 3rd act where everything goes crazy. We watched Real Genius right after, it was much better.
Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse and Across The Spider-verse (2018 and 2023): Animated superhero movie shouldn't be this good. I was really in a Spidey mood, so I also got a bunch of Legos and loaded the game on my PS5.
Ahhhh My Science Project. As a nerd movie lover growing up in the 80s, me and my friends rewatched that one a lot of VHS. Its certainly lost in time, probably as its not quite up to par with the ones that live on (Revenge Nerds, Real Genius, Weird Science, War Games, etc). It reminds me of another such flick that ive been meaning to revisit named The Manhattan Project (1986)
My favorite Scary Movie Month discoveries: Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter (1955) looks amazing (one scene especially, iykyk) and has a great lead performance from Robert Mitchum. Damn shame Laughton never directed again. Last year's stylish Friday the 13th pastiche In a Violent Nature is fabulous and has the single greatest kill I've seen in ages (again, iykyk). Jane Schoenbrun's debut feature We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021) rattled in my brain for a while after seeing it, so I guess that's a sign of a good movie. And The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) was the first silent Hitchcock I've seen, and unsurprisingly the man knew what he was doing even in his 20's.
Honorable mentions: Peeping Tom, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, The Woman, 12 Hour Shift
One of the few non-scary movies I saw in October was Sisu 2, the follow-up to Jalmari Helander's Sisu from 2022. If you liked the first movie and/or are a fan of ridiculous, over-the-top action, I can pretty much guarantee you'll like the sequel too. They upped the budget considerably from the first one and it shows, the setpieces are bigger and ever so slightly more comedic, and Stephen Lang plays a good despicable villain. The sequel has the lead fighting Russians instead of nazis, but in the current state of the world I'm not mad about that.
I'm seeing a US release date of Nov 21st, but I have no idea how wide it'll be. And looks like it'll be called Sisu: Road to Revenge there (it was just Sisu 2 here). Big recommend to see it on a big screen.
OMG! You've seen it!?! Im with Kunider that its really one of few movies im anticipating big time. I believe you first introduced me to SISU when it came out and i f@#$ing love that flick. Told many friends to watch and have revisited several times. Im SO stoked you dug it Mikko and cant wait to see it. Thanks for the heads up.
I remember when Mikko first talked about the movie, i was intrigued. Then the trailer came out. The group text with my friends caught fire, they all immediately wanted to see it. Everybody loved it.
Tron: Ares (2025): A.I. run amok, always a good time (not really). There's some very cool stuff in it, but also some very bad stuff. There's an overuse of the laser wall. And the always fun mid-credit scene setting up a sequel, which might not come considering the box office.
Yo J.M.....good idea!....Heres a few fav watches from me for Scary Movie Month:
Weapons: this one blew me away. fav watch in a long time (maybe since Sinners)
VHS Halloween: always find fun, creative, wackadoodle stuff in this franchise.
Jimmy & Stiggs: i didnt connect with the storytelling as much as there is but i do dig Begos aesthetics and bonkers goo filled fun
The Popes Exorcist: Way more fun of a ride than i expected.
Ninja Zombie: One of the cheeziest low budget flicks ive seen in forever...its not good but i remain hopeful the Rifftrax gang gets ahold of it at some point.
A smidge hagiography but understandably so as its focused on the ever brilliant Scorsese. I had a wonderful time with this 5 part series. Lots of wonderful interviews, and clips, and stories from his early days to present. Of course even at this length theres woefully to little time to do super deep dives into individual favorites but i did come away learning a bit more about several. (Although i was disappointed that his take on Cape Fear got almost nothing more than a mention or two) Most of all it made me want to revisit so many of his great movies and fill in a few gaps.
With not as much free time on my hands this year, my #ScaryMovieMonth was mostly revisiting classics and/or old favorites. That said, here's my top five new-to-me movies from October:
5) NECROPOLIS (1987) An immortal witch causes mayhem (often naughty mayhem!) among lost souls in the big city. The opening dance number must be seen to be believed. 4) FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES (2025) It’s so tongue-in-cheek, it’s THIS close to being a Scary Movie-type of parody. But that also means there’s a lot of laughs to be had. 3) FRANKIE FREAKO (2024) Shabadoo! 2) THEM! (1964) I was all, “1950s giant insects. Got it.” But this went a lot harder than anticipated. It’s a bona fide horror movie, with some genuinely spooky stuff. This must have been huge for young Ridley Scott and young H.R. Giger. 1) THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964) A classic for a reason. Vincent Price gets both the loneliness and the dark humor of the situation. After hearing so much about this over the years, I’m so glad I’ve finally seen it.
The traumatized face and scream of that little girl in "Them!" (or the mother of the two missing boys toward the end, which reminded me of OG Japanese "Godzilla") are unforgettable. 🥺😭 If the 70's insect horror movies hadn't stricken my fancy this 50's classic would have stood out. 🤓🥵
On a windy Halloween night, I was at the Mahoning Drive-In for the Dusk-to-Dawn Scare-A-Thon. It was five unrevealed movies and several trailer reels from 7:30 p.m. until daybreak on November 1. I was one of about 700 people on the Mahoning's lot at the start of the night, and around 200 of us were left as the sun rose. It was a memorable night. It is not everyday that you see a long concession queue at 3:00 a.m. (For the last of three intermissions.)
This was the line-up:
1. Mausoleum (1983) 2. Black Christmas (1974) 3. Nightmare, or Nightmare in a Damaged Brain (1981) 4. The Children (1980) 5. Pin (1988) - A digital presentation
I had seen everything before except The Children. Though I have watched Black Christmas in the past couple of years, it was still a treat to see it on the big screen. The print was beautiful. The red color of the Nightmare print showed that it was quite vintage. Nightmare is as weird as I remember it being. The Children was the worst one by far. Pacing issues make the film a slog to get though.
Before Halloween night, I had watched 35 films for the month.
There were some well-known films that I finally got around to seeing: SIGNS (2002), SALEM'S LOT (1979), CHOPPING MALL (1986), VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960), and SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (1983).
For new watches that are more obscure, these are a few that stood out.
POISON FOR THE FAIRIES (1986) - A Mexican slow-burn about the strange relationship between two schoolgirls.
DEMON WITCH CHILD (1975) - A Spanish film about a possessed teenage girl that gets extremely weird.
PHONE (2002) - A Korean production about cursed telephone calls that is worth seeing for the creepy performance of the child actress.
INVITATION TO HELL (1984) - Wes Craven's unpredictable TV film about a country club with connections to the Devil.
As for re-watches during the month, they were only a tiny percentage of total movies for the month. Seeing the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre on 35mm in a theater was a highlight. The dinner sequence felt more nightmarish on a big screen.
For any fellow tree huggers and nature lovers here, the new documentary Giants Rising is now streaming free on PBS. Fantastic film about California's coast redwoods.
Since this year's Scary Movie Month smoothly transitions into a Saturday, why don't we talk about our favorite finds and/or standout horror movies we watched in October? I'm as anxious as everybody to talk about the non-horror stuff we've watched, but so much great stuff we watched the past 31 days deserves a second look. In no particular order:
ReplyDelete--DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE ('31): lives up to the hype. Dark, atmospheric, disturbing. Fredric March's da man.
--SLEDGEHAMMER ('83): a SOV slasher that starts so slow, yet the final act goes so crazy it's amazing. David A. Prior's nuts!
--70's INSECT DISASTER MOVIES: Bees disturbing Mardi Gras, tarantulas messing orange crops... and kids aren't safe. The 70's really didn't give a fuck.
--MYSTICS OF BALI ('81): Indonesia's wildest cinematic export ever. Flying head dragging her inner guts around was nuts!
A few more SMM '25 since l jumped the gun posting at 3am ET. Apologies in advance for misspellings, not used to posting on the phone in a subway train on my way to work. 🙄
Delete--ELVES ('89): As batshit insane as Christmas-themed PG-13 movies can get. I knew of Dan Haggerty from pop culture, but watching his sad puppy eyes as a destitute mall Santa that kicks butt made me fall on love with the man. 😍
--TOM SAVINI'S NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: UNCENSORED CUT ('90): watched on the big screen with an appreciative Brooklyn Horror Festival crowd. It doesn't get better than this to make the seconds of long-repressed gore shine. 🤩
--Tina Romero's QUEENS OF THE DEAD ('25): speaking of Savini, his cameo here is embarrassing. But while the movie as a whole isn't great, there's joy in seeing George's daughter carry on the tradition of zombie gore (not that graphic or impressive) and social commentary (LGBQT). A 2nd viewing might improve standing.
--MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM ('33): l miss Vincent Price's cheese from the 50's version. But watching a Michael Curtiz-helmed Fay Wray flick more interested in the reporter hijinks than the mad, revenge-driven killer and his wax statues was quirky fun. Pre-code early Hollywood never fails to deliver. 😃
It's been a long SMM, so I'm catching up on stuff I couldn't talk about. Between the baseball series and being sick for a week, I didn't watch much.
ReplyDeleteBringing Out the Dead (1999): This one's for you Patrick. Totally forgot John Goodman was in this, and most of the supporting cast which is filled with cool people. I paid the big bucks to get this, just for that glorious 4k. The HDR really elevate the dirtiness of 90s New York and the particular look of the movie. Back then it was described as Taxi Driver in an ambulance, and I get it, because that's what people do, they compare stuff against other stuff. The movie is obviously more than that. I'm not saying it's better or worse, it's its own movie, with strengths and flaws, like any other movie has. This release has a couple of interesting interviews (I'm sure they can be found on YouTube). Too bad the distributor never cared for it and never got a proper Blu-ray release before this. How Scorsese keep getting disrespected like that will always baffles me. They finally did a limited release, that scalpers quickly scooped up and sold for twice the price (regular price is already very high). Being a collector is a pain in the a@@ nowadays.
Seven Samurai (1954): I've been playing a lot of the videogame Ghost of Yotei, which is a highly anticipated sequel to the game Ghost of Tsushima, where you play a samurai (there's even a Kurosawa mode in both games, and a Takashi Miike mode in Yotei). Anyway, it's been a while since I've seen Seven Samurai, and the game kinda put me in the mood for samurai stuff, so I got the 4k disc. Still a masterpiece. What other samurai movies are still talked about today other than this one?
Nouvelle Vague (2025): A biopic on the making of the classic movie A Bout de Souffle (Breathless, 1960). It's a fun, light movie, but the Godard character keeps saying quotes and citations about life, art, or movies, it gets repetitive. Watching the movie just made me want to watch the original one, which I did the next day.
Gunfight at O.K. Corral (1957): John Sturges has done some classics in his career. This is not one of them. Despite the star-studded cast, I found the movie a little bit too 'classic Hollywood' for my taste. I guess I'm more of an Italian-Western guy. Also, Mel Brooks parodied the song for Blazing Saddles, so that doesn't help. The aforementioned gunfight is evidently the best part.
Cypher (2002): Vincenzo Natali makes interesting sci-fi. Or at least, made. Now he's mostly doing tv, which is too bad, but at least he's working. He gained cult status with Cube, but was never able to really cash in on the status he gained, though he tried. The movie doesn't have the craziness that Cube had, but it's a very cool neo-noir-spy-scifi story, with twists and turns, obviously made on a tiny budget, that managed to score Lucy Liu as the femme fatale. And of course, David Hewlett is in it.
My Science Project (1985): Not a good movie, but very much worth it for the 3rd act where everything goes crazy. We watched Real Genius right after, it was much better.
Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse and Across The Spider-verse (2018 and 2023): Animated superhero movie shouldn't be this good. I was really in a Spidey mood, so I also got a bunch of Legos and loaded the game on my PS5.
I'm so excited for Nouvelle Vague! I'm not the biggest Breathless/Godard guy but I just love that whole movement.
DeleteAhhhh My Science Project. As a nerd movie lover growing up in the 80s, me and my friends rewatched that one a lot of VHS. Its certainly lost in time, probably as its not quite up to par with the ones that live on (Revenge Nerds, Real Genius, Weird Science, War Games, etc). It reminds me of another such flick that ive been meaning to revisit named The Manhattan Project (1986)
DeleteMy favorite Scary Movie Month discoveries: Charles Laughton's The Night of the Hunter (1955) looks amazing (one scene especially, iykyk) and has a great lead performance from Robert Mitchum. Damn shame Laughton never directed again. Last year's stylish Friday the 13th pastiche In a Violent Nature is fabulous and has the single greatest kill I've seen in ages (again, iykyk). Jane Schoenbrun's debut feature We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021) rattled in my brain for a while after seeing it, so I guess that's a sign of a good movie. And The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) was the first silent Hitchcock I've seen, and unsurprisingly the man knew what he was doing even in his 20's.
ReplyDeleteHonorable mentions: Peeping Tom, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, The Woman, 12 Hour Shift
One of the few non-scary movies I saw in October was Sisu 2, the follow-up to Jalmari Helander's Sisu from 2022. If you liked the first movie and/or are a fan of ridiculous, over-the-top action, I can pretty much guarantee you'll like the sequel too. They upped the budget considerably from the first one and it shows, the setpieces are bigger and ever so slightly more comedic, and Stephen Lang plays a good despicable villain. The sequel has the lead fighting Russians instead of nazis, but in the current state of the world I'm not mad about that.
ReplyDeleteI'm seeing a US release date of Nov 21st, but I have no idea how wide it'll be. And looks like it'll be called Sisu: Road to Revenge there (it was just Sisu 2 here). Big recommend to see it on a big screen.
Maybe the only movie i'm actually anticipating this year. Can't wait.
DeleteOMG! You've seen it!?! Im with Kunider that its really one of few movies im anticipating big time. I believe you first introduced me to SISU when it came out and i f@#$ing love that flick. Told many friends to watch and have revisited several times. Im SO stoked you dug it Mikko and cant wait to see it. Thanks for the heads up.
DeleteVery happy to see some Sisu love!
DeleteI remember when Mikko first talked about the movie, i was intrigued. Then the trailer came out. The group text with my friends caught fire, they all immediately wanted to see it. Everybody loved it.
DeleteTron: Ares (2025): A.I. run amok, always a good time (not really). There's some very cool stuff in it, but also some very bad stuff. There's an overuse of the laser wall. And the always fun mid-credit scene setting up a sequel, which might not come considering the box office.
ReplyDeleteGreat YT video analysis about not only the new "Tron," but recent blockbuster filmmaking in general: https://youtu.be/3hB-0-JU2HM?si=tjv8eu8NmbsGLDSK
DeletePersonally l liked "Tron: Ares" as pure surface-level eye candy (IMAX 3D). 🙂👍
Thanks for the link, i'll watch it later
DeleteYo J.M.....good idea!....Heres a few fav watches from me for Scary Movie Month:
ReplyDeleteWeapons: this one blew me away. fav watch in a long time (maybe since Sinners)
VHS Halloween: always find fun, creative, wackadoodle stuff in this franchise.
Jimmy & Stiggs: i didnt connect with the storytelling as much as there is but i do dig Begos aesthetics and bonkers goo filled fun
The Popes Exorcist: Way more fun of a ride than i expected.
Ninja Zombie: One of the cheeziest low budget flicks ive seen in forever...its not good but i remain hopeful the Rifftrax gang gets ahold of it at some point.
Mr. Scorsese (2025 Apple+)
ReplyDeleteA smidge hagiography but understandably so as its focused on the ever brilliant Scorsese. I had a wonderful time with this 5 part series. Lots of wonderful interviews, and clips, and stories from his early days to present. Of course even at this length theres woefully to little time to do super deep dives into individual favorites but i did come away learning a bit more about several. (Although i was disappointed that his take on Cape Fear got almost nothing more than a mention or two) Most of all it made me want to revisit so many of his great movies and fill in a few gaps.
With not as much free time on my hands this year, my #ScaryMovieMonth was mostly revisiting classics and/or old favorites. That said, here's my top five new-to-me movies from October:
ReplyDelete5) NECROPOLIS (1987) An immortal witch causes mayhem (often naughty mayhem!) among lost souls in the big city. The opening dance number must be seen to be believed.
4) FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES (2025) It’s so tongue-in-cheek, it’s THIS close to being a Scary Movie-type of parody. But that also means there’s a lot of laughs to be had.
3) FRANKIE FREAKO (2024) Shabadoo!
2) THEM! (1964) I was all, “1950s giant insects. Got it.” But this went a lot harder than anticipated. It’s a bona fide horror movie, with some genuinely spooky stuff. This must have been huge for young Ridley Scott and young H.R. Giger.
1) THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964) A classic for a reason. Vincent Price gets both the loneliness and the dark humor of the situation. After hearing so much about this over the years, I’m so glad I’ve finally seen it.
The traumatized face and scream of that little girl in "Them!" (or the mother of the two missing boys toward the end, which reminded me of OG Japanese "Godzilla") are unforgettable. 🥺😭 If the 70's insect horror movies hadn't stricken my fancy this 50's classic would have stood out. 🤓🥵
DeleteOn a windy Halloween night, I was at the Mahoning Drive-In for the Dusk-to-Dawn Scare-A-Thon. It was five unrevealed movies and several trailer reels from 7:30 p.m. until daybreak on November 1. I was one of about 700 people on the Mahoning's lot at the start of the night, and around 200 of us were left as the sun rose. It was a memorable night. It is not everyday that you see a long concession queue at 3:00 a.m. (For the last of three intermissions.)
ReplyDeleteThis was the line-up:
1. Mausoleum (1983)
2. Black Christmas (1974)
3. Nightmare, or Nightmare in a Damaged Brain (1981)
4. The Children (1980)
5. Pin (1988) - A digital presentation
I had seen everything before except The Children. Though I have watched Black Christmas in the past couple of years, it was still a treat to see it on the big screen. The print was beautiful. The red color of the Nightmare print showed that it was quite vintage. Nightmare is as weird as I remember it being. The Children was the worst one by far. Pacing issues make the film a slog to get though.
😃👻☠️🤩
DeleteBefore Halloween night, I had watched 35 films for the month.
ReplyDeleteThere were some well-known films that I finally got around to seeing: SIGNS (2002), SALEM'S LOT (1979), CHOPPING MALL (1986), VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (1960), and SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (1983).
For new watches that are more obscure, these are a few that stood out.
POISON FOR THE FAIRIES (1986) - A Mexican slow-burn about the strange relationship between two schoolgirls.
DEMON WITCH CHILD (1975) - A Spanish film about a possessed teenage girl that gets extremely weird.
PHONE (2002) - A Korean production about cursed telephone calls that is worth seeing for the creepy performance of the child actress.
INVITATION TO HELL (1984) - Wes Craven's unpredictable TV film about a country club with connections to the Devil.
As for re-watches during the month, they were only a tiny percentage of total movies for the month. Seeing the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre on 35mm in a theater was a highlight. The dinner sequence felt more nightmarish on a big screen.
For any fellow tree huggers and nature lovers here, the new documentary Giants Rising is now streaming free on PBS. Fantastic film about California's coast redwoods.
ReplyDelete