🎃 Horrortober 2024 🎃

Horrotober ‘24 is here! I made it through 21 movies last year, hoping for the same or better this year.

1. Speak No Evil (2024)

10/1/23

Speak No Evil was a decent theater experience to kick off Horrortober. James McAvoy is amazing as always and was by far the best part of this movie. Mackenzie Davis was also great. Unfortunately, this one fell a bit flat for me. Without getting spoilery, the foreshadowing was pretty on-the-nose so by the time we got to the reveal it was pretty obvious what was going on. Still, McAvoy succeeds in making you feel uncomfortable the entire time.

2. It’s a Wonderful Knife (2023)

10/4/23

I’m a huge fan of Happy Death Day and idea of time jumps/loops in horror. It’s a Wonderful Knife came onto my radar as a similar type of movie and looked intriguing. I might’ve had too high of expectations but I didn’t love this one, it felt sort of all over the place (maybe that was the point?) and I felt my mind start to wander at times. It was fun though, and Justin Long is hilariously awful. The kills weren’t too crazy but some of the scenes were really cool, just with how they were shot. I’d probably check this one out again around Christmas time.

3. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)

10/4/23

Scary Stories is another movie (and book) I hear about from time to time but never watched. I’m a sucker for these 80’s style movies and this was better than I expected, with some added humor. To me, this feels like a scarier version of Jumanji. I expect the “Red Room” scene is pretty iconic so I’ll need to make it a priority to read the book now. Overall, an enjoyable experience that kept me entertained.

4. Bride of Chucky (1998)

10/5/23

I’ve had a soft spot for Bride of Chucky for as long as I can remember. It might have been the first Chucky movie I ever saw? I know I’d seen bits and pieces of Child’s Play at an early age but never watched it from start to finish. I love the 90s soundtrack, and anytime I hear Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie I think of this movie. I think it’s a classic that still holds up, but does drag a bit in the middle.

5. Slugs (1988)

10/6/23

Slugs was new to me this year; I’d never heard of it. It got high praise on a random podcast (or maybe reddit?) and I decided to check it out for Horrotober this year. Deadly slugs invade a town, chaos ensues. It was a campy 80s movie and I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t anything I’d go raving about.

6. Abigail (2024)

10/8/23

Another new movie for me here. I hadn’t heard much about Abigail but saw it on my temporarily-renewed Peacock subscription (and I’ve been a big fan of Dan Stevens since seeing The Guest). This might be the sleeper hit of the year. I absolutely loved this movie, it has it all: comedy, gore, suspense, you name it. Can’t wait to watch this one again.

7. The First Omen (2024)

10/9/23

I only vaguely remember the 2006 remake of The Omen (and have not seen the original) but know the general story and seeing The First Omen all over the front page of Hulu got me curious enough to check it out. I think I’m getting bored with religious horror but did enjoy the somewhat expected ending (since it’s a prequel).

8. Terrifier (2016)

10/10/23

I’ve seen Terrifier a couple times now, in chunks, but hadn’t yet sat through it start to finish. The shock-value wears off quick and this movie turns into a bore. I maybe just don’t “get” Art the Clown. The reviews of Terrifier 3 is what brought me back and I can’t quite say I like this movie. The soundtrack though, is top-notch and could have that on as background music all day.

9. Sting (2024)

10/11/23

Sting hooked me with the movie poster and the synopsis about a spider that grows to become a large monster had me excited. Then it got added to Hulu and jumped right to the front of my list. Unfortunately, it was somewhat of a disappointment and kind of lost me in the middle. I think it’d be worth revisiting in the future.

10. Terrifier 2 (2022)

10/12/23

Terrifier 2 is definitely better than the first. This time around there’s at least a story. You can tell they had a larger budget this time around with a much better cast. The soundtrack, as expected, is phenomenal. The gore is cranked up to 11 and the effects are impressive. Art the Clown and his new “sidekick” (?) are still so strange to me and I feel like I’m just not getting something about these movies.

11. Poltergeist (1982)

10/12/23

Another classic I’d not yet seen. I really enjoyed Poltergeist and it’s goofy special effects. I can see this one being added to the regular October rotation.

12. Freddy vs. Jason (2003)

10/14/23

I hadn’t seen Freddy vs Jason since it came out and it sort of held a special place in my heart, probably due to nostalgia reasons. I knew I didn’t love the movie, yet I was starting to miss it. Upon re-watch, this movie is really dumb. The premise is ridiculous and has tons of issues but it’s still fairly enjoyable and you’re a fan of either Nightmare or Friday.

Final thoughts coming soon…