I kinda "cheated" by watching more than one movie on recent days for this final installment, but I'm glad I got up to 31 movies this year!
1. Smile [2022] 8/10
2. The Vigil [2019] 6/10
3. The Cursed [2021] 8/10
4. Pearl [2022] 7/10
5. Hatching 7/10
6. Titane 6/10
7. You Are Not My Mother 5/10
8. Jessabelle 6/10
9. Sea Fever 6/10
10. Amulet 5/10
11. Freaky 8/10
12. Candyman [2021] 6/10
13. Nightbreed [1990] 7/10
14. Halloween Ends 5/10
15. The Hunger [1983] 6/10
16. Case 39 6/10
17. Hellraiser [2022] 8/10
18. The Ring 8/10
19. Evil Dead [2013] 8/10
20. Nosferatu the Vampyre [1979] 9/10
21. Phantasm [1979] 3/10
22. Brightburn 7/10
23. Stephen King's Cat's Eye 6/10
The anthology type of approach to this one with the cat throughout ended up making it feel a bit unintentionally comedic, but it was a decently entertaining trio of individual plots nonetheless. It honestly didn't need the cat at all though, which made me expect a different type of movie.
24. The Dead Zone 8/10
A surprisingly well-made film, although I suppose I should've expected that since it was directed by Cronenberg (although he's had his share of misses over the years). Christopher Walken younger than I've ever seen him before in the earliest role that I've ever seen of his now, cementing him as a legend for me since his younger days.
Also Martin Sheen's line in this movie "I've had a vision I'm gonna be president of the United States one day" got a laugh out of me since he did in fact end up playing the POTUS on The West Wing.
25. The Turning [2020] 4/10
It was obvious this movie had potential but was really let down by its writing. So many things that could've been fixed with it, if the writing had gone through some more revisions. To its credit it was effectively creepy and had good cinematography, but the story just needed to be fleshed out more, and there were too many things that just didn't make sense or weren't explained at all.
26. The Incredible Melting Man [1977] 6/10
This was a very entertaining B-movie with a type of story that felt more fresh & original than most other sci-fi/horror movies I've seen, even from the era. It could've easily been a better movie if the writing & directing had been higher quality though. In a general sense it reminded me of Cronenberg's The Fly with the physical degeneration of the lead male character and the amount of "appropriately disgusting" practical effects, but in the end didn't have The Fly's emotional impact.
27. Uninvited [1987] 4/10
I saw this at a local theater screening, which was the best way to see it, because it was full of unintentionally comedic moments that had the audience cracking up. It was sort of what I thought Cat's Eye would be (i.e. a cat monster) and provided a good amount of schlocky campiness that you could only get from an 80s horror movie. Not good by any stretch, but still an entertaining watch with a crowd.
28. Cemetery of Terror [1985] 5/10
This one reminded me a TON of Halloween, Friday the 13th, and zombie movies in general with its general "slasher movie" approach, but still felt distinct enough from those and became its own thing. Although it wasn't very good and was also very contrived, still was a moderately entertaining watch.
29. Come Play 6/10
This was sorta uneven and could've been better with an improved script. Thematically it borrowed quite a bit from The Babadook, and ended up feeling like a lesser version of that movie. A lot of production effort into the movie was obvious, but unfortunately it was another case of a movie with potential being let down by its writing & directing.
30. Werewolves Within 8/10
I got interested in this after seeing how often it was being mentioned on other people's lists and have to say it was worth the watch, even if it was mostly because of the AT&T girl Milana Vayntrub. Not that the rest of the movie was terrible, but she really added to it a ton. I also have to call out the editing on this movie, which was just plain ace. The filmmakers knew exactly what they were doing with the editing and used it to really good effect. So many cuts that just had me rolling!
31. Scream [2022] 8/10
I don't remember Scream 3 and 4 very well but I guess I didn't need to, since this latest one had a well-contained story. IMO a solid installment in this franchise, although it did feel very derivative of the first Scream movie way too often. But it definitely delivered, and I don't mind that they're making another installment. I just hope it'll do something new, rather than re-tread old ground.
This was my first Halloween at The Hype and I enjoyed reading everyone's perspective on some of our beloved horror classics. Hope we're all still around to do this again next year!
