61 Nights of Halloween (2025 Edition)

[Kane52630]

@Kane52630 next year we have back to back Friday the 13ths in Feb and March. Is your body ready?

I'm gonna do what I did the past Friday the 13ths and see three of them from Thurs to Saturday, but now I'm gonna start over from the beginning so my wife can see them for the first time.

It's probably the best way to view them because every three movies feels like an arc.

Pamela/Jason arch (1, 2, 3D)

Tommy Jarvis arch (Final Chapter, New Beginning, Jason Lives)

Late stage/post 80s arch (The New Blood, Jason Takes Manhattan, The Final Friday)

Post-Scream arch (Jason X, Freddy vs. Jason, Remake)

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Kane52630]

Day 27

A ★★★½ review of Dangerous Animals (2025)

Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday! And right now, you can save fifty pounds per person. That's two hundred pounds off for a family of four! This was an excellent old-fashioned survival horror film by Sean Byrne, where Jai Courtney plays a serial killer who just happens to run a shark cage business...

letterboxd.com

 

[Luigi]

1. Clue (1985)
2. Y2K (2024)
3. Heart Eyes (2025)
4. Time Cut (2024)
5. Shutter Island (2010)
6. The Orphanage (2007)
7. Haunt (2019)
8. Good Boy (2025)
9. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
10. Ready or Not (2019)
11. Night of the Reaper (2025)
12. Get Away (2024)
13. Hell House LLC (2015)
14. Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018)
15. Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire (2019)
16. The Conjuring: Last Rites (2025)
17. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
18. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
19. I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)

20. Scary Movie (2000)

Some good stuff here but very hard to get past the elements that have aged like milk that was already expired to begin with. The cast really carries this to keep it a head above the many crappy knockoffs that followed.

21. Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)

Real Scoob-heads know that our heroes had encountered real monsters before in underrated movies that did major numbers in my childhood, like The Reluctant Werewolf. But that doesn't diminish the groundbreaking impact of Zombie Island. Still works as a perfect gateway horror nearly (ZOINKS) 30 years later.

22. The Woman in the Yard (2025)

Blumhouse did Danielle Deadwyler worse than the Academy with this. I really do love the premise of mysterious, unmoving terror intruding into broad daylight like this. But it squanders that with cheap scares, shallow characterization, and a rushed ending that amounts to little more than a half-sketched speed-run of "elevated" horror cliches unwilling to make challenging choices.

23. Cobweb (2023)

The Halloween vibes in this are IMMACULATE, which makes it all the more frustrating that the substance disappoints. The main kid rocks, and Antony Starr and Lizzie Caplan are great as the parents. And then there's Cleopatra Coleman, who I hadn't seen before, but is now seriously tempting me to watch Rebel Moon Anyway, the fact that this is a debut feature really shows, especially with the clumsy staging of the climax. The parents are made too antagonistic too quickly, and the ridiculous monster face reveal kills it. All things considered, a decent movie for a chilly October night but could have been so much more.

24. Possessor (2020)

This rocks. Wish there was more Andrea Riseborough & some more horror elements, but it's a visually striking, intense and inventive thriller. Very satisfying watch after the last couple let-downs.

Cleopatra is also in Infinity Pool, which has the added bonus of crazy Mia Goth.

 

[Luigi]

 

[Lily Adler]

Looks like someone else has watched Imaginary.

 

[Lily Adler]

I wonder if that speculation that The Fog was a potential Halloween anthology film are true.

 

[Drizzle]

Well, all of your peer pressure got to me and I watched Chopping Mall

This movie is so RIDICULOUS, I love it. But I'm a sucker for anything taking place in a mall, and this one reminded me of a mall from my early childhood that didn't survive the mid-'90s. Anyway back to the movie, it's like they got Dick Miller and Paul Bartel for the movie and just went to the actual mall where this was filmed and grabbed random people off the street to play everyone else. The robots look like a mix between Johnny 5 and ROM Spaceknight which is hysterical.

And this was my reaction to the teens hanging out in the furniture store after hours:

Like y'all know that the store has glass windows and you can easily be spotted by security guards/cleaning crew, right?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Night 57

170. The Craft (1996) dir. Andrew Fleming

Bite-Sized Review: That's legacy.

***1/4

171. The Craft: Legacy (2020) dir. Zoe Lister-Jones

Bite-Sized Review: I watched it for Spaeny. I saw Spaeny. I'm satisified.

**3/4

172. Fear Street: Prom Queen (2025) dir. Matt Palmer

Bite-Sized Review: I liked this better this time but it's still super weak. Which is sad, because the cast is rather decent. I think it was a massive misstep to make this such a hetero flick. Especially as the only significant relationship is between two young women, one very obviously queer coded. But they just stay friends. Sigh. Also lol at the ruination of the MC being tied to her being sexually liberated for five minutes.

**1/2

173. Carrie (1976) dir. Brian De Palma

Bite-Sized Review: Such a truly painful film. You know what is coming from the start, but you can't help but hope for a different outcome for dear Carrie.

*****

174. Queens of the Dead (2025) dir. Tina Romero (NEW)

Bite-Sized Review: Was just my bro and I in an empty theater, while the longest game in World Series history was going on. And it was totally worth it. Low budget queer cinema has a charm most things don't. Please ruin my life, Jack.

***1/2

175. The New Mutants (2020) dir. Josh Boone

Bite-Sized Review: I know what you’re asking. Darth, why did you watch New Mutants, do you hate yourself? One, yes. And two, sometimes you’re up in the middle of the night, your bestie’s asleep, and you can’t watch anything good.

**1/2

 

[DarthSkywalker]

This looks tasty:

 

[Drizzle]

Keeping on with the Halloween series, I've reached Rob Zombie's Halloween. I've come to realize that as a concept for a remake, delving into Michael's backstory isn't a bad way to go. The biggest issue with this movie is that the script is atrocious. I've always thought this movie was vulgar and I first saw it when I was 19, basically the target audience for that kind of stuff. For example, Laurie's dialogue in the first scene where we see her as a teenager is cringeworthy. The look of the movie works for what it is, even though I do roll my eyes at the boyfriend characters in this having long wigs that make them look like Rob Zombie avatars sans the beard. If Zombie had stuck only to directing and had a screenwriter who knew how to restrain themselves it might have turned out better. But I did think Malcolm McDowell was a solid choice for a different take on Loomis.

 

[Link]

October 24th:
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is a solid psychological thriller and likely patient zero for the thousand Lifetime copycats that followed. Annabella Sciorra and Rebecca De Mornay are excellent as the two complicated women at the center of the maelstrom. Julianne Moore is also fabulous as Sciorra’s sassy best friend, a classic Moore typecast. But the real MVP is Ernie Hudson: the role is a bit outdated, but Hudson acts his heart out, a bucket full of sunshine amidst all the drama. There’s a brand-new version on Hulu, but what I’m really interested in is the 1993 Bollywood remake, which runs a luxurious 157 minutes and is bound to be crazy as hell.

October 25th:
Wicked (2023)

It’s honestly really nice to have something new that hits that magical world-building, whimsical tone with a dark undercurrent, and elaborate practical sets — all satisfying that craving without the cruelty, ego, or transphobia. For Good!!

I also watched a couple more episodes of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities:

Episode 3 out of 8.

The third episode of Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities leans more into sci-fi suspense than the supernatural morality tales that preceded it. I enjoy slow, deliberate pacing, but the first half of this hour-long entry felt almost too glacial for my liking. Still, the slow-climbing, unnerving atmosphere pays off beautifully — and the ending is brilliant.

Episode 4 out of 8.

A Christmas episode three days before Halloween? I guess. Also, what a royal cock-up on my part to eat bolognese during the body horror episode of Cabinet of Curiosities. When things took a turn for the nasty, I had to hoover my food like I was about to lose an eating competition. Guess who felt bloated and vaguely ill for the rest of the episode?

Anyway, I'm guessing this was written by someone with intimate knowledge of eczema — and how tretinoin can flare it up. You're preaching to the choir, Guillermo. I'd still get a tube of Alo Glo next to my Beau-Line, and The Substance. I’ve yet to dislike a single episode of this show.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Keeping on with the Halloween series, I've reached Rob Zombie's Halloween. I've come to realize that as a concept for a remake, delving into Michael's backstory isn't a bad way to go. The biggest issue with this movie is that the script is atrocious. I've always thought this movie was vulgar and I first saw it when I was 19, basically the target audience for that kind of stuff. For example, Laurie's dialogue in the first scene where we see her as a teenager is cringeworthy. The look of the movie works for what it is, even though I do roll my eyes at the boyfriend characters in this having long wigs that make them look like Rob Zombie avatars sans the beard. If Zombie had stuck only to directing and had a screenwriter who knew how to restrain themselves it might have turned out better. But I did think Malcolm McDowell was a solid choice for a different take on Loomis.

Yeah, the concept is sound. The issue is that the first half of the movie just isn't good imo. But this all did plant the seeds for the rather strong sequel.

 

[Drizzle]

Yeah, the concept is sound. The issue is that the first half of the movie just isn't good imo. But this all did plant the seeds for the rather strong sequel.

I'll give Halloween II a reappraisal. I remember not liking it 15+ years ago when I watched it but I at least know for a fact it's not the worst in the series.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Who danced best?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Yeah, the concept is sound. The issue is that the first half of the movie just isn't good imo. But this all did plant the seeds for the rather strong sequel.

@Man in the Suit seeing this post:

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Tonight...

A lot of pumpkins on Batman Day*.

*What? It's no more arbitrary then DC's.

 

[Man in the Suit]

Yeah, the concept is sound. The issue is that the first half of the movie just isn't good imo. But this all did plant the seeds for the rather strong sequel.

@Man in the Suit seeing this post:

The first half might be my favorite part... I guess the least contractually obligated remake part The KISS/"God of Thunder" needledrop after the title card is an incredible way to start a Halloween movie. I love the audacity of Zombie making something so unpleasant in a mainstream franchise. I just wish the scenes of Michael and Loomis in Smith's Grove were a bit longer.

Now the sequel though... What a picture. Masterpiece. RZ takes franchise to new places while addressing the haters.

Thought Sheri wouldn't be in this one? Think again!
Don't like foul language? Richard Brake is going to say **** 20 times in a row.
Don't like the characters? Well this is New Loomis even if Old Loomis increases sales by 25%.
Don't like how the characters look? Laurie dresses like Rob Zombie now.

 

[Lily Adler]

Tonight...

A lot of pumpkins on Batman Day*.

*What? It's no more arbitrary then DC's.

Where's Man-Bat day?

 

[Lily Adler]

 

[Lily Adler]

 

[Lily Adler]

 

[Lily Adler]

 

[Sithborg]

40. Scream 5 (2022)

Yeah, I'm adding in the five. A necessary passing of the torch movie. And I do love the Carpenters. A good return to the franchise. Though, Sydney and Gale feel like after thoughts in the movie. And I always enjoy seeing Boimler in stuff. Plus, one of my favorite cameos in the podcast. I do want to see Stab 8 though.

5. Scream 6 (2023)

Yeah, I think this may be my favorite. I just love Sam going Ghostface on killers. Great use of NewYork, and probably a better way to honor all the movies than whatever 7 is cooking.

 

[Lily Adler]

Thanks to @flickchick85 we can add Masterpiece Theater's Wuthering Heights for what they did to Tom Hardy.