2020 Horror Movie Month Second Half Report
/Apparently there is a big cross-over in readers of this site and horror movie fans, as I got a good amount of feedback and recommendations after the first post on this subject.
There were fewer good movies in the second half of the run. This is due to the fact that I started with some of the better reviewed films and worked my way down. So most of my comments here amount to, “Eh, it was alright.” Next year I’ll do it the opposite way. I’ll pick my 31 movies and then organize them from worst reviewed to best reviewed and watch them in that order. That way the movies won’t be getting worse as I’m becoming a little burnt out on horror movies.
A couple people asked me to write a more about the plot of each movie, but:
a) That would require me doing more writing when you could just find that information with a google search.
and
b) I prefer to know as little as possible when going into a movie. I think that’s the best way to experience a film. So I end up telling you no more than I would want to know.
By the way, a good site for horror movie recommendations is thrillist.com. I got a lot of ideas for what to watch this October from their Best Horror Movies of 2019 list.
And if you’re a general horror fan, the-line-up.com is a great site for info on horror and true crime movies, books, podcasts, and tv.
Here we go…
Oct. 18 - Daniel Isn’t Real - This was pretty good but didn’t quite do it for me. It actually deals with a premise I like quite a lot for magic tricks: the return of your childhood imaginary friend. Stars Arnold Schwarzenegger’s son and Tim Robbins/Susan Sarandon’s son. If that matters to you. (Shudder)
Oct. 19 - Sweetheart - A girl is shipwrecked on an island and there’s something malevolent in the water. Again, another okay movie. The premise felt different, but it didn’t blow me away in its execution. (Netflix)
Oct. 20 - The Curse of La Llorona - A couple decent jump scares. Perfectly watchable, but also mostly forgettable. (HBO Max)
Oct. 21 - The Prodigy - Another creepy kid flick. Better than average, but not remarkable. (Amazon Prime)
⭐️ Oct. 22 - The Perfection - It almost felt like a 45 minute movie followed by its 45 minute sequel. I thought the first half was genius. The second half was pretty good as well, but didn’t live up to the first half. But still, I definitely enjoyed it. Another one you should go into without knowing anything about it. (Netflix)
Oct. 23 - Brightburn - This was pretty good. An interesting combination of two genres. (Starz)
Oct. 24 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master - One of Renny Harlin’s first films and a highlight of the NIghtmare franchise, but not exactly a great movie by any other standard.
Oct. 25 - Child’s Play (2019) - Okay movie. Child’s Play is a movie that somewhat warranted a remake, given how much children’s toys have progressed in the past 20 years. So I don’t begrudge them making it. But it wasn’t anything special. (Amazon Prime)
Oct. 26 - Nightmare Cinema - An anthology movie consisting of five short films. None of the pieces were bad, a couple were pretty good. Overall fine.
Oct. 27 - Halloween (1978) - A classic. If you’re a younger person seeing it for the first time after seeing numerous other films that have been influenced by it, then maybe it’s not that impressive. But I’ll always enjoy rewatching it. (Shudder)
Oct. 28 - The Banana Splits Movie - Pretty much the only movie I watched all month that I actively disliked.
⭐️ 💀 Oct. 29 - Eli - A creepy setting and a bunch of jump scares made this good and then the movie going in a direction I didn’t anticipate pushed it into the top tier of movies I watched in October. Not a great movie, but one I found pretty entertaining. (Netflix)
Oct. 30 - A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child - A relatively low point for the franchise.
Oct. 31 - Kindred Spirits - I kept on expecting this to veer off into a more supernatural sort of story. But because it stayed in the “real world” I couldn’t quite make sense of the main antagonist’s motivations. A quick, easy watch. But not great.
There you have it. See you next October.