31 Days of Horror: The Privilege (2022; TV-MA; 107 mins.)

This German movie dubbed in English is one of those that starts out with a bit of promise for good scares and an interesting plot, but veers off the rails about halfway through. The best thing I can say about it is that the dark spirit which appears is truly very creepy and does offer a couple of good jump scares.

In The Privilege, teenager Finn attends an elite school with his twin sister Sophie and various friends. He has been seeing a psychologist/doctor and taking medications since he was young and watched his older sister jump from a bridge after being attacked by an evil spirit. Now, he is once again noticing odd things happening, this time involving his parents, twin, and others near his family. As he, his best gal friend, and new girlfriend seek answers, they uncover a dark conspiracy, yet he is gaslighted left and right by his family and won’t stand up for himself or what he knows is true. All is not lost, though, as they do manage to fit in a ménage à trois (it is a teen flick, after all) during all the running around and investigating (add eye roll here). When his parents’ plan progresses toward helping the spirit become all-powerful, Finn et al must put the puzzle pieces together and stop it before it’s too late.

• Top Scare: Evil Spirit
• Heartbeats: 2 1/4 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 2 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
• Recommended For: 15 and up

31 Days of Horror: Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (2021; R; 98 mins.)

Upon discovering another installment in the found-footage style Paranormal Activity franchise–of which I’m a big fan–I wanted to check out the streaming-only movie which I apparently missed around the Covid lockdown. Well, turns out I didn’t miss all that much. Even though there was good tension and some nice jump scares thrown in, the plot itself was subpar and seemed to drag on too long. Here’s hoping the next installment gets back on track.

In Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin, Margot is a young woman who was abandoned as a baby by her mother. She has just been tracked down by a relative, Samuel, who tells her she has kinfolk in the Amish community he has recently left. Desperate to know more, Margot decides to create a documentary, so gathers Chris and Dale to travel with her to meet these people and find out why she was abandoned. After arriving, she begins discovering hints that all is not well with her relatives or their community, and continues digging deeper. Meanwhile, her kinfolk are welcoming her with open arms, and hoping she will stay…forever.

• Top Scare: Pit
• Heartbeats: 2 1/2 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 3 1/4 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 2 3/4 out of 5
• Recommended For: 16 and up, due to violence, gore, profanity

 

31 Days of Horror: No One Will Save You (2023; PG-13; 93 mins.)

If you are looking for an atmospheric, creepy/eerie, sci-fi horror movie, look no further–No One Will Save You has it all and brains to boot! With an incredible performance by Kaitlyn Dever (as Brynn), which is not always easy with so little dialogue and working with special effects, this Hulu-streaming movie sucks you right in and never lets up. And as Stephen King himself said after its release, it’s “brilliant, daring, involving, scary…truly unique.”

Brynn is an anxious young woman living alone in a rural farmhouse, basically exiled from the nearby town after an undisclosed event involving her childhood best friend. Nevertheless, she works as a seamstress, and has a rich inner life and unique throwback style. One night, an invader enters her home, and she soon disovers it is an alien. She is able to fight it and flee, only to discover her neighbors weren’t so lucky and have been possessed by the aliens. As Brynn tries to escape, fight, or outsmart the increasingly scary invaders, her past returns to intertwine with her present in unexpected ways.

• Top Scare: First Invader
• Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 1 1/2 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 4 out of 5
• Recommended For: 13 and up

31 Days of Horror: The Open House (2018; TV-MA; 94 mins.)

With the price of streaming going up, up, and yes, UP, I was glad to find another movie to watch on a platform I pay (dearly) for each month. This Netflix film had a nice creepy vibe and a great cast, plus as the main character points out in the movie, Open Houses are weird situations where you give your keys to someone, they let in a bunch of strangers to roam around your home, and then when they lock up and leave, you never really know what–or who–might be left behind.

In The Open House, teenager Logan and his mom Naomi need time away after the fiscally-irresponsible patriarch of the family dies. Naomi’s sister happens to have a five-star remote “cabin” (and by cabin, I mean luxury home) for sale, which she offers for their mourning period, with the caveat that they will need to leave whenever there is an Open House scheduled. Arriving in town, Logan and Naomi meet a cast of characters/future suspects, including a handsome store clerk who flirts with Naomi, a kooky older neighbor who may or may not have Alzheimer’s and whose husband may or may not have died, the Realtor showing the house, and the Realtor’s odd assistant. Soon, things begin happening in the house which make Logan suspicious of everyone, while Naomi is clueless. As events grow darker and more sinister, it becomes obvious Logan and Naomi are not welcome anymore, and this house is NOT for sale.

• Top Scare: Basement
• Heartbeats: 3 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 3 1/4 out of 5
• Recommended for: 15 and up, due to brief nudity, language, some violence

31 Days of Horror: Vikingulven (Viking Wolf) (2022; TV-MA; 97 mins.)

This Norwegian movie streaming on Netflix caught my eye as it’s been a good while since I’ve seen a decent werewolf flick. All in all, I liked the atmospheric setting and lead teenager Thale, but could have done without about half the gore and blood, which was extreme.

In Viking Wolf, Thale has recently moved to town with her family, including her mother Liv who is a police officer. When Thale attends a party one night, she witnesses another teenager being brutally attacked by some “thing” and is scratched as she tries to intervene to help. The teen ends up dying, while Thale begins having unusual visions and is oddly affected by the moon. Hmmm.

When a grizzled hunter shows up in town to suggest the beast attacking townsfolk is a devil werewolf he has been hunting for a long time, and that the only way to kill it and its bloodline is with silver bullets, Liv continues investigating. Will she find the creature? Will she be able to kill it? And most importantly, can–and will–she stop the bloodline from continuing?

• Top Scare: Outdoors
• Heartbeats: 2 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 4 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 2 1/4 out of 5
• Recommended for: 16 and up, due to violence, gore, and brief nudity

31 Days of Horror: Goosebumps 2023 Series (2023; TV-PG; 10-Parts/60 mins each)

 

Though based on five of R.L. Stine’s classic books from the 1990s, this 10-part series on Hulu and Disney+ has been updated for the modern viewer (don’t worry, there are plenty of Easter eggs thrown in for diehard fans). And with episodes being released each Friday, viewers will be able to finish the new series before sitting down for a Thanksgiving meal.

The series’ first five episodes are origin stories for the main characters, high schoolers who unleash supernatural forces. In the final five episodes, their stories connect, and they “must all work together thanks to and in spite of their friendships, rivalries, and pasts with each other in order to save [their town], learning much about their own parents’ teenage secrets in the process.” 

The first episode, “Say Cheese and Die!” was released on Friday, October 13th, and provided some nice creepy vibes, a good jump scare or two, and some humor thrown in as well. With aged-up characters (the characters in the books were younger), it’s not your classic Goosebumps for middle grade kids; this series is able to go darker and appeal to an older audience, adults included. I’m looking forward to seeing how the storylines play out and where the series takes us, since the creators hope to continue this collaboration down the road.

• Top Scare Episode 1: In Basement
• Heartbeats: 2 1/2 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 2 1/4 out of 5
• Recommended for: 12 or 13 and up, due to blood, cussing, some gore

 

31 Days of Horror: Scream VI (2023; R; 122 mins.)

One of my favorite franchises, Scream always keeps me guessing, “Who is Ghostface?” and “Why is he/her/they killing all these people?” right up until the end. This installment was no different, and even delivered a couple good jump scares as well as solid reminiscing opportunities as it looked back over previous installments in a plot-fun way.

Living now in New York City after having survived Ghostface’s latest Woodsboro killfest, the four survivors (Sam, her sister Tara, Mindy, and Chad) are trying to get on with life, looking out for each other as they do. But it isn’t long before the phone starts ringing with calls from that unique voice, letting them know Ghostface is baaaaack and once again seeking revenge for some unknown transgression. Luckily, others are back too: Gale Weathers as the intrepid journalist and Kirby Reed, now an FBI agent who may or may not be helpful in the long run.

As Ghostface attempts to reach the “Core Four,” others in their lives must die gruesome deaths first (of course), the terror increases, possible suspects and motives as well as new “Franchise Rules” are spelled out, and plenty of opportunities arise for screaming to the screen, “Watch out behind you!” (a new drinking game, perhaps?). In the end, the twists and turns once again surprise, the survivors leave us to wonder how on earth people can survive so much stabbing, and viewers like me are chanting, “Scream VII, Scream VII, Scream VII!”

• Top Scare: Subway
• Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 4 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 3 1/2 out of 5
• Recommended for: 16/17 and up due to violence, gore, language

31 Days of Horror: The Sandman (R; 2017; 88 min.)

Haylie Duff (sister of the famous Hilary Duff) stars in this so-so Peter Sullivan-written and directed outing which warns viewers, “Don’t fall asleep.” Maybe not the best tagline for a movie which doesn’t always keep your attention, eh?

Here’s the plot: a young girl named Madison, who was born en caul (inside an intact amniotic sac), and thus has special powers, is now older but having night terrors in which a “Sandman” from her nightmares takes revenge upon anyone who tries to hurt her. After her father is killed in what looks like a swirl of gritty beach dirt, she goes to live with her Aunt Claire (his sister/aka Haylie). Meanwhile, nefarious men in dark suits are investigating a string of deaths they attribute to her father, a social worker doesn’t like Claire’s line of work as an ahem, boudoir photographer, and is trying to take Madison away, Claire’s airhead boyfriend and suspicious neighbor complicate things, and every time Madison goes to sleep, The Sandman gets stronger and more evil.

At first Claire doesn’t believe The Sandman is real. But soon, she sees him in action, and tries to help Madison. As the body count increases and the suit-men move in, Claire knows that help must defeat not only the humans who want Madison, but The Sandman himself.

• Top Scare: In morgue
• Heartbeats 2 1/4 out of 5
• Gore factor: 3 out of 5
• Scare factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
• Recommended for: 16 and up due to gore and violence

31 Days of Horror: Barbarian (R; 2022; 102 min.)

It’s important to me when reviewing movies to not give too much away or provide spoilers that affect your watching experience. Yet, it’s also important to give enough information up-front for you to know whether or not a movie is your type of movie in the first place. This is one of those instances where I hope to walk a fine line but also paint a picture vivid enough to help you make a decision for your 31 Days of Horror.

When a movie starts out with one vibe–and it’s going great and leading down a certain path–I don’t usually want to suddenly be jolted into a new vibe. With Barbarian, the first third of the movie is a slow-build, psychologically-tense guess-fest of personal darkness, featuring great acting and suspense. Within the space of a minute or two, though, it turns into horror-weird, before morphing once again. And I’m still not sure how I feel about it.

But let me back up.

Tess has arrived in Detroit for a job interview. She has rented a house on Airbnb, arriving late at night to discover it is in a bad, derelict neighborhood and was double-booked: a man named Keith is already staying there. However Keith is kind and slowly puts her at ease, offering to let her stay the night while taking into consideration concerns she may have about the weird situation. Reluctanly, Tess agrees. The two get to know one another a bit more, and Tess starts to let her guard down.

When Tess needs to head to the basement to find a spare roll of toilet paper, the basement door closes and locks, and she is stuck down there with no phone and very little light (never a good situation in any horror movie!). And that’s when she discovers there’s more to the house, much more, right before Keith finds her in the basement. That’s also when the movie veers in a second direction, one which will later converge with this first one in a creepy, horrific way. And fair warning: certain scenes you’ll see will make you cringe and just simply can’t be unseen.

• Top Scare: Nighttime Outside
• Heartbeats: 3 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 3 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 2 3/4 out of 5
• Recommended for: 17 and up, due to gore, extended nudity, and violence

31 Days of Horror: The Watcher (Netflix Limited Series; MA; 2022; 5 hours, 32 min.)

Because I’d heard of the real-life case this show was based on, and had been fascinated and horrified by it, I was eager to watch this seven-part Netflix series, hoping for tingly vibes and slow-building tension. However, what I found instead was the tiniest kernel of the true case applied to a much-too-long storyline where weird townspeople abound, eyes are wide shut, and so many suspects emerge you stop caring which one it is and just want it all to be over. In addition, in the end I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be watching a horror show or a horror comedy, with several characters drawn so large they resembled bad sitcom characters from the 80s.

When Dean and Nora, along with their children Ellie and Carter, decide to move from the city to the burbs, they discover the most amazing home and MUST have it. So Dean puts every single penny they have into the enormous home. But wait…they still have enough to go ahead and renovate the kitchen, drink great wine, and hire a local contractor to install security cameras around the entire property after they start receiving unusual letters in the mail from “The Watcher.” These letters praise the home and say this Watcher is one of a long line of Watchers. It also lets the family know they need to care for the home, and how happy the home is to have young blood in it.

Obviously Dean and Nora are creeped out and are determined to discover which neighbor is sending the letters. There is quite the cast to choose from, but no spoilers here! Nora’s friend and realtor who sold them the house begins to suggest they should sell and, how convenient, she could help them! (This continues for the next several episodes.) Also, the police commissioner is hiding the fact that the previous owners were receiving similar letters, and refuses to help them. He does, however, suggest a private investigator type who might be able to, and they hire her (with their extra funds, hmm) to look into people and events. As the letters continue to arrive and become darker while other more dangerous things happen inside their home, and everyone around them gets weirder by the episode, their lives spin out of control until The Watcher is finally revealed (unlike in real life). But don’t reach for that remote yet! The show goes on, and on, and on for another hour or so at least. The question is, will anyone still be a WATCHER?

• Top Scare: Scene with Carter
• Heartbeats: 1 1/2 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 1 1/2 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 2 out of 5
• Recommended for: 15 and up due to sex and mature content

31 Days of Horror: Don’t Listen (MA; 2020; 97 min.)

I wasn’t sure I wanted to give this Spanish movie (dubbed in English) a go since it’s based on the trope of “family moves into house that locals know is haunted; disaster ensues” and I’ve had my fill of that lately. But I’m actually glad I did watch it as it has some great scares, a super-creepy vibe throughout, non-stop action, and a nice twist at the end.

When Daniel, Sara, and Eric move into an enormous country house while Daniel is restoring it, Eric begins exhibiting strange behaviors and hearing voices through walkie-talkies and other electronic devices. So far, ho hum, right? Also, Daniel disovers a fly infestation during renovation. Zzzzzz. But before long, the voices in the house are proving how clever they are, and young Eric drowns in the closed-off pool. Devastated, Sara leaves to stay with her parents while Daniel continues work on the house so they can sell it. But when he hears his son’s voice on his cell phone, he seeks out a writer/paranormal investigator German who agrees to come to the house with his daughter Ruth to check things out. Sara returns as well. As each person works to do their part in the investigation, the spirit and voice of the house is also working to do its part: isolate, imitate, and drive them to their gruesome ends. Yet, Ruth has discovered who the spirit is and maybe, just maybe, how to beat it once and for all.

• Top Scare: Several in Bedrooms
• Heartbeats: 3 3/4 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 3 1/2 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 4 out of 5
• Recommended for: 17 and up, due to gore and disturbing images

31 Days of Horror: The Woman in Black (PG-13; 2012; 95 min.)

If you’re looking for an eerie movie with a nice slow build and plenty of scares, this period ghost story starring Daniel Radcliffe is definitely worth a look.

Radcliffe broods with the best Londoners as Arthur, a young, distracted solicitor (that’s lawyer for those of us stateside) still grieving his wife’s death in childbirth a few years ago. His boss offers him one last chance to keep his job by sending him to a remote village to examine a recently-deceased client’s documentation left behind in her fog-shrouded mansion. With his young son in the care of a nanny for three days, he travels by train, where he meets Sam, a resident of that village. Turns out Sam and his wife are the only ones who want Arthur around though. That’s because if Arthur sees a ghostly woman dressed in black at the mansion, a child in the village will die. But Arthur must do his job, so he heads to the mansion to sort the paperwork as quickly as possible. There he experiences creepy musical toys, shadowy figures, crazy rocking chairs, and plenty more to set his heart racing. Yet he stays, trying to finish his job and solve the mystery of the woman in black and the dying children of the village, before his son and nanny are due to arrive and his son’s life is also in peril.

Atmospheric, melancholy in parts, and with plenty of scares, The Woman in Black also features a great ending perfect for the storyline and characters. Add this one to your 31 Days of Horror!

• Top Scare: Windows
• Heartbeats: 3 1/2 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 3 3/4 out of 5
• Recommended for: 13 and up

31 Days of Horror: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (R; 2021; 112 min.)

I’m a sucker for the tales of Ed and Lorraine Warren and their real-life fights against demonic possession and paranormal tomfoolery. Especially when portrayed by the fantastically talented Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. But even those two can’t save this ho-hum, meandering installment in the otherwise powerful Conjuring franchise.

Depicting the posession of two brothers over time, this movie does start out strong with some decent scares and spooky feels. However, about forty-five minutes in, my eyes were glazing over as I tried to care about what was happening–knowing it was the basis for the first courtroom defense for murder due to demonic possession in U.S. history. The storyline just wasn’t compelling enough, or maybe the stakes weren’t high enough. Either way, I was no longer spooked, and watched the movie while only half paying attention. That’s a disappointment for me, as I consider the first/original in this franchise to be a heart-thumping, sweat-inducing scare-fest that ranks up there with the best.

Save your time (and screams), friends, for a different horror movie tonight.

• Top Scare: Morgue
• Heartbeats: 2 3/4 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 3 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 2 1/2 out of 5
• Recommended for: 16 and up

31 Days of Horror: They (PG-13; 2002; 89 min.)

Billed as “Wes Craven Presents: They,” I was anxious to give this oldie a spin. Especially with Wes Craven’s name attached and after I read it was about several people who had experienced terrifying night terrors as children, which all of my children had also gone through. However, Wes Craven, it turns out, was merely an EP on the film and had nothing more to do with it, a fact that was quite apparent once I started watching.

So, a graduate student in Psychology named Julia (played by a terrible actress Laura Regan) is casually preparing to defend her dissertation when childhood friend Billy contacts her to discuss their mutual childhood night terrors. He tells her “They” have returned for him and her, because he’s having the terrors again and has been marked, and she will be next. Then he “makes a quick exit” right in front of her (that’s a euphemism, folks). At his funeral, Julia meets Sam and Terry, who are also night terror survivors Billy had sought out to befriend. The three of them try to make sense of the creepy, crazy writings they find in Billy’s journal, all while again experiencing night terrors which grow in frequency and horror. Meanwhile, Julia’s boyfriend Paul serves as the standard horror-movie-trope “voice of reason and disbelief,” as her life spins out of control. One by one, Terry, Sam, and Julia must face “They” and fight for their right to a peaceful night’s sleep. (Fun side note: this movie was featured in three of WatchMojo’s “bad ending” compilations: 2015, 2016, and 2017).

• Top Scare: Car Scene
• Heartbeats: 2 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 1 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 2 out of 5
• Recommended for: Ages 13 and up

31 Days of Horror: Things Heard & Seen (MA; 2021; 121 min.)

Set in 1980 and starring one of my faves, Amanda Seyfried, the spooky premise of this movie snagged my attention and had me hoping for a good old-fashioned haunted-house/possession story similar to Amityville Horror. Did it deliver? Yes and no. While the premise was good and the movie started nicely, midway through it fell down the what-were-they-thinking rabbit hole and spiraled from there into a Dexter-esque ending that had me groaning and shaking my head.

When teacher George Claire relocates his artist wife Catherine and young daughter Franny to the Hudson Valley and into an historic farmhouse “with good bones,” the family members acclimate in different ways. While George is building his ego and stepping out as Professor Claire among the co-eds, Catherine notices aural lights and strong smells and poor Franny has a ghostly visitor and deals with a flashing lighted toy at night. Catherine  begins to explore the house’s history with the help of locals and George’s seance-holding boss, but does so secretly because George is growing more deceitful, controlling, and disturbing by the day. As tensions mount, deaths begin to add up, and ghosts make themselves known, we wait to find out who–or what—will be left standing in the end.

• Top Scare: Spirit-related
• Heartbeats: 1 1/2 out of 5
• Gore Factor: 1 out of 5
• Scare Factor: 1 out of 5
• Recommended for: 15 and up