Another 31 Days of Halloween: Part 2

Halloween is here again, and it's time to settle in for another month-long marathon of spooky movies. For the third year in a row, I will be documenting all the horror movies I watch to celebrate my favorite time of year. I will cover a wide variety of subgenres, decades, and countries as I dig up old favorites and new gems.

Fear No Evil (1981) dir. Frank LaLoggia

I have always had a soft spot for the classic “bullied kid gets revenge” trope in slashers, but this one is a little different. I thoroughly enjoyed the first section of the film, which had the usual bullied teen slowly going crazy and planning his revenge but where this movie strays from those tropes is that he really is Satan reincarnated. Oh, and all the other main angels are trying to stop him, but they’ve also been reincarnated multiple times and have to find each other. Interestingly, it shows angels as somewhat genderless creatures, and they have inhabited multiple different bodies. Where this movie dies is with its zombie-filled second half and the far too realistic animal abuse. —  ★★★

Good Boy (2025) dir. Ben Leonberg

It’s been a while since I was in a movie theatre that wasn’t The Lincoln. Most people who know me tease me about my lack of knowledge of modern film. I’m not the biggest fan of the high-budget slashers coming out, nor do I enjoy the horror movies released by A24 or Blumhouse. I’m glad I had the chance to catch a lower-budget independent film in theatres, though. Good Boy is a classic haunted house tale, but told from the perspective of the dog. It thrives in its long, steady shots that build atmosphere and carry the rest of the film. My favorite part had to be the behind-the-scenes segment at the end of the film, where we got to see alternative takes and get to know the cast closer. —  ★★★★

The Long Walk (2025) dir. Francis Lawrence

This was another theatre watch, which my partner and I dived right into after Good Boy and a trip to the concession stand. I adore quite a few Stephen King adaptations, including Christine (1983), Salem’s Lot (1979), and Doctor Sleep (2019), so I did go into this with some prior understanding of his writing style and tropes. This is not a movie for the faint of heart and does pull on your heartstrings the more invested in the characters you become. It was well shot, edited, and had amazing sound design. The experience of watching it in a theatre most likely elevated my rating, but isn’t that how film is meant to be consumed? —  ★★★★1/2

The Phantom of The Opera (1925) dir. Ruper Julian

I had the pleasure of screening this for our Golden Oldies program. I screen a classic film on the second Tuesday of every month at 11 AM. This was, of course, a rewatch for me, but I got to enjoy it with a small crowd of people, including some who had never seen a silent film. Sharing these movies with the community is one of my favorite parts of the job. —  ★★★★

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) dir. Peter Weir

It’s hard for some people to consider this horror or think it falls more into the suspense or thriller genre. To me, these are just neighbors to the horror genre and fall perfectly into the mood I’m aiming to capture with the watchlist for this month. The score and direction of this movie are amazing; it becomes less and less about the story of these school girls going missing and more and more about the dread and misery that sets in. Just a beautiful film, and it makes me eager to check out other works by Peter Weir. —  ★★★★

The Bloody Lady (1981) dir. Victor Kubal

Sometimes I just see a striking cover and know it’s unique. This is the first time I have watched any Soviet animation, and I’m still left thinking about what I saw. The film has very little dialogue, and the eerie way it blends this picture-book-esque animation style with gore and violence is very interesting. I didn’t dislike it, but I also don’t think it has much rewatchablity.  —  ★★★

The Old Dark House (1932) dir. James Whale

I have always had an interest in lost media and specifically lost films. The Old Dark House was directed by the same man who did The Invisible Man and Frankenstein, and would be released between those two films but be considered a box office failure. After Universal Pictures lost the rights to the original novel it was based on the film became lost. It would later resurface in 1968 and gain a much more positive reception on its rerelease, including inspiring another cult classic film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). —  ★★★