31 Scary Movies for October

October is my favorite month of the year officially. It’s taken me 27 years to come to this conclusion, but my reasons for it couldn’t have come earlier in life. The whole changing of the colors, the temperature being not too hot, nor too cold are two minor things. I still like the spring smell, though actually every season except winter is fine in my book. Cider mills have become a favorite thing for Hellen and I to go see. The food, love my cider and donuts and it always feels like a good time for Chinese food at this time of the year. My biggest reason for liking October is Halloween. I think I dressed up in ninth grade for the last time and missed about 8 years of dressing up. The last few years though I have been all in, it’s a shameless, nerdy thing to do, both of which I very much am. The main reason Halloween gets me so excited though is the scary/horror movies. Not that I can’t get into a scary movie at other times of the year, but it’s just the perfect time. Last year Hellen and I went to see Drag Me To Hell at cheap movie 16 at Universal Mall, we got donuts and some guy was being a smart ass for the first half of the movie. ‘Damn that bitch ugly’ during a scary moment for example. I just started getting into the mood of the whole fall watching scary movies mood. I’d say the last 3 years now I’ve been all in on devoting October to watching scary movies. That being said, it was my goal this year to watch one horror movie a day. That makes 31 of them for the month of October. I hit my goal though I did skip some days/watch 2 other days. Per usual, I decided to rank them and give my reasons for each. The 2 that I watched but didn't rank cause reasons: Santa's slay Funny scene at the beginning, Bill Goldberg as Santa was funny. Sleep Walkers A son and his mom are cats, except the son starts liking a girl even though they eat girls? 

31. Friday the 13th 2

 

I’m more into Halloween Texas or even Nightmare than this Friday franchise. I didn’t realize after watching this one, Jason still didn’t have the trademark mask.(The mom was the killer in the original, oops spoiler) I’m not even sure they played up the whole only water scares him thing in this. 

30. My Name Is Bruce Bruce Campbell make his own version of ‘The 3 Amigos’ in which he (Bruce Campbell the actor) gets hired to kill a real demon, but he thinks it’s all a movie. Some funny lines, especially the ending. Recommended if you like Campbell or want to compare it to something like The 3 Amigos. 

29. Bram Stoker's Dracula

 

Pretty long movie, even by a Keanu Reeves movie standard (not sure what that means). Classic tale of vampires, it was really slow and took me out in some parts. I wouldn’t really recommend it to a general person who isn't die-hard Dracula/monster. The only thing I really liked was Gary Oldman, who played the count.

28. Queen of the Damned A sequel to interview with a vampire, though it’s really stands on it’s own. The soundtrack is straight from the 90s, and doesn’t have Tom Cruise reprising his role, but does have Aaliyah in her last role. 

27. Zombies of Mass Destruction  

This movie totally came out of nowhere for me. Funny zombie movie, started off slow then just cranked it up. One liners galore, not sure if I would watch it again but would recommend it to a zombie buff. 

26. Last House On The Left Original movie made in the 70’s. It looked dated even by 70s standards, between the clothes and the colors, it almost took me out. I like the premise of the movie: girl gets killed by four prison escapees then crash at the parents house. The parents figure out it was them, then extract some revenge. I liked the remake which is why I decided to watch this one, but I would recommend the remake over this one. 

 25. Warlock

 

This one was a weird one for me. Not particularly scary, the graphics were downright awful. I didn’t particularly like the casting by either of the heroes, though I did like the warlock. This movie does have a good idea behind it. There is a funny line by a little kid, “aren’t witches supposed to be girls?” In the next scene that kid is very much dead. 

24. Devils Rejects Sequel to House of 1000 corpses by Rob Zombie which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed the new Halloween, so I’ve been all in on Rob Zombie. This one is weaker than the original, it also is a continuation of the story and we get some closure. The ‘free bird’ ending takes a 1,000 years.
 

23. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

 

A remake that started a mostly bad trend with Friday the 13th, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street. This one just didn’t have the same feeling of horror that the original did. You get much more gore than the original but just not the same suspense. 

22. Human Centipede

Independent movie which came out earlier this year pretty much promises on the only premise you would expect. I didn’t really like the ending and the fact that they say “FIRST SEQUENCE” you know it won’t end well nor do I want a Human Centipede 2 or 3 or heaven forbid 4. Some real graphic parts as well as slow moments. Aren’t we passed going to a strangers houses in the woods as part of a plot? 

21. Orphan

 

I always knew there would be a twist at the end, but it was interesting though. The girl is creepy, not too scary of a movie overall. A good idea that was pretty well done, just pales in scariness to the Omen or even Child’s Play in execution

20. Pet Sematary

 

I expected nothing going into this. But unlike Sleepwalkers, it actually paid off for me. The acting was really terrible and the characters didn’t behave the way normal people would and were all actually kind of annoying in their own way. Despite all that, it had some good scares and an at the time unique idea. 

19. Ringu Japanese original Ring. It wasn’t as scary for me as the American version, though it had lots of the same elements. Maybe since I knew what to expect, it really wasn’t like I was watching a brand new movie. Sometimes it's easy to see why the original is better (like Oldboy), but it's not as clear to me here.

18. Resident Evil

 

The first of six now movies based on the video game. My favorite by far of the first three I’ve watched. It starts out kind confusing not knowing anything going into it but once it gets going, it almost falls into the Doom/ripped off Aliens idea. It never seems to get too bad. Nice wow moment in there, and pretty entertaining movie overall.

17. The Grudge

 

Remake with enough jumps to keep me entertained while watching it for the second time. It’s scary enough for me to ignore flaws it might have. Sarah Michelle Geller is annoying here though it does have Bill Pullman(Independence Day/Spaceballs) in a cameo. 

16. Saw 5

 

This one starts to get out of control in the franchise. Everything is a flashback, they keep introducing characters and killing them off. Ties the first 3 in together pretty well, but that’s about all that is done well. Has the worst twist so far if you can even call it that. 

15. Saw 4

 

The twist was okay. Plot was good, you still had the sense that it was a part of the story despite the beginning. The whole jigsaw motivation wasn’t clear in this one, but did start putting together Jigsaw’s motive which isn’t done in the previous ones but is added to in later movies. 

 

14. Dark Remains

 

I appreciate everything about this movie, from the cover to the jumpy moments to the woman crawling down the stairs backwards. One scene does not make a movie unfortunately.

13. Saw 7

 

I enjoyed the ending. I think if they would have cut this movie 10 minutes sooner, I would have been upset(not really a fair criticism). Good torture scenes in it though. Watched it in 3d which wasn’t really necessary. Dr. Gordon makes his return.

12. Saw 6

 

I liked the social message in this one about healthcare. Good use of flashbacks. Not one of the better twist endings. The game set up in this one was very interesting in parts. Poor Eddie from Family Matters.

11. Night of the Living Dead

Thee original zombie movie, is it the best ever? Maybe not, it was done in the 60’s and there have been some innovations since. The first time I watched it, I was pulled in. This being my second time, it was slightly harder as there are some slow moments.

10. Saw 3

 

Probably the goriest one of the bunch, due to the brain surgery in the middle which was cool however pointless. Decent twist, one in which had much more going on that appeared. Didn’t have the same dread the first two had, as the main character(remember him from Braveheart) was never in real danger…kind of. 

9. Saw 2

 

Had a good twist on it. A group of people end up in a house while Jigsaw plays a game with a detective while his son is part of the game. One of the more entertaining Saws. 

8. What Lies Beneath

 

Scary movie to me, Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford do well with it. It starts off real slow, and after about 40 minutes in they basically reset the plot. So that was something. Still scary, still good after like my 3rd time watching it.

7. The Hills Have Eyes

Remake, which is my opinion is better than the original. It’s almost served better not knowing anything about this movie before going into it. But basically a traveling family gets attacked by hillbillies. It’s actually much better than that sounds.

6. The Crow

 

Brandon Lee here has the same feels that the Heath Ledger’s Joker had. I can’t believe I hadn’t watched this before. It might become a Halloween staple to me. I didn’t mind the acting, nor the script and instead got drawn into: did he get killed here? Here? Is that really him here? 

5. Event Horizon

 

I don’t know if Sci Fi-Horror has ever been done like this. I’ve watched this movie so many times, yet it still scares me in parts. It’s the jump-scares plus creepiness which get me. A ship with a black hole as an engine goes to another dimension and brings back hell with it. Sam Neil is perfect crazy man with Laurence Fishburne as the antagonist. 

4. Saw (1)

 

Two men are trapped inside a bathroom with no knowledge of how they got there and attached to chains. Probably the best as you don’t know what’s coming. You don’t know there is a twist, so forget I said that. The whole saw idea is used two times in the whole series, though there are lots of blades.

3. Van Helsing

 

I seem to watch this movie every year as one of my favorite Halloween movies. It just has the combination of Vampires, Werewolves and even some Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll thrown in. An action movie more than anything. Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale join LOTR and 300 alum David Wenham.

2. Evil Dead
We went to see an Evil Dead play, so it made me want to watch the original. It’s still amazing to me for the tiny budget that it had. I think it’s that perfect blend of scary and funny. A group of friends go stay at a cabin which happens to contain the book of the dead. 

1. Zombieland

 

A funny and clever movie. A must watch for anyone a fan of zombies, funny movies or Woody who just kills it. If you really need a reason to watch it, it would for the cameo right in the middle.