31 Halloween Movies for October #5 - (2014)

This year will be the eighth time I've done this movie challenge. One movie a day for every day in October. I haven't written about this in two years, which puts me two years behind now. Halloween might be my favorite day of the year. Even better than Christmas or a birthday. There's quite a bit to love and one of my ways to celebrate the upcoming days, is watch on theme Halloween movies or Scary movies as I had previously titled this. I will share as I normally do by a combined ranking of myself, IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. I will do it in the correct order this time though - worst to first. Enjoy the 2014 list, enjoy some horror movies of your own and enjoy your Spooktober!

31. Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies

My Rank: 31
Netflix: 30
IMDB: 29
Rotten Tomatoes: 30
Simple concept. Same basic plot as the first one. Not really scary but sort of campy. Needs the female protagonist to make 3 wishes so he can jump start the apocalypse. He steals 200 souls from prison but needs 800 more. Highly doubt I will get to Wishmaster 3 or 4 anytime soon.

30. Ouija

My Rank: 23
Netflix: 31
IMDB: 31
Rotten Tomatoes: 31
The sequel is much better than it deserves, but this one was just okay. I'm actually surprised it took this long to make a movie about this thing. I did a show and tell report on it in 7th grade. Girl commits suicide playing with one, friends investigate. The séance scenes create the jump scares along the way. 

29. Wishmaster

My Rank: 25
Netflix: 29
IMDB: 27
Rotten Tomatoes: 27
Kind of a Hellraiser meets Poltergeist 3 mix. I enjoyed it enough to want to watch the sequel as you are very aware. A djinn needs a woman to make 3 wishes and that will allow him to blah-bitty-blah conquer all realities. Sorry too much VR Troopers lately.

28. A Haunting at Silver Falls


My Rank: 21
Netflix: 21
IMDB: 30
Rotten Tomatoes: 29
Twin daughter ghosts want to avenge their dad against the real killer. They team up with teenage girl in a made for lifetime TV movie. No that's not true but it feels like it. Not really scary, more about the mystery here.

27. The Pact

My Rank: 24
Netflix: 22
IMDB: 26
Rotten Tomatoes: 26
Third ghost movie in a row. Almost like a single piece performance. A woman loses her Mother and her sister has disappeared. The cousin vanishes and the police get involved. Then the medium. Turns out there are some dark family secrets.

26. V/H/S

My Rank: 17
Netflix: 27
IMDB: 25
Rotten Tomatoes: 25
I believe there were 5 stories here. It was like watching a bunch of horror movie shorts, which is a neat idea for a found footage movie. My summary: Vampire hooker, lesbian murder, Friday the 13th short, video chat aliens, and haunted house comes alive.

25. Resolution

My Rank: 30
Netflix: 28
IMDB: 20
Rotten Tomatoes: 13
Man takes his friend to a cabin in an effort to detox him. Handcuffs him. Turns out strange people and entities inhabit that area.  Suspense horror/drama that goes off the walls at the end. Movies are refreshing when they aren't all horror for 90 minutes but splice horror moments in.

24. Annabelle

My Rank: 10
Netflix: 24
IMDB: 28
Rotten Tomatoes: 28
Quite different than both The Conjuring or Annabelle Creation. Man gives the doll to his wife as a gift and the house gets home invaded by Satan worshipers who imbue the doll with a demon. Lots of jump scares and a decent story.

23. Return of the Living Dead 2

My Rank: 15
Netflix: 26
IMDB: 24
Rotten Tomatoes: 24
I really enjoyed the first one. This one wasn't up to that same level at all, but it's watchable. Kids this time dig up the toxic zombie creating sludge which turns the town. Doesn't have the humor, soundtrack, or edge the original did.

22. Detention

My Rank: 11
Netflix: 25
IMDB: 23
Rotten Tomatoes: 23
Probably the closest thing I've seen to Scary Movie/Scream meets the Breakfast Club. Kids need to fight a killer who may or may not be undead. Fast editing and fast moving.

21. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

My Rank: 16
Netflix: 18
IMDB: 22
Rotten Tomatoes: 22
After watching Lincoln (2012) literally yesterday makes me remember this poorly. I'm also higher on it slightly than the populace(even watched it twice), but it pales in comparison to the more accurate version. Lincoln's mom is killed by a vampire, also the confederates have vampires among them. Train explosion finale is good as is Dominic Cooper's character - Henry Sturges.

20. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

My Rank: 28
Netflix: 4
IMDB: 21
Rotten Tomatoes: 21
Hawkeye killing witches. If Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter or Pride and Prejudice and Zombies are your thing, this will be too. Famke Janssen from Golden Eye and X-Men is here as the bad witch who has collected children as our heroes are grown up. 

19. Day of the Dead

My Rank: 29
Netflix: 20
IMDB: 10
Rotten Tomatoes: 9
Army vs Scientists spin on the zombie outbreak. Starts underground and doesn't really leave that setting. There is always some in house fighting going on. Zombies win every battle every time since they don't fight amongst themselves. It stays small scale and takes a step back from Dawn.

18. Mama

My Rank: 14
Netflix: 17
IMDB: 19
Rotten Tomatoes: 18
Jessica Chastain here for a jump scare filled, intense at times ghost horror movie. Scary 5 parodies it pretty well actually. The two nieces can see this spirit watching over them but the newly adoptive aunt and uncle get haunted by it.

17. The Exorcist 3

My Rank: 5
Netflix: 23
IMDB: 17
Rotten Tomatoes: 19
Second or third time I've watched it. Brad Dourif is incredibly talented. Different than the first sequel or the original, but in a fresh way. A detective hunting a serial killer goes looking for answers in a psyche ward. Some creepy crawling jump scares. 

16. Frankenweenie

My Rank: 26
Netflix: 14
IMDB: 11
Rotten Tomatoes: 12
Obviously a children's movie. I think I saw it in the theatee? Or if I didn't, I saw previews for this thing like 5 years before it came out. Tim Buron leads a story about a boy and his dog, who gets hit by a car and young Victor wants to bring his dog back from the dead. Shot in black in white. Burton made the same short back in 1984, so this must have been a passion project.

15. Audition

My Rank: 27
Netflix: 19
IMDB: 9
Rotten Tomatoes: 7
The first half is about a rich widower trying to find a new mate. Then the one he picks ends up torturing him for the rest of the time. Not a ton of story, I don't think she has any motive. It's all about what she does to him. Came out after Funny Games but before Hostel. It didn't invent the torture genre though helped kick it into gear.

14. Oculus

My Rank: 7
Netflix: 11
IMDB: 16
Rotten Tomatoes: 20
Karen Gillan was in here before I knew who she was. Spooky ghost horror movie involving mirrors.

Supposedly the dad kills the mom and the son kills the dad. We all know it was a mysterious force and we flash forward to when the son is an adult and the sister tries to get to the bottom of it.

13. Sinister

My Rank: 18
Netflix: 7
IMDB: 13
Rotten Tomatoes: 15
Even more ghost stories. I expected quite a bit as it was hyped a lot. It seemed decent except the ending which was kind of average.  Ethan Hawke is investigating a serial killer and finds some tapes in the new house that he moves his family into. The murders took place in this house and he doesn't tell his family until it's too late. Jump scares and found footage are present.

12. Hocus Pocus

My Rank: 12
Netflix: 12
IMDB: 14
Rotten Tomatoes: 11
It was a first for me watching this. (Gasp!) Cute 90's movie. I think they are finally doing a sequel. Child accidentally arrises 3 witches who were executed in the 17th century. The witches want to steal children's souls to live forever so it's up to the boy child and his sister and friend to stop them. My heart will always be with Beetlejuice, Ernest Scared Stupid and Adams Family for comedy horror. Speaking of heart...

11. Angel Heart

My Rank: 19
Netflix: 13
IMDB: 8
Rotten Tomatoes: 6
Pretty much a mystery film for most of it. Robert De Niro and Mickey Rourke both have range. De Niro as the devil wants Rourke a private investigator to hunt down a singer who has exchanged his soul in exchange for stardom. It's a complex mystery with a twist more than anything truly frightening. 

10. Dracula Untold

My Rank: 6
Netflix: 6
IMDB: 18
Rotten Tomatoes: 16
Action movie opposed to horror, but I really enjoyed it. I've watched it twice now. Second time wasn't quite as good. I enjoy watching Luke Evans. He fights a whole army at one point that was neat to me. I'm a sucker for big battle scenes of 1 vs many (Matrix Reloaded, Kill Bill). In fact that makes me want to do a whole list now.

9. Corpse Bride

My Rank: 13
Netflix: 16
IMDB: 7
Rotten Tomatoes: 8
Another Tim Burton. The story and rules they make for the movie hold up. I'm not sure how it will hold up in time, but I did enjoy it more than Frankenweenie. Johnny Depp marries a dead woman as he was practicing his vows but she thinks it's real and sucks him over to the side of the dead.

8. 1408 (Unrated)

My Rank: 2
Netflix: 10
IMDB: 12
Rotten Tomatoes: 14
The first time I've put a movie on this list twice. I'm only counting it because A: I enjoy it so much, B: I watched the Unrated version this time which I assume is the director's cut. Several differences with the post office, his dad, crawling through vents and an alternate ending which is more horror like and more Samuel Jackson.

7. The Birds

My Rank: 22
Netflix: 8
IMDB: 3
Rotten Tomatoes: 4
I don't think the effects hold up for the most part. There are times when you have actual footage of the birds being creepy which is neat in the context of the movie, but the attacks don't work today. Story becomes mostly survival after a woman is seeking a man down.

6. Insidious 2

My Rank: 3
Netflix: 2
IMDB: 15
Rotten Tomatoes: 17
Good sequel. James Wan has got to be one of my favorite directors. Not as fresh as the original though it does pick up where the last story left off. I would have to rewatch again to remember which one becomes Amityville Horror. More ghosts, investigations and jump scares.

5. The Fly

My Rank: 8
Netflix: 15
IMDB: 5
Rotten Tomatoes: 3
The movie is paced right and timed right. It comes in at hour and 36 minutes but it really feels like half of that. Jeff Goldblum is one of my favorite actors. Never watched the original. Scientist creating a teleporter accidentally combines his dna with a fly's and the two begin to merge. His girlfriend is the one dealing with him.

4. The Rocky Horror Picture Show

My Rank: 9
Netflix: 9
IMDB: 6
Rotten Tomatoes: 2
I remember adults watching this when I was a kid. I didn't understand the movie then and I barely understood it watching for the first time. Time Warp is one of my favorite songs though. Tim Curry steals the screen as does Meatloaf.

3. Psycho

My Rank: 20
Netflix: 3
IMDB: 1
Rotten Tomatoes: 1
Killing the main character off in the middle was something completely shocking back in those days. Sorry 50 year old spoiler. The cross dressing was neat twist as well. Never a good idea to stop at the creepy motel when it's raining.

2. Coraline

My Rank: 4
Netflix: 5
IMDB: 2
Rotten Tomatoes: 10
A girl feels bored and neglected but finds a hidden passage to an alternate reality where they want her to stay forever. The cat becomes the guide. Don't let the cover or the fact that it's a cartoon fool you. This movie is incredibly creepy. The button eyes are haunting. The mood of the film and the parallel land are all done to great effect. 

1. The Conjuring

My Rank: 1
Netflix: 1
IMDB: 4
Rotten Tomatoes: 5
One of the best ghost horror movies out there. Spawned at least 5 sequels. The Warrens(based on real investigators) are helping a family being haunted where-ever they go. Yes jump scares but done well. Better James Wan work than Insidious or Dead Silence, though I'm still a big fan of the original Saw.