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31 Halloween Movies For October #8 - (2017)

My 2017 viewing experience had some IT movies. Some other Stephen King adaptations. Some original horror. Some 90's era and newer 2017s. Also about 10 sequels/prequels/remakes. 

31 Halloween Movies For October #7 (2016)
31 Halloween Movies For October #6 (2015)
31 Halloween Movies For October #5 (2014)
31 Halloween Movies For October #4 (2013)
31 Halloween Movies For October #3 (2012)
31 Halloween Movies For October #2 (2011)
31 Halloween Movies For October #1 (2010)

31. Be Afraid

Year        : 2017
My Rank: 31
IMDB     : 31
Rotten   : 31
Man begins to astral travel, daydream, experience sleep paralysis. Shadow people abduct his son and he has to get him back. There's not much going on here unless you are interested in dreams and alternate worlds.

30. ABCs of Death 2

Year        : 2014
My Rank: 29
IMDB     : 29
Rotten   : 29
Another 26 shorts about various horror elements. Not as fresh as the original and these stories are all more out there. It looks nicer than the original but if you like horror shorts this series is a good watch.

29. Buffy the Vampire Slayer 

Year        : 1992
My Rank: 28
IMDB     : 25
Rotten   : 26
5 years before the TV show, but still written by Joss Whedon. 90's cast of 
Hilary Swank, Pee-Wee Herman, Donald Sutherland, David Arquette. It's a Highlander like story, where there is only one slayer at a time. It never takes itself too serious, but not really funny either.

28. Cult of Chucky

Year        : 2017
My Rank: 25
IMDB     : 30
Rotten   : 24
Sequel to the 1st or 2nd reboot depending on how you look at it. Brad Dourif and his daughter are back here as the main characters with a return by Jennifer Tilly and Alex Vincent's Andy. Pretty much an entire hospital setting, similar to Halloween 2. I appreciate the returning characters, the ending had me feel like it as was more like an episode to a TV show rather than a satisfying movie.

27. Friday the 13th

Year        : 2009
My Rank: 26
IMDB     : 27
Rotten   : 25
The 12th sequel/reboot, which I guess was the nail in the coffin for Jason. At least for a decade which was a trick that Final Friday or even Jason X couldn't do. It does break the killings up into a before story with one survivor and a current story trying to find the survivor. It's not enough to make it really interesting, though there is a wood chipper scene.

26. The Ring 2 

Year        : 2005

My Rank: 20
IMDB     : 28
Rotten   : 30
I really liked the original American version as well as the original original, so I'm a little more forgiving of this. I'm not a huge fan of the possession story and trying to kill the main child is a story we know won't work in the end. It doesn't have the interesting premise the original does nor the scares.

25. The Belko Experiment 

Year        : 2016
My Rank: 23
IMDB     : 22
Rotten   : 28
I watched it due to the writer - James Gunn's Slither horror follow up. As I love Guardians of the Galaxy, I wanted to give this a chance. 80 people locked up in a building are forced to fight to the death, similar to Battle Royal. It's built up enough that I wanted a satisfying conclusion, but ultimately I'm not sure if I got it. I don't know why The Conjuring and Annabelle are marketed here as these are nothing similar.

24. Little Evil 

Year        : 2017
My Rank: 22
IMDB     : 24
Rotten   : 23
An Omen like set up with the child being the anti-Christ. The beginning of this movie kind of bored me. It felt like a tired trope, but it kind of kicked into a new gear at the end. Two of my newer favorite actors - 
Evangeline Lilly and Adam Scott. I don't think I would watch it again, but I'm not sad I did either.

23. The Hills Have Eyes

Year        : 1977

My Rank: 24
IMDB     : 19
Rotten   : 22
I enjoyed watching the remake without watching this one first. It's a simple concept - family with camper tries taking the short cut, has car break down, gets attacked by inbred locals. There is a lot more campiness to this one compared to the original. Basically the same though some people die in different manners, some for the better here.

22. The Omen 666 

Year        : 2006
My Rank: 11
IMDB     : 26
Rotten   : 27
Again I watched the remake here when this came out on that fateful 6/6/6 day prior to watching the originals. But I enjoyed it, it's a good mystery interloped with some scary and sometimes twisted deaths and moments. The nanny, the dog, the suicide, all creepy interlocked with that dreaded music.

21. Underworld (#4) Awakening 

Year        : 2012
My Rank: 30
IMDB     : 16
Rotten   : 15
Kate's Selene is back in a Vampire vs Werewolf vs Human fight. Third sequels don't have a history of being good and this is no exception. There is a time lapse of 12 years which can bug you if you like continuation. The same thing bugged me in Bond's Die Another Day. She has to protect a child this time. It's a pale comparison to the original and is missing Bill Nighy.

20. Final Destination 2 


Year        : 2003
My Rank: 21
IMDB     : 20
Rotten   : 17
Keeps the same premise as the original. More gruesome than the originals plane crash. All new characters except one that they bring back to explain the plot. More denial, more silly deaths. It's not a great story, but if you liked the original this doesn't fall too far for a sequel.

19. The Babysitter 

Year        : 2017
My Rank: 18
IMDB     : 18
Rotten   : 16
Netflix movie by McG. Babysitter is basically part of a satanic cult. Her and her friends are outwitted by the kids. Not exactly Home Alone, but it was shot well and is a decent ride for a comedy horror. Not as good as Tucker and Dale or The Loved Ones, but it's passing.

18. 1922 

Year        : 2017
My Rank: 16
IMDB     : 17
Rotten   : 19
A man plans to conspire with his son to kill his wife for financial gain. Then ghosts start to plague him. A Stephen King novel with an unrecognizable Thomas Jane. It seemed like a movie that wanted to be two different things. I enjoyed watching it for the most part, though I'm not sure I could stomach it again.

17. Ouija: Origin of Evil

Year        : 2016
My Rank: 10
IMDB     : 21
Rotten   : 18
A woman and her daughters are missing their husband/father so they try contacting him and instead get another entity. I was told going it that it was better than it had any right to be. Even with highered expectations, it lived up to them. It was a decently and written scary film. I would put it on the same level as any recent high tiered ghost movie.

16. Stephen King's IT

Year        : 1990
My Rank: 19
IMDB     : 11
Rotten   : 14
Group of outcast kids discover a demon who poses as a clown often is inhabiting their town. Then they discover it again as adults. Originally a 3 hour TV miniseries. I had watched it a number of years ago, but couldn't really get into it. But after the remake came out I had to revisit this. 
Tim Curry, John Ritter, Seth Green all head up the cast. The ending is a letdown, but Tim Curry is real good.

15. Suspiria 

Year        : 1977
My Rank: 27
IMDB     : 6
Rotten   : 7
Ballet setting where there happens to be death happening all around. It turns out there are witches all around. It's a classic. Not scary by today's standards. Lots of loud sounds. Lots of bizarre scenes and images. 

14. Gerald's Game 

Year        : 2017
My Rank: 17
IMDB     : 13
Rotten   : 10
Another Stephen King novel.Classic tale of woman gets tied up, partner dies then it becomes a fight to survive. Suspenseful scenes. 
A red eclipse. A decent ending. How much is all in her head, it isn't clear. It's as entertaining as a one setting premise can be. 

13. Antichrist 

Year        : 2009

My Rank: 7
IMDB     : 12
Rotten   : 21
My second viewing. Broken out into chapters. A messed up introduction and the movie does take some time to get a foothold. The cabin scenes are where the interesting things happen. It goes a little off the rails at the end. Some ominous tones, but not frightening in the traditional sense.

12. The Faculty 

Year        : 1998
My Rank: 3
IMDB     : 14
Rotten   : 20
Alien invasion movie with a cast of Jon Stewart, Josh Hartnett, Frodo Baggins, Salma Hayek, Usher, T-1000, 
Piper Laurie, Famke Janssen. It starts off fairly quick and we get wrapped up in the mystery of what is happening which becomes a The Thing premise of who is or isn't an alien. Then it becomes a big monster movie at the end. It's a fun ride through most of it, though some scenes make it campy or eye rolling.

11. Jigsaw

Year        : 2017
My Rank: 8
IMDB     : 23
Rotten   : 2
It seems silly to make a movie which is #8 in the franchise and isn't a reboot about a character which died 11 years ago. It's like Lucy repeatedly pulling the football away. I really like Tobin Bell in these movies, so I will take everything given to me here. I think it would be a fun challenge to make an entire cut of all these movies in time order. One of the three movies I ever watched alone in the theater in my life. (Also Ant-Man and Terminator Dark Fate)

10. Raw 

Year        : 2016
My Rank: 12
IMDB     : 8
Rotten   : 9
Definitely not a traditional horror movie. Something that probably couldn't be done properly in the US. Some scenes are shocking. Basically a story about a woman starting to get the taste for human flesh. She doesn't go around murdering people so it's not even trying to be scary, but more shocking. It kept me engaged the whole way through.

9. The Craft 

Year        : 1996
My Rank: 2
IMDB     : 15
Rotten   : 12
Witches try to recruit a fourth member to their high school covenant. When their powers start working, the newcomer tries to pull out and the others turn on her. Lots of high school elements which you would find in Scream or She's All That - relationships, popularity, missing parents. It holds lots of nostalgia to me.

8. The Wailing

Year        : 2016
My Rank: 14
IMDB     : 5
Rotten   : 8
A policeman trying to save his daughter from a sickness which has overtaken the village. They find a suspect, but is he the cause. There is a shaman dance. It's well made, there are no jump scares. It's slow in parts, incoherent in parts and has a long running time, but there's more good than bad here.

7. It Follows

Year        : 2014
My Rank: 6
IMDB     : 10
Rotten   : 11
Movie which since I watched it has been compared to sexual vd. There are some truly haunting ideas about an entity which flat out can't be stopped in trying to get you. No door, lock, friend, nothing will stop it. Same kind of creepy mindset that the Ring gave me. Instead of showing someone else the video, you have to have sex with someone else. Some good jump scares. Definite would watch again.

6. Salem's Lot 

Year        : 1979
My Rank: 4
IMDB     : 9
Rotten   : 13
It's dated, not Nosferatu dated but it's a different world for sure. I've watched this many times. The scary moments will continue to impress me - the children scrapping at the window, seeing the vampire face the first time. It's a satisfying conclusion and a good middle assuming you can stomach all the dated references even for 1979.

5. Nightmare on Elm Street 

Year        : 1984
My Rank: 15
IMDB     : 4
Rotten   : 6
Not my first time watching Johnny Depp and the original. Scarier images than Friday the 13th. Not as good as the original Halloween, but a better premise for sequels than Halloween had. Classic horror movie ending. Freddy is a villain who has been wronged and parents who don't believe at first are forced to come clean.

4. Dawn of the Dead 

Year        : 1978
My Rank: 13
IMDB     : 1
Rotten   : 1
Another horror classic. One of the few sequels which can be compared in the same breath as the original. The mall setting. The helicopters. This one feels more helpless than the original. A band of several different survivors as is typical of a zombie movie fight each other for survival almost as much as the zombies.

3. Train to Busan

Year        : 2016
My Rank: 9
IMDB     : 3
Rotten   : 3
The best kind of movies are the ones that come out of nowhere. This one was another good zombie watch. A father trying to save his relationship with his daughter while saving her life from the zombie apocalypse. Lots of action, looks beautiful. High recommend for a zombie movie.

2. IT 

Year        :  2017
My Rank: 1
IMDB     : 7
Rotten   : 5
Remake of part 1 to the story which the children battle the alien. Develops the characters well. Doesn't follow the book exactly, but plenty of great horror moments, creepy moments and jump scares. One of my favorite rewatches going forward. 

1. Get Out

Year        : 2017
My Rank: 5
IMDB     : 2
Rotten   : 4
Man goes to stay with his girlfriend's parents for a weekend. Uneasiness and other suspicious things start happening. Good twist in the middle. Satisfying conclusion. I enjoy revenge movies and this one becomes that in the end. Some comedy that isn't distracting. You may or not believe in the racism overtones.

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