Augeleven’s 2024 spooky season movie log

[augeleven]

I’m gonna log my spooky season movie watch here. Every year I try to the 31 movies in 31 days challenge. This year I started a couple weeks early. I’m also trying to watch as many movies with my 10 year old, who loves the spooky stuff.

To catch up until today:

ETA - the movie that started it off: on Friday the 13th I watched Jason Goes to Hell. This movie gets so much hate for not being a “real” Jason movie, being too fantastical/silly, and having garbage writing. I love how bonkers the movie gets, and I think the acting is better in this than a lot of the other sequels. “Goes to Hell” is never as boring as “Manhattan”, or part 7, and the cold opening through to the heart eating scene is quality.
Overall, still a mid-tier Jason movie. I’m giving it a 6 out if 10

Last week I watched Terrifier and Terrifier 2. I really enjoyed all the gore set pieces in Terrifier, even more than Terrifier 2. The fact that the first one was made on a 35k budget is unreal to me.

Terrifier 2 was good as well, although its 80s vibe seemed pretty rote. And the mutilation scene went on a bit longer than I was comfortable with, but I guess that’s the point.

A safe for work funny scene from Terrifier 2

Probably being affected by recency bias, but I’m giving Terrifier an 8 (+1 low budget modifier) out of 10 and Terrifier 2 an 8 out of 10.

I also put on a fave, Return of the Living Dead, during a workout. Turned it off about half way through. I’ve seen this movie a million times - I can’t rate this lower than a 10. I can fix Linnea…

Last night I watched Trick r Treat and Deadstream with my daughter, Z. She gave Trick r Treat a weak 6 out of 10 and Deadstream an enthusiastic 9 out of 10. She said Deadstream is her favorite scary movie so far.
For those who haven’t seen it, an annoying YouTuber gets EvilDead2ed.
Like this:

Trick r Treat still holds up - 9 out of 10. I’m giving Deadstream a 8 (-.5 for the annoying lead character and +1 +1 low budget modifier.)

I re-upped my Shudder subscription for Deadstream, so today I started watching the Joe Bob drive in version of Slumber Party Massacre while kitchen choring.

I’m almost done with it, but I keep stopping it because it’s really not holding my attention. I will finish it and cross it off my list of must-see horror movies, and I’ll probably never watch it again 5 (+1 for gratuitous TnA, -1 for me feeling guilty about +1ing for gratuitous TnA, and -1 for multiple boredom breaks).
So that’s 6 down. Maybe I’ll make it this year.

[lheugh]

Oh I will be following along. I'm an uber-horror buff.

[augeleven]

Movie #7 - When Evil Lurks

This was high on my list from when a person who normally doesn’t watch horror movies recommended it to me. I think his exact words were “I saw this movie and I thought of you.” I missed it over the summer, but I watched the Joe Bob version of it from the 2024 Nightmare-athon.
I love a non-Christian demon possession movie. This would have been at the top of my recent gory scale, had I not just seen the Terrifier movies. The writing and acting was spot-on - I know these dudes. Morale of the Story: listen to the women in your life.

8 (+.5 for the line ‘children love evil and evil loves children’) out of 10.
The more I rate these the more I realize what a fool’s errand rating movies on a scale from 1-10 is. Oh well.

Bonus Movie: Toxic Avenger
I threw this on for the end of my work out. I haven’t seen this since my early 20’s, which is when this movie should be seen. I was amused well enough to pause it for a couple of work sets.

Feel free to leave suggestions @iheugh. I think I might get go ultra-gross tomorrow - maybe a cannibal movie or a Miike I haven’t seen.

[augeleven]

Movie #8

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

This is a spiritual sibling to all of the Christopher Guest mockumentaries. It was fun to watch for all of the little Easter eggs for other characters, like Robert England’s Loomisy Doc Halloran being a nod to Scatman Crothers character in the Shining. Angela Goethals was captivating in this.
Overall it was pleasantly entertaining, but I can’t imagine watching it again. It could have been funnier and/or scarier, the third act reveal was a little too telegraphed, and I wanted waaay more Robert England and Scott Wilson. I’m glad I finally checked this one off the list.

6( +1 for Robert England in a good guy role, -.5 for reusing the same ladder up-skirt shot) out of 10


Bonus movie: I watched the next 30 minutes or so of Joe Bob’s episode on the Toxic Avenger. I got bored and turned it off right before the Mexican restaurant scene. I’ll probably put that on next time I’m in the treadmill and if I’m bored again, I’ll probably put all of TROMA in the shelf for the rest of the decade.

[DanCR]

Many years ago, a buddy and I found ourselves at a bar in Providence, Rhode Island sitting next to Robert Englund.

“I’m sure you get this all the time, but you look an awful lot like Robert Englund.”

“I do, because I am Robert Englund.”

He was super cool. We talked for about an hour before the bartender told him that there was a group of local goths gathering outside, apparently having heard that he was there, and he excused himself and escaped through the kitchen.

[augeleven]

Many years ago, a buddy and I found ourselves at a bar in Providence, Rhode Island sitting next to Robert Englund.

“I’m sure you get this all the time, but you look an awful lot like Robert Englund.”

“I do, because I am Robert Englund.”

He was super cool. We talked for about an hour before the bartender told him that there was a group of local goths gathering outside, apparently having heard that he was there, and he excused himself and escaped through the kitchen.

That’s awesome. LOL at goths in providence. We used to go to Thayer street all the time to people watch the RISD kids. Very fashion, much goth.

[DanCR]

Many years ago, a buddy and I found ourselves at a bar in Providence, Rhode Island sitting next to Robert Englund.

“I’m sure you get this all the time, but you look an awful lot like Robert Englund.”

“I do, because I am Robert Englund.”

He was super cool. We talked for about an hour before the bartender told him that there was a group of local goths gathering outside, apparently having heard that he was there, and he excused himself and escaped through the kitchen.

That’s awesome. LOL at goths in providence. We used to go to Thayer street all the time to people watch the RISD kids. Very fashion, much goth.

Brah. During my 20s I lived in New Jersey. My good friend had gone to school in Rhode Island and stayed up there afterward. There was a period from like 22-28 when I drove up to Providence at least once a month and we tore Thayer apart. (Yeah we were a little old by the end. We'd start off elsewhere and somehow always end up there by the end of the night.) My dude ended up moving to Texas, and that was that until a few years ago when we both were in Providence for a mutual friend's birthday. Afterward we headed over to Thayer with our then significant others, just for a laugh... and it was gone. Almost completely. Our most favored old spot (Paragon), assuming that I had the location right, was a fucking Bank of America branch. The only thing left from my days there was Andrea's restaurant, which a glance at google just now tells me also has since closed. We were legit sad to see it. Later that night we were in a place with a young bartender and asked him wtf had happened to Thayer. He said that younger folks just had stopped going out - everything had become house and apartment parties - and Thayer died out.

[augeleven]

Speaking of goth:

Movie #9
Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu

I haven’t seen this in like maybe 20 years. A friend hipped me to Even Dwarves Start Small, and I was hooked. Herzog has a beautiful cinematic eye, and a knack for catching arrestingly unique images, even if they don’t make any narrative sense. Lucy was definitely spouting some classic Herzog existentialisms like “Death is overwhelming. Eventually we all die. Stars fade and reel in confusion, Time passes in blindness, rivers flow without knowing their course, Only death is cruelly sure.” Reading this back I hear it in that meme-ified Herzog-as-narrator voice.



Entertaining as a Herzog movie, but it misses the mark as a Horror movie. It was a coin flip between this and Shadow if the Vampire - I may have chosen wrong

7 (-1 for getting bogged down in the middle, -.5 for that annoying Renfield laugh, +.5 for the super seeet mummies during the credits, +.5 for the music, +.5 for the rat-filled last supper sequence) out of 10

[augeleven]

Bonus movie:
Phenomena

I put this on during the lifting session as background noise. This is another revisit - it’s been at least 15 years since I’ve seen this one too. I remember not liking this one, despite it having all of my favorite things: Donald Pleasance, Goblin, Jennifer Connelly, Dario Argento. I think the big problem I have is that the tone is all over the place. Jennifer’s character is sneaking around while Iron Maiden is rocking out. Weird. As I’m typing this up and watching the 10 or so minutes, it gets better with the killer reveal, but I should have to sit through the first 80 minutes to get there.
Also having a 14 year old girl run around in skimpy white robes - not cool.
30 something Jennifer in a seafoam gown sing marine jazz? That’s ok


Not sure if I’m going to log this one, as I wasn’t giving most of attention, but I’ll score it:
5(-1 for inappropriate 80s metal soundtracking, +2 for making the chimp the Dr. Loomis/inspector/hero that saves the day, +1 for the maggoty kid killer design, -.5 for getting my hopes up and disappointing me) out of 10

[augeleven]

I succumbed to Skyrim last night, and Inestched the season finale of Rings of Power on the treadmill.

I started Jean Rollin’s Fascination, but turned it off after 15 minutes and went to bed. That’s a watch alone with headphones kind of movie, and not generally my bag.

Today:

Movie #10
Scream, Blacula, Scream
I’ve seen this before, but wanted something I could watch more passively. It’s super campy, but held up well enough. It’s funny because “Blacula” is a super campy name, but (up until the last minute or so) William Marshall plays it razor straight - maybe straighter than Michael Caine in Muppet Christmas Carol. I love a 70s horror movie soundtrack - the blend of dissonant chamber classical and studio jazz with a funky rhythm section and wah wah guitar. The voodoo stuff is kinda sketchy, and I hate that at the end Mamuwalde calls himself Blacula.


Over all 6.5 (+.5 for the camp, +2 for William Marshall’s sonorous voice) out of 10.

Nothing in Scream, Blacula, Scream is as iconic as this scene from the first one




Movie #11
Sat down with the family and we watched the first part of the IT miniseries. This is definitely cheesier than I remembered: very melodramatic, obvious made for tv budget issues, and a lot of questionable acting choices. My eldest specifically dug the music in the scary scenes.

For the first half, 5.5 (mostly due to Tim Curry and nostalgia)

I put on Little shop of Horrors, but I peace’s out. They’re still watching.

[augeleven]

Yesterday:

I made it about 45 minutes into the Fly, then turned it off. I will reserve my thoughts for when I finish it.

Movie #12
Never Hike Alone

This a fan film in the Friday the 13th series. It clocks in at 53 minutes, and is mostly one actor playing a hiker filming content for his YouTube channel, being chased by the hockey enthusiast.
I’m very susceptible to recency bias, but this might be one of my favorite Friday the 13th movies. Limited gore, but’s of suspense, and really interesting takes on some of the classic Friday story beats. Also the 53 minute run time is a big bonus - maybe I would like a 53 minute version of Jason takes Manhattan?

8.5 out of 10 - I might watch this one again this month with the kid.

[augeleven]

Movie #13
V/H/S Beyond
This came out last week. It’s a pretty entertaining entry into the VHS series. Found footage makes me queasy, and some of the segments were very shaky. There was lots of gore, jump scares, and weird scenarios, but not a lot of things that make sense. Although if you are watching a VHS movie for anything other than cheap thrills, then I don’t know what to tell you. My least favorite was Stork, but they were all pretty good. My daughter joined me half way through and got a kick of bad I was jump-scared in Live and Let Dive.

7 out of 10

We also finished IT. Definitely 5.5 out of 10 almost completely due to my nostalgia and my superhuman ability to ignore bad acting.

We also started WNUF special, mostly so I could show her the authentic 80’s commercial vibes. We might finish it tomorrow. We might not

[augeleven]

Movie #14
Exorcist 3
For some reason, I got this confused with Exorcist 2 and was expecting an Ennio Morricone score. No Morricone, but enjoyed a whole bunch. Lots of tension, lots of unhinged melodrama. Brad Dourif and George C Scott were both chewing the scenery. The hallway scene and the old lady on the ceiling scenes were both masterpieces of understated shock.
8 (+1 for Brad saying “Child’s Play”) out of 10

Brad doing Dourif stuff

[DanCR]

Exorcist 3
For some reason, I got this confused with Exorcist 2 and was expecting an Ennio Morricone score. No Morricone, but enjoyed a whole bunch. Lots of tension, lots of unhinged melodrama. Brad Dourif and George C Scott were both chewing the scenery. The hallway scene and the old lady on the ceiling scenes were both masterpieces of understated shock.

I saw this! That's notable because horror movies scare tfo of me and I never watch them, but someone put this on one night in college and I sat through it. The old lady on the ceiling kept me up for a week. At least.

[augeleven]

Exorcist 3
For some reason, I got this confused with Exorcist 2 and was expecting an Ennio Morricone score. No Morricone, but enjoyed a whole bunch. Lots of tension, lots of unhinged melodrama. Brad Dourif and George C Scott were both chewing the scenery. The hallway scene and the old lady on the ceiling scenes were both masterpieces of understated shock.

I saw this! That's notable because horror movies scare tfo of me and I never watch them, but someone put this on one night in college and I sat through it. The old lady on the ceiling kept me up for a week. At least.

I love how understated that was! Great scene.

[augeleven]

Movie #15
Glorious
This is a cosmic eldritch horror movie about a gloryhole.

I listen to a lot of podcasts due to my long commute. This week’s Screen Drafts episode was late so I put on the old Horror Comedy episode. The director of this movie said “eldritch horror” and “gloryhole”, so I was immediately in.
Clocking in at 79 minutes, this was a breezy 1.5 hander. I can’t recommend this movie enough. I don’t know if this has a lot of rewatch value, but this has been maybe my favorite so far.
9 out of 10

[augeleven]

Movie #16
From Beyond
How have I never seen this? This is gross out body horror that I was hoping the (still unfinished) Fly was going to be. Super goopy, super melodramatic, super crazy. This one will get rewatched again
8.5 out of 10

[augeleven]

yesterday's movie:

Movie #17
Shadow of the Vampire
A fictionalized, account of the making of the Murnau classic, SofV posits Shreck (here Dafoe) was an actual vampire. It's a well done drama, and we get a delightlfully maximalist Shreck from Dafoe, but this movie is barely horror.
My life needs more John Malkovitch giving bad accents though. Do I abandon my plans and watch Rounders tonight?
7.5 out of 10, which is .5 more than Herzog got. What am I even doing here?

Horror Vanguard released an episode on the Terrifier movies. Plenty of food for thought about slashers vs splatter and how they criticize different parts of our culture.
They had Mark Steven on as a guest, and now I'm probably going to get his book, Splatter Capital.

https://atomicbooks.com/products/splatter-capital

[augeleven]

Yesterday’s movie
Movie #18 - Terrifier 3

Story time.
I went to the local AMC for a late night screening. As I sat down in my assigned seat, two teenaged boys led a little girl (couldn’t be older than 6) down my row.
“You guys know this is for Terrifier 3?”
“Yup.”
“Cool.”

I don’t like confrontation or being in other peoples’ business, but this qualifies as an edge case scenario, right? 5 minutes later the mom passes me by with popcorn to sit with them. Maybe she doesn’t know what she is getting into. As the trailers play, the little girl is getting more upset. I mentally tear up my Avoids Confrontation Club membership card, and say to the mom - “This movie is going to be pretty violent”. She responds sheepishly that she knows. I officially hate myself.

The first 30 or so minutes I’m distracted by the thoughts of 1) is the kid going to be ok? and 2) what kind of monster am I for watching this movie that I have deemed so inappropriate for a child?. The kid officially noped out and the mom carried her out of the film. For about 30 minutes.
Then she comes back with the kid and the dad. Just in time for the shower scene.

I have officially sent in my Theater Karen application. I’m hoping to get it approved in time for when I go to the movies again in 2026

The movie was good. The story beats seemed kind of random until near end, but it set up Terrifier 4 nicely. I’m hoping this franchise goes the way of Phantasm, where the mythology is heavily implied but never explained, and the movies are connected by weird dream logic narratives.

8 out of 10. This might replace Die Hard and Gremlins for my favorite ironic Christmas movie.

[DanCR]

I also try to stay out of peoples’ business, but also would have said something as you did. I make an exception in situations when a child is being treated in a way that pisses me the fuck off. The shitty part is that it’s just one circumstance. Parents like that are doing terrible, stupid shit all day, every day.

Bottom line, you were not a Karen.