31 Horrors in 31 Days- End of Month Best of + Awards

Basically what it says on the tin for this one. This is where I look back at every single movie I saw during this spooky month and sort them into that classic internet format of ‘The List’.

I’ll admit I’d usually do more of an elaborate introduction for this, but I’m kinda tired enough already, so let’s jump right in with the rankings of all 33 Horrors movies I watched for the first time this year (I’m not counting the original Halloween since, as mentioned, I’d already seen that before).

So, without further ado, here are all the films I saw this October ranked from Best to Worst! (I’ll add in proper hyperlinks later)

1. Eraserhead
2. Alice (1988)
3. The Orphanage
4. The Horror of Dracula
5. Village of the Damned
6. Candyman
7. The Others
8. The Howling
9. Eyes without a Face
10. Hausu
11. The Eye
12. Piranha 3D
13. Scooby Doo & the Gourmet Ghost
14. Re-Animator
15. Don’t Look Now
16. Halloween (2018)
17. Happy Death Day
18. Dark Water
19. Audition
20. Alligator
21. Venom
22. Whistle and I’ll Come to You (1968)
23. The Fog
24. Tenebre
25. Phantasm
26. Whistle and I’ll Come to You (2010)
27. Les Diaboliques
28. Kuroneko
29. The House with a Clock in its Walls
30. Zombi 2
31. Tarantula
32. The Blob (1958)
33. Seoul Station

And now, as an added bonus, here are a few ‘Best of’ Awards that I thought would be nice to do.

Scariest Film: Actually fairly tricky to pick this one. While there were lot of movies here that I enjoyed, there’s no one movie that really stood out from the pack in terms of being actively terrifying to me. Specifically as in, ‘turn down the volume, barely look at the screen’ sort of terrifying that a lot of my favourite horror movies manage to achieve.

Funnily enough though, in spite of it not cracking the top half of the list, I actually think I’m going to go with ‘Dark Water’ for this one. As mentioned before, stringy-haired ghost girls kinda have a type advantage against me, but even without there, there were a lot of really unsettling scenes in this that managed to stick with me.

Silliest Film: HAUSU. Not even close. Hausu all the goddamn way.

Biggest Positive Surprise: There were a few good options I could’ve gone with with this one. My favourite of the month, Eraserhead. The unexpectedly quality classic Village of the Damned. The surreal creepiness of Alice. All perfectly reasonable picks.

But, in the end, I really think I have to go for Candyman as the winner of this round. I went in expecting a generic slasher and got something that was so much more on so many levels. Thematically rich, profoundly surreal, with an outstanding soundtrack, setting and performances. It was something I wasn’t expecting and was a genuine favourite of mine on this list.

Biggest Disappointment: I guess Zombi 2? I love Lucio Fulci and his gore effects and have so commonly heard this described as one of his most famous. And while it certainly didn’t disappoint on the gore and make-up front, it did on almost everything else, with a boring mystery and flashback sequences taking up far too much of the movie, compared to the significantly more effective zombie stuff.

Scariest Character: The fucking White Rabbit from Alice! Just look at this bastard! Look at him!

Scariest Scene: In spite of it also being my biggest disappointment, I kinda feel like I’ve got to go with the door splinter scene from Zombi 2. I mean, Jeeeeezus. What is it with you and eyes, Lucio Fulci? And by extension, stop it with the eyes, already!

Silliest (non-Hausu) Scene: There are so many I could pick from Venom. So so many. From Tom Hardy’s magnificent over-acting to the hilarious wig in the post-credit scene. In the end though, I’m actually going to go for a silliest song. I’m really disappointed that I never got to mention it in the review itself, but Eminem’s credit song is astounding in how silly it is. I swear it’s like ‘So Bad its Good’ distilled into perfect auditory form. It’s magnificently silly as fuck.

Best (non-monster) Protagonist: Surprisingly, quite a lot of solid options for this pick. Peter Cushing’s charismatic Van Helsing, the trio of haunted motherly protagonists from The Orphanage, Dark Waters and The Others, the increasingly off the edge female protagonist from Candyman, the return of Laurie Strode in Halloween (2018). All good picks.

In the end though, I think I might surprise people by going with Theresa ‘Tree’ Gelbman from Happy Death Day. In a lot of ways, she did have an advantage here since I’m pretty certain the entire movie is from her point of view and she goes through a fairly big character arc through the movie, but she does it really well. The actress does great, balancing a variety of different moods and reactions and her development from bitchy alpha to genuinely good person feels realistic and works well.

Best Monster: It was tough selecting this one. I very nearly went for a three way tie between Christopher Lee’s Dracula, the children from Village of the Damned and the Candyman.

But, in the end, I had to go with Candyman. Because that voice, man. It’s like goddamn nectar to the ears.

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And, I think that’s gonna do it for the year. This was a lot of fun, if a bit difficult to keep up with, and I can’t wait to try it again next year. In the meantime, I’m really goddamn tired, so I’m going to go to bed. Good Halloween Night to you all.