My husband greatly enjoys a good scary movie. I am apprehensive about them and can’t handle some that seem “real”. I told him I would get suggestions from friends and watch 31 scary movies leading up to Halloween. Believe it or not, I made it through! Check out my movie reviews and let me know if you have seen any of these and what you thought of them in the comments.
Movie #1: HELD
Review: This movie had a slow start but keep watching, it gets better. It had an element of suspense, unexpected events and not predictable, very well done. It has a dramatic and emotional twist to it that left an unexpected outcome for one of the short term characters. I love that the good guy/gal got away in the end.
Rating: 8 out of 10.
Movie #2: Hocus Pocus 2
Review: I originally had no interest in watching this movie. Sequels of classic movies generally don’t do the original justice which unfortunately held true for this one as well. The continuation of the story was ok but it really didn’t do justice to the original in content, quality or desire to watch again. The music was cheesy. My girls enjoyed it even after watching the original so I won’t say that it is terrible, it just wasn’t a favorite of mine.
Rating: 5 out of 10.
Movie #3: Haunted Mansion
Review: We decided to add this movie to the list for the whole family because we had just told the kids we were taking them to Disney. My husband wanted them to have background on why the ride is designed as it is at Hollywood Studios. It was a good movie with just a small mix of scary. My kids thought parts were scary but they liked it overall. In fact, the ride was a little underwhelming for them after watching the actual movie.
Rating: 7 out of 10.
Movie #4 Shutter Island
Review: I give it a wow for plot twist. This is the kind of flick I like! It set up a very interesting story line. It gave details into some key characters in the story and then it shifted. The shift made you doubt what was truly going on and really gave that element of suspense and unsurety. The ending though….It is definitely a must see for those that like suspenseful thrillers.
Rating: 9 out of 10.
Movie #5: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Review: This one was pretty funny. What a mess, haha…literally! The story set up a stereotype scenario from two sides of the story. Each one set up a scenario that was opposing the other. One group thought one event was occurring, the other group another and then the view sees what really happened to lead to the end result. It was gory, bloody and showed dramatic freak accidents.
Rating: 7 out of 10.
Movie #6: The Lie
Review: This movie had a very slow start that didn’t pick up a whole lot. There was a decent plot twist to it that I didn’t see coming but it wasn’t exactly a good one. The story line was really not that good so it made the overall effect of the movie pretty undesirable. I would not watch it again.
Rating: 4 out of 10.
Movie #7: Firestarter
Review: I remember and quite enjoyed the original from the 80s. I was skeptical to watch this remake of the movie because I didn’t think it would do justice but I was pleasantly surprised. It was well written, the story gave more dramatic background of the situation. The acting was very good with the solid story line. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and now kind of want to watch this and the original back to back.
Rating: 10 out of 10.
Movie #8: Run
Review: This one was suspenseful and kept me engaged but the ending was kinda dumb. It was a story of stolen identity and deceit. Holding captive an innocent for selfish gain that didn’t quite pan out as expected in the end. The ending was poorly written in my opinion and definitely could have been better. Had justice been truly served it could have received a higher rating from me.
Rating: 7 out of 10.
Movie #9: Hellraiser (2022)
Review: This type of movie is not really the type I like, a little too Sci-Fi for my taste. If you are a fan of 80s horror where this one originated, you may not like it. It is nothing like the original really but I hear it is more true to the book. It may have intrigued me enough to read the book and then my rating for this version of the movie may change.
Rating: 3 out of 10.
Movie #10: Frankenweenie
Review: This was definitely true to Tim Burton’s style. It was oddly weird but kid friendly. I like Tim Burton’s creativity and dark flair. He really has a vision for turning the scary into something almost attractive. It was dark yet cute all at the same time.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Movie #11: Inheritance
Review: This movie started with a little mystery, then filtered in the suspense. It had a definite plot twist that was predictable in my opinion. The ending was a bit different than I expected but overall predictable.
Rating: 6 out of 10.
Movie #12: It Follows
Review: I’m not sure exactly what to say about this one. It definitely kept me engaged as far as I wanted to help keep an eye out for the mystery. I didn’t really care for the overall story behind it. It definitely captured the creepy factor.
Rating: 7 out of 10.
Movie #13: Mr. Harrigan’s Phone
Review: It had a great story line, a touch of mystery and intrigue, somewhat predictable. The set up for the story was detailed and gave good depth of content. Gave some insight on the challenges of the technological age and the effect it can have to humans. It progressed as it should but a little too predictably. Overall I liked it.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10.
Movie #14: The Munsters (2022)
Review: This one was pretty much a mess. I didn’t like it in the least. It was slow, didn’t have a unique story line and overall was just dumb in my opinion. I wouldn’t recommend it if you like the original, it is nothing like it and will just disappoint you.
Opinion: We need some screen writers that come up with ORIGINAL content, not a million remakes of already done stuff. Who’s with me?!
Rating: 1 out of 10.
Movie #15: Winchester
Review: This one definitely had the creepy factor, especially considering it is based off a true story. I want to research what parts are true of the portrayal now. It intrigued me to dig deeper into the story. It had a solid story, great acting and kept that perfect level of suspense going through its entirely.
Rating: 9 out of 10.
Movie #16: Abandoned
Review: This one had a really slow start…I mean really slow. Once it got going it kept me wanting to know what was coming. In the end it definitely left us with a lot of questions. I think I get the main point but it could mean different things, not a definitive ending.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Movie #17: The Visit
Review: Wow, is the best way to describe this one. It was definitely a psychotic trama…this one…whoa…got me. I don’t even know what to rate it. It was creepy from the beginning but with the plot twist it gained a whole new level of creepy. Psycho thrillers are not my thing….
Husband’s Rating: 8 out of 10.
Movie #18: Ready or Not
Review: Well…um…it was creative and comically disgusting. It was disturbing yet funny. They got what they deserved. You play with fire…you will get burned. It does have Satanic reference so it definitely wouldn’t be for everyone.
Rating: 9 out of 10 for creativity.
Movie #19: Insidious
Review: Nah dude…I love my kids and all but I don’t think I would/could go there. This was a well done flick in that it grabs your interest and has a steady flow. It’s definitely heavy, dark and has the yikes factor.
Rating: 8 out of 10.
Movie #20: Insidious 2
Review: The first one was so entertaining that we had to go for the second one. It definitely explained a lot from the first one. It was just as entertaining and just as many demonic references.
Rating: 8 out of 10.
Movie #21: Frankenstein (2015)
Review: So, this one was very disturbing. I do NOT recommend it. It was an interesting perspective on Frankenstein “Adam” but excessively disgusting. I had my eyes covered for a good portion of the movie and a lot of unnecessary language. We were very uncomfortable through the movie…not sure why we watched it all…too lazy to get the remote…hoping for redeeming value I guess that never came….
Rating: 1 out of 10.
Movie #22: Dracula (1979)
Review: This one was a little different take on Dracula. He was social, shape shifted, etc. It was typical for its time with over dramatic kissing scenes and not scary by today’s standards. It was a fun watch.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10.
Movie #23: Skeleton Key
Review: I was surprised to see a thriller with this actress. I have seen her in may different types but not thrillers so I was excited to see what she could give it. It was good in my opinion. The story line was entertaining and there was a huge plot twist. My kind of “scary” movie.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Movie #24: Chernobyl Diaries
Review: We thought it was kinda dumb. A really badly done “I Am Legend” type flick. It was highly predictable and not all that unique. It had potential but it definitely didn’t deliver.
Rating: 1 out of 10.
Movie #25: Idiocracy
Review: Well…this wasn’t scary in the spooky movie sense but scary in the projected trajectory of people of earth scary. I pray we can do better. It was funny and sad all at the same time. The fact that Starbucks, Carl’s Jr. and Costco took over the world was disturbing.
Rating: 6 out of 10.
Movie #26: Fear Street Part One 1994
Review: This one is a typical slasher movie similar to the old 1980’s horror. It was entertaining, senseless, not a great story line, not really scary either, just gory. It surprised me from the very beginning.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Movie #27: Fear Street Part Two 1978
Review: We weren’t disappointed enough to not watch the second one. This is the 2nd of the 3 part Fear Street movies. This did make some of the first one make more sense. It had a much better flow to it and gave more story line.
Rating: 6 out of 10.
Movie #28: Fear Street 1666
Review: We took the plunge and also watched the third of the trilogy. It gave even more background so each movie went more backwards in the story line. This series was an interesting approach to the over all story. I did enjoy it when looking back over the 3 parts.
Rating: 6 out of 10.
Movie #29: Smile
Review: This is not the type on movie I like. Psychotic jump scare movies just aren’t for me. It was a good story telling movie though it had a horrible ending. The hubs and I rated it differently as we have different ideas of good horror movies.
Rating: I give it a 4.5 out of 10…Christian gave it a 7….
Movie #30: Creatures of the Black Lagoon
Review: This movie was not scary to today’s standards. I love the formality of the main lady in the film. She had the appearance of perfection even freshly out of the water. It was a fun watch.
Rating: 5 out of 10.
Movie #31: Super 8
Review: This was a suspense thriller style movie. Overall it was ok but had kind of a dumb ending. It was a kids save the world type flick.
Rating: 5 out of 10
I had a really good time getting movie suggestions, getting a hold of the movies from streaming or the library and carving out the time to watch them. My husband enjoyed this month of me watching his favorite genre with him. I hope to make this a yearly tradition to watch and review 31 movies through the month of October. I’d love to hear what you thought of these movies in the comments!