31 Demonic Days and Nightmarish Nights of Halloween: 2023 Edition!

[Sean Whitmore]

1a. Dracula 2000 (2000)
1b. Dracula II: Ascension (2003)
1c. Dracula III: Legacy (2005)
2.The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
3. House on Haunted Hill (1959)
4a. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)
4b. Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
5a. Isle of the Dead (1945)
5b. The Night Flier (1997)
6a. Happy Death Day (2017)
6b. Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
7. The Old Dark House (1932)

8. El Conde (2023)



New(ish) to Netflix, this Chilean black comedy reimagines real-life dictator Augusto Pinochet as a vampire. He faked his death and went into hiding, mostly because he was bummed out over constantly being investigated for theft, corruption, and human rights abuses. (None of which he denies, he's just annoyed at being called out over it)

The Count decides he's tired of eternal life and ceases drinking blood so that he will eventually die. He plans to leave his ill-gotten fortune to his family, who are all human, but know he's a vampire. But he's taking too long to die for their sake, so his children hire a nun/accountant to both tally up the estate, and kill their father. Problem is, the Count falls for her and starts thinking he wants to stick around after all. And then even more crazy stuff happens.

It's a slow-paced movie and not exactly laugh-out-loud funny, but it's definitely engaging, and a wonderful metaphor for dictatorship. There are shades of Knives Out, with the money-grubbing family hungry for their inheritance, and Wes Anderson, with a narrator that recounts everything with the matter-of-factness of a messed-up fairy tale. It's a dry humor I really enjoy.

[Astral Disaster]

What I declared to friends as "witchy weekend" continues...

28. Blood Orgy of the She-Devils (1973) - Schlocky B-movie which features little blood and no orgies, but should satisfy quotas for satanic ritual, witchcraft, human sacrifice, voodoo dolls, bad special effects and questionable acting ability, Definitely has its share of cheesiness and unintentional laugh out loud moments which qualify it as "so bad it's good" in my book, and as a bonus I really enjoyed the wonky electronic music score, which reminded me of Legacy of Satan from 1974.

29. The Love Witch (2016) - A stylized homage to 1960s horror and Technicolor films, combined with an exploration of contemporary gender roles, the latter being done quite well imo, without ever becoming too heavy-handed. From Wikipedia: "...a modern-day witch... uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her with disastrous results."

30. Hagazussa (2017) - German/Austrian folk-horror set in the 15th century. Not nearly as slow as a lot of people claim, though The Witch is action packed in comparison, so make of that what you will. Not necessarily a horror film in the traditional sense, but it does go to a disturbing place in the final act which can be considered horrific.

31. Suspiria (2018) - More a reimagining, as opposed to a remake, of the 1977 original, it uses the premise as a framework for its own ends, personally I find this version much more engaging, and certainly more horrifying, than the first. I enjoy it and the original, but for entirely different reasons.

[CJStriker]

1.) Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)(Original Cut)~ Blu-Ray!
2.) King Kong (1933)~ YouTube HD!
3.) Son of Kong (1933)~ YouTube HD!


4.) King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963)~ DVD Standard!

I said earlier in my Theme this year I likely would not do any Godzilla movies, but as my list evolved since I am starting off with Nearly ALL King Kong Movies, Godzilla is indeed included now.
This movie brings me back to my very young youth, watch this so much I can quote the lines nearly all before they are said LOL! Such a Classic that made kids into Godzilla and King Kong Fans, just pure Nostalgia Coolness!

5.) King Kong Escapes (1967)~ DVD Standard!


This is a Movie I will NEVER Understand why it was not on TV as much as the other Kong or Godzilla movies, I only remember it being on TV 1 time as a kid and it was an EVENT for me and seeing it again felt like this! This is a rare classic with that classic Japanese style of both monsters and human villains right out of a James Bond/Super Sentai story given to a Kong Movie & I Love it!
Truly a Fun Rare Gem of a Kong Movie!

6.) King Kong (1976)~ AMAZON PRIME!

The Movie that defined a Modern King Kong for an entire generation of fans, the look, style, and Theme Park Attraction Ride at Universal Studios! Considered a modern update of its time and it holds up well! Wish their where more Dinosaurs on the Island then just a giant snake, but beside that this movie Still feels BIG TIME Movie Large for me now as it did when I 1st saw it! Epic is the feeling of this movie!
Sad part is now the painful future history we would know for the Twin Towers that were so important to the mean in this film, this is a movie as a nice time capsule to what they once were, Bless all that where lose.

[Moon Ronin]

No. 6: Rose Red (2002) on HULU



Dr. Joyce Reardon commissions a team of psychics to literally wake up a supposedly dormant haunted mansion—Rose Red.

So, Hulu brought back King's take on Shirley Jackson's "some houses are born bad". Except King decided some that some houses are criminally insane that and King really doesn't like over weight people. It's made for TV so it's tame when it comes to content but it is still a good story.

No. 7: 1408 (2007) on AMC



A man who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.

John Cusack acting his ass off in a room in full Nick Cage mode. The lesson I pulled away from this is that if Sam Jackson said don't stay in the MF room you really should not stay in the MF room.

No. 8: Secret Window 2004 on Amazon Prime



Mort Rainey, a writer just emerging from a painful divorce with his ex-wife, is stalked at his remote lake house by a psychotic stranger and would-be scribe who claims Rainey swiped his best story idea. But as Rainey endeavors to prove his innocence, he begins to question his own sanity.

Johnny Depp and divorce is a story old as time. It should be noted that Stephen King has a gift for coming up with characters that are also writers with very violent tendencies, some would see that as worrisome. But this is all about John Turturro and his awesomeness.

[Scott Taylor]

9. Final Destination (2000). A teen saves himself and a bunch of others from a plane crash, then he and everyone he saved spends the rest of the movie being chased by death. A classic film which I watch every so often. It plays off of the idea that you can't cheat death and everyone has a set time when they are supposed to die. Critics seemed to really hate this movie when it first came out, but its since become one of the many examples of a movie that the critics got wrong. I'm a fan.

10. Wolfman (1941). Man gets bitten by a wolf while trying to save a girl, and later becomes a werewolf. Great make up on the Wolfman and a pretty straight forward plot, without undue complications, make this flick one of the all time classics of the heydey of the Universal monster era. I wish the modern Universal attempts were a bit more simplistic like this film, and less about hubbub and doing new and interesting things with the monsters.

[Jared]

October 1st. 1- The Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (2023)
October 2nd. 2- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
October 3rd. 3- Warlock (1989). 4- Warlock: The Armageddon (1993). 5- Warlock: The End of Innocence (1999)
October 4th. 6- Isle of the Dead (1945)
October 5th. 7- Doppelganger (1993)
October 6th. 8- Dracula in Instanbul (1953)
October 7th. 9- Children of the Night (2023)



A lesson in what happens when your ambition for a real film vastly exceeds your actual budget. If you can't have more like than 5 guys onscreen, maybe don't set your movie in World War 2. If you can't make a gunfight with machine guns at close range look like bullets are actually hitting *anything*, maybe don't have a gunfight. If your monster masks don't look good in full light...then for the love of God don't fully light them!

Also, there's a simple test for actors in period pieces: when you watch them, can you believe this person has never used a cell phone. The two leads here fail that test. They really trying with their performances, but they just can't shake the aura of modernism. And that really doesn't help with the film's core, which is a closeted gay soldier meeting a sympathetic French vampire. If you can't suspend disbelief that this story is happening in the 40s, it really doesn't work at all.

Note that this is unrelated to the 80s vampire movie with the same title. That one wasn't great, but I liked it better than this one. It had some unique vamp lore in it, if nothing else.

[Sean Whitmore]

1a. Dracula 2000 (2000)
1b. Dracula II: Ascension (2003)
1c. Dracula III: Legacy (2005)
2.The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
3. House on Haunted Hill (1959)
4a. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)
4b. Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
5a. Isle of the Dead (1945)
5b. The Night Flier (1997)
6a. Happy Death Day (2017)
6b. Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
7. The Old Dark House (1932)
8. El Conde (2023)

9. Silver Bullet (1985)



Available on HBO Max. It's the least regarded of the big 80s werewolf movies, and that's fair enough, really. But it always means a little more to me since I saw it as a way little tyke, long before I even liked horror movies. And I always have a lot of time for Stephen King's small towns and quirky characters. As many times as I've seen this, I keep being surprised all over again when Lawrence Tierney turns up as a gruff barkeep, wielding a baseball bat with the word "peace maker" etched into it.

If I ever got the opportunity to play with King's toychest, I'd absolutely do a story where Reverand Lowe meets Father Callahan from Salem's Lot.

[Jared]

October 1st. 1- The Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (2023)
October 2nd. 2- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
October 3rd. 3- Warlock (1989). 4- Warlock: The Armageddon (1993). 5- Warlock: The End of Innocence (1999)
October 4th. 6- Isle of the Dead (1945)
October 5th. 7- Doppelganger (1993)
October 6th. 8- Dracula in Instanbul (1953)
October 7th. 9- Children of the Night (2023)
October 8th. 10- We Are the Night (2010)



Also known as Wir sind die Nacht. Think Near Dark, but with sexy rich German women instead of dirty redneck nomads. It looks and sounds great and the main performances are pretty strong. The story has been done many times before but this is a fun take on it. There are some cool shots done with that I don't recall seeing in any vamp film before, like seeing a person get bitten in a reflection, or a fight that's completely horizontal on a wall. The protagonist pulls one of the more impressive Cinderalla-type overnight makeovers I've ever seen. I watched the dubbed version on AMC, but Tubi has it subbed as well. My only real complaint is that it kinda rushes through the third act, I feel like this would have been better as a miniseries, if it could keep up the same production value. I give it a hearty recommendation. I usually try to do vampire-themed weekends and this was a good cap to it, all three so far were vamp flicks I hadn't seen before.

[Astral Disaster]

32. Possum (2018) - From Wikipedia: "British psychological horror film [which] centres on a disgraced children's puppeteer who returns to his childhood home and is forced to confront the abuse and trauma he suffered there." Bleak, dark, and creepy, and that's not even marginally a happy ending.

33. Jug Face (2013) - From IMDB: "When she learns the supernatural pit worshipped by her remote community in the woods has demanded her as a blood sacrifice, Ada struggles to find a way to survive, while the pit lashes out in anger." Didn't really do much for me, the backwoods hillbilly stereotypes became grating after a while, with the brother/sister incest pregnancy feeling gratuitous, going nowhere and adding practically nothing to the plot, and the ending was just kind of "meh", and somewhat anticlimactic.

34. Slumber Party Massacre (1982) - Originally written as a slasher parody, the film's producers altered the screenplay to make a more typical slasher movie, but despite the changes, there's an undercurrent of humor running throughout, which occasionally bubbles to the surface. A group of high school girls have a slumber party, which is crashed by a couple of teen boys and an escaped murderer, it isn't long before the bodies begin to stack up.

[Moon Ronin]

No. 9: Sometimes They Come Back (1991) on Pluto



Desperate for a job to help him support his family, Jim Norman takes a position teaching high school in the town where his brother was murdered in front of him by teenage bullies twenty-seven years before. The teens who committed the crime are long dead, but now the kids in Jim’s new class keep dying and being replaced by new students who look like the deceased hoodlums.

I always wondered how Greasers afforded such awesome cars and this movie answered this for me, shaking down middle schoolers for 12 cents at a time. Another made for TV movie of a King short story, I like it the kind of movie that I as a small kid would have stayed up watching in the middle of the night then seeing shadows move for the rest of the night.

[CJStriker]

1.) Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)(Original Cut)~ Blu-Ray!
2.) King Kong (1933)~ YouTube HD!
3.) Son of Kong (1933)~ YouTube HD!
4.) King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963)~ DVD Standard!
5.) King Kong Escapes (1967)~ DVD Standard!
6.) King Kong (1976)~ AMAZON PRIME!


7.) Queen Kong (1976)~ TUBI!

This is one of those hidden gems we all hope to find in our movie watching! The level of clever comedy and reverse gender roles in the backdrop of a unique new way of telling the classic Kong story with 1970’s British Film Making and culture setting the mode is brilliance, I Gem of Unique Size this one was!

8.) King Kong Lives (1986)~ YouTube HD!

I Love this movie as a Kid and later one found out is has not so good of a reputation. But I indeed am one of those fans to truly feel this is an underrated movie with good effects for its time, a clever story to Broaden the King Kong world of the 1976 Kong world, truly emotional at the near end, characters that are likable, in interesting story and a Family story to boot.
Also, the find battle is Amazing for the standards of the times, I truly enjoy KK Lives and feel it is underrated.

9.) The Mighty Kong (1998)~ TUBI!

This was a classic example of straight to the bargain bind late 1990’s cheap animation and storytelling with to much silliness and laziness Ness to boot. Now I greatly appreciate animation and how hard it is to do, so hats off to those that work on nearly all animated movies, and it was interesting seeing a musical, more kid friendly version of the classic King Kong story. But this was indeed a drive to sit through no doubt, animation alone was buggy, and the music is not going to be listened to on repeat either.

I do 1 other good thing thought about it, while the 1976 King Kong is a classic Galaxies about this Bargan Bin, at least this one had Dinosaurs and fights more then the 1976 one did, LMAO, so it had that I am surprised to say, cheap yes, but they are there. ;-)

[Jared]

October 1st. 1- The Necronomicon: Book of the Dead (2023)
October 2nd. 2- The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)
October 3rd. 3- Warlock (1989). 4- Warlock: The Armageddon (1993). 5- Warlock: The End of Innocence (1999)
October 4th. 6- Isle of the Dead (1945)
October 5th. 7- Doppelganger (1993)
October 6th. 8- Dracula in Instanbul (1953)
October 7th. 9- Children of the Night (2023)
October 8th. 10- We Are the Night (2010)
October 9th. 11- Justice League Dark (2017). 12- Constantine: City of Demons (2018). 13a- Constantine: House of Mystery (2022). 13b- The Spectre (2010)



I'm gonna try to do animation Mondays, and this ended up all based on DC's supernatural/Vertigo stuff. I know I saw Justice League Dark before and I remember liking, not loving it. And it was about the same this time. A spree of random murders where people hallucinate that they're seeing demons leads to a team-up of Batman, John Constantine, Zatanna, Dead Man, and Jason Blood/Etrigan. Some other paranormal notables show up too. Oddly enough, nobody thinks to ask Wonder Woman along even though she's a literal demigoddess and mystical enemies are right in her wheelhouse. Anyway, it's very action packed, and there some fun character dynamics. Batman is just...so pissed about having to deal with all this magic crap. Matt Ryan reprises his role from the short-lived live action show, and appearances in the Arrowverse shows.


Constantine: City of Demons Came out later, initially as webisodes, I believe. I had definitely seen the first one or two, but I didn't recall the rest of the movie. Ryan is the lead again, and though this came out later I think this should really be watched before JLD. You get basically the origin story of John, and he's not nearly as 'leveled up' as he seems to be in the other movie. Here, he's asked to blast some pursuing hell hounds and he quips "do I look like bloody Bendict Cumberbatch?!" But in the other one, he's throwing fireballs doing a lot more big, overt displays of power, he absolutely would have blasted them. Also, John can come off as a just try-hard if you don't now why he's so jaded and bitter.




A DC Showcase animated short, it's also a direct followup to the events of Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. For his part in one of DC's many reboots, John finds himself trapped in time loop. Ryan still voices him, though the character has gotten a redesign, which I don't think works as well. This is the only thing I've seen so far of the rebooted animated feature continuity, it seems to setup a threat for future installments but I have no idea if it's been hinted at elsewhere.




An older DC short, this one barely 12 minutes long. Detective Jim Corrigan is on the case of a Tinsletown bigwig's murder, which means the Spirit of Vengeance is coming for those responsible. Really just a ghost story with retro vibe. There's no challenge to the Spectre or any doubt as to if he'll achieve his aims. It works for this format.

[Sean Whitmore]

1a. Dracula 2000 (2000)
1b. Dracula II: Ascension (2003)
1c. Dracula III: Legacy (2005)
2.The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
3. House on Haunted Hill (1959)
4a. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)
4b. Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
5a. Isle of the Dead (1945)
5b. The Night Flier (1997)
6a. Happy Death Day (2017)
6b. Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
7. The Old Dark House (1932)
8. El Conde (2023)
9. Silver Bullet (1985)

10a. Totally Killer (2023) - Amazon Prime

Saw this by happenstance; I went on Amazon to watch something else, saw the ad, watched the trailer, and thought, "Why not?"

Just like Happy Death Day was Groundhog Day-with-a-slasher, this is Back to the Future-with-a-slasher. The survivor of a serial killer in the 80s is killed in the present, and her teenage daughter goes back in time to stop the original killings at the source. (Her friend just happened to be working on a time machine, such details are very much unimportant) Cue the gags about genre-savvy 2020's teen trying to navigate time travel without destroying her present, and being uncomfortable about how inappropriate and unsafe everything was in the 80s.

It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it turns like a wheel should. There's a gag at the end that almost makes the whole thing worth it alone.


10b. Dracula (1931) - Amazon Prime

What I actually turned on Amazon to watch.

[Astral Disaster]

35. Halloween III (1982) - Asked to work on a third installment, Carpenter and Hill (credited as producers) only agreed to be involved if the movie was not a direct sequel to the previous two films, as they saw it the story of Michael Myers had come to a definitive end and they had no interest in retreading old ground. With Myers out, the story revolves around two individuals who are drawn together to investigate the shady activities of the Silver Shamrock Novelties Company, uncovering a plot involving ancient Celtic rituals, technology and children's Halloween masks to bring about the end of the world. The film was pretty much a critical and box office failure, with many fans at the time disappointed it did not feature Michael Myers, though in recent years it has developed a cult following.

36. Shadow Of The Vampire (2000) - The movie is essentially a What If tale, showing what might have transpired had the vampire of F. W. Murnau's 1922 film Nosferatu, Count Orllok, been an actual undead, blood-sucking creature of the night. Great acting throughout, and John Malkovich is excellent in his role as Murnau, but it's Willem Dafoe who steals the show with his portrayal of Max Schreck/Count Orlok, the film is worth seeing for his performance alone, which received considerable praise.

37. Beetlejuice (1988) - Next up, the Tim Burton directed classic, he's been somewhat maligned for being predictable and formulaic the last couple of decades, but this was Burton at the height of his career during the last decade and a half of the 20th century. From what I've read, Sammy Davis Jr. was originally envisioned in the title role, which would have made this a MUCH different film.

[Scott Taylor]

11. Renfield (2023). Renfield, servant of Dracula, discovers himself. The premise is clever and the over the top violence and acting fit, plus there were lots of genuine laughs. Nicolas Cage killed it as Dracula. But it was hard to accept that this was Renfield. This is a man who became insane due to being a servant of Dracula. And if I had seen this in a theatre, it would have been a disappointment because it just felt kind of small and cheap like a pilot to a series rather than a stand alone type of thing. The blood and gore was constant and the fights were entertaining but it all looked really fake to the point of distraction. The movie would have benefited from more substance and less goofiness, and losing the entire police subplot in favor of more Dracula. Nevertheless its a fun way to spend an hour and a half.

It continues to amaze me that Universal keeps falling on their face with their monster stuff. Seems it shouldn't be that difficult.