2025 Spooky Season Horror Film Ratings
For this rating exercise, I'll lead with the title, my rating, the positive aspects of the film, and then (after a semicolon) what I think could have been better about it. This year, for any new films, I only watched films that earned a 6 or better on IMDB (or which came recommended to me by others). This ended up being a good strategy as, while I liked the films to varying degrees, there was not a single one that made me regret the time I had invested to watch it.
Late Night with the Devil - 9 - Fun, unique, fairly satisfying climax; I might have been slower than the average viewer to catch on, but I thought the ending and the underlying "bargain" of the plot was somewhat unclear without further clues or information in the narrative.
Heretic - 8 - Hugh Grant and the missionaries' acting was all great, not senselessly gory, explored deep questions; trying to think of good reason for the docked points...it simply wasn't as fun as "Late Night."
La Llorona - 7 - Creative blending of folk horror with political oppression, good acting from the mother and grandmother especially, sense of claustrophobia from the constant protests outside the house, the gradual reveal of the grandmother's dream sequences was powerful; the scares could have been scarier, more frequent, perhaps a little more variable.
Donnie Darko (re-watch with boyfriend) - 9.5 - Loveable characters, detailed universe, good flow to the film, soundtrack and score; gets docked half a point simply because it usually requires a little explanation outside the film itself to understand the whole tangent universe thing (at least in the theatrical version).
Bring her Back - 7.5 - Great acting, creepy mysterious footage, never knew what was going to happen next, disturbing scenes without excessive gore; some items left unexplained...how did Laura come by the ritual tape? Does she have to watch it with Ollie every so often to keep him "indoctrinated?" Then again, overexplaining might have made it feel too heavy-handed.
It Follows (re-watch with boyfriend) - 6.5 - Horrifying scenario, interesting concept (STI as supernatural curse); I understand why the ending is ambiguous but it still annoys me.
Shaun of the Dead (re-watch with family) - 9.5 - Best horror comedy out there, great characters, really creative long shots to show the progression of the illness, it makes me laugh and cry (Shaun's mom deserves an Oscar); gets docked half a point because they really should have stayed at Liz's flat, it was by far the most secure location in the movie.
When Evil Lurks - 7 - Creative take on possession horror, I really liked the "rules" and the way we learned about the characters gradually as they interacted with others, the disposal scene and the scene with the dog stood out, the body horror aspect was successfully disturbing; some of the dialogue felt forced, I wish Mirta's character had been more helpful during the climax, that we knew more about the special instrument she and the other "cleaner" carried.
Tigers are not Afraid - 9 - Cinematographically beautiful and emotionally devastating, the children are great actors and the fairy tale parts are very compelling (similar to Pan's Labyrinth); I wish we had gotten to learn more about each child's personality/character (it felt like Estrella, Shine, Morro, and "the other kids" because I did not know as much about them). Also, Chino's motives were a little unclear to me...what was he actually going to do with the phone? Minor gripes, overall excellent film and great way to end spooky season.
