Halloween Countdown 2025 Watchlist Week 2
Here's what I watched, what about you?
The Halloween Countdown continues at R-Rated Movie Club! Have you watched any scary movies this month? Here’s what I watched the second week of October and while not all of them are rated R (including Good Boy, the lead trailer), they’re all supposed to be scary. Agree with my ratings? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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What I Watched - Week 1
Massacre at Central High (1976) 3.5 out of 5 Empty Pools Smell Like Full Pools, Apparently
FIRST WATCH | This is pure mid-70s mindless mayhem. There’s high school bullying, extreme revenge, food fights, hang gliding, murder mysteries, needless nudity, and oh so many explosions. I didn’t expect to like this one nearly as much as I did, and it was a really fun way to kick off the second week of October. I had to laugh, because I’m not sure there’s a single adult character in the movie, just students. Of course, all of the high school students are super old because the actors are clearly in their 20s if not 30s, but hey, that’s a high school horror movie in the 70s for ya.
Hide and Go Shriek (1988) 2.5 out of 5 Dad’s Furniture Stores
FIRST WATCH | This one is very, very slow to start, and then slooooow to continue. Teenagers jump scare each other for half the movie and the killer doesn’t make a move until the 35-minute mark when he takes out the only likeable characters. In the “teens overnight in the mall” sub-genre of horror, Chopping Mall does it much better.
Sleepwalkers (1992) 2 out of 5 Cops Singing in Their Squad Car
FIRST WATCH | I was too young for this kind of movie when it came out and it never really appealed to me in all of the years since. Maybe I rented it, at some point, because certainly I rented a lot of this sort of fare in the early 2000s, but I don’t remember it. And, writing a few days after seeing it, I don’t remember much now either, except one thing: Dan Martin as Officer Andy Simpson is awesome! 2 stars for the movie, 5 stars for Dan Martin!
The Loved Ones (2009) 2.5 out of 5 Prom Corsages
FIRST WATCH | This Australian horror film by writer/director Sean Byrne (this year’s Dangerous Animals, though I missed it) has strong reviews, but I just couldn’t get into this one. It’s in the horror sub-genre derisively nicknamed “torture porn,” in that it’s all about showcasing explicit torture as the main gimmick. That’s not for me, and neither was this one.
History of the Occult (2020) 3 out of 5 Cut-Off Secret Words
FIRST WATCH | I wish I’d read a cheat sheet about Argentinian culture, history, and politics before watching this, because I think if I’d had even a sliver of extra insight I would have found it brilliant. Instead, I found it interesting, but confusing and hard to follow. An investigative journalist TV show tries to expose a government conspiracy involving a company that appears to gain its success from casting spells. That’s really intriguing on paper, but as I say, I was a little lost, sadly. Creative independent filmmaking, an intriguing premise, maybe I’ll try again. If you like the “live TV show with the host talking about demons” subgenre, because I guess that’s a thing now, check out Late Night with the Devil (read below).
Final Destination (2000) 3.5 out of 5 Premonitions
The one that started it all. It’s amazing to watch how this year’s Final Destination: Bloodlines became the best-reviewed and highest-grossing of the 6 films (so far) yet see that the magic truly was there right from the start 25 years ago. Yes, it’s definitely a horror movie from 2000, in terms of feeling dated, but it’s a lot of fun. The premise is great, the characters discovering “the rules” of death kept the story going, and of course, lots of what this franchise is known for, if that’s your thing.
And of course, the late great Tony Todd for the win!
The Prophecy (1995) 3 out of 5 Layin’-N-Loungin’ Eric Stoltzes
FIRST WATCH | Another mid-90s horror movie that I remember seeing the VHS cover of at the video rental store, but just never picked up. The cast is truly a who’s-who mid-90s post-Pulp Fiction mashup: Christopher Walken, Eric Stoltz, Amanda Plummer, Virginia Madsen, Elias Koteas, Adam Goldberg, and Viggo Mortensen because why not? This movie about angels and demons fighting over souls while humans get stuck in the middle truly drops you in the middle of the fight. You get the sense you’re supposed to be excited by how big the broader story is, but it just ends up confusing. I may end up watching a few more of these for the countdown, but I’m not excited for them.
Prophecy (1979) 2.5 out of 5 Bears Smashing Cabins
FIRST WATCH | Okay, this one is PG, but it’s a 1979 PG, so it would likely be PG-13 by today’s standards. An environmentalist doctor and his wife gets caught up in a bizarre revenge corporate cover-up mutant monster chase that threatens Indigenous people and land is about as clear as I can summarize the plot. The practical effects are effective and the mutant bear thing smashing through the cabin multiple times was a lot of fun (director John Frankenheimer always knows how to make the fantastic look real). A decent first-watch, feels like the kind of movie I would have gobbled up as pure nostalgia had I seen it when I was younger.
Good Boy (2025) 3.5 out of 5 Shadows Moving in the Corner
FIRST WATCH | This was the best movie I watched all week and I saw it in a movie theater. I took our youngest to a late show over the weekend and we got into it. The metaphor of a dog perceiving his human’s illness and its personification as a creeping monster was wonderful, and the eerie mood and visual scares worked. I absolutely loved the movie being nearly all from the dog’s point of view, even keeping the camera low to the ground to capture his perspective.
Though it’s short, it’s a little repetitive, but the independent filmmaking approach elevates the whole thing for me. I let our daughter know Indy the dog is 100% real with no CGI ahead of time, and there’s an excellent 5-minute behind-the-scenes featurette after this brief 72-minute movie where writer/director Ben Leonberg shows how he and his wife got so much personality out of Indy. They shot this over 3 years in their home, a true labor of love.
This one is PG-13, under 90 minutes, and creepy instead of gory. If you’ve got pre-teens or young teens who want to watch a movie that takes them a step forward into the horror genre, this could be it. Recommended.
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) 3.5 out of 5 Greenhouse Doors
I hadn’t seen this in a long time. I remember being allowed to watch it with my parents when I was a young teen and watching it now, yikes - there are some pretty adult themes and scenes in this one! I’m not sure if I would watch it with our oldest until she’s a little older. Not always a fan of movies where the audience is ahead of the characters, I think this still holds up. Half the fun is watching the revenge plot unfold and the characters getting caught in the trap again and again. Satisfying ending, too. The remake is on Hulu on October 22, 2025.
Late Night with the Devil (2024) 3.5 out of 5 The Proof Is in the Tapes
FIRST WATCH | That makes two horror movies I’ve seen this week with the premise of a live late-night TV show exposing the occult. Who knew we’d get a sub-genre out of this and History of the Occult (see above)?! I found Late Night with the Devil much more interesting, though I also chalk that up to not just filmmaking but my cultural and language barriers with the other Argentinian film. It’s easy to see where this is all building as the movie goes along, but I was there for the entire ride. Plus, the ending took a few twists and had plenty of stun-power. This was really good.
Your turn!
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What did you watch this week? Anything spooky? I’d love to read about it.
Glad you’re here today, Dear Reader. God’s peace and good movies to you!