Halloween Countdown 2025 Watchlist Week 4
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 fourth week of October and while not all of them are rated R (some are from the era of being “Approved”), 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 4
Candyman (1992) 3.5 out of 5 Personal Internal Bee Colonies
A teenage years classic for me. I taped this from a movie channel on VHS and watched it a ton in high school. After taking our oldest to see Final Destination: Bloodlines in the theater and telling her about the late great Tony Todd, I’ve been enjoying revisiting some of his 90s classics, and this is the Tony Todd movie. He owns his scary villain role, and Virginia Madsen has her star maker near-debut in this one. You’ll get a 90s vibe compared to today’s horror movies, but it still works. Great visuals, good scares, and the bees, Dear Reader, the bees!
Us (2019) 3.5 out of 5 Golden Scissors Awards
FIRST WATCH | I was a big fan of Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Nope but somehow missed this sophomore effort in-between. My recollection was reviews at the time were mixed but scanning through them, it looks like near-universal praise, and now I get why. Eerie atmosphere as a family is stalked by… itself?! Great cinematography and lighting add to the dread-filled mood and there are plenty of satisfying twists along the way. There’s a fascinating universe of a world filled with dopplegangers in this movie, a cool concept with solid execution.
Zombieland: Double Tap (2019) 4 out of 5 Sally Tallys!
If you’re a fan of the first, you’ll be a fan of the second. And if you haven’t seen either, wow, are you missing out. Funny, scary, and lots of heart. I hope they keep making these every ten years and we get a third in 2029. That said, I’d certainly watch one every 2-3 years. Did you read that, Reuben Fleischer? Every 2-3 years, please!
The most surprising part of Zombieland: Double Tap is the addition of Madison (Zoey Deutch) to the cast of characters. For about 10 seconds, I thought, oh boy, this is not going to be good. Yet, in a similar way to how the lazy-eyed California surfer vibe of Crush the sea turtle absolutely works in Finding Nemo in 2003 after a decade of the 90s filled with those cliches, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a character like this be the cliche, and it’s done so well. I was pleasantly surprised and desperately wrong. Zoey Deutch nails it.
Amsterdamned (1988) 4 out of 5 Speed Boat Launches
FIRST WATCH | Wow, this movie is great! I can’t believe how much I enjoyed the only Dutch action thriller ever produced, but I really, truly did. Cops race to stop a serial killer who scuba dives his way through the Amsterdam canals to stalk his prey. It’s got a cool-as-a-cucumber cop, a nerdy-and-lame partner, a sassy-and-brave museum curator, a sweet-and-spicy new love relationship, and of course, a chase for a scuba diver not just underwater but over the water in speedboats and on the land on motorcycles and the cccuuuuutest lil’ European cop cars you ever did see. Yeah, I had a lot of fun with this one. I wish the ending was stronger, but it’s a thrilling ride to get there.
If you truly don’t think you’re ever going to watch Amsterdamned — and you’d be wrong to take a pass on this one — at least watch this incredible speedboat chase scene through the canals of Amsterdam. It’s the 80s and it’s Europe, so safety regulations are a bit different. I can’t believe they launched boats over the incredible architecture of these bridges!
Monkey Shines (1988) 3 out of 5 Secret Serums
FIRST WATCH | I didn’t write a review right away and so here I am a few days later… trying to remember what happened… Um… There’s a guy who gets in an accident and he needs a helper monkey but then there are murders and the monkey… Causes them? Or saves the guy? Or both? As for the guy’s friend… I think he gets it real good. And at the end… something, something the monkey? Really selling it here, aren’t I? It was fine.
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) 3.5 out of 5 Oh, Don’t Throw Lanterns!
FIRST WATCH | I’m sure I saw this classic as a kid, but it’s been likely close to 30 years so I’ll call this a first watch. I really liked this, and it’s a classic for a reason. Separated from the many other amazing Universal monster movies like Frankenstein and Dracula by 20+ years, this monster movie came out in the midst of the sci-fi and monster movie bonanza that was the 1950s. There are lots of stinkers from that era, but this is a winner. The visuals and music really set the tone, and the Gill-man is a great monster! The ending is just as abrupt as those other Universal monster classics, and that keeps it from being 4 stars for me.
Night of the Hunter (1955) 4.5 out of 5 LOVE/HATE Relationships
Robert Mitchum has always been one of my favorite actors, ever since seeing him as the drunken sheriff in the 1966 Howard Hawks western classic, El Dorado, during a Saturday TV movie matinee. His character redeemed himself in that story, but there’s nothing redemptive about his smarmy, desperate little weasel of a preacher here.
A man steals $10,000 and swears his son to secrecy. While a cellmate of Henry Powell (Mitchem), he won’t give up the secret, either. But that’s okay. Powell will simply pose as a traveling preacher and get the money from the kids, one way or another. The way he stalks this family, chases these kids, is ready to kill for this money is thrilling and engaging. His deranged drive is palpable and I was just as hooked watching the film this time as any other time.
A true masterpiece of film noir set in small towns in the countryside.
Bonus scene here, of Powell’s “LOVE” and “HATE” finger tattoo sermon illustration!
Don’t take my word for it. Spike Lee loves this movie, too. Check out this homage scene from Do the Right Thing.
Jeepers Creepers (2001) 3 out of 5 Creepy Truck Stops
FIRST WATCH | I never got around to these movies. This was pretty good. Two young people in the wrong place at the wrong time watch the wrong demon kill the wrong people. You know how it goes! I get the vibe everybody had a lot of fun making this, and it became one in a string of modest hits for Justin Long in the early 2000s, and he’s been a good friend to the horror genre these past 20 years, including a fun cameo in one of my favorite films of 2025, Weapons. I’m in to watch a few more of these and see if they hold up.
The Howling (1981) 2.5 out of 5 Iconic 80s VHS Covers
FIRST WATCH | While I’d never seen the movie, I’d seen the movie cover countless times. The scary scratching claws exposing the nasty fangs thrilled me as a little boy browsing through all the VHS titles in any given video rental store. Or carpet store’s video rental section. Or grocery store’s video rental section. Man, video rental was weird. Anyway, this was okay. This werewolf story really takes its time in a meandering fashion. The transformation special effects are trying to duel the much better and Academy Award-winning werewolf effects of An American Werewolf in London which also came out the same year. Slow story or not, it was fun to watch a movie with Dee Wallace playing the main character one year before her turn as Mary in E.T. The Extraterrestrial.
Your turn!
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What did you watch this week? Anything spooky? List them in the comments.
Glad you’re here today, Dear Reader. God’s peace and good movies to you!