Every year, on whatever microblogging platform is currently popular (and not overrun by Nazis), there’s a little trend started by @sarahstubbssays. The idea is simple: watch 100 horror movies that you’ve never seen before in 92 days. Back when X was a platform that could be considered mildly usable, I did this but never made the full hundred. This year, not only did I promise myself that I will do the hundred, but I threw in the bonus that I’m going to rank and micro-review every film that I see. Micro-review in this context means roughly 2-3 sentences per film. Hopefully, I won’t babble too much, but it’ll be a fun way to enjoy this lengthy experiment.
So yeah, here’s over 100 mini reviews of random horror movies in order from worst to best… because why the hell not?
115: Little Corey Gorey (1993) – A bunch of completely unlikable fuckwits running around doing things unlikable fuckwits do, occasionally broken up by the title character Corey, poster boy for child abuse semi-sorta murdering people in ways that would be shocking if this film had the budget to do any impressive effects. Don’t worry, this film can still shock… thanks to its use of the N-word and occasional swastika for no reason (did I mention everyone is unlikable and I hated every second of watching them?)
114: They Are Watching (2024) – A shitty faux-documentary made up of uninteresting vlog-style videos of a guy claiming to have found something evil on the dark web. It could be exciting or interesting if anyone in the film had the charisma to pull this off, but they don’t; it’s cheap and shitty and couldn’t build tension if its life depended on it.
113: Jack-O (1995) – A bad 80s slasher film that was so dull they forgot to release it until 1995. It shouldn’t be possible to be so dull when you have a gratuitous Linnea Quigley shower scene and a villain character design ripped straight out of the Goosebumps TV show, but Jack-O found a way to be one of the most lifeless things you will ever see.
112: No Solicitors (2015) – For a film built around concepts like organ harvesting and cannibalism, it’s stunning how sterile and bland the whole affair is. Nothing about it works, if anything it might’ve benefitted from being more tasteless because at least then it would’ve been trying to do something other than just exist.
111: Creepshow 3 (2006) – Five shitty shorts sewn together ass-to-mouth to create something that is technically considered a film. How the hell it got the Creepshow name, I do not know. Nothing about it deserves that title. There isn’t a single short worth a damn, a single scare that works or a joke that lands. It fails on every possible level and then finds new levels that it also fails on.
110: War Of The Worlds (2025) – An abject failure of a film that hurts all the more because there was clearly some potential there, the core idea for how to present this film was sound… it just needed a different writer, director, cinematographer, cast, sound guy, lighting tech, craft services and security guard at the door of the parking garage and it might have worked
109: Sweet Sixteen (1983) – I genuinely forgot I was watching it while it was playing on my screen, that’s how dull this movie is.
108: The Toy Box (2018) – A film about an RV possessed by a serial killer who brutally murders its occupants should be enjoyable, especially one starring Denise Richards and Mischa Barton. This should be high camp fuckery, instead it’s just fuckery. It’s as dull as hell with the only respite from dullness being annoyance at a bunch of irritating, moronic characters who can’t seem to catch onto the idea of “Maybe don’t stand directly in front of the evil murder-van”
107: Fever Lake (1997) – A film that is a cross between undeniably bad and pathetically forgettable. Nothing about this film really stands out. There was a solid stretch in the middle where I forgot I was even watching a genre film. By the time this post goes live, I will have fully forgotten I even sat and watched this
106: Hunting Humans (2002) – Take Dexter, turn it into a movie, remove all the charm, intelligence, good acting/writing/directing and then make sure to edit it with a blender that’s being operated by a drunken baboon’s asshole, and you have Hunting Humans. A film with potential that decides it’d be fun to waste every single second of your time instead.
105: The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024) – What would happen if the CW decided to remake The Strangers? Sure, it has the basics of the idea and an odd moment that is in the general direction of ‘working’, but the original is a cult classic for a reason. Maybe they should stop trying to turn it into a franchise when they have nothing new to offer.
104: The Jester (2023) – A generic attempt at a slasher film that feels like they took an off-brand version of Art the Clown and threw away the interesting elements of hypergore that make the Terrifier films worth watching. Instead of comical levels of violence and gore, they’ve replaced that with a suicide story that this film is in no way qualified to handle
103: Fear Clinic (2014) – A film that’s somehow bland and confusing at the exact same time. It tries to do something a lot more complicated than it can handle and thus becomes impossible to properly follow or care about, which sucks because it has one of the best casts a horror film could hope for
102: The Fear: Resurrection (1999) – Could’ve been fun, borders on it with some insane moments in the final act, but lacks any cohesion, interesting characters, decent performances or a reason to exist in any form. Turning the wooden twink into a wooden jock is not a good enough change for the sequel, sorry
101: The Fear (1995) – Elements of something potentially interesting buried deep under mountains of forgettable bullshit. No interesting or memorable characters, deaths or story moments and only a few interesting semi-effective scares. A story with a haunted wooden twink shouldn’t feel this wooden
100: Hellmaster (1992) – A boring, incomprehensible film that clearly wants to be something special through its use of Argento lighting and doing knockoff makeup looks from things like Nightmare on Elm Street. Its only saving graces are some quality effects work and a particularly enjoyable performance by John Saxon
99: Founders Day (2023) – If this is trying to be a comedy, the jokes aren’t landing at all. If it’s trying to be serious, it fails at that too. Just a bargain basement slasher with minimal to offer.
98: Filmgore (1983) – I’ve got nothing against a good clip show – but this is not a good clip show. Obscenely condensed versions of great movies occasionally interrupted by the iconic Elvira, who can only do so much when she’s so underutilised. Like every film, it needed more Elvira
97: Kolobos (1999) – While there are some inspired kills and some stunning visuals, it’s all wasted in a meandering mess of a plot and a whole lot of bad acting. Throw in a bunch of music that sounds like it was lifted directly from the Suspiria soundtrack (along with a few visuals clearly trying to steal Argento’s style, poorly), and you have a film that has a few good moments which are held back by a ton of garbage.
96: Time Cut (2024) – Considering the writer is partially responsible for some of the best entries in the “Classic 80s sci-fi comedy movie, but it’s a slasher” genre it sucks that this is the worst version of “Back to the Future, but it’s a slasher” that we’ve had in the last few years. It doesn’t have an ending, it just stops at some point and expects that to be acceptable.
95: Until Dawn (2025) – Video Game adaptations are usually pretty bland and this one is no exception. A film with a ton of ideas but not enough time to properly explore them all so it just ends up feeling like a mish-mash of better films.
94: Aquaslash (2019) – Bad acting, writing, directing, editing all the way through to the point where this film should be at the bottom of the list… but then there’s this 15-minute sequence where the actual Aquaslashing happens and it’s so gloriously over the top that it almost saves the whole film
93: When A Stranger Calls (1979) – The opening scene is iconic for a reason, it’s no wonder that people have been ripping it off for years and why “Have you checked the children?” still lingers as a terrifying line… everything after that first act is just exhausting to sit through
92: When A Stranger Calls Back (1993) – A slight improvement on the original, mostly because we actually follow up with the person in the opening scene, but still has such a problem after that opening scene is finished. Bonus points for a villain with the commitment to do a full-on body paint costume to hide in someone’s apartment by blending into their brick wall.
91: Squirm (1976) – When a film promises you killer worms you expect a film chock full of killer worms and while the final act of this film does live up to that promise, the first two acts seem to forget that we should be having a lot more brutal worm murder than we end up seeing.
90: Down (2001) – The remake of Lift (which appears later in this countdown), it took the fun weirdness of the original and stripped it to make this bargain bin copy that isn’t camp enough to be funny nor serious enough to be scary.
89: Houseboat Horror (1989) – A lost Aussie slasher film that was lost for very good reason. It’s bad, just generally bad on every single level but there comes a point where it rounds the corner into cringe camp insanity and it’s wildly compelling.
88: Lady, Stay Dead (1981) – A forgotten Ozploitation horror film that plays around in the home invasion genre. The first half is slow, uncomfortable and a bit rape-heavy, but the second half gets to a level of insane over-the-top weirdness that’s hard to look away from.
87: When A Stranger Calls (2006) – What if you took a classic film and only remade the iconic parts that people actually liked? Wild idea, I know but that’s what this film does and does a surprisingly effective job of it. The problem with the original is that everything after the first act just kind of sucks so making the first act into the full film does a lot to help… it’s still not great, but it’s better than what the original films were offering
86: I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) – A shitty sequel to a cheesy teen slasher that decided to just forget everything that made the original fun and worth watching.
85: He’s Out There (2018) – A cheap The Strangers knockoff that relies so hard on the undeniable skill of its lead actress that it forgets to make any other character interesting or likable (honestly, it features the worst kids in horror history), and is so darkly lit that if anything were interesting to look at, the audience would surely miss it.
84: Ruin Me (2017) – Ruin Me promised to be about a fake slasher camp that ended up being all too real… yeah, it’s not that, it throws in about three more twists that don’t work, all building to an unsatisfying and offensive climax filled with cliche bullshit,
83: XII (2008) – I was promised a film where a man kills the jury that convicted him and I guess I got that, but I got the boring version which decided to put all the interesting parts of the idea just off screen where they could easily be missed. Maybe one or two funny kills but that’s it
82: I Saw The TV Glow (2024) – A twisted slow burn that plays with ideas of nostalgia and gender in a way that I’m sure works for some people, but just felt kind of slow for me. It didn’t quite connect the way I’m sure it wanted to and honestly felt more like a strange slice-of-life drama than a horror film.
81: Longlegs (2024) – A twisted, weird cop/cult horror that feels like The Silence of the Lambs on every drug known to man. Some elements of it really work well, visually impressive, the scares work most of the time and Nicholas Cage is brilliantly bonkers, but its pacing is so slow that it drags and feels kind of pretentious.
80: Spontaneous Combustion (1989) – A lesser-known Tobe Hooper film that is lesser known for a good reason. A jumbled mess that is clearly commenting on the use of nuclear weapons, but never really comes together. It has got a great underseen performance by Brad Douriff that deserved much better material to match what he was bringing, but that’s about it.
79: Anything That Moves (2025) – A twisted blend of horror and cheesy pornos from the 70s that feels like it needed a few more drafts before turning into something special. It’s weirdly intriguing, bless its heart for embracing a lot of queer elements, but in the end it’s not all that memorable.
78: Wish Upon (2017) – A pretty standard modern teen twist on the classic Monkeys Paw story. A few plot elements make absolutely no sense, and the main character can be insufferable at times, but it has got a few fun moments that can be enjoyed if you’re down to just turn your brain off and go along with the stupidity.
77: House on Sorority Row (1982) – When I think of 80s slasher films, this is the exact film I think of. Cheesy, hammy acting, a couple of great kills, a lot of moments where the plot makes no damn sense and an attempt at an iconic horror mascot. It’s fine, but nothing special,
76: Murder By Phone (1982) – While it might phone in the overall plot, which is just a nonsensical whodunnit, it more than makes up for it every time someone is due to be murdered by their phone. If only the plot around the central gimmick was better, this could be a camp classic.
75: Pledge Night (1988) – The opening of this film is hard to sit through, watching a bunch of annoying frat bros do annoying frat bro shit will never be a fun watch, but once the film turns and starts killing them off, it goes more and more batshit until it loops around the moon with all the crazy you can handle.
74: ATM (2012) – A simple location horror film with a very cool idea that starts out strong. Great set of performances, intimidating villain (even though it’s just a copy of the Urban Legends outfit) and a fair few inventive scenes… and then the ending takes its head and shoves it far enough up its own ass to count as this film’s annual colonoscopy.
73: Requiem For A Scream (2022) – A ‘by the books’ slasher film with a very good final girl and a decent enough idea that could’ve done something actually kind of ballsy with the ending, but chickens out in a way that allows them to have a standard “Final girl wins” ending that makes absolutely no sense on any level.
72: Flesh Eating Mothers (1988) – A cheap, badly made late 80s slasher that understands it has no budget and plays into that. Goes so far towards being a bad film that it loops around and becomes a hilarious piece of kitsch cult cinema
71: Sorority Row (2009) – A late 2000s slasher remake that doesn’t completely suck. It’s not treading any new ground, most of what’s here is in a lot of late 2000s slashers, but this one has some fun characters, surprisingly brutal kills and Carrie Fisher, which has to count for something.
70: Burial Ground (1981) – A piece of Italian splatter history that holds up fairly well… OK the Incest stuff is just a weird choice that shouldn’t have happened but everything else is pretty stunning, plus the looks of the zombies might be some of the best the genre has offered because they really ran with the “Decayed underground” idea that a lot of other zombie films seem to downplay.
69: Carved: The Slit Mouthed Woman (2007) – A shocking little slice of J-horror that brings a piece of modern Japanese folklore to life. Using the story of the slit mouthed woman to explore ideas of child abuse makes for some dramatically tense moments, and the actual design of the slit-mouthed woman is absolutely horrifying; it just feels like sometimes they play it a little safe when it comes time to slit something other than the main antagonist’s mouth
68: Street Trash (2024) – The issue around homelessness is hard to handle in film… so why not make it a weird, goopy body horror film where asshole capitalists try to melt the homeless who fight back. No matter how many times they show it, the sight of someone’s skin bubbling and exploding to reveal gallons of blue/green/pink paint will never stop being entertaining
67: Waxwork (1988) – A little bit of everything thrown together in a strange mix that tries to leap between over-the-top horror like Werewolves and more real-world horror like the Marquis De Sade. A strange blending of ideas and tones that makes for a movie that’s hard to follow at times and works in small bursts. Fantastic werewolf effects though, genuinely some of the best in low budget horror
66: Blood Tracks (1985) – A snow-set slasher that barely uses the snow setting for anything interesting, a The Hills Have Eyes knockoff that doesn’t go far enough into the grisly territory to be worthy of the reference and a film featuring a hair metal band that isn’t campy. It’s a serviceable 80s slasher that has all the elements of greatness, but doesn’t utilise them properly
65: Suspiria (2018) – This film is what happens when someone watches the original Suspiria and decides to do the exact opposite of every core choice. The original is known for its bright colours; this version has almost no bold colours until the final scene. The original has an iconic score; this version has people dancing to no sound at all. The original is a mystery; this one explains everything right away. It’s a bold choice that works in some parts, doesn’t in others and on the whole is just a less good version of the Argento classic.
64: Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival (2016) – While it’s not quite as good as the first part, it’s still so unique and captivating that it’s impossible to hate. It’s also a great display of what creative filmmaking can do to help you work around a tiny budget. It feels like the middle part of a trilogy that will never have a real ending (especially now, without the great Paul Sorvino)
63: Creepshow 2 (1987) – While there are a few segments of the film that are genuinely great, and it has a lot of the same storytelling ideas of the first Creepshow, the special visual elements that made Creepshow iconic are missing here, making it just an anthology film with a familiar name.
62: Waxwork II: Lost In Time (1992) – Everything that the first movie did, this one does with more confidence and more planning. The references are better presented, the jokes are better performed, the silliness is heightened and it even has Bruce Campbell, which means it must be the superior version to a sequel without Bruce Campbell.
61: Carnage for Christmas (2024) – A cheap, twisted entry into the holiday horror genre that throws in some twisted gore, interesting characters and a lot of great queer and trans representation. Sure, the film’s rough edges make for a harder viewing experience, but if you buy into it, you’ll have a good time.
60: Tourist Trap (1979) – A madcap fever dream of murderous mannequins and death by Plaster of Paris. Saying this is a weird film would be an understatement; it’s evidence that the cocaine of the last 70s was the best cocaine, since that clearly had to power at least some portion of the making of this weirdness.
59: Santa Jaws (2018) – Delivers the exact movie you expect when you see the title Santa Jaws, a hilarious, cheap alt-Christmas movie where a bad CGI shark gleefully gobbles up a family on Christmas. It has no right being as funny and enjoyable as it ends up being.
58: Night Of The Reaper (2025) – A throwback slasher that pays tribute to the 80s horror by doing everything one might expect a throwback 80s slasher to do.
57: Among Friends (2012) – Your standard disastrous dinner party horror movie that is a little too smart for its own good, randomly diverging to have a meta scene out of nowhere that includes the director dressed as a character she played in her childhood, which added nothing, and the ending is so abrupt that I thought my DVD was broken. Still, lots of fun little moments here and there
56: Ribspreader (2022) – The Troma film that Troma didn’t think of making, a blistering anti-smoking PSA wrapped in a blanket made of piss. It’s trash, pointedly so, and if you can’t get on board with the intentionally disgusting and shitty aesthetic, then this film won’t work for you. However, if you embrace your inner Oscar the Grouch and proclaim your love of trash, this will be a fun, stupid time.
55: Alone in the Dark (1982) – A forgotten little slasher flick that got lost in the shuffle thanks to Nightmare on Elm Street, it contains some blisteringly compelling performances by people like Jack Palance and Martin Landau. Visually interesting and a lot better than it has any right/need to be.
54: Braid (2018) – A sapphic crime horror where a pair of petty criminals try to take advantage of their mentally ill childhood friend, who turns the tables on them. It’s weird, it’s a little confusing, it’s messed up, and it is still a gloriously weird experience to watch.
53: Bitter Feast (2010) – A chef destroys his biggest critic by forcing him to cook restaurant-quality food or else he gets tortured… basically a much cheaper version of The Menu that came out a decade earlier, but still has enough unique flavour in it to make it worth a watch
52: Vile (2011) – A film that’s almost the clinical definition of Torture Porn, it’s dark nihilism and constant brutality is hard to watch at times, and the lack of hope is immediate, but it makes for an effectively horrifying experience
51: Cannibal Mukbang (2023) – A twisted romcom with a taste for human flesh, it’s a wild little thrill ride that blends quality slasher gore with quirky romcom tropes. It really goes so well until the abrupt and kind of dull ending
50: Smoke & Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini (2015) – A doting love letter to a cinematic legend that has a bit of a bad habit of setting stories up that it doesn’t go into detail about, but most of it is just a nice trip down Savini’s memory lane.
49: American Gothic (1987) – A bonkers ride of a time that’ll make you side with both the victims and the villains at various times during this movie. It’s the kind of film you don’t describe, you just have to experience.
48: M3GAN 2.0 (2025) – A fun ride with an old friend who changed pretty much everything about who they were. Watching M3GAN trying to be the Terminator is not what was needed, but still fun.
47: Intruders (2015)– A twist-filled ride that plays your expectations like a fiddle with a compelling and fascinating lead character and a couple of truly unsettling moments, it’s very much Don’t Breathe but for the agoraphobics. Also, very cleverly using agoraphobia as a reason to force the main character to stay in the house, it’s a clever little touch.
46: The Domestics (2018) – A post-apocalyptic thrill ride that does some of the best world-building that I’ve seen in a long time. Probably leans more towards action than horror, it’s a film that hits the gas early and refuses to slow down for even a second
45: The Vagrant (1992) – A wild ride through madness, complete with a brilliantly over-the-top Bill Paxton performance and a twisted antagonist that gets weirder and weirder with every passing appearance in the film.
44: The Lift (1983) – Exactly what you might expect from an ’80s film about a killer lift. Cheesy, a lot of performances that range from scenery-chewing to just barely there, a few very shocking and creative kills and a surprisingly impressive visual style that elevates the movie to a whole new level.
43: The Unborn (1991) – While the ending of the film is somewhat abrupt, the slow building of tension surrounding the strange pregnancies is glorious and with a bunch of brutally shocking moments, it goes a lot further than you might expect.
42: Dead Kids AKA Strange Behavior (1981) – A classic bit of Ozploitation that pushes the lines of good taste and has some of the more effective kills from early slasher history. A brilliant score and a fascinating premise all work together… sure, the ending falls apart at the last second, but the rest is superb
41: Rituals (1977) – A film that leans hard on the talent of its small but legendary leading cast (Hal Halbrook, Lawrence Dane, Robin Gammell, actual acting legends who made a living as character actors for decades). It’s fairly slow at times, but it’s also atmospheric and has such great character moments that you can overlook some of the slower, more serious moments
40: Savage Weekend (1979) – Sure, it’s cheap as hell and has enough rough edges to count as sandpaper, but it has an undeniable charm that old school slashers seemed to have in abundance, along with a fun cast of characters who you couldn’t help but enjoy. Also, possibly one of the best gay characters in this era of horror
39: Peter Pan’s Neverland Nightmare (2025) – The third entry in the Poohniverse that really proves that there’s life in this franchise. A stranger danger nightmare tour de force.
38: V/H/S/Halloween (2025) – A spooktacular instalment of a modern-classic franchise that mostly delivers the goods. More treats than tricks.
37: Body Bags (1993) – A simple, effective anthology horror film with John Carpenter as a hilarious horror host, a bunch of fun and well-constructed shorts, all with some truly top-notch performances. Honestly, this one should probably be watched almost entirely for Mark Hamill’s performance in the final segment
36: Contracted: Phase 2 (2015) – Sure, it repeats a lot of the beats from part one almost verbatim, with less build-up, but it has a much more satisfying ending… until the last second when it drops a cliffhanger for a potential part 3 we’ll never end up getting
35: Lake Placid (1999) – A pretty standard fun B-movie about a giant alligator, which just happens to have one of the best casts you could hope for. What it lacks in scares, it makes up for in Betty White telling people to suck her imaginary dick
34: Killing Ground (2016)– A dark outback horror that takes no prisoners and is just designed to leave you feeling depressed. It gives off strong The Last House On The Left vibes, but told out of sequence and with a truly fantastic cast who commit to the brutality with devilish glee.
33: Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story (2022) – A loving portrait of one of Horror’s best performers. Leans mostly towards the positives; it’s more a retrospective on why Robert is so great, which is fine, but it means the film lacks teeth. Still great though.
32: Mosquito (1994) – Sometimes you just want a quality B-grade horror movie with a stupid premise taken dead seriously with some nasty-looking practical effects and Mosquito is exactly that. Great performances by a cast who have bought into the stupidity of everything, and some glorious creative visual effects that actually sell the horror of giant killer mozzies
31: The Mean One (2022) – A delightfully stupid twist on The Grinch that’s just perfect for a bad movie night. It’s aware of the insanely silly joke that it’s telling and does the best version of that joke you could hope for. David Howard Thornton, in particular, absolutely goddamn kills it
30: Bloody Axe Wound (2024) – A hilarious tale about a family that murders to make videos to sell and a loving lesbian relationship that could destroy the family business. Filled with amazing gore effects, hilarious scenes and enough charm to overcome any shortfall, this is one of Shudder’s hidden gems.
29: The First Omen (2024) – Given the daunting task of acting as a setup for one of the most terrifying movies ever made, The First Omen rises to the challenge and presents a truly unsettling nunsploitation horror that blends visceral shocks with some of the most palpable tension one could imagine. Terrifyingly unholy in the best way possible
28: The Unborn II (1994) – A lot campier than the original film, this one takes the general threat that was suggested by the original and makes it real with demonic killer toddlers who need to be shot in the face. Goes so much further than the original film did in terms of shock factor, but it all still works remarkably well.
27: Late Night With The Devil (2023) – A unique take on the possession genre that lovingly plays with the tropes of classic late-night television. While the moments of AI imagery are upsetting (Fuck AI and everyone who uses AI to create artwork you could just as easily get from an actual artist), the horror and the emotion of this film are too special to ignore
26: Parents (1989) – A twisted 50s childhood nightmare that is as insane as it is demented. A quirky, gory experience with a tour-de-force performance by Randy Quaid at the peak of his power, it’s a special kind of madness that we just don’t get enough of
25: Speak No Evil (2022) – The kind of film that plays on the natural urge to try and be a good house guest, turning the tension up slowly until it has you sitting there, jaw clenched and cheeks tightened, ready for the inevitable nightmarish ending.
24: Don’t Go In The House (1979) – A cheesy low-budget twist on Psycho where stabbing and crossdressing have been replaced with flamethrowers. Some of the effects have aged a bit, but there’s just something brutally horrifying about a man in a firesuit setting people ablaze with a flamethrower because his dead mother told him to do it.
23: Would You Rather? (2012) – A film so dark and twisted that there are times when you just want to ask the person who wrote it if they’re doing OK. Featuring a glorious Jeffrey Combs performance and an ending that’s on par with the end of The Mist in terms of emotional damage, it’s simple but very effective.
22: Triangle (2009) – An intense, intelligent and surprising slasher film that uses its main time loop gimmick better than anyone else ever has. A film that keeps you guessing till the last minute, and when it finally explains what’s happening, it’s a gut punch that lingers long after.
21: Drop (2025) – One of the most intense films of 2025, a thrill ride that doesn’t slow down at any point and manages to keep from getting stale through great use of stylistic visuals and a brisk pace full of sharp, sudden twists
20: 28 Years Later (2025) – A true zombie epic that continues the glorious legacy of the 28 BLANK Later franchise.
19: Contracted (2013) – A dark, sexy take on the body horror genre that throws in a bit of Zombie madness for flavour. Viscerally unsettling in so many ways, with its most vulgar excesses handled with a surprising amount of tact, a surprisingly great entry in the classic body horror genre
18: Humane (2024) – Caitlin Cronenberg joins the family legacy of being a great horror director with a disturbing exploration of an extreme way to keep the planet from overusing its resources. A brutal combination of hilarious and emotional family fights that make Jerry Springer look like Play School.
17: Speak No Evil (2024) – Takes what worked about the original and lets James McAvoy elevate it with one of the all-time greatest performances in a horror film. Proof that you can actually remake an extreme foreign horror film without removing all of its teeth!
16: Benny Loves You (2019) – Any film where a puppet does a bunch of murder is already going to be enjoyable, but this is one of those films that just accepts that a killer hand puppet is a stupid idea, so why not run with the stupidity, and it creates some of the funniest moments in a horror-comedy that I’ve seen in ages.
15: Bone Tomahawk (2015) – Take one part western, one part Cannibal Holocaust and you’ve got Bone Tomahawk. A slow-paced film that takes the time to make lovable characters before putting them through some incredible brutality. An intense watch, but a fantastic one.
14: Mayhem (2017) – A delightful, bonkers, hyper-violent anti-corporate piece of insanity that lets you live out your fantasies of shoving all the office equipment up the CEO’s asshole. Violent, hilarious, blood-soaked and fun in all the ways a good horror film should be.
13: The Funhouse Massacre (2015) – A surprisingly funny horror film that does everything it can with its very silly premise and delivers on some great brutal slasher moments and some great comedic beats
12: In The Mouth Of Madness (1994) – There was a time where we let great horror directors just go nuts and do whatever, and god I miss that because John Carpenter getting to let loose and do whatever brought us this gloriously weird meta take on the genre that is so distinctly Carpenter-esque that it almost doesn’t need to stay who is directing it.
11: Blades (1988) – Jaws if it were about a lawn mower. A gloriously well-crafted parody of an iconic movie that is smart enough to play the joke dead seriously, which makes for one hell of a fun B-movie
10: Strange Darling (2023) – A perfect example of non-linear storytelling’s power to be the right way to tell a story. Terrifying, fascinating and absolutely wild in so many ways.
9: Clown in a Cornfield (2025) – The theoretical ideal of what a slasher could be, a blueprint followed perfectly to create something entertaining and horrifying in equal measure. A joyfully fun time that doesn’t hold back
8: Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer (1986) – A shockingly realistic and gritty take on the serial killer genre with a performance by Michael Rooker that propelled him instantly into icon status. A brutal, brilliant little film that doesn’t care about happy endings, it just wants to fuck with your emotions and it does so spectacularly
7: Bring Her Back (2025) – A twisted tale of grief as only the Philippou brothers could deliver it. Brutal, emotional, original as fuck, an instant classic that needs to be seen to be believed.
6: The Toxic Avenger (2025) – What if a Troma movie had the budget to hire Union actors, the time to do a second take and the exact same insane sensibilities that they’ve always had… well, we’ve got that now.
5: Queens of the Dead (2025) – Campy fun zombie horror done right. Proof that the Romero family are the true masters of the Zombie genre and presents a gloriously queer spin on a genre classic.
4: Dangerous Animals (2025) – A high-octane dose of insanity. Takes the standard shark movie and pushes it into strange and exciting places.
3: The Long Walk (2025) – One of the best Stephen King adaptations in the last decade, a film that feels unrelenting in how much it’s going to emotionally destroy you with pure shock. Easily has the most heartbreaking pre-credits scene of any film this year.
2: Weapons (2025) – A gloriously original horror film that seems to take the idea of being the most insane horror film made with a mainstream cast as an actual challenge
1: Dumplings (2004) – Everything from the sound to the colour palette used is almost scientifically designed to make you feel uneasy, which makes the raw horror of everything else just sink in that much deeper. This one is almost hard to stomach because it’s so twisted, but also undeniably brilliant. There’s a reason this one has developed an infamous reputation as an endurance test, and it lives up to it.
And there we go, 115 films seen in 92 days… maybe next year I’ll be even more insane and just review every single film I see in full, who the hell knows.
Movie Meister Reviews 