31 Movies in 31 Days 2024

Posted byNicholas RadfordPosted inUncategorizedTags:, , , ,

Another year, another marathon of spooky movies in October. 2024, like the last couple of years, has been really strong for horror. I’ve used these marathons to catch up on all the goodies I missed throughout the year. I was stoked to check out new stuff like In A Violent Nature, Lisa Frankenstein, I Saw the TV Glow, Late Night with the Devil, Immaculate, Abigail, Oddity, MaXXXine, and The First Omen. There were so many great movies making waves this year that I haven’t even gotten to them all. I still haven’t seen Smile 2, Cuckoo, or Longlegs. (An injustice that I will soon rectify.)

One new twist this year was that, in addition to logging and listing all my movies on Letterbox, I’ve also started writing some reviews, which is my way of capturing my thoughts immediately after watching the movie so I don’t have to remember them later when putting together this blog. Captured below are all of the reviews that I wrote during this journey. That said, there are movies I loved but didn’t write a review for. I don’t want them to fall by the wayside, so I’ll highlight the standouts. Lisa Frankenstein and House (1977) were my absolute favorites. There were a lot of really highly rated flicks, too, like In A Violent Nature, I Saw the TV Glow, Immaculate, Abigail, Idle Hands, Noroi: The Curse, and Drag Me to Hell. On the other side of the coin, my least favorite movies this year were Hellraiser: Hellworld and Halloween Kills.

Before we dive deeper, let’s first review the 31 movies I watched this year.

I Saw the TV Glow was an absolutely devastating watch. It was like someone scooped out your insides, and there was nothing there. The movie’s first hour is so autism-coded that I couldn’t help but be drawn in. The rest is just a tragic heartbreak that I felt deep in my chest. Connor O’Malley popping up, just as douchey as ever, was a light reprieve from the heavy themes.

Stop Motion has great creepy little guys!

Terrifier 3 got me thinking, so I wrote a whole rant because I have such a complicated relationship with the series. 

I saw this movie at a sold-out show and think that’s the only way to do it. I think my enjoyment of the previous installment was hampered by watching it at home without a raucous crowd to ooh, ahh, and cringe with. 

The effects are, as always, the highest mark for this movie. This series has almost become a tech demo for gore effects folks to show off what they can really do. That said, the kills—as inventive as they are—often feel mean-spirited, which I understand is the point; it’s just not for me. I frequently find myself thinking, “A normal horror movie would have cut away by now,” as we continue to linger on a limb being severed. I think back to THE kill from In A Violent Nature earlier this year (which I think is still my top kill) and how they achieved the same effect without showing us every piece of the process. 

Art the Clown and the lore surrounding him keep me returning to this series. David Howard Thorton is incredibly entertaining without ever having to say a word. The way he can switch from a fun-loving psychopath to a menacing killer is masterful. Sienna’s lore is also starting to build up into its fascinating piece of the Terrifier puzzle, and I appreciate how honest and traumatized she felt in this one. That said, the ‘chosen one’ aspect of her character dampens the women’s empowerment aspect, which I believe Damien Lione is going for with her final girl role. It’s less “women are powerful” and more “this woman is powerful.”

Critiques aside, this series has its hooks in me, and I’ll keep exposing myself to the over-the-top gore as long as they keep delivering a fun killer, and engaging story.

Immaculate got me thinking about how horror has always been a reflection of society’s true evils, especially the terrors of the non-straight white male experience. Alien, for example, portrayed themes surrounding SA that were relevant in 1979.

This topic, like horror itself, is both topical & soberingly timeless.

As someone who can’t get pregnant, I often consider how reproduction can be the ultimate body horror. The irreversible damage that can occur when giving birth evokes themes from The Substance & Society.

I can’t imagine a scarier scenario than going through that against one’s will.

Hellraiser: Hellworld might have been the most disappointed I’ve ever been in a movie that I knew was bad going into it. We didn’t go into the Internet even once!

Abigail was almost a perfect movie. Imagine if the vampire reveal hadn’t been included in the marketing! (Though, I may not have watched it if I didn’t know it was actually a horror movie.)

Oddity had another cool big, creepy guy. The movie was cool, too.

Unwelcome needed more of the weird little guys! The ending ruled, though.

Mr. Crocket had a decent premise with cool creature designs, but it was basically Birth Control: The Movie. Bro definitely didn’t deserve to have a GameGear.

I’m so glad everyone kept saying who their wife was in Alien: Covenant. Otherwise, I would have needed clarification about how all the characters were related to each other.

MaXXXine might be the weakest entry in the Ti West trilogy, but it definitely has the best vibes.

It’s wild that we got The First Omen and Immaculate so close together. Their stories are so similar! I liked Omen a little less than the latter due to the efficiency of story-telling. That said, Omen still ruled and had some genuine jaw-dropping moments. There’s one shot that I can’t believe they got away with!

Drag Me to Hell’s alternate title could just be Don’t F**k with Cats.

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed this journey through 31 movies in 31 days as much as I did. Did you watch any good spooky movies this year? I’m always looking for recommendations, so please let me know!

THE WORLD IS YOUR BURRITO!

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