Welcome to the 31 Days of Horror Redux

On this day, 10 years ago, I started a project called the 31 Days of Horror. Thirty-one horror movies in 31 days. It was a way of sharing my love for the genre by sharing some of what I considered, at the time, the greatest films in that genre. Now, 10 years on feels like the right time to revisit the project – but with a twist. Instead of my recommendations, I am going to be listening to the world’s recommendations and watching new films, myself.

Each day this month – October being the spookiest month, I think we can all agree – I will be watching at least one horror film that is new to me. I do not have a schedule planned, but I have a vague idea of the movies I want and need to see. I will write about each film in this space, each day, and share my thoughts on the world of horror.

There are no rules for this project, but I will try my best to seek out a variety of subgenres, marginalized filmmakers, and new voices. This should be exciting, hopefully as much for you as for me. At the end of this month, the goal is to be a better rounded horror film fan than I am as of this writing. I want to learn, I want to grow, and I want to understand the furthest corners (thanks, Frank) of what this wonderful genre has to offer. I hope you will come along with me on the journey.

However, before forging ahead, I thought it would be fun to take a look back. I have been in love with horror for essentially the entirety of my movie-watching life. From the time a misguided babysitter showed me Jaws at the age of 3 and I briefly avoided swimming pools like the plague. Or when that same babysitter, in an even more ill-advised moment, showed me Child’s Play at the age of 4. I had nightmares. I didn’t go to that babysitter much more after that.

The point is: Horror lives with me, and I live with it. I am neither dogmatic nor precious about it. Show me something new. Show me a new take on an old formula. Show me an old formula done well. Show me the schlockiest, most undercooked story and give me a cheap thrill. I love it all. I cannot vouch for the quality of it all, but my love is real. 

So, with that in mind, I thought it would be fun to kick off the 10-year anniversary of the 31 Days of Horror with a list of my 10 favorite horror films of all time. I have never done this exercise, and frankly, I am as interested to see how it turns out as you are.

A couple rules: First, I won’t repeat the same director, otherwise I imagine we’d be looking at a list of almost entirely Wes Craven and Sam Raimi movies. Next, single films only, no franchises, as tempting as it might be to highlight whole groups of movies. Third, I reserve the right to change my mind and update this list in 10 years. Fourth, this is about favorites, not best. While I think most if not all of the films below are legitimately great, my only endorsement here is that I enjoy watching them.

Finally, and this is less a rule than an observation: My definition of horror may differ from yours, and that’s okay. It’s great, even. That is the beautiful thing about horror. What is horrific to you may not be so to me and vice versa. I promise to play fair – no Jesus Camp, one of the most horrifying movies I have ever seen. Let’s see how this goes.

First a few honorable mentions and one jury award: Ginger Snaps, proof that when the right metaphor meets the right theme, magic is made; Paranormal Activity, without question the movie that scared me most as an adult; [REC], when people ask me the scariest movie of all time, there are a lot of candidates, but this is on the list; Trick ‘r Treat, just a ton of fun – all treats from minute one until its wonderful conclusion; and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, a horror comedy that delivers laughs and gore in equal measure.

Jury award: Jaws. I had to break this out into a separate section because Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster is simply one of my favorite films of all time, but it teeters on the edge of what I would call “horror.” It certainly scared the hell out of a lot of people and continues to do so, but it’s mostly a drama that veers into thriller territory. Its moments of horror are suitably horrific, but they’re a little too few and far between for me to feel good about including it here.

Okay, onto the list. I wrote about several of these films at length in the original 31 Days of Horror series, so I will link to the longer pieces about each where applicable. Without further ado, my 10 favorite horror films of all time:

10. Leprechaun, directed by Mark Jones

Here’s my promise: Next year, on St. Patrick’s Day, I will devote an entire piece to my love of the Leprechaun films. We’ll get into the history of Trimark Pictures, the Jennifer Aniston of it all, Warwick Davis, and limericks. For now, I’ll just say this was a key piece of my starter kit as a child. There’s even a child as one of the leads. It’s not too scary. It’s not too gory. But it’s a helluva lot of fun, and it represents the kind of low-budget creature feature they don’t make enough of these days. And, it’s holiday-themed, to boot.

9. Carrie, directed by Brian de Palma

Some things that come to mind when I think about the greatest Stephen King adaptation (all due respect to The Shining): the hand at the end, of course; it is, perhaps, the most honest coming-of-age film ever made; the terror of religious fervor; Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie delivering all-time performances; the number of times I watched this late at night on TNT, sometimes as part of the Joe Bob Briggs show, which was very important to me. A masterpiece.

8. Night of the Living Dead, directed by George Romero

In 2014, I called this the greatest horror film ever made. Ten years later, that opinion has not changed. There was great horror before Romero unleashed his film upon the world – Psycho, Frankenstein, Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, etc. – but this is the dividing line in modern horror filmmaking. This 1968 film sets the template for everything that would come after in terms of intensity, gore, and thematic depth. To this day, few films can match it in any of those categories, let alone all of them.

7. The Mist, directed by Frank Darabont

The feel-bad movie for all time (and the other Stephen King adaptation on my list). That ending. My god, that ending. For about 115 minutes, The Mist is some of the most intense and intensely allegorical filmmaking you are ever likely to see, then its final 10 minutes hit. Gut punch is too light a term. It’s more like one of this film’s monsters burrowed into you and exploded from the inside out. Not for nothing, but it also features one of the all-time great jump scares from my theater-going years, perhaps only matched by The Others. If you know, you know.

6. 28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle

Back then, I wrote a lot about this film as a pandemic parable – really, that’s just the text of the movie, rather than parable – and at the time, we were in the midst of the Ebola panic, which turned out to be a blip on the radar. Since then, we have all lived through COVID. Along with Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, this provides a pretty accurate road map of how the world would feel in the grip of a pandemic. Suddenly, the parable that was always text became reality. That only made the movie more terrifying.

5. Tales from the Hood, directed by Rusty Cundieff

This omnibus of horror tales is the film that taught me movies could have a political consciousness. Not just horror movies, but movies in general. I cannot count the number of times I saw this Spike Lee-produced movie before I saw Do the Right Thing, so it was Cundieff who initially enlightened me on the abuses of police power, the scourge of domestic violence, and the false promise of “rehabilitation” in prisons. In many ways, this film is still a political guiding light for me.

4. Evil Dead II, directed by Sam Raimi

I could have gone with the original, The Evil Dead. I could have gone with the return to form, Drag Me to Hell. But if I am going to put one Raimi picture on my list of favorite horror films, it’s going to be this one every day of the week and twice on Sundays. This is the film where Raimi solidifies his status as a horror master. This is the film where Bruce Campell proves his bona fides as a leading man. This is the film where a man cuts off his own possessed hand and attaches a chainsaw to the stump. What else could you want?

3. From Dusk Till Dawn, directed by Robert Rodriguez

I waffled between this and the next film on the list a couple times. Two, three. Three, two. But I ultimately landed on this order because only the final 35-40 minutes of this film are actually horror. Everything before that is just an excellent crime picture. But, it’s that twist that makes this film so memorable. And, those last 35 minutes contain some of the gnarliest action-horror filmmaking you have ever seen. While the rest of you were watching E.R., this was my George Clooney of the ‘90s.

2. The Fly, directed by David Cronenberg

Speaking of, as a ‘90s kid, I should know Jeff Goldblum from Jurassic Park, and I should know Geena Davis from A League of Their Own. And, I do love those movies, although I actually prefer the Goldblum-led Lost World (a piece for another day). But, this is my Goldblum, this is my Davis, and The Fly is one of the most beautifully tragic romances ever put to screen. I knew that to be true, even as a child. That romance is ensconced in some of the most groundbreaking and influential body horror in film history, but it is a romance no less. 

The destruction of Seth Brundle’s body (pick your metaphor: cancer, AIDS, the ravages of age, what have you) is a brilliant effect, or rather a series of brilliant effects, but none of it means anything if we don’t care about the man at the center of it all and the woman who loves him. Cronenberg gets plenty of deserved credit for his work as a horror genius, but here, I must tip my cap to him as a master dramatist.

1. Scream, directed by Wes Craven

I’ve written about Scream a few times on this site, so I won’t rehash it here. I had seen horror movies before this, and heaven knows I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds since, but this is the one that changed everything. It spoke to me in a way movies had never spoken to me because it was about kids (played by obvious adults, but when you’re 8, teenagers and adults may as well be the same thing) who loved movies, just like I did. They knew everything about horror movies, just like I wanted to. One of the characters worked in a video store, which just seemed impossibly cool.

This film laid the groundwork for a decade of horror cinema that had more influence on my taste than probably any other era of any other genre. I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend, Final Destination, and the many sequels to all of them. I watched them all. I loved most of them. But, nothing holds a candle to the film that started it all. The direction is so smart. The writing is so smart. Within their world, even the characters are smart. All of which adds up to a film that treats the audience as smart, which is one of the rarest and most precious things in horror.

We Fall on Hard Times: The Most Anticipated Movies of 2024

The one thing we know for sure is that we never know, but I am reasonably certain all 10 of the films listed below will be released this year. The same could not be said last year at this time, when Hollywood was embroiled in dual strikes by the Screen Actors and Writers guilds. Never in recent memory, not even during COVID, had the the future of film been so uncertain as between May 2 (the beginning of the writers strike) and Nov. 9 (the end of the actors strike) of last year. 

Important battles were won, but the war continues. Every day, we see the way artificial intelligence encroaches on the uniquely human act of artistic creation. We see the conglomeration, consolidation, and concentration of power in the media landscape. We see profit put before people and technology before talent. The long-term future of the movies is hardly secure, but for today and probably tomorrow, we have the cinema.

With that in mind, let’s talk about what we have to look forward to in the rest of 2024. I would call the first eight months of the year a little soft, but as with any year, the greatness is there to be discovered by those willing to search. Similarly, as tends to happen once festival season arrives and we draw nearer to the Academy Awards, the search gets a little easier. If you happen to live in or near one of the cities with a major fall festival, I encourage you to check it out. They are always loaded with gems and one-of-a-kind experiences.

The films below are a mix of movies that will be premiering at those fall festivals, some that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and a couple blockbusters that won’t need the shine a festival can sometimes offer. In other words, it’s a grab bag. This list is not a prediction of what I think will be the best of the year – there are always surprises that missed my radar and, unfortunately, disappointments that miss the mark – but rather what I am most excited for over the next four months.

Before we get there, a few words on some of the other movies that just missed the top 10: 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – a belated sequel to a movie that defined a lot of people’s childhoods (and beyond); as you might imagine, I was a Beetlejuice kid; I am cautiously optimistic for this one, but all will be revealed next week.

We Live in Time – director John Crowley’s last feature was the abominable bomb The Goldfinch; a film that disastrous usually kills a career; but a romantic drama from the guy who made Brooklyn, starring Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh, just might be enough to revive it.

Conclave – I finally caught the trailer for this before a screening yesterday; it looks fun! It does not appear to have the heft, shall we say, of director Edward Berger’s previous work, the massively accomplished All Quiet on the Western Front, but how many films do?

Also: Jesse Eisenberg’s Sundance hit A Real Pain, with what appears to be a tremendous Kiernan Culkin performance; Mati Diop’s Dahomey, in which she cashes her Atlantics blank check to make a documentary about repatriating plundered artifacts; James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown, a Bob Dylan biopic with Timothée Chalamet from the guy who made Walk the Line; Robert Zemeckis’ Here, which I know, I know – he’s let us down a lot lately, but this looks cool; and Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch, featuring a tremendous logline and hopefully the return to prominence of Amy Adams (she owes us for Hillbilly Elegy).

Now, on with the show, Last Cinema Standing’s 10 Most Anticipated Movies of Fall 2024:

10. Maria, directed by Pablo Larraín

Release date: TBA

Larrain's tragic women trilogy – featuring Jackie and Spencer before this – comes to a conclusion here with a festival-lauded performance by Anjelina Jolie as opera legend Maria Callas. It is too early to talk Oscars, but Jolie will be in the conversation, I have no doubt. Jackie is one of the most beautifully directed films of the past 10 years, and while I wasn't fully sold on Spencer, Larraín certainly knows his way around this material. Callas, though famous, is not in the same realm as Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Diana, so it will be interesting to see how the director and star bring us into the subject’s world.

9. The End, directed by Joshua Oppenheim

Release date: TBA

No one knows too much about this one yet, but I’m going to go out on a limb and imagine that the apocalyptic musical from the director behind two of the most important documentaries of the 21st century, starring Tilda Swinton (more from her later!) and Michael Shannon is going to be something we’re going to want to see. If you have not seen the one-two punch of Oppenheim’s The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence, do yourself a favor and get on it. They are devastating but vital works.

8. Moana 2, directed by David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand, and Dana Ledoux Miller

Release date: Nov. 27

There is every reason in the world not to be excited for this. The original directors are gone. Lin-Manuel Miranda did not write the songs, though Opetaia Foa’i and Mark Mancina are back from the first film. And Disney has a terrible track record with sequels. That can all be true, but I know how I felt the first time I saw Moana in theaters. If this film can approximate even a fraction of that feeling, then it’s worth anticipating.

7. The Room Next Door, directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Release date: Dec. 20

Almodóvar is one of the best directors of actresses in the world. From Talk to Her to Julieta to the three films that comprise Penelope Cruz’s finest work, Almodóvar just knows what he’s doing. So, for him to partner with Julianne Moore and (again with) Tilda Swinton on his English-language feature debut, these are the moments for which cinema is made. I don’t know word one about this film, but those three names are enough to get me in the theater on opening night.

6. The Piano Lesson, directed by Malcolm Washington

Release date: Nov. 8

Denzel Washington continues to do the lord’s work (or the gods of theater, anyway) in helping bring playwright August Wilson’s Century Cycle to the screen. The Oscar winner directed and starred in Fences and produced Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. He returns as producer for The Piano Lesson, directed by his son, Malcolm, and starring his other son, John David. As these productions tend to do, the project has drawn an incredible cast, also including Samuel L. Jackson and Danielle Deadwyler, who gave one of the performances of the century in 2022’s Till.

5. Gladiator II, directed by Ridley Scott

Release date: Nov. 22

As I am sometimes wont to do, in order to write this fairly short blurb, I did a little deep dive into the cinema of the year 2000. Of the Best Picture nominees that year, I would have given the award to Steven Soderberg’s Traffic. As for the actual best film of the year, I don’t know what I would have thought at the age of 12, but today, I would say to take your pick among Dancer in the Dark, Bamboozled, Requiem for a Dream, Werckmeister Harmonies, or Songs from the Second Floor. I know Yi Yi and In the Mood for Love are favorites, as well, and I appreciate them both.

Anyway, the point is Gladiator won Best Picture that year, and while there are better films, I have seen Scott’s swords and sandals epic more times than I’ve seen the rest of those above-mentioned movies combined. It’s a thrilling historical drama of the sort most folks don’t make anymore – Scott, himself, excepted. So, I can’t vouch for whether I think this will be great art, but I can already tell it’s going to be a great time at the movies.

4. Rumours, directed by Guy Maddin

Release date: Oct. 18

You never forget your first time with Maddin. It was My Winnipeg for me, and it absolutely floored me. I had to share it with as many people as possible as quickly as possible. Then, I dug in: Brand Upon the Brain!, The Saddest Music in the World, Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary. Maddin is among the most singular filmmakers out there, and he has not made a feature since the 2017 Alfred Hitchcock pastiche The Green Fog. He returns with Rumours, for which he brings along some help in the name of Cate Blanchett. Sign me up.

3. The Substance, directed by Coralie Fargeat

Release date: Sept. 20

I don’t know too much about this movie beyond a vague outline, and frankly, I don’t want to know more than that. I missed Fargeat’s debut feature, Revenge – a mistake I will soon rectify – but reports out of Cannes, where this won best screenplay, are that The Substance is one wild ride. I’m also here for the Demi Moore renaissance, as well, whatever we want to call it. I vote Demi-ssance.

2. Anora, directed by Sean Baker

Release date: Oct. 18

Call this the Palme d’Or slot. For obvious reasons, the Cannes Film Festival winner tends to make my list, and this is the third time in the most recent five installments of the list that the Palme winner has ranked No. 2. The company should be familiar to anyone who reads this site: Ruben Ostlund’s 2017 art world satire The Square and Ostlund’s 2022 lifestyles of the rich and famous satire Triangle of Sadness. For those curious, the movies that ranked ahead of them: Todd Field’s masterpiece TÁR and Woody Allen’s not-masterpiece Wonder Wheel. I believe this year’s No. 1 will lean more toward the TÁR end of the spectrum.

But, enough about other movies. Anora. If you have seen the trailer, you know star Mikey Madison practically explodes off the screen – a tendency that will be familiar to fans of Once Upon a Time …  in Hollywood, Scream 5, or the TV series Better Things. Baker is a perfect director to give her the showcase she so richly deserves, and if he brings even half of the energy and pathos he brought to films like Tangerine and The Florida Project, then this will be a film to be remembered.

1. Blitz, directed by Steve McQueen

Release date: Nov. 1

Exactly one year ago to the day, I wrote these words in this space: “I don’t have a ton of information on what lies ahead for movies in 2024, but if I had to put money on what will be my No. 1 most anticipated film of next year, I would guess Blitz.” And, here we are. Nothing has supplanted it. Nothing could supplant it. This is one of the best directors in the world taking on his biggest project to date.

Not only that, but McQueen has brought along Saorise Ronan, possibly the finest actress of her generation, give or take a Pugh or Mia Goth. Ronan will also have the highly anticipated The Outrun in theaters this fall, and it is nice to have her operating at the top of her game again. Joining her will be Harris Dickinson, who will also have Babygirl out this fall and is quickly establishing himself as an actor to watch.

Still for me, this is McQueen’s show. Few filmmakers have his patience for storytelling and faith in the audience to come along. Pair that with his penetrating social lens, put to brilliant use in his monumental Small Axe, and you have a recipe for something truly special. What I wouldn’t give to be at the closing night of the New York Film Festival for this one. But, I’ve waited a year. I can wait a little longer.