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Debaser

Hold the Dark

This probably falls more in the “thriller” category than “horror,” but it certainly has its share of creepy moments, and I really enjoyed it. It’s at times a very slow/meditative film, so I’d say you probably need to be in a mood for something like that in order to really enjoy it, but if you are, you’re in for an interesting ride. Great acting all around, and a novel setup/setting (best not to say too much). Oh, and it’s another good Netflix original film — they’ve really upped their game of late, especially with horror content for October.

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Debaser

Malevolent

Continuing with the October horrorfest, I next watched Malevolent, a recently added Netflix Original. This was pretty enjoyable, starting with a setting I liked — Glasgow in the 80s. It follows a group of fake ghost hunters who encounter — surprise, surprise — real ghosts. It gets pretty intense towards the end, much more than I was expecting, and overall I thought it was quite decent. I’m glad to say that the crop of Netflix original films are getting better and better.

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Debaser

Down a Dark Hall

I wasn’t really expecting much from this, and pretty much went into it blind, except knowing that it takes place in a big ol’ mansion (yeah, I like horror movies that take place in big ol’ mansions) and that it stars Uma Thurman. In the end, I can’t say that I was that into it, even though some of the ideas are neat (the reason the students were brought to that house). I didn’t hate it, but wouldn’t really recommend it either.

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The Purge: Election Year

I’ll go ahead and say it, I like the Purge movies. It’s a fascinating — if terrifying — idea, and I thought the first two films did a good job of not only being fun thrillers to watch, but also building up this world, which happens even more in this film (showing how the US came to be like this). I’m also quite looking forward to watching the 4th film in the series that came out this year, The First Purge, and I’ve been watching the new TV series (it’s on Prime Video here in Canada).

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Summer of ’84

This I really enjoyed (and my wife too). Sure, it’s the “kids on bikes” 80s kinda throwback that’s all the rage these days, but it’s well done. Think Stranger Things, but without the supernatural stuff. And the end takes a sudden turn that really surprised me, in a dark way. Even better, this was locally made by Montreal-based directors (they also made the 80s-influenced Turbo Kid), which is nice to see. I think it’s well worth watching.

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Winchester

I was expecting more from this, considering it stars Helen Mirren, but it ended up being pretty disappointing. I liked the setting — big ol’ haunted house at the turn of the 20th century — and the historical aspect (Mrs. Winchester, of the gun company), but it ended up being not much more than a series of jump scares, and that’s not the kind of horror I like — I’m more into the creepy, thriller kind. Can’t say I’d really recommend this to anyone.

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Debaser

Hereditary

As you’ve probably noticed by now, I love giving myself a goal or theme when it comes to watching movies, whether it’s to marathon films from a year, from a director, or something else. Since it’s October, I thought it’d be fun to focus more than usual on watching horror-related stuff throughout the month. I kicked it off with this film, which I’d heard was quite good. And it is indeed. Great story, incredibly creepy, with great performances by everyone — especially that young girl. The denouement was really out there, but interesting, and felt satisfying. And haunting.

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Debaser

Ash vs Evil Dead (Season 2)

I thought the first season was an incredibly fun return to this character and this world, and I was quite looking forward to the second season. It aired a while back, but was just recently added to Netflix, and so far (I’m halfway through) it’s just as fun. It’s kinda insane who much they manage to fit into one episode, and the casting of Lee Majors as Ash’s dad was pretty inspired.

Update: I watched the first half back when I originally wrote this post, and then finally watched the second half this past month (October 2018) — felt quite fitting to do it as part of my October horror fest. It dragged on a bit during the middle-season episodes, but oh man, the last few episodes — with the gang heading back to the original house in the woods of the original films — were just so damn fantastic. I know the series has ended, but I’m still looking forward to watching season 3 when it gets added to Netflix.