The year 2024 was a strong year for us Horror Ghouls! And as you may have noticed, we review movies we enjoy enough that we can give badges to. Of course, it also happens that we see movies that we don’t enjoy that much…2024 was no exception to that rule, but here is a list of the movies we’ve seen from this year, including those we didn’t review.
Titles we didn’t get around to watch but that we’ll check out in 2025:
Azrael
Caddo Lake
Cuckoo
The Coffee Table
The Devil’s Bath
The Exorcism (because Russel Crow is fun)
In a Violent Nature
MadS (if we’re so lucky to get a physical release since we don’t have access to Shudder in Norway, as we’ve stated a dozen of times already. The same can be said about Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion)
Never Let Go
Nightswim (for the shits n’ giggles)
A Quiet Place: Day One (only for the cat)
Strange Darling
Witchboard
Here’s a texted summary of the list in chronological order as we saw them:
Masterpiece
Longlegs
— Longlegs, being the great horror movie it is, is probably best viewed if you don’t let your expectations elevate too high prior to watching it. It’s not going to make you faint, have a miscarriage, puke snakes or have the devil hitch a ride back with you from the theater. It’s just a good, slow-burn atmospheric horror movie that really hits the sweet spot on oppressive, nightmarish and nihilistic mood. — Vanja
The Substance
— The Substance is a brilliantly gross, wild and thought-provoking movie. Behind layers of glitz and glam, nudity and body horror, there’s also themes of loneliness and fear, about being rejected for who you are by the people around you for doing something none of us can avoid as long as we continue to live: growing older. — Vanja
Awesome
The First Omen
— The film wasn’t as scary I’d hoped for, though. But nevertheless, the film wins me over with its gothic atmosphere and overall grim sense of premonition constantly looming in the air (it’s after all an Omen film). It has a great build-up with a string of unpleasant moments and a tension that boils up to the inevitable, yet highly effective climax. — Tom
Alien: Romulus
— Alien: Romulus was a blast when viewing it in the theater, and while it was nowhere near as bloody and gory as Fede Alvarez’s Evil Dead (2013), it was fun and felt as one of the Alien movies as of late that gave much of the same feeling of claustrophobia and unsettling atmosphere as the first — Vanja
MaXXXine
— Yeah, I’m really creaming all over MaXXXine, maybe because the film was much better than expected after the more lukewarm reception. We had an overall blast with this one in the movie theater and wasn’t bored for one second. The common complaints I’ve noticed is the third act/the reveal/the last ten minutes. The ending is predictable, for sure, and the reveal didn’t come as a shocker. — Tom
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
— I creamed maybe much more over Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, so much in fact that I almost became a homosexual. — Tom
Smile 2
— Despite my first expectations, Smile 2 is a worthy sequel of the first and in my opinion even surpasses it, and while the ending was very predictable (at least when you know how the Smile Entity works), it sets up for what could be a pretty interesting third movie in this franchise. — Vanja
Vermines
— Vermines (Infested) is a solid spider horror film, with some effectively creepy scenes that gives you the ick whether you actually have arachnophobia or not. Vaniček is also going to direct the next Evil Dead movie, and it will be interesting to check that one out when it comes. — Vanja
Good
Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever
— Nightwatch – Demons are Forever is a decent sequel that comes incredibly late, but better late than never as they say. Or at least that’s true in some cases. Sure, there’s nothing groundbreaking here, and if we are going to be perfectly honest there wasn’t really any of that in the original either, it was just presented to an audience where the majority had never seen something like that before. The film offers up a nice thriller mystery and will probably work best for those who have seen the original, although it isn’t a must. — Vanja
Lowlifes
This one came from nowhere as a Tubi Original, and it actually slaps. A pretty twisted, unique and unpredictable take on the serial killer/home invasion genre. It’s almost impossible to review Lowlifes without avoiding major spoilers, and works best to go into it totally blind. — Tom
Sting
— Sting is a satisfying little addition to the creature feature list involving spiders, with some very nice special effects. — Vanja
Oddity
— Oddity doesn’t have that much to play around it, but it makes it all work nonetheless. It’s pure atmosphere and anticipation, and while the murder mystery isn’t really all that mysterious, the story still unfolds slowly enough while keeping you guessing a little bit. The ending is almost a bit sardonic, but also quite satisfying. — Vanja
Immaculate
— Sydney Sweeney is, for some, known for two things, but she’s also a top tier actress who conveys layers of intense emotions with her eyes alone – while she carries the whole film with a big bucket of blood to the s h o c k i n g ending. — Tom
Terrifier 3
— Terrifier 3 definitely delivers on the gore and practical effects, and Art the Clown is more jolly, more evil, and more Mr. Bean-ish than ever. I just personally wish there had been some more story development at this point, but I’ll consider this as Art the Clown’s X-Mas special. — Vanja
Heretic
— Heretic is a suspenseful and dark theological thriller, very dialogue-driven but mastering it with great skill. — Vanja
OK
The Deliverance
— Overall, though, the movie is far from as bad as we initially thought it would be. In fact, the movie is on the whole pretty decent, it just doesn’t have the oomph to stand out very much. The Deliverance doesn’t bring anything new that we haven’t already seen a plethora of times before, but it’s done with a solid hand. — Vanja
Trap
— Trap is one of those dumbly fun movies which is offering just enough thrills and suspense. Nothing groundbreaking and by no means a masterpiece, but all in all just an easy-going and fun thriller. — Vanja
Salem’s Lot
— Salem’s Lot is pretty fine for what it is, there is some decent atmosphere here and there and Barlow can come off as creepy enough when you don’t get to see him too clearly. — Vanja
Sleep
— Sleepwalking is not a theme that’s got a lot of horror movies dedicated to it, so far we’ve only seen the Swedish 2000 thriller movie Sleepwalker which deals with the same subject matter. Thus, Sleep is another entry into this genre, a suspenseful thriller powered by strong performances, where a man’s sleepwalking habits turns him into a danger to his own family. — Vanja
I Saw the TV Glow
— I Saw the TV Glow is an arthouse movie that’s mostly an allegory for finding your identity. More surreal drama than horror, and definitely not everyone’s cup of Mad Hatter’s tea, but if you’ve lived for some time on this arduous earth, you’re most likely going to resonate with at least some of the themes it represent. — Vanja
The Soul Eater
— A pretty fine crime thriller by the Bustillo/Maury duo. Not as strong with the horror elements as some of their previous works, but overall an entertaining film. Review will be posted here sometime in January. — Vanja
NAH
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
After the greatest opening scene since the original from ’84, it only goes straight downhill. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is as empty and soulless as Bill Murray’s eyes in the movie poster. It’s time to accept that this franchise ended on a high note with Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009) before it died with Harold Ramis. RIP.— Tom
Abigail
Nope. Alisha Weir does a strong performance here, but that’s it. Watch Livide instead. A much better film with vampire ballerinas. — Tom
The Watchers
Promising first half until it slides full force into M. Night Shyamalan twisty land on almost parody levels. Written and directed by Ishana Shyamalan, M. Night’s daughter. Huh… I actually thought it was just a pseudonym. — Tom
No Voltees
Two siblings move back to their childhood home where their mother died, and…the place is haunted…and…uhm… can’t remember much else. Pretty forgettable stuff. — Tom
Nosferatu: Symphony of Horror
Boy O’boy, this is not quite what I expected from Robert Eggers… oh, wait, wrong movie. This is a so-called “feature film remix“ where backgrounds from the original from 1922 have been green-screened in front of bad actors. This thing was actually crowdfunded, and I suppose the whole budget went to Doug Jones and his make-up, which is way too good for an amateur show like this. James Rolfe could maybe, just maybe, make a better version if he had enough time. — Tom
FUN BAD
Gacy: Serial Killer Next Door
— The only slightly positive thing here is Mike Korich as Gacy. But that’s only on the surface level. His scenes where he’s dressed as Pogo and laughing in the victim’s face look more like a parody and there’s not much more character depth to explore. Still, Mike Korich is the only reason to give the film a watch, as he at least seems to have some fun here. I also see what they tried with Disturbia (2007) and The Summer of 84 spin, but it didn’t land well at all as the last portion of the film couldn’t be more predictable. Not the most memorable film, but lowbrow entertainment with enough of the funny-bad moments to kill some time with as long as it lasts. — Tom
TRASH
Imaginary
The most infamous worst movie of the year, with a script that even an orangutan can tell was probably fully written by AI, Chat GPS, or whatever that garbage tool is called. Yeah, it stinks and it was worse than imagined. But since the film was a smashing success at the box office, not even a ten-layered diaper will stop the Blumhouse septic tank from shitting out more low-to-zero efforts like this. Still, I have a small nugget of hope that Leigh Whannel’s The Wolfman will take us by surprise. — Tom
Tarot
Some films get such a bad reception that curiosity gets the best of you, like Tarot. There’s nothing here, not a single scene or moment to even poke some fun at. It reminded me more of Slender Man (2018), for those who remember that film. Just dreadfully boring and lifeless that just sucks the oxygen out of you. And just like Imaginary, the film did bank at the box office. So I wouldn’t be surprised if a sequel gets made. — Tom
Lisa Frankenstein
This is probably a prime example of the result of a quick first-draft script where you can see a good film hidden somewhere in there if you really dig hard enough. Instead, we have a complete nothingburger, an unfunny amateurish mess of a film where nothing builds up. Random scenes tossed together filled with painfully cringe humor aimed at TikTok zombies is what to expect. The only unintentionally amusing thing I got from it was some uncanny Johnny Depp/Amber Heard parallels. And when you’ve first seen it, you can’t unsee it. — Tom
And that being said, it’s now time for a mega pint or three. Happy ghoulish new year from Tom, Vanja & Mr. Ghööl !
