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 !

First off, just let me say, in the most dry British gentleman-accent as I’m raising my glass of brandy, that: metal up your arse and Hail Satan!

Because who in the right mind would have thought that we’d get a pretty decent prequel to The Omen from 1976 in the year of 2024? Huh… but here we are. Unfortunately, the timing for the promotion for The First Omen couldn’t be much worse as it came straight after The Exorcist: Bieber Believer. *Fart*. People seemed to be finally fed up to the throat with soulless rehashed franchise revivals and didn’t give The First Omen much thought of the day. I was one of them. Here we fucking go again. Satan wept. Then the film came, people saw it, and I was as surprised as everyone else with the common reaction as it was better than expected. It’s a shame that the film underperformed at the box office, but as I said: bad timing. They should have waited another year when the corpse of Believer had once and for all rotted to dust and was faded from everyone’s memory. Oh, well. The motivation for giving it a chance on the silver screen peaked higher when I noticed that the film was directed and co-written by Arkasha Stevenson, who was also involved in the brilliant, sexy and satanic mini series Brand New Cherry Flavor (2021). This is her feature-length directorial debut. And she has learned from the best and knows how to direct a horror movie, that’s for sure.

The year is 1971 and the young woman, Maggie (Nell Tiger Free) has arrived in Rome, Italy, where she’s met by Cardinal Lawrence (Bill Nighy) to drive her to Vizzardeli Orphanage, where she is about to start a life as a nun. The place is filled with red flags (or red omens, if you will) as soon as she sets her first footsteps into the orphanage. She sees some children’s drawings on the wall, but the one that takes her attention is a more sinister drawing made by the mysterious, quiet girl Carlita (Nicole Sorace). Maggie knocks on her door to introduce herself to this Carlita, who hides behind her bed. She crawls at Maggie like a cave girl and gives her a big, wet lick on her cheek. Welcome to Italy, baby. We soon learn that she isn’t quite right in her head and Maggie gets some strong advice from the shunned priest Father Brennan (played by the demon voice himself, Ralph Ineson) that it’s best to keep a distance from her. So many omens here. What was the first omen again..?

Anyway, the film spends a good chunk of time letting us get to know Maggie. Since she hasn’t taken her vows yet, and is basically still free as a bird, her roommate Luz dolls her up and takes her to the disco where Maggie gets her very first sexual arousal. Sure you wanna marry God, honey? Meanwhile, Father Brennan is dedicated to exposing the evil plans of the church. Because we’re in a time when Italy is in a rebellious revolution where young protesters are on the streets and setting cars on fire and such. But the most alarming of all: more and more people have turned their backs to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the church can’t have that. No spoilers, but what the writers did here was quite ballsy, I must say, and some aspects are also straight facts when it comes to sexual abuse, which is an open secret in the Catholic Church and has been for many years. Here, they take it a bit further. And since Italy is still a hardcore Christian country where they still believe that every single mental problem is demon possessions, I wouldn’t be one bit surprised if several audiences died of heart attacks while they were holding their crucifixes and rosaries. Chiama un ambulanza, por fervore!

Maggie is also witnessing a morbid birth scene in the orphanage, which should be enough to take the hint and fly right back to the USA and never look back. But she hasn’t seen anything yet, nor does she know that she’s just a number waiting to get her belly pregnant. She starts to see cryptic visions and a creepy nun in the corner in her dark room and her mental state slowly starts falling apart to pure paranoia while questioning her faith. Nell Tiger Free (free the tiger?) is really outstanding, which gives a colorful emotional range to her role. She’s emphatic, sweet and likable and no one would guess that she was the mother of the most evil kid on the planet.

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. Arkasha Stevenson directs the hell of the movie, which is overall beautifully shot with some great scenery of Rome and its old, antique surroundings. Despite some few lame jump scares thrown in, which is almost unavoidable, this is a solid quality film in old-school form that also stands well on its own legs.

Although this prequel does it very best to blend it all in with the first film, there’s an obvious change here, and that’s the jackal, the dog that actually gave birth to Damien. But, of course, we couldn’t have a two-hour movie with a dog running around in the streets of Rome, that wouldn’t be the best recipe for a prequel. The jackal is a key figure here, though, but thus far the keyholes has only produced girls. And that’s as much I can say before spoiling, because the desperate motivation here is everything.

I also like the writing on the poster that says The Most Terrifying Movie of The Year, a quote from the Fox studio themselves. That’s cute. Maybe not the most terrifying of the year 2024, we still have to see ’bout that, but certainly the most terrifying film in the franchise since Damien: Omen II (1978). There’s also a cool nod to the lift scene from that film plus other references without going too much into member berry lane. Hearing Ave Satani (originally written and composed by the great Jerry Goldsmith) for the first time in a movie theater, here with a remix version by Mark Korven, was epic in itself. The film also opens the door to a spin-off sequel, and I can’t say I’m very enthusiastic about that idea.

Director: Arkasha Stevenson
Writers: Tim Smith, Arkasha Stevenson, Keith Thomas, Ben Jacoby
Country & year: USA, Italy, Serbia, Canada, 2024
Actors: Nell Tiger Free, Ralph Ineson, Sonia Braga, Tawfeek Barhom, Maria Caballero, Charles Dance, Bill Nighy, Nicole Sorace, Ishtar Currie-Wilson, Andrea Arcangeli, Guido Quaglione, Dora Romano
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5672290/

Tag: the first omen

Horror Movie Tier List 2024

Masterpiece

Awesome

Good

OK

NAH

FUN BAD

TRASH

The First Omen (2024)