I got to 30/100! This has been a fun crop of films. I seem to have gone with a mix of fun slashers/cat-and-mouse/revenge films, political horror, and religious horror. It’s been interesting to watch more Hindu religious horror this time, as I’ve seen a lot of Muslim religious horror and various Christian tradition horror from a range of perspectives. I’ve also seen more religious horror now from Shintoist, Buddhist, and Taoist backgrounds, with a variety of folk belief and folk religion thrown in, so I’d like to keep watching more like this and exploring religious horror from around the world.
You can find the full list here: 100-horror-movies-in-92-days-2025
Films 1-10 here.
Films 11-20 here.
Here we go with films 21-30!
21) La Llorona (2019) dir. Jayro Bustamante. This one felt very apropos given the current genocides happening simultaneously right now. I really liked this film, especially after watching Rita by the same director. Slowburn drama/political horror.
22) Don’t Say Its Name (2021) dir. Rueben Martell. First Nations ecohorror, with an indigenous director and cast. I liked this one! Vengeance and drama, with lower budget effects.
23) Strange Darling (2023) dir. JT Mollner. Smart little erotic horror-thriller, I liked the way it was shot, the sequence order of the ‘chapters’, the small cast, the whole thing. It worked really well for me, and I’m glad I saved this for the challenge watchlist! Definitely best to go in cold on this one.
24) The Beast Must Die (1974) dir. Paul Annett. I’ve wanted to see this for ages! I really loved how fun this was. And how many times I yelled “Leave him, Caroline, he’s a wrong ‘un!” at the screen. What an amazing cast. And I also guessed wrongly at the werewolf break, but I should have gone with my gut instinct. Now I know, I think it will still hold up to rewatches.
25) The Monkey (2025) dir. Osgood Perkins. This was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed Longlegs last year. It’s one I’ve rewatched a lot. This one didn’t let me down either, and I got really into it by the end. I think this is one for a rewatch.
26) The Wrath of Becky (2023) dirs. Suzanne Coote, Matt Angel. Ok – so one thing that annoys me about a lot of US-made films (not all, but A LOT) is their inability to be subtle at all about anything. They have a point, they whack you over the head with it until you’re concussed, then make it one more time. However, this was super fun, I really liked it, and subtlety doesn’t really have a place in the enjoyment of a young psychopath with anger issues taking out whoever pisses her off. I didn’t like the way it ended so much, but that’s ok. Still a satisfying sequel. I will be watching the next one.
27) บ้านเช่า..บูชายัญ / Home for Rent (2023) dir. Sophon Sakdaphisit. At first, I thought… does this need to be 2hrs?? And then we got to the midpoint, and yes, yes it did. I actually really loved it, and I’ll probably be rewatching it once the challenge is over.
28) माँ / Maa (2025) dir. Vishal Furia. This genuinely made me cry. I loved the Kali Shakti sequence, it was so good. I haven’t seen many religious (Hindu) horror films, and this one goes with It Lives Inside for that. I’m not normally one for the sacred feminine and motherhood, but got a new appreciation for that energy from this film. And the end credits scene: was this whole film a prequel to शैतान / Shaitaan???
29) Lilim (2025) dir. Mikhail Red. Filipino Catholic horror, in which feminine rage is dangerous and monstrous, but also incredibly powerful. Issa murders her abusive father and legs it with her little brother, only to find an orphanage in the forest full of nuns who are a secret evil Lilith cult, complete with severe self-mortification rituals and creepy tattoos. A really interesting counterpoint to Kali’s role in Maa, actually, doing some very different things with angry women and motherhood/motherhood by proxy. In Maa, the protagonist faces off against a male villain to save her daughter and the other girls of the village. In Lilim, the little boys in the orphanage are the vulnerable victims of the women meant to be looking after them, and the dark “Mother” entity that haunts the orphanage.
30) बुलबुल / Bulbbul (2020) dir. Anvita Dutt. Bengali period drama-horror set in the 1880s, with lots of mystery and suspense. A child bride grows up to become lady of the manor, but in the misty jungle around her home is a Demon-Woman who kills men. Red tinted shots in the fog! Flaming torches! Gruesome murders! Murder lady! This one felt pure Bollywood Gothic to me.
And that’s Films 1-30! I’ll be back with films 31-40 soon, when I get there… let’s see if I complete the challenge this year.
Countries A-Z (Films 21-30)
Canada
Guatemala
India
Philippines
Thailand
UK
USA
Films 1-30 Global Round-Up (Fun Stats)
New-to-me horror from a country I haven’t seen horror from before has a “” beside it.
Australia – x1 – The Moogai
Belgium – x1 – Malpertuis
Canada – x3 – The Monkey, Don’t Say Its Name, Discopath
China – x1 – Paper Bride
Guatemala – x2 – Rita, La Llorona
India – x2 – Maa, Bulbbul
Indonesia – x2 – The Haunted Hotel, Jurnal Risa by Risa Saraswati
Italy – x2 – An Angel for Satan, Two Evil Eyes
Japan – x3 – Shikoku, Audition, The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch
Nigeria – x1 – Ms. Kanyin
Norway – x1 – The Ugly Stepsister
Philippines – x1 – Lilim
Taiwan – x2 – The Bridge Curse, The Bridge Curse: Ritual
Thailand – x1 – Home for Rent
Turkey – x1 – Siccin 4
United Kingdom – x2 – The Stone Tape, The Beast Must Die
United States of America – x4 – It Lives Inside, The Wrath of Becky, Strange Darling, Incubus
Let’s see what these stats look like by my first 50 films! I’m very curious to know which countries will be in my top 3 this year, and what my favourites will be out of the ones I’ve seen. I found some new comfort watches last time, and some absolute gems. I’ve already seen a few that I really enjoyed. I’m excited for my next 10!
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