I’ve had a really good run of films for this next ten. A few more classics for my list, and some pretty decent modern releases!
(81) School of the Damned (2019) dir. Peter Vincent. This one gave me Demon Headmaster vibes, which I loved as a kid. [That was a series of books by Gillian Cross, adapted into a very popular TV series on CBBC, and can be enjoyed all over again on the Look Into My Eyes podcast.] I really liked this film, actually. It also reminded me of The Children (2008), but less gore and more camp. Like Waterloo Road became a mid-budget horror.
(82) Untold (2025) dir. Derick Cabrido. This one reminded me of Nocebo (2022) a bit, with the ambitious woman doing terrible things to get ahead, and being punished for them in a supernatural way. Definitely not one for the cat lovers (a cat is killed). Jodi Sta. Maria somehow made Vivien sympathetic to me, even though I couldn’t stand the woman and her arc made me feel sick.
(83) Sumala (2024) dir. Rizal Mantovani. Genuinely fucked up Indonesian demon-child slasher. There’s a graphic scene of a stillborn (apparently) baby, and the infanticide of her twin, so if you need a trigger warning for baby death and child abuse, there it is. I liked this, it was a good possession/twin horror, with a deal with Iblis (of course) and shamanic black magic. Older children are also graphically murdered by the demon-girl, and there are scenes of physical cruelty in the name of discipline.
(84) Susuk: Kutukan Kecantikan / Susuk (2023) dir. Ginanti Rona. I learned what susuk was from this film! This is a warning against it, of course, but the concerns are not what happens when you wear susuk while alive (I think the Malaysian horror, Susuk (2008) deals with that), this is what happens if you’re horribly murdered/put into a coma while wearing it. Some really good body horror moments here. This one carries a warning for gender-based violence.
(85) The Call of Cthulhu (2005) dir. Andrew Leman. I really loved the way this was shot, like a German Expressionist-era silent film, very Murnau-esque. It made the monster look very black-and-white era kaiju, and not out of place or an anti-climax as a result. It was also fairly short, just under an hour, and that worked really well too. It had a framed narrative with epistolary sections, and I liked how this flowed. A really good adaptation, in fact!
(86) Creep (2004) dir. Christopher Smith. I was inspired to watch this one because of the #AScareADay challenge, which has Clive Barker’s short story, Midnight Meat Train, as one of the stories to read. I’ve already seen the film version of this Barker story, and I’ve also seen Death Line (1972), so Creep was the next obvious new-to-me one to get hold of. I really loved it. I could so easily see myself getting stuck down there, and – absolutely not. Absolutely not.
(87) The Haunted Palace (1963) dir. Roger Corman. A new-to-me Corman starring Vincent Price?? Absolutely love that this is actually a Lovecraft-meets-Poe mash-up, based in part on the poem and title of Poe’s The Haunted Palace, and mostly on Lovecraft’s short horror novel, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. This Gothic Horror delight is set in the village of Arkham, where a dead necromancer holds sway from his palace, brought stone by stone to New England from somewhere in Europe. Sinister.
(88) The Tomb of Ligeia (1964) dir. Roger Corman. A Roger Corman/Vincent Price double bill! The tagline got me:
Even on her wedding night she must share the man she loved with the “female thing” that lived in the Tomb of the Cat!
Yes, another loose adaptation of an Edgar Allan Poe story, Ligeia, with a black cat antagonist. I wouldn’t be at all mad about a remake of this, if someone let Guillermo del Toro or Paris Zarcilla at it… I’d cope with Robert Eggers, too, I guess.
(89) The Whisperer in Darkness (2011) dir. Sean Branney. I’m honestly really digging the black and white Lovecraft films, because the creature design can look really naff and it totally works. It’s a really fun film, a lot of fan-love went into it, and it’s got some great moments. I loved the score, as well, which was very period.
(90) The Raven (1963) dir. Roger Corman. Fantasy Horror-Comedy, with a great cast. I wasn’t sure if I had seen it or not, but if I ever have done I can’t remember a thing about it, so it counts as new to me! Written by Richard Matheson, and directed by Corman, so I had a good time with it. It’s campy and silly but very fun and atmospheric.
Countries A-Z Films 81-90
Indonesia
Philippines
United Kingdom
United States of America
Leave a Reply