I meant to watch a Horror Movie a Day in October, but I went out-of-town one weekend for a wedding and got behind and then apparently forgot that I was behind, so I only saw 29 horror movies in October, but I think that’s still pretty good. Some of them were so not good, though, it was a bummer. I also saw a lot of great 2014 releases and continued to watch TV. Boardwalk Empire had its series finale!!! I’m still not over it. And The Knick won’t be back til next summer. But I also started watching Jane The Virgin and it is delightful! Also it’s now Noirvember! Which, obviously, is the best mont of the year! As always, my full recap of October can be found after the cut.

1. The Blair Witch Project
2. Surf Nazis Must Die
3. Gone Girl
4. House of Wax (1953)
5. Lilting
6. Brown Sugar
7. Mystery of the Wax Museum
8. Hellraiser
9. Pharaoh’s Curse
10. Carrie (2013)
11. Fright Night (1985)
12. Love Hate
13. Ecologia del delitto / Reazione a catena (A Bay of Blood / Twitch of the Death Nerve / Blood Bath)
14. The Serpent and the Rainbow
15. Brain Dead (1990)
16. The Legend of Hell House
17. Fog Island
18. Grave Secrets / Secret Screams
19. Ida
20. The Man from Planet X
21. Transylvania 6-5000
22. The Old Dark House (1932)
23. The Ghost Walks
24. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
25. Night of the Creeps
26. The Death Kiss
27. Dracula (1974)
28. Midnight Matinee
29. Invaders From Mars (1953)
30. Laggies
31. Invaders from Mars (1986)
32. I Wanna Hold Your Hand
33. Village of the Damned (1960)
34. Mark of the Vampire
35. The Raven (1935)
36. Dracula Has Risen from the Grave
37. Isle of the Dead

1880s: 0
1890s: 0
1900s: 0
1910s: 0
1920s: 0
1930s: 6
1940s: 2
1950s: 4
1960s: 2
1970s: 4
1980s: 9
1990s: 2
2000s: 2
2010s: 6

Be sure to watch my YouTube videos for thoughts on all the films I watched last month. And below, I’ll talk about six films I particularly loved last month.

Lilting, 2014 (dir. Hong Khaou)

I’m a sucker for anything with Ben Whishaw, so I am a little biased when I talk about his movies, but he’s just so damn good always it’s almost hard to watch him! This movie was so beautiful and intimate and felt so real. It’s about two people living in London who barely understand each other trying to come to terms with their feelings after they lose the person they both loved the most. It’s heartbreaking, yet uplifting at the same time.

Ida, 2014 (dir Paweł Pawlikowski)

I missed this when it was first in theaters, but was lucky enough to see it when it played at the Polish Film Festival in the middle of October (although they clearly screened a DVD and they didn’t set up the masking right for how it needed to be projected; it’s in 1.33:1). Another heartbreaking film, this time about two women who are family learning about their past and whose lives will never be the same. It’s a great love letter to the Polish New Wave films of the late-50s, early 60s.

The Old Dark House, 1932 (dir. James Whale)

This is a great horror-comedy from the height of the classical Universal Horror era. Boris Karloff is amazing in this film, as are the rest of the cast (including Melvyn Douglas, Charles Laughton and Gloria Stuart). If you love this era of horror, or British comedy of manners films, you will LOVE this movie.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), 2014 (dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu)

I famously hate Iñárritu (especially Babel), and yet I loved this movie so so so much. If you enjoy the works of Raymond Carver, or spot-on media culture/celebrity satire, you will enjoy this film. Michael Keaton is one of those actors who is just so good and has been so overlooked for so long, it’s great to see him in a real showcase role again.

Night of the Creeps, 1986 (dir. Fred Dekker)

Oh my god I loved this movie so much. It’s an alien invasion movie, it’s a zombie movie, it’s a slasher movie, it’s an homage to B-Movies horror films from the 1950s and it’s a 80s college romance all rolled into one movie! Seriously, it’s everything I want in a movie.

Laggies, 2014 (dir. Lynn Shelton)

I’ve actually not see any of Shelton’s other films (clearly, I need to fix that!), but I really loved this film. It’s a great look at the arrested development of the millenials without passing judgement, or being too sympathetic. It’s another very honest movie, with a great balance of humor and some moments of real, deep human connectivity that just blew me away. Go see this if you can find it!

So that was October and now we’ve only got two months of the year left. Where did 2014 go?! Oh well, Happy Noirvember!