31 Days of Hallowe’en 2021, Day 30: My Name [마이 네임], Episode 1 [2021]

My Name is a Korean TV show that doesn’t need much introduction, based on how Netflix has been pushing it – and I’m glad it debuted in the top 10 (at least where I can see it in the UK), even if it might have dropped off lately (probably because of new releases and viewing habits relating to Hallowe’en). It also probably shouldn’t count as a horror-thon entry, but I decided it would last night at around 2 am when I wasn’t feeling well last night and had forgotten to put on an actual film. So there.

source: wikipedia

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31 Days of Hallowe’en 2020, Day 24: La Révolution, episodes 1 & 2 [2020]

When I saw the synopsis for Netflix’s new French offering La Révolution, I noticed ‘horror’ as the genre’ and the word ‘disease’, so I assumed it was going to be French Revolution-era zombies, sort of Kingdom meets Les Mis. It’s sort of…not. The first two of the total four episodes were more muted than I thought it was going to be.

31 Days of Hallowe’en 2019, Day 28: Wounds [2019]

This is the second time I’m writing this entire post out – from memory –  because WordPress’s new ‘block editor’ is a piece of fucking garbage and deleted an entire post that was ready to hit ‘publish’. Thanks, WordPress. You are the 99% Napster download of blog editors.

It’s better to watch Netflix’s new offering Wounds as a drama with horror-thriller elements, rather than a straightforward genre offering. Otherwise, you’ll come away feeling cheated by an anti-climactic ending that would have worked great in a single-setting short horror film (which would have been fitting, considering this was based on a novella).

31 Days of Hallowe’en 2019, Day 18: Eli [2019]

I don’t enjoy writing bad reviews. I’m fully aware that this is someone else’s hard work and that I’ve yet to make a film myself. I actually, genuinely prefer describing the parts of a movie I like, because I want to try to (as objectively as possible) convince someone that this might be worth watching – especially if it’s a new or smaller movie.

Like many internetting humans, I have Netflix, and today they dropped Eli, so I thought ‘why not? how bad could it be?’

Hoo boy.

31 Days of Hallowe’en 2019, Day 12: Marianne 1×01 [2019]

I can safely say that Marianne is the most frightening title on Netflix. Created by Samuel Bodin, this eight-episode French horror series scares the shit out of you by using the oldest genre tropes that are so insidious they will lurk in the back of your mind long after the closing credits.

31 Days of Hallowe’en 2019, Day 6: In the Tall Grass [2019]

Another day, another Netflix Original horror, and a third Stephen King adaptation in recent months This one, In the Tall Grass, is directed by Cube helmer Vincenzo Natali (who, intriguingly, had been poised to adapt JG Ballard’s High Rise before Ben Wheatley stepped in), and it starts off with a simple eeriness.

31 Days of Horror 2019, Day 1: Murder Party [2007]

Hallo to the 6th year running of my little horrorthon! It’s close to 2am on technically the morning of the 2nd of October here in the UK, and I’ve been up since 4 am the previous day whence I did far more than 10,000 steps while shopping and catching up with a transatlantic friend who had a layover in London, so none of this entry will be readable.

But onto movie number 1 of the month of all things spooky!

A relic from the era of WAP internet on impossibly small flip phones, Murder Party [2007] is a fun throwback to millenium-era splatter and making the most of truly indie filmmaking production values. Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, who would later go on to make the excellent Green Room, and starring the now-prolific writer-director-actor Macon Blair, this is a small movie, set in mostly one location, but efficiently paced amid buckets of inventive splatter and actual-laugh-out-loud humour.

31 Days of Hallowe’en 2018, Day 26: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina 1×01 [2018]

As a lifelong Archie comics fan, I was excited for this series. I’ve read the excellent (and no-punches-pulled) comic series Afterlife with Archie, but I never got around to reading its spin-off, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina [why isn’t there a ‘The’?]. Luckily, this Netflix series has talent from both series onboard as series developer and writer (Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa).

31 Days of Hallowe’en 2018, Day 25: Annihilation [2018]

edit: After reading some more analysis and feeling like a dolt for missing so much relevant subtext, I decided to revise my review score from 4 to 5.

One of Netflix’s earlier 2018 offerings, Annihilation has rich pedigree in front of and behind the camera. Directed and adapted by Alex Garland, this disquieting horror sci-fi has assembled the likes of Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Oscar Isaac, and even Benedict Wong. Based on the best-selling book by Jeff VanderMeer, the story follows a group of five scientists who are dispatched to a area of mysterious origin that has claimed anyone and anything that has tried to investigate it. All previous groups were male.

31 Days of Hallowe’en 2018, Day 20: Apostle [2018]

“Listen to his words!” screams a young woman in Apostle, while men who are blinded by their faith ignore her and inflict their brand of shame via torture. Those looking for modern social commentary might find something lurking here, but this is best suited to gorehounds.