2020 Halloween Movie Recap

This year, unlike years before, I decided to scroll through all the streaming services we have and compile a list of 30 movies I wanted to watch during the month of October. We made it through about 20 of them. Some nights I fell asleep early, other nights we were interrupted by restless children. It's all good though, some of my pics were winners others pretty crappy. Here is a quick recap of some of my favorite horror movie watches from 2020.

TRAIN TO BUSAN (2016)

I had been meaning to see this movie since it was released in 2016, but never took the time to watch it. I am glad I waited until the Halloween season to explore this zombie apocalypse film. It was creepy, scary and the claustrophobic atmosphere of being trapped in a train with a butt-ton of flesh eating zombies just added to the fear this South Korean film brought to the table. 

The writing was fantastic and I actually had sympathy for the characters caught on the train and loathed the heartless businessman who would step over anyone to save himself. If you're a fan of the zombie genre, you really need to check this out. It is dubbed, so you have to get used to that, but otherwise an excellent flick.

PROM NIGHT (1980)

I know Prom Night is a slasher flick classic, but I never really had the desire to see this movie. I was way more into Freddy & Jason by the time this movie hit my radar. This year would be my first viewing of this 1980 horror hit and let me tell you it was entertaining. Jamie Lee Curtis plays a character named Kim who is similar to her character Laurie in the original Halloween movie. She is seen as perfect by her classmates and seems pretty innocent, but when the death of her sister years earlier comes back to haunt her, she needs to step up to defend herself. Not only is Kim able to do that, but she also cuts a mean rug on the disco floor. 

Loved those dance scenes! Tense moments, some twists and throw in Leslie Nielsen as Kim's Dad and you have a winning formula for a great 80's slasher flick!

The Ritual (2017)

The Ritual was a movie that actually was not on my list. After a few nights of watching some 1980's horror movies, my wife wanted something more recent. We decided to watch this movie about 4 men who take a trip in memory of their fallen friend. These English blokes decide to go backpacking in Sweden. While there one of them is injured and they decide to get him help by cutting through an off trail forest. Nothing bad could come from that, right? Well it does get bad from there! The movie turns to psychological scares at this point, since you never really see what begins to hunt these friends in the forbidden forest, but by the time you do see the monster it is a shock! 

This thing is massive, deadly and pretty damn cool looking. The end left me scratching my head a little as the final 2 friends are taken in by a cult as a sacrifice to this monster that they believe to be a god. It is worth a watch and I'm glad it made it's way into my queue this Halloween! 

Hobgoblins (1988)

This was one of those movies that was so bad, it was good! I knew from the beginning that this would be a Gremlins rip-off much like Munchies, but still I wanted to see these little goblins raise some havoc! You see, these magnificent monsters have been locked up in an old defunct movie studio film vault because when they landed on the lot decades before, it was discovered that they had the ability to make people live out there wildest fantasies...with deadly results! A new young security guard frees them and it's up to him and his friends to destroy these fiends! 

The acting is below average, the effects are iffy and the story is not the greatest, but damn was it a fun and extremely weird ride! On a side note, there was an after credit scene! This was probably one of the first. Can't wait to see the 2009 sequel!

Of course there were more movies watched, these were just some of the ones that stood out. Also viewed for the first time and enjoyed were Killer Klowns From Outer Space, Hubie Halloween, The Babysitter 2: Killer Queen, Hatchet and Demonic Toys.

It really was a great movie viewing season this year, but like all good things it has to come to an end and I decided this final week would be dedicated to some of the classics that I've already watched a million times, but still love like Friday The 13th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street and Monster Squad. The final film this year will be Trick 'r Treat on Halloween night. I hope your movie viewing was as enjoyable as mine this year. I can't wait to see what ends up on the list in 2021! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!