2025 Halloween Viewer's Guide

HALLOWEEN VIEWER’S GUIDE

So my favorite season - spooky season -  is upon us!! And that means people may need to know what to watch over the Halloween weekend.

I am not what you’d call a horror afficionado, but I do enjoy the genre and every October I gorge myself on all things scary…so I have some thoughts on the subject.

There are all kinds of horror films within the genre…for example there are slasher movies, and monster movies, and zombie movies and supernatural movies and on and on. I will try and touch upon different sub-genres to mix things up.

I tend to watch movies in bunches…so I’ll watch a series of zombie movies back-to-back-to-back…things like that…if that isn’t your thing you can just ignore those recommendations.

Alright gang, let’s buckle up and dive head first into the Halloween Viewer’s Guide!!

SLASHER MOVIES

Slasher films were a staple back when I was growing up. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre kicked off the era of my childhood and led into a series of stellar films in this genre.

Opinions may vary with some loving Freddy Kruger and the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, others dig Jason in the Friday the 13th films…me? I’m definitely a Michael Myers guy…so sign me up for…

Halloween (1978) – John Carpenter is a really great moviemaker and his greatest may be Halloween. Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance are the leads in this movie…but slasher icon Michael Myers is the star. A can’t miss Halloween movie!! Available on multiple weird streaming services I’ve never heard.

In a Violent Nature (2024) – For something more modern, check out In a Violent Nature…a weirdly meditative slasher movie that is essentially shot from the killer’s perspective. Some of the kills in it are astonishing – if you’re into that sort of thing. Available on HULU.

CLASSICS

So every October I watch a bunch of classic Universal Monster movies. I get how people think they aren’t scary now…and some of it can be dated…but goddamn I really love these movies and love the craft and skill that went into making them.

Dracula (1931) – Dracula kicked off the big run of Universal monster movies in 1931. Bela Lugosi is great and it is a moody masterpiece that runs just over an hour. Available on Prime.

Frankenstein (1931) – Frankenstein came out nine months after Dracula and it is a decidedly creepy monster movie. The finale…which is filled with harrowing wails from the monster…is truly unnerving. Boris Karloff is amazing in the lead role. It too runs just over an hour long. Available on Prime.

Nosferatu (1922) – A phenomenal non-Universal 1922 silent movie from German master F.W. Murnau. Max Schreck as the vampire is one of the more alarming screen presences in history. There are different versions of the film available…all of them run between an hour and an hour and a half. Available on Prime.

NEWER SCARES

Late Night with the Devil (2024) – A very clever horror film that uses a late night 70’s tv show as its vehicle to supernatural scares. A terrific lead performance by David Dastmalchian, and deft direction make this a terrific choice for scary viewing. Available on HULU.

TI WEST TRILOGY – X, Pearl, MaXXXine: Ti West’s fun homage to 70’s and 80’s horror starts strong with X, and keeps going with Pearl, but then stumbles with MaXXine, but it never fails to be entertaining. A twisted and sexy Mia Goth is the perfect scream queen companion for this Halloween. Available on HBO Max.

ZOMBIES!!

Here is a really great grouping of zombie movies to watch together.

Start with…

Night of the Living Dead (1968) – George Romero’s classic is an exquisite piece of horror movie making and it never fails to be very affecting. Available on MGM+

Then go to…

28 Days Later (2002) – In this Danny Boyle update to the genre, zombies have evolved and humans are devolving. A truly unique play on Romero’s masterpiece. Available on Netflix.

Finish with…

World War Z (2013) – This Brad Pitt movie is flawed but it is a natural extension of 28 Days Later…and it has some pretty creepy moments and well-executed action too. Available on Paramount+

GENUINELY HORRIFYING

These are the movies that genuinely frighten me…so much so that I actually try not to watch them…and when I do it is during the daytime!!

The Exorcist (1973) – Not just a great horror movie…but a great movie. This film literally keeps me up at night which is a testament to its mastery. I even hesitate to write about it because it scares me so much. Available on HBO Max.

The Shining (1980) – Kubrick’s moody and menacing take on the Stephen King novel is brilliant and bizarre. A twisted nightmare of a movie that unsettles from start to finish. Anchored by a gloriously gonzo performance from Jack Nicholson. For a Shining double feature - Doctor Sleep: Director’s Cut (2019) – Dr. Sleep is a distant sequel to The Shining…and while it isn’t anywhere near the movie The Shining is…it is actually really good. Rebecca Ferguson gives a fantastic performance in the film that features one of the most disturbing scenes in recent memory. Be sure to watch the Director’s Cut only…the theatrical version is weak sauce. Both Available on HBO Max

TECHNICALLY NOT HORROR BUT TRULY HORRIFYING

Zodiac (2007) – David Fincher’s masterpiece…and yes, it is a masterpiece…is an unnerving and moody meditation on the darkness deep under the surface of the American psyche. The scene at Lake Berryessa is one of the most both brutal and horrifying ever made.

If you really want to dive in watch Zodiac and then watch Fincher’s Netflix series about serial killers – Mindhunter. Great and very scary stuff… and what makes both Zodiac and Mindhunter so scary…is that it’s real. Available on MGM+

Jaws (1975) – I saw Jaws as a kid and am still scared to get into the water…and I’m not just talking about getting into the ocean. I’m scared to go into a lake, a pond, a pool, a kiddie pool and even a bathtub. Great and very scary movie. By the way…if you want to see where Spielberg got some of his shot ideas for Jaws…go watch the Universal Classic Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954). And if you listen close enough you can even hear the iconic riff that John Williams uses to such great effect in Jaws – no lie. Available on Netflix

Alien (1979) – The tagline for Ridley Scott’s Alien was “In space no one can hear you scream”…unfortunately for my neighbors  I don’t live in space because I scream my ass off when I watch this movie. A truly original film that is expertly made by the master Ridley Scott and features a terrific lead performance from Sigourney Weaver. Available on to rent or buy.

ARI ASTER

One of the great modern masters of the horror genre is Ari Aster. Aster is a terrific filmmaker – as evidenced by he’s recent work of genius Eddington. But his first two films are fascinating examples of elevated horror.

Hereditary (2018) – A genuinely creepy movie that keeps pushing viewers to the limit. A great lead performance from Toni Collette makes this movie a must see. Available on HBO Max

Midsommar (2019) – This bizarre and maniacal meditation subtly sucks you in then unleashes a world of madness upon you. Florence Pugh is brilliant as the self-centered sad sack who goes to Sweden for a much-needed vacation and ends up a diabolical Norse goddess. Available on HBO Max

ROBERT EGGERS

The other great master of the elevated horror genre is Robert Eggers.

THE WITCH (2015) – A meticulous exploration of witchery in the early Massachusetts colonies is a gripping tale that features a mesmerizing performance from Anya Taylor-Joy. A must see. Available on HBO Max.

NOSFERATU (2024) – Eggers’ take on the horror classic features a spectacular performance from Lily Rose-Depp and some of Eggers’ usual cinematic mastery. A beautiful film to look at and a wondrous addition to the vampire genre. Available on Prime.

Alright gang, those are my recommendations for this Halloween weekend. I hope you all have a great holiday and that you keep the ghosts and goblins at bay and the candies close at hand!!

©2025

Nosferatu: A Review - Beautiful, Brilliant and Bloodthirsty

****THIS IS A SPOILER FREE REVIEW!! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS ZERO SPOILERS!!****

My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

My Recommendation: SEE IT. A masterfully-made arthouse horror movie that features exquisite craftsmanship.

I went to a small arthouse theater here in flyover country last night to see Robert Eggers’ new film Nosferatu, which is a remake of the 1922 F.W. Murnau silent film classic of the same name.

My theater going experience was, to say the least, not very conducive to a positive cinematic experience. First off, the theater across the hall from my screening was playing the Bob Dylan bio-pic A Complete Unknown, and so my often-silent screening of Nosferatu many times had an unintentional bass line accompanying it courtesy of Mr. Dylan.

Secondly, despite being the only people in the theater at the start of the screening, my wife and I were soon joined by a cavalcade of dimwits and dipshits in our small screening room once the film began. A couple in their mid-60’s sat in the row in front of us off to the right and decided this theater was their living room and chatted freely and loudly. Another man, by himself, sat in the row in front of us to our left and after downing a bag of popcorn and drinking a canned iced tea, proceeded to sanitize his hands and compulsively rub them together literally every ten minutes for the duration of the film. The medicated stench of the sanitizer did not add to our enjoyment of the film.

And yet…despite all of the morons and miscreants around us and the uninvited bass line, I still found myself under the spell of the arthouse horror of Nosferatu as its the mesmerizing mastery played out before me.

The original Nosferatu is a truly staggering cinematic achievement. Director Murnau is one of the most influential filmmakers of the German Expressionist era. I saw Murnau’s Nosferatu for the first time in the early 1990’s and was blown away by it. It is essential viewing for anyone interesting in making, or understanding, cinema.

Robert Eggers’ remake is not as colossal a cinematic document as Murnau’s, but it is very impressive nonetheless. What is so remarkable about this new version is that Eggers’ Nosferatu is one of the most magnificently crafted films in recent memory.

The film is bursting with a bevy of extraordinary craftsmanship, from its cinematography to its costume and set design, that is exhilarating for a cinephile. Unfortunately, for whatever reason (and there are a myriad of them), craftsmanship of this level is rarely seen in films anymore.

Jarin Blaschke’s cinematography is astonishing as the film is gorgeously photographed. His framing and composition, use of shadow and light, and deft camera movements make for a phenomenal visual feast of a film.

Robert Eggers’ and Blaschke’s clarity of vision, precision and attention to detail are extraordinary. The film is not black and white, like the original, but it is dark…but unlike so many modern movies, the darkness does not lack distinction. In other words, you can actually see despite – or in some cases – because, of the darkness.

Blaschke’s cinematography and muted color palette, combined with the locations, sets and costumes, along with Eggers’ gothic brilliance, set an unsettling mood for the movie which is more-creepy than it is scary.

If you know the original Nosferatu, or are familiar with the Bram Stoker novel Dracula, you’ll know the plot of this film, so there will be no twists or surprises, but thanks to Eggers’ mastery, you’ll still be compelled to watch.

The cast all acquit themselves well, but it is Lily Rose Depp (daughter of Johnny Depp) as Ellen, who stands above the rest with a truly superb performance. Depp is asked to do quite a bit and she is fearless in tackling all of the madness required of her. Depp is unleashed, physically, emotionally, artistically, and she devours the role with a ferocious aplomb.

Depp’s Ellen is the embodiment of repressed female sexuality in the Victorian era. The men in her life restrain her, numb her, drug her, chastise her, shame her and ignore her. But the sexual beast within her, which has called Nosferatu forth, simply cannot be denied.

Nicholas Hoult plays Thomas, Ellen’s husband, and he is fantastic as essentially the cuckold to Nosferatu. Thomas is afraid…of everything, and Hoult brings that fear to life in a captivating, and never mannered, way.

Thomas loves Ellen, of that there is no doubt, but he is rudderless when it comes to navigating the intricacies of the staid business world as well as his wife’s carnal needs.

Aaron Taylor Johnson, Emma Corrin, and Willem Dafoe all give deliciously theatrical performances as Friedrich, Anna, and Dr. von Franz respectively.

Dafoe, if you’ll recall, starred as Max Shreck in Shadow of the Vampire back in 2000 – a fictional (and clever) re-telling of the making of Murnau’s Nosferatu. Now here he is playing a German version of Von Helsing in the remake. It never fails to amuse me that Willem Dafoe has become the go to eccentric character actor of our time…it also never fails to please me.

Bill Skarsgard plays Count Orlack/Nosferatu in all his grotesqueness and is magnificently menacing. Skarsgard’s voice is unnervingly demonic and matches his ungodly and ungainly physicality.

The vampire has long been a symbol of repressed sexual energy…which is why it was such a potent myth in Victorian era. Count Orlock/Nosferatu, is not a sexy and suave lady killer like Dracula, instead he is a demon and beast…a sub-conscious symbol of repressed sexuality.

Ellen’s sexual energy is stifled at an early age under the repressive mores of her time, but it is released when she calls forth the beast Nosferatu…a shadow creature who dwells in psychological darkness where unspoken and unacknowledged desires reside.

As Thomas says to Ellen after she speaks of her calling forth the demon in her youth – “let’s never speak of it again” – which of course leaves it in the psychological shadow which will only further empower the beastly demon.

Eggers’ re-telling of the Nosferatu/Dracula/vampire story goes, unsurprisingly, deep into the lore and the core of vampire mythology. Thanks to this much of the Hollywood stuff we’ve grown accustomed to is gone. For example, there are no wooden stakes or flying bats in Nosferatu…but there are rats…lots and lots and lots of rats.

Eggers is a filmmaker who has a distinct style that some consider an acquired taste. If that is true then I have, for the most part, acquired it. I was blown away by Eggers’ moody first film, The Witch, but was disappointed by his second effort, The Lighthouse, which just wasn’t for me.

I really enjoyed his third film The Northman, but the movie flopped and I was worried what he would or could do next to keep his artistry and his career afloat. Thankfully he’s now given us Nosferatu, which while it isn’t a truly great film, it is so exceptionally made and is doing well-enough at the box office, that Eggers will continue to do his cinematic thing for the foreseeable future, which makes me happy.  

Genuine auteurs are tough to find nowadays, and auteurs with exquisite artistic sensibilities and craftsmanship are even more rare. Eggers is all of the above, and when you consider his unique cinematic style and taste in projects, he really comes to the forefront as one of our treasured filmmakers…even if he isn’t blowing up the box office or winning Academy Awards.

In conclusion, Nosferatu may not interest normal people, or it may be too dark for the cineplex crowd, but it is a masterful piece of moviemaking that should be celebrated and encouraged.

Nosferatu was the best movie I’ve seen this year because it was the best made-movie I’ve seen this year. If you like cinematic excellence, even when it comes in the form of a remake of a one-hundred-year-old silent horror classic, then this movie is for you.

And finally, while I heartily recommend David Eggers’ new arthouse horror version of Nosferatu to those with the taste for it, I also highly recommend the original 1922 Nosferatu by F.W. Murnau, but that I recommend for everyone…as it’s something everybody needs to see at least once in their life (and it is streaming on Amazon Prime!!).

©2024