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Top Ten Horror Movies of 2025
23 Plays1 month ago
It's the most wonderful time of the year! Not Christmas, actually it's the time when your old pal Chris Donovan emerges from his winter horror movie binging cave ready to scream from the mountain tops which ones were his favorites. From prom nights and trips to the pumpkin patch, to love stories that cross gorges and conquer slashers, to robot baddies, he's counting 'em all down! So join me, as I present to you: my top ten horror movies of 2025!
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Transcript
Introduction and Excitement for Slasher Movies
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Professional Horror Podcast, the podcast that is thrilled with how many banger slasher movies we got this year. i am your host, the wonderful and very pretty Chris Donovan. And this week, fashionably late as always, it's time for me to count down my top 10 horror movies of the year. Despite how late I always end up releasing this episode, this is one favorite movies. favorite things. I love making this episode every year. It takes so much effort to get through it, but it feels so rewarding to have this list to present to you guys every year, and I hope it's worth the wait for y'all because i feel I feel like I've put a lot of effort into
Philadelphia Underground Film Festival Involvement
00:00:37
Speaker
this. As always, before we dig in, you know I got caveats for you. started with the obvious one of, I didn't see every horror movie that came out in the year of our lord 2025, but I once again topped my record this year, and as far as movies I count for this list, I saw 67 movies this year.
00:00:53
Speaker
I hit that number specifically to best my previous high of 66, not to hit a 6-7 meme, but hey, now I've i've done both. The reason I was more specific with movies I saw that count for this list is because this year i actually got the opportunity to volunteer as a feature film screener for the Philadelphia Underground Film Festival, or PUF for short. And I also got the opportunity to host one of the nights of the event, which was super fucking rad, dude. And I just want to thank you to the you guys listening, and specifically thank you, Nicole, specifically. Nicole, you're the best. You're the GOAT. I love you. Because I would not have gotten the chance to host a night of the Puff Fest. I know it's redundant. It's fine. Without this podcast. Like... It's mostly Nicole. She's, she's, she actually got me the in for it because she's the best. But this podcast was like how she could pitch me as a realistic option to host one of the nights of the fest. As a feature film screener, I watched 42 films for Puff, but only three of the movies that I saw that are horror movies are currently available for the general public to watch, which is why, which is the determining factor I always use to separate movies by
Movie Selection Criteria and Future Picks
00:01:57
Speaker
year. I count a movie's release year as when it's available to the general public, not at festivals. So I only added three to my tally. So I saw 64 movies plus the three for Puff. That's 67. That's how we get there.
00:02:08
Speaker
But I would also say, because I have a little bit of it in now, keep an eye out for Tinsman Road, Anything That Moves, and Mooch for when they get wide releases, because those are some of my favorite flicks from the fest that have not seen wide release yet. Also, as always, so there's no, hey, what about this movie, Chris? I will run down every single movie I watched, not counting the Puff movies not available to the general public, at some um point during the episode.
Overview of Top Picks and Methodology
00:02:30
Speaker
I'll start by running down my picks 10 through 2, then my 10 honorable mention films, then I'll tell you about the ones that neither made the list proper, nor my honorable mentions, and then end it off with my number 1 film. And of course, last caveat, as always, this is just my opinion, man. And I acknowledge the fact that I have some weird opinions. I do feel like my list my list is a little bit chalkier than usual. Like a lot of the movies that made a lot of people's top 10 lists usually don't make mine. This was a little bit more, you know, it's a little more normie. I'm more like other girls this year. Let's just say that.
00:03:04
Speaker
But hey, I still got a lot of weird opinions and I'm excited to talk about these movies with you guys. So hey, let's let's skip all over all that and crack on, shall we? With number 10.
Top 10 Horror Movies Countdown Begins
00:03:16
Speaker
My number 10 pick is a tie because, as always, I am a cheating cheater who cheats, but only about things that don't matter. Like, who cares if my top 10 list has 13 movies in it? That doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Don't cheat on important things. Cheat on things that no one cares about. Like, if you cheat on your spouse, you're piece crap. you cheat on your top 10 list, you're just... just whatever, man.
00:03:40
Speaker
The first half of my number 10 pick is R.L. Stine's Pumpkinhead, which has a 5.2 out of 10 on IMDb and does not have a listed percentage on Rotten Tomatoes, but there are six critical reviews and 83% of them are positive, so we'll call 83% approval to me. The synopsis for Pumpkinhead is...
00:04:00
Speaker
When his brother disappears and every everyone forgets he existed, Sam must unravel the mystery before Finn is gone forever. Pumpkinhead is w written and directed by Jem Garrard, starring Bean Reed and Adelaine Lowe. This movie just warmed my Goosebumps loving heart. It was fun, it was surprisingly spooky, and surprisingly dark. There's a line in this movie where Sam asks his mom if she'll ever forget him. It's very like, you know, kids like, well, will you ever forget me, Mom? And the mom's like, of course not, you're my only child. And it's like, ooh, that hits.
00:04:32
Speaker
Great gateway horror stuff here. The Forest Hermit character is absolutely peak. He's one of my favorite characters of the year. Annalena Lowe's character was also so fucking funny in this one. And I had heard going into it that it had a shockingly dark ending, and I've read the original short story, so I was expecting maybe in like a Haunting Hour style, they'd go with that ending and have it be really dark. But what we got instead was such an interesting, like, bittersweet choice that really doubled down on the found family aspect of the film. I thought it was just really good stuff. And you can find Arl Stiles Pumpkinhead streaming on Tubi.
Highlights from Fear Street and The Gorge
00:05:06
Speaker
The second half of my top ten, it's an R.L. Stine double feature, baby. The other half is Fear Street Prom Queen. Fear Street Prom Queen has a 5.1 out of 10 on IMDb and a 27% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. Fear Street Prom Queen is about. Welcome back to Shadyside. In this next inst installment of the blood-soaked Fear Street franchise, prom season at Shadyside High is underway and the school's wolf pack of it girls is busy with the usual sweet and vicious campaigns for the crown. But when a gutsy outsider is unexpectedly nominated to the court, the other girls start by seriously disappearing. The class of 88 is suddenly in for one hell of a prom night. Fear Street Prom Night is directed by Matt Palmer, written by Matt Palmer, Donald McCleary, and R.L. Stine. He has a writing credit in this.
00:05:49
Speaker
And starring India Fowler. Look, is this movie really dumb? Yes. Is this movie as good as the other Fear Street movies? No. But is it as bad as everyone else has been making it out to be? In my opinion, no. I had a blast with this one. There's a fucking slasher axing up a bunch of people in a crowd. The mean girl is vanquished from being the prom queen in a dance-off because she's too cringe at dancing. It's so funny.
00:06:12
Speaker
It's a movie that, unlike so many movies I watch, realize they need to get to the gimmick of the movie early. The prom starts at the 25-minute I was like... so I was, i was like, you know, thirsty in the desert and I saw a glass of water with that. So many movies I watch, I feel like don't get to the thing for like an hour. I feel like so many movies and we would have finally gotten to the prom in like the third act. This one's like, no, this movie takes place at the prom. Oh, it was so good. Now, do I wish the kill scenes were longer and we had more drawn out set pieces? Yes, very, very much so. I do feel like it could really, each of the scenes could have probably used another two minutes each, sometimes even up to like five. I think if they had gotten really good set pieces, this would have been way higher. Maybe I'm on an island with this movie, but I don't care. i liked it. I thought it was a lot of fun and I will still happily take as many of these as they want to give me. You can find Fear Street Prom Queen streaming on Netflix. Next up, number 9. My number 9 pick is The Gorge. The Gorge has a 6.7 out of 10 on IMDB and a 62% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. The synopsis for The Gorge is, Two highly trained operatives are appointed to post in guard towers on opposite sides of a vast and highly classified gorge, protecting the world from an undisclosed mysterious evil that lurks within.
00:07:35
Speaker
They bond from a distance while trying to stay vigilant in defending against an unseen enemy. When the cataclysmic threat to humanity is revealed to them, they must work together in a test of both their physical and mental strength to keep the secret in The Gorge before it's too late. The Gorge is directed by Scott Derrickson, written by Zach Dean, and starring Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy. So, things people who know Chris Donovan know about Chris Donovan. I love horror movies.
00:08:01
Speaker
I love Mountain Dew, and I am a simp for Arnie Taylor-Joy. There are a few other obvious ones in there, but those are three of the important ones, alright? I fucking love her, and she's great here, as always. i just, I love Arnie Taylor-Joy so much.
00:08:15
Speaker
The Stark-Crossed-Lovers aspect I thought was just done really well here, and I just loved watching them interact. It was honestly a very cute and sweet... relationship that we watched blossom in this movie and then when the spooky stuff begins it is still pretty intense i think i wish i it would have started a bit sooner but hey there's also a bit the section of the movie that is extremely exposition dumpy but i'm not too mad at it i'll always be thankful whenever i get anya in a horror movie because she's she's my goat i love her you can find the gorge on apple tv next up number eight My number eight is another tie, cause I'm a cheating cheater who cheats. This time I am tying two slashers together. The first half of my number eight is Night of the Reaper. Night the Reaper has a 5.9 out of 10 on IMDb, and an 80% approval on Ron Tomatoes. Night the Reaper is about, college student Dina visits home and is roped into babysitting. The local sheriff has mailed a piece of evidence and has led out a scavenger hunt to reveal the killer of another babysitter. Night of the Reaper is directed by Brandon Christensen, written by Brandon and Ryan Christensen, and starring Jessica Clement. So, one thing about this movie is it was kind of spoiled to me that there was going to be a twist in this movie that I i had heard made a lot of people balk on this one.
00:09:31
Speaker
So I went into it expecting to be turned off by it at some point. But when it hit, I was like, wait, what? Sounds really cool. you know, I was actually, I'm not going to spoil it for you. And I'm sorry if I spoil to you that there is a twist, but I just, I need to explain my thought process on why I picked these. And I was like expecting to be disappointed. And I instead felt rewarded for the the twist that we got. I thought the eighty s aesthetic and the slasher bits were done so, so well. The tapes, the set pieces, the opening, I mean, the cold open was peak slasher stuff. It was perfect. One of the only issues I have with this movie is what how the characters come to the conclusion that they do at the very, very end. Like after the resolution, I was like, wait, what? i didn't It did not make a lot of sense to me is why they decided to do that. But overall, I thought this was a very great slasher in a year of great slashers. Night of the Reaper is available on
Clown in a Cornfield Review
00:10:18
Speaker
Shudder. The other half of my number 8 is Clown in a Cornfield. Clown in a Cornfield is a 5.6 out of 10 on IMDB and a 74% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. Clown in a Cornfield is about... Quinn Maybrook and her father have moved to a tiny, boring Kettle Springs to find a fresh start. What they don't know is that ever since the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory shut down, Kettle Springs has cracked in half. On one side are the adults who are desperate to make Kettle Springs great again, and on the other are the kids. These kids want to have fun, make prank videos, and get out as quick as they can. Kettle Springs is caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress. It is a fight that looks like it will destroy the town. Until Frendo, The Bay Pen mascot, a creepy clown, goes homicidal and decides that the only way for Kale Springs to grow back is to cull the rotten crop of kids who live there now.
00:11:12
Speaker
Clown in the Cornfield is directed by Eli Craig, written by Carter, carter Blanchard, Eli Craig, and Adam Cesar, and starring Katie Douglas. Speaking of great slashers, this one was a blast. I thought it was a nice twist on both the slashers genre and the sleepy town tropes. I haven't read the book, despite the fact that I do own the first one, but this movie does make me want to watch, I mean, make me want to read that book and the sequel and hope that also gets made into a film sequel, because this is just a fun-ass slasher, right? I think Frendo's whole schtick was a really cool. I like it i like how it's such a different version of a slasher. Hopefully, Friendo lives, because, man, I just... I really love this one. Cool characters, cool so cool story, cool way to tell a slasher. The characters, the the kids, and their prank videos. I thought that whole gimmick was really cool. Overall, great time. You can also find a Clown in a Cornfield Shudder.
00:12:01
Speaker
Next up, number seven. My number seven pick is Sinners. Yeah, obviously. I mean, it was going to be on... It's on everyone's list. Sinners is a 7.5 out of 10 on IMDb, and a 97% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. The synopsis of Sinners is From Ryan Coogler, director of Black Panther and Creed, and starring Michael B. Jordan, comes a new vision of fear, sinners. Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back. This movie is directed and written by Ryan Coogler, starring Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld. Sinners was just, I mean, it's a fucking great movie. I am not going to be able to, i don't think I'm going to be able to really talk about Sinners in a way that is like unique and different than what everyone else has been saying. Everyone else, you've been hearing from everyone how great this movie is. And it's true. It's great. It's, it's fantastic. I will say the only reason why it is not higher is because it does feel a lot more like a drama film than a horror movie, which it feels weird to say because of how crazy it does get. And a lot of people I know bring up from Dusk Till Dawn when talk about Sinners, and rightfully so, because from when Dusk Till Dawn starts, for for a while it is a very normal movie, and then it just becomes an absolutely dialed-to-100 insane horror movie. The difference is, I think, when Sinners becomes a horror movie, it doesn't dial it up as much as from Dusk Till Dawn. It becomes basically like ah like a Like a normal, good horror movie. But I feel like I wish it could have dialed it up further in the horror aspect. I think Michael B. Jordan, Haley Seinfeld, the whole cast is incredible. The music of this movie is incredible. And there is a part of me that kind of wishes it was just a drama film because of how much I was into that part. Or it's i wish it started the horror sooner. I don't know, it's great, but i have too many, well, i don't know, for me to put it much higher than that, but it's still it's still a great vampire movie with some great music, some great scenes. I just can't say enough good things about Sinners, but there's also a few yeah buts with it.
00:13:58
Speaker
ah You can watch Sinners on HBO Max and on Amazon Prime. Next up, number six. My number six horror film is VHS Halloween. VHS Halloween is a 5.7 out of 10 on IMDb and 89% approval on Ron Tomatoes. VHS Halloween is about a collection of Halloween-themed videotapes unleashes a series of twisted, blood-soaked tales, turning trick-or-treat into a struggle for survival. The most annoying thing about putting an anthology film on your top 10 list, you have to write so many more words and say so many more things, you know?
00:14:31
Speaker
In VHS Halloween, The Framing Device is written and directed by Brian for M. Ferguson. Cucci Cucci Cue is written and directed by Anna Zlakovich. Ut Supra Sigintra, which means as above so below, written by Paco Plaza and written by a Paco Plaza and Alberto Marini. Fun Size, written and directed by Casper Kelly. Kid Print, written and directed by Alex Ross Perry. And Home Haunt, written and directed by Michelle Pitt Norman. and rh norman i have been very down on the past two vhs installments vhs 84 and vhs beyond were just so so not it for me and i was really not looking forward to watching this one i'm not gonna lie to you and my non-enthusiasm continued because when the framing device starts much like the previous two years framing device for devices i was just really not a fan of it it didn't work for me i would prefer this movie to not have the framing device i'm sorry because it' i don't think it was that
00:15:24
Speaker
funny. It's just the same bit over and over again, and it wasn't a great bit the first time. And it also doesn't work as a framing device. it's not It's not framing anything. it's not It's just there for little breaks between the films, and that's just not how it should be, I don't think. But Kuchiku was freaky as fuck. Scary. and very classic urban legend stuff and that really brought me immediately into the story. I was like, oh, okay we got it we had a good story here. Hell yeah, man. Ut Supresi Kinfra was probably for me the weakest of the bunch but it was still good. The fact that the my least favorite of the segments what i was is one I described as like pretty good says a lot about the film because I feel like it just has the least like story to it. is kind of like Instead of like a full progression, kind of like here's a spooky thing that happens and it's really cool. Fun size is so fun. It's so weird and kooky, and the gore is ridiculous. The the weird candy and the being punished for taking more than one candy into this weird, like, industrial plant. It was the whole thing. I thought it was so good. And then kid print felt really needed because of how real and gritty and horrifying it was compared to, like, We had an urban legend. We had a kind of spooky, like ghosty kind of thing. And then we had this wacky off-the-chains one. And then, boom, very real, could-actually-happen-in-real-life kind of story. And it hit really hard. And then we ended with Home Haunt, which that one rules. I love that concept of making a really cheap haunted house and having it become this insanely intense haunted house. where it was like You've seen ones where it's like, you know haunted house becomes real. But like this one...
00:16:59
Speaker
it It works because of how cheap it looks to begin with, and then when it gets really intense, it becomes very real and scary. it just It's an all-around good time. I cannot say enough about each of the segments of VHS Halloween. I thought it was a fantastic watch, and really made me excited because it's been a rough couple years, in my opinion, for VHS films, except for the framing device. I would probably still drink a can of Diophantasma, and I would probably be fine, honestly. You can find VHS Halloween on Shudder. Next up,
Companion: Robot Twist and Performance
00:17:26
Speaker
number five. My number five pick is Companion. Companion has a 6.9 out of 10 on IMDb and a 93% approval on Rotten Tomatoes.
00:17:34
Speaker
Companion is about, since Zyrus and Josh met in the supermarket, the two have been inseparable. Now they want to spend the weekend together at Josh's friends at at the luxurious lake estate of Sergei. His mistress Kat, his friends Eli and Patrick will also be there. At first, Iris is unsure, convinced that every everyone hates her.
00:17:51
Speaker
After a bumpy start, the six spend a boisterous evening together, but the following morning will change their lives forever. Companion is written and directed by Drew Hancock, starring Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher. I wish the advertising for this movie didn't reveal, or I wish I didn't get spoiled, that this movie was about robots. Sorry if that's a spoiler for for you, but it's been out a year. I got it spoiled like the before it came out. I watched it like three weeks ago, but I was spoiled back in January when the movie came out. The reason I'm upset I got spoiled is I feel like that would have been such an insanely heavy emotional weight to it to if I had gotten that reveal in the moment. Because a good chunk into this movie, i was like, wait, does she not know she's a robot? Because, like, I know she's a robot. And so it's like ah you have a disconnect with the film because that. Anyway, it doesn't matter. Sophie Thatcher, I will say, is entering full, full simp territory for me. I've just, I've loved her in everything I've seen of hers. And Jack Quaid is great too. I was surprised at how, like, fucked up he played. Like, for the most part, he's your typical dorky, fun Jack Quaid. And then he gets really dark later on in a way that I was not expecting. But I like how funny this movie is. Jack's heading his robots with 40% intelligence, the pre-programmed meet-cutes, and one of the funniest bits to me, which is the repair guy showing up, and like one of the guys is like, what happened to his butt? And the other guy's like, oh yeah, he modded it. Yeah, these dudes are fucked up, bro. I got a straight up belly laugh out of me when I saw that. And it was so interesting to me how they were able to have an AI bot be the protagonist and have her be like relatable and rootable. I mean, it IRL, it's fuck AI. But when a human actress is playing an AI bot, it can work, man. You can watch Companion on HBO Max. Next up, number four. My number four pick is Final Destination, Bloodlines.
00:19:41
Speaker
The final destination Bloodlines has a 6.7 out of 10 on IMDb and a 92% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. It is about... a teenage girl has recurring nightmares of a tower collapse in the 1960s. She discovers that these nightmares are a premonition she inherited from her grandmother. The grandmother predicted the collapse of the building and saved a group of people from death. Decades later, the granddaughter begins to have visions of her family members dying. She realizes that there is a sequence and must fight to prevent death from reclaiming her family's bloodline.
00:20:11
Speaker
This movie is directed by Zach Lepofsky and Adam B. Stein, written by Guy Busiek, Laurie Evans-Taylor, and John Watts, and starring Caitlin Santahuana, and a special shout-out to my man R.I.P. Tony Todd in this film. Man, Final Destination just hits different. I saw The Monkey before I saw this, and I was like, man, The Monkey? It might be coming for Final Destination's crown as far as the wacky, you Rube Goldberg device kills. But then after watching Bloodlines, man... Foundest Nation just still has the crown, and I am still here hailing to the king. One of the deepest and coolest stories in a Foundest Nation story? You actually had good characters, a wicked sense of humor, absolutely bonkers kills, and a Tony Todd scene that'll just rip your heart out, man. RIP Tony, you're the GOAT. i don't have much to say about this movie. It is some of the most inventive kills as a story for the first time. That's not just we survived death, but maybe we shouldn't survived death. Maybe it still is our time. It's and not like the it's killing us in the same order. It's like it's still that kind of framework, but it's more detailed than that. It's more interesting than that. It's just the it might be the best found as found destination film.
00:21:20
Speaker
And the fact that we can actually have that this late into a franchise says something. I'm super big fan of this the movie. You can also watch Final Destination Bloodlines on HBO Max. Next up, number three.
Dangerous Animals and Silent Night, Deadly Night
00:21:31
Speaker
My number three film is Dangerous Animals. Dangerous Animals has a 6.4 out of 10 on IMDb and an 87% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. The synopsis is, when Zephyr, a savvy and free-spirited surfer, is abducted by a shark-obsessed serial killer and held captive on his boat, she must figure out how to escape before he carries out a ritualistic feeding. to the sharks below. Directed by Sean Byrne, written by Nick Leppard, and starring Hasse Harrison and Jai Courtney. I love me a shark movie, and a shark movie that doesn't demonize the sharks, hey that's a great bonus.
00:22:02
Speaker
Jai Courtney is absolutely incredible in this movie, as the sadistic Aussie serial killer, and I really loved Hasse Harrison's character's Zephyr's journey. She's a final girl foot through and through and has the fight and the grit to prove it. Incredibly done, cold open. Fun character interactions. I love, like i said, Zephyr's story of the one-night stand who who stuck around. There's some really cool shark scenes. No complaints here, just another banger for me. And Dangerous Animals is available to watch on Shudder.
00:22:33
Speaker
Next up, number two. My number two film of the year is Heart Eyes. Heart Eyes is a 6.0 out of 10 on IMDb and a 78% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. Heart Eyes is a bout.
00:22:44
Speaker
For the past several years, the Heart Eyes killer has wreaked havoc on Valentine's Day by stalking and murdering romantic couples. This Valentine's Day, no couple is sick. Heart Eyes is directed by Josh Rubin, written by Philip Murphy, Christopher Landon, and Michael Kennedy, and starring Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding. God. I love, love Josh Rubin. He's absolutely hilarious, and I've just been a massive fan of all of his movies. And I guess it shouldn't be that surprising, after loving his first two movies as much as I did, that when he would try his hand at a slasher would end up as one of my my favorite of his films and one of my favorite movies of the year, you know? It also doesn't hurt to have Christopher Landon and Michael Kennedy writing it either. This might come as a shock to you guys, but I'm not the biggest rom-com guy, but I even enjoyed those parts of the movie. Mason Gooding is is hunky and charismatic as always, and I really liked Olivia Holt's character. I thought their interaction was really fun, they they their love story was cute, it was great, and I think a big compliment compliment I can give this film is I think I would have enjoyed it even if it wasn't a slasher, which that's...
00:23:46
Speaker
But it's a really banging slasher. There's some really cool set pieces. The Hard Eyes Killer, he's got some swag to him. Josh Rubin, sir, over three movies, it is safe to say you have the sauce, my good man. I will take as many of these as you want to give. Please, even if it's not more Hard Eyes, please give us another slasher, Josh, because you are, you got some good stuff cooking here. You can watch Hard Eyes on Netflix. All right, that's 10 through 2. Now to give me my honorable mentions, I got 10 of them. I can try to limit myself because i I like a lot of movies that come out. First up, Silent Night, Deadly Night. I am just as shocked as you are. I loved this movie. I remember having a weird freakout mid-movie, much like how I expected Halloween Ends to have a credit saying, and fuck you specifically, Chris Donovan. I almost expected this one to have a credit that said, like, hey, sorry about Halloween Ends, Chris Donovan. This movie is literally, literally, what if Halloween Ends was done well?
00:24:39
Speaker
It does every aspect of the Halloween Ends story, but better, and like, logically, and it makes it work. Like, the connection to the past slasher, better in this one. The messed up love story between broken people, way better. The slasher's protagonist makes sense here. Everything, everything that Halloween Ends tries to do, Silent Night, Deadly Night does it better. It eats Halloween Ends' lunch. The only thing, the though the one thing that they could have done to pump this up to the top 10 is if they played up the garbage day Easter egg more. In the movie, there's a scene where someone's like, hey, Ricky, garbage day. And he goes out and takes the trash and sees his next victim. If they had, not even joking, if they had done that exact scene, but instead he was just told to take out the garbage. He goes out, sees his next target. And then after messing with the dude, he does looks at Ricky, goes, hey, fuck you doing? And Ricky just says, garbage day. And then came back and killed that guy. Top 10. Top 10 of the list. And Rowan, all would have been forgiven for Halloween Ends.
00:25:35
Speaker
i i i'm I'm joking. I have no actual ill will towards Rowan Campbell. I feel like you actually have legitimate, you know, angry, like, volatile thoughts towards an actor, writer, or director for a movie they make, you're you're a loser, man. It's a movie. It's not that deep. I have no actual serious ill will about Halloween Ends, but I'm just so happy to have this movie. Rowan, you're alright, man. ah The Monkey. The Monkey. This movie is fucking ridiculous, and I love it. I will say, i realize this is not fair in the slightest, but I think the reason this is not in my top ten is because I saw this before Final Destination Bloodlines, and it does not have the sauce Final Destination has, and it got bumped off as a result. It was gonna be my top ten, and then like, nope, Final Destination's just better. It's still really fun. I still enjoy the heck out of it, and it's really weird and silly, and maybe my favorite of Osgood Perkins' films? I think maybe Black Coat's Daughter will still take it, but I did like it a lot. ah Until Dawn. I weirdly really dug this movie. The video game is one of my favorite video games of all time. I lapped that up. I played it so many times when it came out. I love it so much, and I was annoyed at how divorced from the game it was they said it was going to be. Then you watch the movie and you're like, no this this exists in the same world as the game. And it was just it's just a fun little time with the movies. I do wish it went a bit further at times. Like, i don't think we ever saw what that giant fucking thing was in the in the woods in the rain. I do think that the Wendigos are treated more or less like zombies instead of how they should be portrayed.
00:27:07
Speaker
But overall, I really dug it. I thought it was a lot of fun. The montage of kills, that was so peak. When it happened, when they woke up one day, was like, there wasn't a montage. What the hell happening? And then they go through the phone and see all the videos playing. I'm like, oh, hell yeah. it was That was awesome. Now give us the sequel UTs that's basically a live action version of the game, please. Please, please, please. Also, I feel like this movie will be a very dope double feature with Happy Death Day. Next up is Queens of the Dead. This movie is just so much fun. It might be the most fun, like, per minute I had watching a movie this year. Like, all the characters interacting and the dialogue was amazing. It was so funny. It was so cool. I was also really looking forward to because, like...
00:27:47
Speaker
You know in movies how they set things out to pay them off later? There were so many things that they set up in this movie, i was like, how the hell are they going to pay off any of this with the zombie apocalypse happening? And when it did in the big finale, I was not disappointed. This movie was a blast, and I know that's right. Next up, Pater Noster and the Mission of Light. I saw this at Puff.
00:28:08
Speaker
Actually, I got to watch this while sitting on one side of me was my homies, Nicole, and her husband, also my homie, Brian. And on the other side was the director of this film and his wife. Which, honestly, this might be bias in and the other direction. It might be the reason it's not in the top because I feel like I might be too biased based on the experience. You know i might be like, I loved it so much, but I'm like, okay, cool it. You're watching it next to your friends at a festival with the director next to you. You know, maybe putting it on the list might be too much, pushing it too much. But it was it's such a fun movie. I loved the the cult aspect. It has some really cool gore, really cool scenes. I'm high on the scene sneak because I don't think anyone cares about. but Originally, this movie was penciled in to be screened on the night I was hosting, and it got bumped for a more primetime Saturday slot, and I was a bit bummed about that, because I really liked this movie. When I watched it as a screener, i got a bit annoyed at by the ending, but on on a second watch, I was a lot more into it. Hell of a movie. It is available on Amazon Prime for like a shockingly low amount of money to buy the digital copy of it. I don't know if there's any physical copies available at the moment, but I would recommend checking out Pattern Noster and the Mission of Light. Good boy. It is kind of gimmick having the dog be the main character, but it's done so well that I was won over by it.
00:29:21
Speaker
Also, holy shit, what a performance by that dog. Indy really is a good boy and he deserves the world. It was like really emotional to like multiple scenes. Like my heart was breaking for this dog. It's a very he's a very good boy that's a very good movie horror in the high desert for majesty i watched quite a few of the fake true crime doc movies that came out this year some were good some were meh and then i saw this one i was like yep that's why this one's on top after the last movie i said i wish we got more info about what's causing all this and and that we were approaching the diminishing returns category and i still feel that way a bit but man they've just got the sauce dude
00:30:00
Speaker
This one does also have a bit of like how did they capture all of that. But again, this is a really good movie. Some of the scares are so insanely terrifying and so well done. Again, if they just do this bit better than anyone else, to my in my opinion. Next up, Strange Harvest. Another fake true crime doc, but this one does the opposite of Horror in the High Desert. I think it suffers a bit from delving a bit too heavy into the supernatural, especially towards the end. It does kind of take you out of it a bit because it doesn't feel like true crime enough. It feels a little too fantastical, but it does have some really gnarly and crazy things in the movie, particularly the one who survived was brought to the hospital. Ssh.
00:30:39
Speaker
That was harrowing. But I do think it gets a little lost in the sauce towards the end. Beast of War. Fantastic practical effects on the shark. I love that. Love it, love it, love it. i Kind of on the nose commentary. But hey, it also has some pacing issues, particularly in the middle of the film. Like once we're out there, it is kind of like, well, what do we do now? how How do we progress the story while we're all trapped in the ocean with a shark?
00:31:01
Speaker
But overall, really cool story. And even though it is on the nose, the shark getting the air raid siren stuck on it and the broken air raid sound going off whenever it breaches the surface, it made every scene the shark appears an an absolute winner, even though it's been on the nose. Bring her back. This movie is is quite good. And I understand why it's on a lot of people's top 10 lists and even the top spot for a lot of lists. I get it.
00:31:24
Speaker
It's not as mine because as good as boot as a movie as it is, I took no joy in watching it. Now, granted, I think that was the intention, but just because you intended it to be a not fun watch doesn't make it any less fun of a watch. It is so frustrating to watch like the gaslighting cat and mouse game. And, you know, some movies um reward you for dealing with that frustration and some don't. And that's what I will say. Now let's run through the rest of the movies that I saw this year. Just because they didn't make the honorable mention order list does does not mean that I hate them. more More often than not, I feel like they're just kind meh. And while I'm not married to the order of these in any way, they are more or less in order. Like the ones at the top of this list are ones I'm like, these could have been honorable mentions, maybe. And the further down we go, the more we get to the ones that I actively disliked. And the very bottom is like my worst movies of the year.
00:32:13
Speaker
Primitive War. Surprisingly good dinosaur movie, good effects, good setting, characters are a tad underbaked. Spent a lot of money on all the classic Vietnam War songs for the soundtrack, but yeah, this was a lot of fun. Dream Eater. Decent found footage film. I have to ding it a bit because the movie only keeps going because someone did not review the footage from the night before because holy shit. Also, also, we're gonna talk about this.
00:32:32
Speaker
These characters go on vacation to deal with one character's sleepwalking problems. They go to sleep on the second floor of this Airbnb that they've never been in before. the second floor staircase doesn't have a banister overlooking the stairs what i i know this the the least important detail in this movie but like if it wasn't a demon this movie would have obviously ended with him sleepwalking and walking right into the stairwell and breaking his neck i'm sorry i cannot get around that fact it drives me nuts that no one thought about that in this scene it drives me nuts i'm sorry meat kills This was a very intense kind of like home invasion, but also reverse home invasion film because the violence goes both ways. group of animal rights activists invading a slaughterhouse. And I've often said I hate when movies try and do like a political message, but they either don't take a side they're overly vague. You know, no one says what one side stands for, but the other never decide is wrong. This one was kind of went, it played both sides, but in a more extreme way where it was like, here are two opposing sides. Here are their deepest beliefs. And both are kind of crazy.
00:33:36
Speaker
I wasn't super into the very ending of the movie. I thought it was just done to just be a downer as opposed to being an earned ending. But hey, it was pretty good. So torn. I thought this movie was a lot of fun, but I do kind of object to the premise of these are the three choices I could have made. Because girl makes some insane choices when she goes down the individual decision trees. Also, holy crap, that girl is an absolute wizard with a needle and thread. It feeds. I was not going to see this movie at all. I was not interested in it at all. But then, like, I saw it on, like, somebody's list. And I was like, you know what, fine. need an extra one. I'll throw it on there. And was really fun.
00:34:11
Speaker
Good. I was very impressed by it. was pretty dang good. The Jester 2. I really enjoyed the final girl in this movie. I thought she was great, and i i really liked The Jester as a slasher too. I kind of made me kind of like his shtick a little bit more than a certain other clown character. I don't have to talk about it. I did not see part one, so I don't know if that stands up after watching that one too, but I really enjoyed this one. I love the magic stuff, but I do have two notes. One, the Jester reused a couple of the ways he kills people in the movie, and while there were super cool effects, I wish he had more cool new things to do. I also wish we could see more of the magic itself. It was a lot of like, pick a card, put it back, is this your card? And not seeing the unique things about the trick that made it the the magic being performed. Weapons. I loved Barbarian in part because I thought the the jumps in time were so jarring and took the story in such insanely different directions that the whiplash was a reason to enjoy it. This movie feels much more hampered by the constantly jumping around in time and with different characters. It made it feel like there was only like an hour of story being told over two hours and ten minutes. It is good, but every time you think you're really, oh we're getting into the story now, it shifts and backtracks and I was not a fan of that. Match. This movie's pretty fucking crazy. It irked me when a certain character died and the main character is is a
00:35:29
Speaker
In some scenes she's an absolute idiot, like chicks before dicks girl. But another chance to see what John and Al Kaplan and Dineshka Esterhazy have cooked up, so I was pretty excited about that. I'd prefer some of their other movies more than this one, but I admire how crazy it gets. Witchboard. A remake and name only, and it's a damn shame that like most of the homoerotic subjects is gone from the original, but there's a lot of cool stuff in this movie. A lot of the restaurant stuff kind of gets forgotten for a long stretch. but There's some real cool stuff here. Livestream. This one I thought shockingly had a lot going for it. Like there was some moments of some really good tension building that I was i was super into.
00:36:10
Speaker
But one issue was that a character dies in this movie and it kills a lot of the momentum of the film along with it. But it's still a pretty decent flick. F. Mary Kill. This is a BuzzFeed horror movie that was a lot of fun. Like, it was an honest-to-God very funny, but the horror elements were kind of meh, which, granted, I think they were going for more of a comedic thriller type, so they did hit what they were going for, but the comedy works a lot better than ah a lot of the thriller aspects. Man Finds Tape.
00:36:33
Speaker
Found footage fake true crime doc movie that got really weird, but it mostly works. It really threw me off in that one character is heavily implied. i mean, it is heavily implied that one character died prior to the doc being made. And then it's revealed that they didn't. And like, if they were alive, they should have been in the doc more in the talking head segment. It's misdirection that takes me out of the story a smidge because it feels unrealistic to the documentary and does for like narrative dramatic reasons rather than in keeping with the gimmick of the film. Eye for an eye.
00:37:02
Speaker
I enjoyed this one. The rules of how the horror works seemed a bit wonky, and also one of the character sets was very underwhelming, but I don't have much to say. It's good, but it's not great. The Conjuring Last Rites. The last act is pretty dang good, but it takes a long time to get there. Like, I've been very hit and miss on the Conjuring franchise. And I think this one is very emblematic of the whole of the franchise as a whole. Some very good acting, some very good emotional moments, some intense scares, but it's also bloated and a real lack of focus on the real people. It's just another quote unquote true story that makes them out to be like Christian superheroes as opposed to, you know, what they kind of were. Solitude. I enjoyed this movie, but I wanted it go a lot further than it did. The setup was good, and I really liked the character that they were we were following, but the third act was pretty underbaked. Like, the supernatural elements they were pushing could have gone a lot further. Monster Island. This movie, pretty cool.
00:37:51
Speaker
The inability of the characters to really communicate works, but it does limit what the story can accomplish. But it is decent, and the monster looks very cool. Frankenstein. I mean, the movie looks gorgeous, but i don't know, man. Frankenstein is not my favorite gothic story, and this version feels kind of like Yep, that's a Frankenstein story. it's There's not a lot where I'm like, oh, but it has this one thing. It's just it's it fine. A little empty to me. Bone Lake. Decent flick. Purposefully frustrating. Like, couples to communicate with each other. If you can't communicate, you have nothing. But I don't have know much to say about it. I thought it was decent. Wolfman. I really liked the first half this movie. was like, you know, this ain't so bad. But then it it just kind of kept going. I thought we reached a good, like, final emotional beat. And then I checked the time and we had, like, 35 minutes left. Now granted, 10 minutes of that worth credits, but still. It just kinda keeps going past what it needed to. Hollow Road. Pretty good movie. ah The whole movie is just parents driving to their daughter and talking to her over the phone, and there is some interesting intense moments. But then the ending just kinda happens. I think it would've been a really banging short film, but the feature version has some moments where it drags a bit, and it's not and and there's there's enough stuff that's unexplained where kinda like, what? But, it's decent.
00:39:02
Speaker
Megan 2.0. Not nearly as good as Megan won, but I would be lying to you if I said I didn't enjoy it. Some really cool fight scenes, some fun bits, and you can you could really tell that they thought this was going to be their Terminator 2, and it's not that, but I enjoyed it still. Fear Below. i like the concept of this one quite a bit. This is old school divers going into a river, and a bull shark attacks them. and the divers are there because the Mafia is forcing them to retrieve gold from their crashed car. it's It's pretty good. The issue is there's long stretches where, like, the threat's not really there because, like, the you know, the shark only... The shark is realistic, so the shark doesn't... is not, like, an ever-present threat. They can get out of the water... fairly quickly and do so you know and the mafia guys they're they're fun but they're not as uh not as threatening take out kind of fun feel like it almost didn't have enough for a feature and as as a result some parts drag so there are some parts it feels like it adds a new dynamic just to fit an hour and a half but like it's fine marshmallow this has a very weird like goosebumps kind of twist and you'd think i'd be super into that but i don't know just kind of a one note story it's like what's going on in this camp we've discovered what's going on in this camp Now let's talk about what's going on in this camp and that it ends and there's not's not a whole lot left. Next up is Bystanders, which is a movie I... it's It's a rape and revenge movie, which is not a subgenre that I typically enjoy watching movies from. So, I mean, it doesn't... It thankfully does not show much of any of that. and It's mostly about the revenge. It's very heavily weighted towards the revenge. But as as a man who thankfully has never had to go through any of this stuff, I do feel like, to a certain extent, it's not my place to to sort of criticize. Because I do think there are some issues in this movie with the lack of tension. the Our main characters after a certain period of time are not...
00:40:52
Speaker
they They seem to have the advantage of the whole movie, but I also think that's partially the point. I feel like the movie wanted it to be them and with all the power and the situation by the end. So, like, I personally, watching the movie, didn't feel like the catharsis really resonated as much as it could have. But again, because it's not really for me, if it did land like that for someone else, then who am I to say otherwise, you know? You know, it's's it's always awkward talking about these kind of movies. And I hope Mary Beth McAndrews, the director, gets another, directs another film, because I've always been a fan of her her stuff on podcasting, her writing for Dread Central and other places. But it's just, it's not a movie for me. It's not a sub-genre for me. And as a result, I was just kind of not super into it. But hey, I hope it provides the intended reaction for its intended audience. Found footage. This movie has some fun bits to it, but it just didn't fully connect for me. I didn't think it really landed that they're, because they're making a fake Bigfoot movie in the found footage movie. But then the actual found footage, like the real thing that happens to them, turns out to be like ghosts and demons. Like, I wish i had that they had ah an actual Bigfoot after them at some point.
00:41:57
Speaker
It just doesn't fully connect. Do you fear what I fear? A Lifetime horror movie, which I thought would be really fun. Because, you know, so they were parodying their own Lifetime Christmas movies with like a horror version. The problem was that since it wasn't supernatural, it was just like normal humans. It was kind of meh. As a result, it never feels like it goes far enough.
00:42:16
Speaker
But hey, it's cool that the Power Rangers Megaforce Yellow Ranger was in there as as the lead. je That was cool. The Mannequin. I don't remember much for this movie, I'm not gonna lie. It was fine. had some moments, but it's kind of mid. Shelby Oaks. I think this movie got overhated, like, a lot. A lot of people really trashed this movie, and it's pretty decent for the first half. And then just like, what?
00:42:38
Speaker
The mystery, however, is very bad. Like, it makes the the main sister look kind of dumb for not solving it before she gets handed that new tape to solve it. Like, she did not need that. It was, if she'd just gone to the place in the video they already had, i think she probably could have figured it out without the extra tape. It feels, it makes her seem kind of incompetent. But, um, it's not terrible, but it's got some big issues. But hey, I hope Stuckman gets another shot. he see He's, I like Stuckman. Jurassic World's Rebirth. The definition of, like, whatever. Like, it's it's fine. Honestly, maybe if it focused on just the family and built a whole movie around them surviving against all the dinos on the island, it could've worked, but this was just whatever, man. Also, the mutated dinos, completely pointless. They were just there. No build, no context. They're just like, huh, look at that thing. It's kinda crazy, right? a Hell of a Summer.
00:43:27
Speaker
Very mid-Slasher. It had some funny moments and a couple of decent characters, but overall, not just not that great. Not great set pieces, boring slasher reveal, just kinda whatever. Within the Pines. very boring, but a cool idea, but the story is so insanely thin, it could have been a short film. I wish it was supernatural, instead of grounded story. And what the fuck was that hook for a sequel at the end? that's the most pointless thing you could have ever tacked on to the end of that movie.
00:43:52
Speaker
The Bayou. There were some fun alligator scenes, but overall the movie's just flat bad. And what was the deal with, I think her character was named Malika. Like, for the first 30 minutes, Kyle was like, ugh, I hate Malika. And I was like, why? She seems like a totally normal person, and you're being really harsh on her. And then she was just like, the most insanely bitchy character that there's ever been out of nowhere. She just starts saying the most unhinged things. You're like, what the hell, girl?
00:44:15
Speaker
Harvest Brood. I appreciate the ambition to try and pull this off. but the true crime doc nature does not have nearly the polish it needed to for this to be successful. i can't I only watched it like a month ago and I do not remember much about it at all, which is not a ringing endorsement. Final Recovery. I saw this for Puff. I thought it was alright, but never really hits that next level to pull off the concept in my opinion. It was still pretty good, but could have been
Critique of Glamping's Pacing
00:44:38
Speaker
better.
00:44:38
Speaker
ah Vatican. That is V-A-D-A-K-K-A-N. Saw this for Puff as well. Thought it was alright. But it's one of those movies that tries to do two separate parallel stories, and it feels like it really should just stuck with one. I think either would have worked a lot better than doing both. The Rule of Jenny Penn. This movie was so boring, I almost did not finish it. And I never not finish movies, so that's a ringing unendorsement of this movie. The Damned. Not a big fan of this one at all. Slow, and a lot of the interesting stuff gets undercut by the reveal of what's actually going on in the story.
00:45:09
Speaker
That's kind of nah. It's a no for me, dog. The Surrender. Weird movie. ah straight An issue I have with this is once one character gets killed off, most of the story potential gets killed off with that character, and so we're just kind of left to just sit in this story that without any real progression because of it, and it really hampers the film. Dark Match.
00:45:31
Speaker
Look, I love pro wrestling. It's one of my favorite things, and I like that this movie decided to not do a thing where, like, in the world of the movie, wrestling is 100% fully real. Like, the wrestlers in the movie are thrown off by the realness of the situation. But even still, very little works here. Also, real issues with the wrestling matches themselves. els Like, they do, like, ah like a four elements thing, like a wind, earth, fire... and water type gimmick. So the first thing is a tornado tag match. And I'm like, oh, cool. That, that makes sense. That's a real thing. But like, there's like a wind turbine and they're still tagging in and out. Tornado tags are about all four participants. Participants are legal at the same time, or they don't need to tag in and out of the match. The ground match had like a weird pit of, there's an, there's an actual thing called buried alive match. You could just done that.
00:46:18
Speaker
The fire match, there's actually a thing called an inferno match. You could have done that, but these weren't that. It has real issues as a film and as a wrestling event. Glamping. This movie has such a convoluted setup and spends so much time on that setup that by the time the story actually picks up and the movie like you know starts, the movie is more than half over. And it is not worth the wait.
00:46:42
Speaker
tarot curse i wanted to like this movie because i liked tarot from last year but this ain't it very boring movie without much working for it war of the worlds it is exactly as bad as you've been told it is like i i don't want to spend too much time on this because it's it's a bad movie it feels like it's an ad for amazon more than it feels like a movie people made with intent with the intention of entertaining people ice cube is just sleeping through it evil on gore is trying i guess but fuck this movie is bad Don't even try to use your brain to logic your way through this story. It does not exist. Literally nothing about this movie works. And my last movie before my number one pick is Diced Reloaded. The only movie before War of the Worlds for me is this trash heap. War of the Worlds does not even seem to be interested in being anything more than an ad. This movie iss almost more annoying because it just wants to be Terrifier-lite.
00:47:34
Speaker
It is a very bad slasher. The slasher is a clown scarecrow. Again, it feels like it wants to be Terrifier, but no, no, it's different. He's also a scarecrow. The dialogue sounds like it's written by someone who's never heard human speech before. There's a scene where two people enter a cafe and one of them is like, oh man, I hope we get the usual. Like, you hope you get the usual? So order the usual. And then she orders a sandwich.
00:48:00
Speaker
With no further clarification, and that's it. And then despite starting scene with them being like, oh man, I'm so hungry, oh man, hope I get the usual, they leave without taking a bite or sip of the food they order. I know I'm just talking about this one scene, but it's just, it's it's an emblematic of how bad every element of the writing is. It does not get better in any other scene. This is just the most, like, one you can point to the most. It is terrible. terribly written movie, boring movie, kills are fine, I guess, and the ending twist, yeah, real good, guys. Nothing works here. oh I feel lighter after all that. And now, for my number one movie of
Celebrating Predator Films and Podcast Wrap-Up
00:48:34
Speaker
the year. Actually, let me give it the gravitas it deserves. For my number one movie of the year, It's a tie, because I cheat. If a single franchise has more than one movie come out in a year, they get put together. I don't make the rules, even though I actually do make the rules. I did this with Fear Street. That's just how the rule of this podcast works. It's Predator Killer of Killers and Predator Badlands. I love these movies. Predator Killer of Killers is a 7.4 out of 10 on IMDB, a 95% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. The synopsis is, the anthology story follows three of the fiercest warriors in human history, a Viking raider guarding her young son in a bloody quest for vengeance for revenge, a ninja in feudal Japan who turns against his samurai brother in a brutal battle for succession, and a World War II pilot who takes to the skies to investigate an otherworldly threat to the Allied cause. But while all these warriors are killers in their own right, They are merely prey for their new opponent, the ultimate killer of killers. Predator Killer of Killers is directed by Dan Trachtenberg and Joshua Wassong, written by Misha Robert Rutari, Dan Trachtenberg and Jim Thomas, and starring Lindsay LaVanchi, Louis Ozawa Changchen, and Rick Gonzalez. This movie is everything I wanted. Ever since Prey, people went into an overdrive about, like, what about a Predator vs. Vikings movie? Predator vs. Samurai movie? This movie gave us both those, plus an amazing World War II story, plus a little bit extra. The Samurai one has almost no dialogue and tells an amazing, complete story with amazing, incredible fight scenes. The Vikings story, a story about the the cost of revenge. Torres dogfighting at Yautja shit. Oh my god.
00:50:07
Speaker
God, it's such a blast. Give me 10 more just like it, and I'll lap it all up. And that post-credits scene, the the original one and the actual one they added, sheesh. You can watch Predator Killer of Killers on Hulu. And the other half of my number one is predatoror bad lands Predator Predator Badlands has a 7.3 out of 10 on IMDb and an 86% approval on Rotten Tomatoes. It is about... In the future, on a distant planet, a young predator recently exiled from his native clan finds an unlikely ally. Together, they soon embark on an extremely dangerous and thorny journey to ultimately face their most fierce and cruel enemy.
00:50:43
Speaker
Predator Badlands is directed by Dan Trachtenberg, written by Patrick Asin and Dan Trachtenberg and Jim Thomas, and starring Demetrius Schuster Kalamatangi and Elle Fanning. I was dumbfounded by this movie. Dumbfounded. What?
00:50:58
Speaker
What a movie. Absolutely beautiful. Despite, I imagine, a lot of it mostly being in CGI. An amazing performance by Demetrius Sustrikola Motangi, making a youcha emote to an amazing degree. Elle Fanning also. She just, just has my heart. I am in love with Thea, man. i really had a thing for the robot baddies this year didn't i i i'm not self-reflect on that at all um but she's so great she also plays a insanely good secondary part in the film but this movie took it told a great story while also flipping everything about a predator story on its head like when deck first lands on the planet he learns that the trees you know in every other film the yautja get their advantage over the humans by hiding in trees they climb when they run along with them but on this planet even the trees are against the yautja
00:51:43
Speaker
And the final act of the film being Deck using everything he's learned about the planet and turning it against his opponent, absolute cinema. It is such a cool, such a rewarding story. The the meta stuff about how it plays with the rest of the franchise of the Predators and the Alien franchise... ah Oh my god, it is a movie that provides me with such excitement for the future of these franchises. I love the Predator franchise, and this is one of the best movies in the franchise, unironically. I cannot wait for whatever Dan Tractorbrook has in Soar for his next, because God knows I will be seated for it.
00:52:18
Speaker
Last I checked, it was available on premium VOD, but I'm assuming, like the rest of the franchise, it'll be on Hulu soon enough. Good lord. So that concludes my top 10 horror movies of the year list. Is there a movie you think I should have seen? you think I'm way off on one, some, or all of these? You can let me know about it. You can find me on Twitter to yell at me at the underscore dot underscore 17, or on Instagram over at Professional Horror. You can also email me at professionalhorror at gmail.com. to yell at me or offer movie suggestions, guest suggestions, whatever, whatever you want to, man, just hit me up, bro. It's cool. We can just chat. It would also be real swell. If you could rate review, whatever hell else, whatever, whatever podcast app you use, whether it be Apple, Spotify, Google, or whatever, however, you can positively engage with the podcast. don't know. Do it for this podcast. It's pretty chill. You made it this far. That'd be pretty nice to be like, Hey, Chris, like your show, man. And I'd be like, Oh, thanks, man. I appreciate that a lot.
00:53:10
Speaker
What a year. 2025 had a lot. 2026 will probably also be a lot. But hey hopefully we get some really great horror movies again like we did this year. I got a couple episodes in the pipeline already for the next year. I had to push back my episode, my monster mashup with Sean. That'll be coming out and in probably in February. Hopefully with some more episodes, talking to some more people about some more movies, and having a good time while we do it. Hopefully you will be there as well to enjoy them. But until that time, until next time, stay scary, but keep it professional.