Long post coming, because I got Shudder a couple weeks ago after a few years of not having it, and I've been having fun. Here's the movies I've watched for the first time and really liked with a little spoiler free thoughts:
Huesera: The Bone Woman (2022) - Fantastic film. Probably the best of the batch with a great lead performance and story. Still has a ton of unsettling scenes and images too. That's all I'll say about this one.
The Brain (1988) - fun 80's cheese.
Grabbers (2012) - Entertaining Irish Horror Comedy with a great second half.
Arrebato/Rapture (1979) - Very good artsy horror film with some experimental elements. Might need to watch it again to fully digest.
Poison For The Fairies (1986) - More of a drama at times, but a great film. Pacing is slow, but the characters were very engaging and interesting. The dynamic between the two girls makes the movie and I can't stop thinking of the ending.
WNUF Halloween Special (2013) - I tried watching this years ago and just wasn't in the mood. But, it clicked this time and it was such a fun experience. The corny commercials were all fantastically done, and the ending goes there, and unnerved me.
Dr. Caligari (1989) - I don't know what to make of this. One of the strangest movies I've ever seen. Feels like horror mixed with a John Waters movie. Needs to be seen to be believed.
A Bluebird In My Heart (2018) - Not a horror film, but a gritty neo noir in the style of a Jeremy Saulnier movie. Great lead performance with some hard to watch moments. My only qualm is that 83 minutes it was too short, and didn't flesh out the other characters besides the main one.
Primal Rage (1988) - More 80's cheese. A really dumb and cornball early version of the 28 Days Later concept. Absolutely entertaining and the lead being a dead ringer for Jim Carrey makes it even more fun.
MadS (2024) - Best zombie movie in a while. The one take gimmick absolutely works here, and it was fun to bounce from character to character.
Infested (2023) - Best killer bug movie in a long time. The gritty atmosphere really worked, and I liked that there was minimal comedy and the spiders were taken as complete threats. And I ended up loving a lot of the characters by the end of the movie.
Kandisha - (2020) - Really good cursed woman Folk Horror type of film from France. Ending stuck with me. Didn't need the animal cruelty though.
Exte: Hair Extensions (2007) - Batshit J-Horror movie about ghostly hair extensions. Played mostly straight, but there is some comedy that really worked. The antagonist that is obsessed with hair is so bizarre to watch and absolutely makes the movie. The hair stuff is legit creepy in that 00's J-Horror sort of way and there's great dread throughout. It's got to be hard to make a eerie film with such a silly plot, but Sion Sono did it.
The worst movie I've seen through this run is called Home Movie (2008). A found footage movie about two ten year old twins that are probably evil. The movie could of been effective if it wasn't for the godawful lead performance from the guy that played Caleb in Near Dark. He plays maybe the most obnoxious character I've ever seen in a found footage movie and it completely took any tension out of the ending. The ending with a better lead character could've been really unsettling, but it didn't work.
I also didn't care for Death Game from 1972. The movie Knock Knock with Keanu is a remake of this movie, and I just found it really boring and annoying without the added camp of the Eli Roth movie. Seymour Cassel is definitely a better actor than Keanu, but he just isn't as hilarious, and entertaining in this. A real slog for me.
I shut Kuso (2017) off after like 30 minutes, because it was legit making me ill. I can handle all the Fulci, Cannibal, nasty Italian and Japanese stuff, but no thank you to the amount of time focused on giant boils, puss, poo, and other bodily fluids. I can't do it.
