Whelp folks, it’s that time of year again. The leaves are changing, disgusting pumpkin lattes are back, the nights are getting cooler, and my sorry ass once again tries his luck at an onslaught of horror movies. Quick synopsis: I love horror related things, but have not been a fan for the vast majority of horror movies I have seen. For more details and ramblings, see last years’ edition (Kyle Attempts Horror Movies: Round 39 | Horror Drive-In). All that aside, let’s dive right in! *Disclaimer: these are all first-time viewings for myself and all were watched start to finish.
Leprechaun (1993)
This is a movie I’ve known about for a long time, but never sought out to watch. Many have told me to give it a go so I figured no time like the present. I’ll admit, an evil leprechaun is right up my alley, so I made a cup of tea, dawned my scally cap, and dove in.
Right off the bat, you can tell it’s an early ‘90s movie. That’s not a bad thing, that was my youth so I like that aspect, a little bit of nostalgia. I have no idea why, but it gave me weird vibes of Tremors and Home Alone (I know, ‘Kyle, you’re weird’, right?). Maybe that horror type element with a little comedy sprinkled in? A man catches a leprechaun and then believes he is entitled to the little guys’ pot o’ gold. He envisions grandeur, mansions, and the best things for him and his wife. When the leprechaun turns out not to grant any of that and only wants his gold back, he shows his true evil side.
I thought Warwick Davis gave a great performance and Jennifer Aniston (you heard that right, Jennifer freaking Aniston) played a fun and comedic co-lead role. I enjoyed this one, it kept me amused and giggling throughout.
Final grade: A
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
A group of college friends travel into the wilderness to spend a weekend away from their daily lives, in hopes of relaxing and turning off their brains from technology. What seems like an innocent cabin that one of the friends’ cousins has purchased, turns out to be so much more. One that they cannot escape from, one that watches their ever move, and can influence their thoughts. Who will be able to make it out from his unspeakable terror, if anyone?
Without giving away anything that would spoil this one for others, I will just say that the premise and background behind the concept that is the main focus of the movie is an interesting one. It’s been done to an extent in non-horror movies, so it wasn’t a completely fresh concept, but done in the way that it led down an interesting path. At times it really felt like your run of the mill ‘a group of people go into the woods and bad things happen’ movie, but it was amusing and had some good laughs as well.
Final grade: B-
Child’s Play (1988)
No intro synopsis needed here. I mean really, if you don’t know Chucky at this point, where in the hell have you been? The movie itself starts out with an interesting enough concept on how Chucky came to be, but too slowly built itself up. Once it did though, that crazy doll went to town and sure fucked some people up.
This was another one that, of course, I’ve known about forever, but for some reason I just had never watched. Maybe because I knew so much about Chucky from the horror community and just general world around me, that I felt like I’d watched the movie already. A long time coming though, and I enjoyed this one. I don’t think it lived up to the full hype that everyone gave it, but lived up to most of it. I definitely wasn’t bored, but just certain parts I felt were too up and down in the flow.
Final grade: B
There’s Someone Inside Your House (2021)
Small town rural America, where the corn grows tall and the whole population shows up for the Friday night football game. Within the teenagers that roam the litter-filled school halls are secrets, past and present, that itch to come up to the surface and scream past the void. Secrets that will ruin lives, secrets that will lead to nobody being safe. When a killer starts targeting those with the deepest of secrets, everyone becomes weary of those around them, not knowing who to trust, or who to even speak with.
I will admit, the movie started out strong, and I thought it was going to be a really good slasher film. Unfortunately, it started going down the usual tropes of high school horror style movies. Kids getting killed, kids going against police-imposed curfews, kids doing drugs, kids going to parties and drinking. Yet no parents are around to deal with the problem or care, and the police are no better. I mean c’mon, who has atrocities like this happen with a killer on the loose, then everyone still attends that weekly football game? At times an okay horror/slasher film, at times almost laughable at the content/dialogue, but overall I enjoyed the depth of secrets that ruled the lives of many main characters, along with a few good kill scenes.
Final grade: C-
Candyman (1992)
In Chicago there is a man of legends, one that people fear, yet rarely is seen. A serial killer haunts the world that lies behind ours, only to be called upon by those who believe (or want to believe) in him to show his true form.
When a doctoral candidate and her friend put it to themselves to write their thesis on this legend, the Candyman, they find themselves searching forgotten newspaper articles and abandoned apartments left to the rats, in order to pull together something they know will bring them to the top of their field. What they find will change their lives forever, including everyone around them.
Yet another movie that everyone talks about, but somehow it had always escaped me from a viewing. I will admit, I went into this pretty blind, having not known barely anything about it, and never having read the source material from Clive Barker. What I found was a psychological horror/thriller that kept my eyes glued to the TV for the whole movie, not even once thinking to play around on my phone or pause to get up. I thoroughly enjoyed everyone minute and I’m glad I finally got around to watching this classic.
Candyman. Candyman. Candyman. Candyman. Candyma-
Final grade: A
The Babysitter (2017)
Cole is a geeky young kid who wants nothing more than to live his life. Kids around the neighborhood like to bully him, but his babysitter quickly sets them straight. He may be a little too old for having a babysitter when his parents go out of town, but he doesn’t mind because his crush on her is beginning to blossom. His best friend and neighbor girl quickly convinces him that when he goes to bed, the babysitter will invite her boyfriend over for late night relations, so he decides to stay up late and find out for himself. He regrets every moment from there on out.
What he sees shocks him. Where he thinks he’ll witness a sex romp on the downstairs couch, is actually a secret ritualistic cult that is initiating a spell, and he plays a vital role. He tries to escape, but how can he from five full-grown adults bent on completing what they’ve all come to his house for?
This movie starts out pretty tame, a lot of Cole and the babysitter, before it starts to turn to out of control horror, mixed with quite goofy elements, which you quickly find is what they’re going for. It was decent, but left me wanting more, it just didn’t feel like enough of a horror movie and was trying too hard to be likeable.
Final grade: C
Written by Kyle Lybeck
Leprechaun (1993)This is a movie I’ve known about for a long time, but never sought out to watch. Many have told me to give it a go so I figured no time like the present. I’ll admit, an evil leprechaun is right up my alley, so I made a cup of tea, dawned my scally cap, and dove in.
Right off the bat, you can tell it’s an early ‘90s movie. That’s not a bad thing, that was my youth so I like that aspect, a little bit of nostalgia. I have no idea why, but it gave me weird vibes of Tremors and Home Alone (I know, ‘Kyle, you’re weird’, right?). Maybe that horror type element with a little comedy sprinkled in? A man catches a leprechaun and then believes he is entitled to the little guys’ pot o’ gold. He envisions grandeur, mansions, and the best things for him and his wife. When the leprechaun turns out not to grant any of that and only wants his gold back, he shows his true evil side.
I thought Warwick Davis gave a great performance and Jennifer Aniston (you heard that right, Jennifer freaking Aniston) played a fun and comedic co-lead role. I enjoyed this one, it kept me amused and giggling throughout.
Final grade: A
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)A group of college friends travel into the wilderness to spend a weekend away from their daily lives, in hopes of relaxing and turning off their brains from technology. What seems like an innocent cabin that one of the friends’ cousins has purchased, turns out to be so much more. One that they cannot escape from, one that watches their ever move, and can influence their thoughts. Who will be able to make it out from his unspeakable terror, if anyone?
Without giving away anything that would spoil this one for others, I will just say that the premise and background behind the concept that is the main focus of the movie is an interesting one. It’s been done to an extent in non-horror movies, so it wasn’t a completely fresh concept, but done in the way that it led down an interesting path. At times it really felt like your run of the mill ‘a group of people go into the woods and bad things happen’ movie, but it was amusing and had some good laughs as well.
Final grade: B-
Child’s Play (1988)No intro synopsis needed here. I mean really, if you don’t know Chucky at this point, where in the hell have you been? The movie itself starts out with an interesting enough concept on how Chucky came to be, but too slowly built itself up. Once it did though, that crazy doll went to town and sure fucked some people up.
This was another one that, of course, I’ve known about forever, but for some reason I just had never watched. Maybe because I knew so much about Chucky from the horror community and just general world around me, that I felt like I’d watched the movie already. A long time coming though, and I enjoyed this one. I don’t think it lived up to the full hype that everyone gave it, but lived up to most of it. I definitely wasn’t bored, but just certain parts I felt were too up and down in the flow.
Final grade: B
There’s Someone Inside Your House (2021)Small town rural America, where the corn grows tall and the whole population shows up for the Friday night football game. Within the teenagers that roam the litter-filled school halls are secrets, past and present, that itch to come up to the surface and scream past the void. Secrets that will ruin lives, secrets that will lead to nobody being safe. When a killer starts targeting those with the deepest of secrets, everyone becomes weary of those around them, not knowing who to trust, or who to even speak with.
I will admit, the movie started out strong, and I thought it was going to be a really good slasher film. Unfortunately, it started going down the usual tropes of high school horror style movies. Kids getting killed, kids going against police-imposed curfews, kids doing drugs, kids going to parties and drinking. Yet no parents are around to deal with the problem or care, and the police are no better. I mean c’mon, who has atrocities like this happen with a killer on the loose, then everyone still attends that weekly football game? At times an okay horror/slasher film, at times almost laughable at the content/dialogue, but overall I enjoyed the depth of secrets that ruled the lives of many main characters, along with a few good kill scenes.
Final grade: C-
Candyman (1992)In Chicago there is a man of legends, one that people fear, yet rarely is seen. A serial killer haunts the world that lies behind ours, only to be called upon by those who believe (or want to believe) in him to show his true form.
When a doctoral candidate and her friend put it to themselves to write their thesis on this legend, the Candyman, they find themselves searching forgotten newspaper articles and abandoned apartments left to the rats, in order to pull together something they know will bring them to the top of their field. What they find will change their lives forever, including everyone around them.
Yet another movie that everyone talks about, but somehow it had always escaped me from a viewing. I will admit, I went into this pretty blind, having not known barely anything about it, and never having read the source material from Clive Barker. What I found was a psychological horror/thriller that kept my eyes glued to the TV for the whole movie, not even once thinking to play around on my phone or pause to get up. I thoroughly enjoyed everyone minute and I’m glad I finally got around to watching this classic.
Candyman. Candyman. Candyman. Candyman. Candyma-
Final grade: A
The Babysitter (2017)Cole is a geeky young kid who wants nothing more than to live his life. Kids around the neighborhood like to bully him, but his babysitter quickly sets them straight. He may be a little too old for having a babysitter when his parents go out of town, but he doesn’t mind because his crush on her is beginning to blossom. His best friend and neighbor girl quickly convinces him that when he goes to bed, the babysitter will invite her boyfriend over for late night relations, so he decides to stay up late and find out for himself. He regrets every moment from there on out.
What he sees shocks him. Where he thinks he’ll witness a sex romp on the downstairs couch, is actually a secret ritualistic cult that is initiating a spell, and he plays a vital role. He tries to escape, but how can he from five full-grown adults bent on completing what they’ve all come to his house for?
This movie starts out pretty tame, a lot of Cole and the babysitter, before it starts to turn to out of control horror, mixed with quite goofy elements, which you quickly find is what they’re going for. It was decent, but left me wanting more, it just didn’t feel like enough of a horror movie and was trying too hard to be likeable.
Final grade: C
Written by Kyle Lybeck
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