Tag Archives: occult

Ranking the Horror Movies I Watched in 2025

With Halloween approaching, I have compiled a list of all the horror movies I watched this past year, old and new, good and bad, and everything in between. They are sorted into tiers based on quality and listed alphabetically within each tier. As streaming rights are always changing, check JustWatch.com to see where the films may currently be available to watch.

Tier 1: Cinematic Masterpieces

Oddity (2024) directed by Damian Mc Carthy
Oddity is about twin women, one of whom was murdered, and the other is a psychic medium who owns an antique shop that sells occult oddities. She comes to suspect that her sister was killed by someone other than the man who was arrested, so she goes to the house where the murder took place (which is possibly haunted), bringing some occult items from her shop to get revenge. Trying to explain the premise doesn’t do the film justice. It is so well done, like a horror Pulp Fiction because of the way the story is told nonlinearly via flashbacks. Rather than relying on jump scares and gore (though there is some of each), the film instead uses dread, suspense, and tension to expertly build to those moments of horror.

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Horror Movies I Watched in 2024

My annual list of the best movies 10 years or older (and the list for newer movies I’ve seen) was growing long this year—partially because I watched so many horror movies in October1—so I decided to take the horror movies from those lists to create a new compilation of every horror movie I watched this year. (The films are separated into five tiers and listed alphabetically within each tier.)

Tier 1: Cinematic Masterpieces

The Wicker Man (1973) directed by Robin Hardy

I’d been wanting to see this film for a while because it is within one of my favorite subgenres of folk horror. The Wicker Man is one of the original movies of that sub-genre and the best, inspiring later films like Midsommar. A police officer goes to a secluded Scottish island in search of a missing girl, but the townspeople act oddly with weird customs. He comes to learn they are part of a pagan cult, and the girl was possibly part of a ritual sacrifice. The final twist (which I will not spoil) is iconic. What is most impressive is how they were able to make a chilling horror film without any darkness or blood (most of the film takes place in broad daylight).

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Best Comic Books I Read in 2021

1. The Department of Truth, Vol 1: The End of the World (2021) & Vol 2: The City Upon a Hill (2021) by James Tynion IV and Martin Simmonds

The Department of Truth is an inventive spin on conspiracy theories. In this world, every conspiracy is true, but at the same time, no conspiracy theory is true. It’s a slight spoiler to explain that, basically, if enough people believe in a conspiracy then it manifests in reality. The “Department of Truth” is a government agency that works to prevent dangerous conspiracies from spreading and becoming real. The books are well-researched in conspiracy lore, featuring popular theories like JFK, flat earth, the Satanic panic, Bigfoot, and more. My only gripe is that it’s a bit too anti-conspiracy theory, the subtext being all conspiracy theories are false and conspiracy theorists are dangerous. In reality, many (but not all) conspiracy theories are false, and some (but not most) conspiracy theorists are dangerous. Overall, this was really well-written with great artwork and I can’t wait for the next volume.

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