Robtober 2021
A month’s worth of movies to help you stay awake
Every October, I put together a big schedule of horror films to watch, focusing mostly on ones I haven’t seen before. The schedule, a mix of theatrical screenings and home viewings, is published for posterity and for the sake of anyone who might like to join me.
This year’s batch is a little less focused than usual, drawn from new releases, repertory screenings in Philadelphia, recent additions to Time Out’s “100 Best Horror Films,” Criterion Channel’s Home Invasion collection, and a list of somewhat under-the-radar classics I’ve been meaning to get to for a long time.
I haven’t seen most of these films before, so don’t take them as recommendations per se, but none of them were included frivolously. If you decide to watch any, I hope you enjoy. Have a horrific month!
Phantom of the Paradise
A disfigured composer sells his soul for the woman he loves so that she will perform his music. However, an evil record tycoon betrays him and steals his music to open his rock palace, The Paradise.
Knocking
A woman leaves a psychiatric ward after a nervous breakdown, only to start hearing mysterious knocking sounds in her apartment.
Rapture
A low budget horror filmmaker gets in touch with an eccentric who is trying to film his consciousness during drug abuse.
Malignant
Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities.
Magic
A ventriloquist is at the mercy of his vicious dummy while he tries to renew a romance with his high school sweetheart.
The Amusement Park
An elderly gentleman goes for what he assumes will be an ordinary day at the amusement park, only to find himself in the middle of a hellish nightmare.
Ghoulies
A young man and his girlfriend move into an old mansion home, where he becomes possessed by a desire to control ancient demons.
Ghoulies II
The Ghoulies wreak havoc at an amusement park, disposing of those who mistake them for mere fairground attractions.
Titane
Following a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for 10 years. Titane: A metal highly resistant to heat and corrosion, with high tensile strength alloys.
Lamb
A childless couple, María and Ingvar discover a mysterious newborn on their farm in Iceland. The unexpected prospect of family life brings them much joy, before ultimately destroying them.
Possession
A woman starts exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior after asking her husband for a divorce. Suspicions of infidelity soon give way to something much more sinister.
The Stuff
A delicious, mysterious goo that oozes from the earth is marketed as the newest dessert sensation, but the tasty treat rots more than teeth when zombie-like snackers who only want to consume more of the strange substance at any cost begin infesting the world.
Brain Damage
One morning, a young man wakes to find that a small, disgusting creature has attached itself to the base of his brain stem. The creature gives him a euphoric state of happiness but demands human victims in return.
Castle Freak
A man travels to Italy with his family to live in the castle they have recently inherited. But he soon begins to suspect that they are not the only occupants.
Satan’s Little Helper
A naive young boy unknowingly becomes the pawn of a serial killer.
The Wolf House
Tells the story of Maria, a young woman who takes refuge in a house in southern Chile after escaping from a German colony.
Saint Maud
Follows a pious nurse who becomes dangerously obsessed with saving the soul of her dying patient.
What Have You Done to Solange?
A teacher who is having an affair with one of his students is reluctant to present an alibi when his lover witnesses the first in a series of murders connected to their school.
The Wailing
Soon after a stranger arrives in a little village, a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman, drawn into the incident, is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.
Jacob’s Ladder
Mourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
Angst
A troubled man gets released from prison and starts taking out his sadistic fantasies on an unsuspecting family living in a secluded house.
Demon Seed
A scientist creates Proteus, an organic super computer with artificial intelligence which becomes obsessed with human beings, and in particular the creators wife.
Parents
A young boy living in 1950s suburbia suspects his parents are cannibalistic murderers.
Mausoleum
A 10 year-old girl, mourning the death of her mother, becomes possessed by a demon, who has been preying on her female ancestors for centuries. Years later, the demon starts to take over her, mentally and physically.
Last Night in Soho
An aspiring fashion designer is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer. But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something darker.
Dead & Buried
A suspense horror film set in a small coastal town where, after a series of gory murders commited by mobs of townspeople against visiting tourists, the corpses begin to come back to life.