Helloween 2026 Horror Movie #4: Ju-On: The Grudge (2002)

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Oct 022026
 

Even further behind… I watched this the night after The Eye so yeaaaaah. Hopefully I can catch up but there will probably be a few combined posts with very brief notes on each movie given the gap between me seeing these and writing about them.

Ju-On: The Grudge (2002) / Arrow 4K

Two ghost movies from 2002 that I’ve never seen before in a row? Sure why not. Unlike the previous night’s movie, Ju-on is super super creepy. Like spine tingling creepy. For some reason I still find certain kinds of ghost actually scary, probably because of a creepy furnace room in the hallway to a childhood bedroom and watching stuff like Sightings and The X-Files as an eight year old. This movie features some of the creepier ghosts I’ve experienced through the teevee screen. My girlfriend has just been randomly making weird ghost noises at me since we watched this because of how much it got me.

The story is told very non linearly and it seems to reference the previous direct to video movies in the series, and has some kind of cycle with the first and last people possessed by the ghosts. The story isn’t really critical for this though.

I highly recommend this, especially if you’re totally desensitized to horror. It might actually give you that creeped out feeling many of us stopped being able to feel years ago.

Helloween 2026 Horror Movie #3: The Eye (2002)

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Sep 152026
 

Only on the third movie and already a week behind, whoops. My middle aged shoulder and an unergonomic indoor bike may or may not have had a disagreement. I blame global warming for keeping me indoors in September. Anyway.

The Eye (2002) / Arrow 4K

A woman who was blinded as a toddler receives corneal transplants and can see the dead. Events ensue.

Another one that’s new to me, I thought this was OK. It’s mildly creepy but also pretty sentimental. I read that two portions of the movie were inspired by actual events (mainly a woman who received corneal transplants and killed herself shortly afterward). There is a bit of philosophical musing on suicide but nothing terribly deep.

One kind of schlocky bit: to help the protagonist rebuild her visual vocabulary she is assigned a psychoanalyst. Bit of an odd choice, but the movie needs there to be a psychoanalyst and they need a young and attractive male lead slash light romantic interest so…

Straightforward and entertaining. I’ll probably watch it again eventually but I’m not sure I’ll feel the need to revisit it beyond that.

Helloween 2026 Horror Movie #2: Whodunit? (1982)

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Sep 042026
 
Whodunit? (1982) / Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray

For movie number two we have Whodunit? (seemingly better known as Island of Blood). This one is new to me, and I went in not expecting much, but it turns out this is one of the more competently executed low budget 80s slashers. I guess it’s supposed to be based on an Agatha Christie novel so that might explain it.

A group of first time actors are filming a movie on an isolated island with no contact to the mainland except through a radio on the boat of the perpetually agitated and grumpy caretaker. A tape deck appears playing a mysterious song and someone gets killed. The boat blows up but everyone just has to make it through the night until the rest of the production crew arrives the next day… Each killing is unique and the effects are decent. There even seems to be a slight bit of logic to the resolution.

Nothing about this movie is super original but it kept my interest and I’ll definitely watch it again sometime.

Helloween 2026 Horror Movie #1: Possession (1981)

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Sep 032026
 

In this household Halloween starts on September 1st and lasts until Xmas eve. I’ve tried to watch one horror movie a night for at least September and October for the last few years, but I don’t think I’ll manage that this year unfortunately.

While I have an audience of zero here (other than the LLM scrapers which are using my own words to build my green eyed replacement before they grow limbs and can shove me into the protein bank for reprocessing into more useful product), it seems better to post these on my journal instead of launching them directly into the zuck hole. Many are movies I’ve seen before but there are plenty I’m walking into blind.

If there’s anyone actually reading the full series can be viewed at the halloween.2026 tag page (I’ll still be sharing random things from my feed reader in between posts so if you only care about these posts that’s the place to be). In theory I’ll be posting something at least two or three times a week and hopefully more once I get into the Halloween spirit.

Possession (1981) – Second Sight 4K

Starting things off this year is Possession, or: a two hour panic attack. This is probably my favorite Sam Neill performance (followed by the extremely similar film Jurassic Park). I don’t really have anything new to say about this one, maybe ask me again after I’ve watched it three or four more times.

The 4K restoration is incredible. So much film grain. The subway scene feels like real life. The monster has never been more visible and it’s even more terrifying (I can feel it staring into my brain).

10/10 for fans of suffering and testing the strength of their romantic relationship. It’s a great time with friends, if you don’t want friends.