Posts Tagged ‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism (film)’

13 Movies to Watch for Spooky Season 2025

Posted: August 17, 2025 in Review, Scary Stuff
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It’s that time of year again, which means it’s time to recommend some movies for spooky season. So once again, I’m here to recommend thirteen movies that you can binge between now and Halloween. Hopefully you decide to check some of these out. As usual, I got a mix of old and new, well-known and lesser-known. All guaranteed to make your spooky season that much spookier.

So are you ready? One. BOO! Three. Let’s go.

I Am A Ghost (2012)
A ghost is haunting an old, rambling Victorian home. However, she doesn’t know she’s dead. Not until a medium reaches out to her to let her know she’s dead and it’s time for her to move on. But that’s easier said than done. Especially given the truth of how she died.

Made for only ten thousand dollars, this little indie film has both a creepy mystery and a distinct style that makes it stand out. Some of the editing choices might not be for everyone, but honestly, it’s stuck in my mind for over ten years. And I think it’s something you’ll enjoy, too, if you give it a chance. Plus, it’s on Tubi, so it’s free.

Screamboat (2025)
An anthropomorphic mouse gets loose on an old Staten Island Ferry vessel, going on a violent murder spree. Hijinks ensue.

These public domain horror films based around characters like Winnie the Pooh and the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse get a bad reputation. And for the most part, deservedly so. However, this one is actually decent! The humor is top-notch, the slasher element is extremely gory and well done, and there are actually some really beautiful, heartfelt moments. The flooding closet scene alone will pull at your heartstrings! So, if you’re going to check out any of these crazy public domain slashers, make it Screamboat.

Plus, you can make one hell of a drinking game trying to catch all the Disney references. Just saying.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2022)
Set in 1989, friends Abby and Gretchen get together with some friends for a weekend of getting into trouble. However, while attempting to take some LSD, something attacks Gretchen. Something not human. It’s making her do horrible things to herself and those around her. It’s trying to drag Gretchen’s soul to Hell. And Abby will need help if she wants to save her best friend from damnation.

Based on the fabulous novel by Grady Hendrix (see my review of the novel here), this movie is equal parts funny and scary, and is also quite heartwarming. My sister and I watched it on a movie night, and she and I loved it. If you’re looking for a fun horror movie to watch this season, then this is definitely an option for you.

Heretic (2024)
A pair of young Mormon women doing their missionary work go to a man’s house after scheduling to meet with him and proselytize to him. However, the man hasn’t asked them to come to his home because he truly is interested in the Book of Mormon. He’s invited them because he’s built his house to be a giant trap. And while they’re stuck with him, they’re going to go on a religious/spiritual journey with him. Whether they want to or not.

With a standout performance by Hugh Grant as antagonist Mr. Reed, the film delivers both a tense atmosphere and a twisty plot full of religious, spiritual, and philosophical themes that really get you thinking. If you enjoy horror but are also very religious/spiritual, I would recommend seeing this film just to ponder its themes. Also, it’s a damn good horror film.

Banshee Chapter (2013)
After her best friend from college mysteriously disappears after taking a chemical associated with the MKUltra experiments, tries to figure out what happened. Along the way, she gets in deep with government conspiracies, a counterculture writer with a drug habit, and mysterious, barely seen creatures that want to inhabit our skins.

Based loosely on the short story “From Beyond” by HP Lovecraft, this found footage updates the story with one of America’s most infamous moments of violating the rights of its own people. It’s not perfect, but it has plenty of scary and tense moments and it’s hard to look away. Plus, Ted Levine as surly counterculture author Thomas Blackburn just steals the show in the best way.

Abigail (2024)
A group of career criminals kidnap a twelve-year-old ballerina to hold her for ransom. They’re told to lay low in a mansion for the next twenty-four hours. No names, no personal details, and no interacting with the girl. However, it soon turns out that the girl is the daughter of a terrifying underworld figure. And she’s a vampire. And she basically staged her own kidnapping so she could have some fun hunting her prey.

As bloody as it is hysterical, this was definitely one of the best horror films of last year. Watching a preteen in a bloody tutu tear out people’s throats and fight grown adults while dancing the steps to Swan Lake is like nothing else. Plus, you really grow to like these characters, even if some of them are total bastards. Give it a watch and see how it enhances your Halloween season.

Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)
Two young girls are growing up in a heavily Catholic community in early 1960s New Jersey. The younger is murdered on the day of her First Communion, and suspicion falls on her older sister Alice, who is neglected and displays antisocial behavior. She also has never been allowed communion, as she was conceived out of wedlock. As more bodies pile up, more fingers start pointing in Alice’s direction. Is she the one behind it all? Or is someone else the culprit?

When this early slasher was released in 1976, it caused an uproar due to its perceived anti-Catholic views. However, it’s since gained a huge cult following and has been examined and reexamined by scholars for what it says about religion, familial dysfunction, and adolescent psychology. For my part, Alice, Sweet Alice has been stuck in my memory since I saw it a few years ago, and I keep finding myself returning to the movie and its troubled main character, every now again.

If you want a slasher that pushes some boundaries, this might be the movie you should watch this spooky season.

In a Violent Nature (2024)
Another prominent slasher, this one takes things in a very different direction. After his grave is disturbed, an undead killer rises from the dead. He then goes on a killing spree, mowing through everyone he comes across. All while doing it in a slow, methodical, unemotional way. And I mean “slow, methodical, unemotional.” But in the most fascinating way.

Most slashers focus on the characters about to be killed, but In a Violent Nature shows things from the killer’s perspective. Not directly, but usually from behind him. Coupled with a lot of quiet moments, without even a soundtrack other than nature sounds, and it makes for a realistic take on a slasher story, though it still has its moments where you think to yourself, “Okay, you idiot, you did something stupid and now you’re going to die.”

Just make sure to be well-rested while watching. If you’re not careful, the quiet moments can put you to sleep.

The Gate (1987)
A young boy and his friend accidentally discover a gateway to semi-Lovecraftian cosmic entities of evil and try to close it before the demons swarm out into our reality and destroy it. Along the way, they’ll deal with some trauma and feelings of loneliness.

This film isn’t the scariest thing I’ve ever seen, but it is fun to watch. It’s filled with a lot of heart, some decent stopmotion effects, and an emotional undertone that will get you right in the feels. Plus, that opening scene that still scares me (plus it inspired a novel I hope to write someday)!

While I wish it would lean more in to the Lovecraftian elements (maybe a remake someday?), it’s still a great film. Give it a watch, and you’ll see.

The Collector (1965)
A man wins the lottery and buys a huge house in the country. He then uses it to keep a woman he’s infatuated with. Obviously, the woman wants nothing to do with him. But stuck in his home, she only has so many options at her disposal. Thus begins a terrible game of cat and mouse.

This psychological horror film may be older and a slow-burn, but it’s still effective. Watching both characters trying to outmaneuver one another and gain control in this messed up stalker-stalkee relationship, all in the background of the English countryside, has to be seen to be believed.

The Vigil (2019)
A young Jewish man who has recently left his ultra-Orthodox community is hired to watch over the body of a recently deceased man until his body is collected in the morning for the funeral. However, the deceased was apparently haunted his whole life by a terrible spirit. And now, the young man may be its next victim.

This is, by far, one of the best examples of Jewish horror films I’ve ever come across. Spooky, atmospheric, with an emphasis on practical effects and psychological horror, this film will stay with you long after you’ve watched it.

The Spanish-Language Dracula (1931)
It’s the same movie you know. The one that started the Universal horror line and is part of the foundation of modern horror films. Or is it?

Back in the 1930s, movie studios were trying to reach foreign markets, especially Spanish-language markets. And rather than dubbing over the soundtracks or figuring out how to put subtitles onscreen, they would have a Spanish-speaking cast and crew come in when the English-language crew were done filming for the day and film their own version. The Spanish-language Dracula is particularly famous, as director George Melford would watch what was filmed the day before to inform his own version.

The result is a version of the 1931 film that is on par with and maybe even better than the English-language version. It was thought lost for many years, but resurfaced in the 1970s and has since been preserved for both posterity and our viewing pleasure. And honestly, if you’ve seen the English version, then you really have to check out the Spanish version and compare the two.

Sinners (2025)
A pair of twins in Jim Crow Alabama decide to open a juke joint for the local African-American community, enlisting the help of their young cousin and some other locals to make it a success. However, on opening night, the joint gets some unexpected gate-crashers in the form of vampires. And these vamps, who are out for more than just blood, won’t stop till they get what they came for.

If you only watch one film off this list–nay, if you watch only one film this Halloween season, make it Sinners. This film is visual, musical, historical, thematic, and just a few other types of gold besides. Blending genres, breaking conventions, and putting a big boost into both African American horror and original horror stories, I’ve seen it twice and have been blown away each and every time.

So, those are my recommendations for this year. I hope you decide to check out a few of these. I know I’ll be giving the ones I haven’t seen in a while a rewatch.

But in the meantime, tell me: what would you add to the list? Which of these films have you seen? And what were your impressions of them? Let’s discuss.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 75 days till Halloween. Get watching.

The Problem with Jewish Portrayal in the Media I See

Posted: July 15, 2025 in Reflections, Writing
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Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

I was watching the movie adaptation of My Best Friend’s Exorcism with my sister the other day. And, right before they’re about to do the exorcism, the exorcist asks the main character if she’s been baptized. And the main character, a high school senior at a Catholic school, taking catechism classes and attending evangelical events at school, says in a deadpan voice, “I’m Jewish.”

My sister and I, as well as her roommates (it was movie night at her place), burst out laughing, because it was great comedic timing. Plus, it wasn’t something about the character that was in the book, so I hadn’t seen it coming. But looking back on it now, I can’t help but feel like it’s the latest example of an issue of Jewish portrayal in media.

I said in a previous post that I might be talking about problems of portrayal I see in media, thanks to the panel I was on last month. And I’ve noticed that portrayal of Jews in the media–at least the media I’ve been consuming–has been problematic. This is because, generally speaking, I have noticed Jews tend to be portrayed in one of three different groups:

  • The religious types. They’re Orthodox, with black coats and beards. At least one of the men is a rabbi, and if the story is speculative in nature, Kabbalah shows up somewhere. I’m not too upset about this portrayal, because I have seen some good and nuanced portrayals of this group since Fiddler of the Roof. I’ve even used it myself. Still, it’s done A LOT.
  • The barely-Jewish portrayal. They say they’re Jewish, but the characters eat bacon, have barely any connection to their ancestry, and their religious affiliation is only used as a joke or a quirk of their character. Examples include Howard Wolowitz from The Big Bang Theory, Rachel Berry from Glee, and, most recently, Abby Rivers in My Best Friend’s Exorcism. There are Jews like this, but it’s nuts that this is the biggest alternative to the religious types I see in media.
  • Jewish equals some weird behavior or stereotype. The fact that they’re Jewish usually translates to some silly behavior or conglomeration of behavior or traits that defines their entire character and is equated with their Jewishness. Maybe they’re clownish wimpy goofs that are always going “Oy vey” and speaking in funny voices, like Krusty the Clown in The Simpsons or Mort Goldman in Family Guy. Or they’re hypochondriacs, like Stan Uris in IT. Usually satirical, but sometimes it’s meant to be taken seriously or realistic, like in IT.*
Ziva David. So far, the most unique portrayal of Jew I’ve come across.

Honestly, the only character I’ve seen buck this trend is Ziva David from NCIS, a former Mossad agent from Israel who was tough, somewhat religious, and very connected to her Jewish heritage and faith. When I watched NCIS, I absolutely loved her, and was so sad when she left the series for good. That was a great and different portrayal of a Jew on media. (As for her being portrayed by a Catholic actress…well, she’s still a great character.)

But that’s the only one. And honestly, I think that’s a damn shame. There are so many different kinds of Jews out there: Jews who are religious but enjoy listening to the Ramones and going out for drinks and bowling with friends; non-religious Jews who are connected to their heritage and use it to make art; Jews who are both Israeli, Jewish, and Arab (just read about him yesterday in an article a friend sent to me); and the disabled Jewish horror writer who lights Shabbat candles on Friday night and keeps kosher while also seeing plays on Saturday afternoons or getting tattoos of Tarot cards all over his body.

Me, if you couldn’t tell.

This is why I’m not just writing an increasing amount of Jewish characters in my work, but also a wider variety of Jewish characters. There’s the married and heavily connected Jewish gay couple in “The Red Bursts,” one of the stories in Hannah and Other Stories; the rabbi, his less-religious but still Jewish best friend and his secular daughter in “The House on Lafayette Square” in Symphony for Walpurgis; and in The Shape of Evil, a Jewish teen on the spectrum (who’s only partially based on me). And I hope to write many, many more.

It may be only a drop in the water. But mentioning those stereotypes at StokerCon did make one or two writers consider how they were writing their Jewish characters. Perhaps mentioning them here, and writing all those characters, might cause some positive ripples. Which, in these scary times, would be most welcome.

I very much prefer this version of Stan than the one in the book.

*In all honestly, I hate Stan Uris. At least Stan in the book. I love King and I love IT. Hell, I’m a horror writer because of them both. But Stan was barely connected to his Jewishness, except in how it made him different, and he was more defined by his clean-freak nature and his almost worshipful adherence to logic and a normal world. In fact, it’s stated in the book that Stan’s suicide was because he wanted to “stay clean,” rather than get “dirty” and jump into a world completely outside of normal. I hated that.

This is why I prefer Stan’s portrayal in the movies. In the first movie, he’s the son of a rabbi studying for his bar mitzvah (I can relate) and, while being religious and connected to his heritage, is still pretty much a normal kid. And as an adult, his suicide is portrayed as him ensuring that the others are able to defeat It. A true sacrifice for the greater good. No wonder I prefer that version.