All through October, I’ll be posting reviews of the best of the best films in the horror genre released since October 1, 2023, through September 30, 2024. As an added bonus, I’ll be adding a secondary review that may be somewhat related to the main review or slightly missed the countdown by inches. Follow along the countdown every day in October. Feel free to agree, disagree, or better yet, give me your own picks for your favorite horror movies of the year. Happy Halloween!

#31 – HERE FOR BLOOD (2022)
Released on February 9, 2024 and is streaming on Screambox from Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting!
Directed by Daniel Turres.
Written by James Roberts.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/T3wqfCgLM28
Small time wrestler named Tom (Shawn Roberts) does a favor for his girlfriend Phoebe (Joelle Farrow) and agrees to babysit little Grace (Maya Misaljevic) for the night. But wouldn’t you know it, that’s the very same night a cult of masked madmen attack Grace’s home, intending to use the little girl as a sacrifice to an ancient evil god. Thankfully, Tom is on hand to use his wrestling know-how to smash these masked assholes back to the hell they came from.
Now, I haven’t really followed wrestling for a while, but I was swept up in the phenomenon back in the late eighties/early nineties, so I understand the appeal of the spectacle, the choreography, and the soap operatics that makes up professional wrestling. I also know that there are a lot of fans of wrestling, so making a movie that caters to that crowd is a sure fire hit, as long as there is a bit of creativity and skill involved. Luckily, HERE FOR BLOOD is oozing with all the stuff that makes for a good old gory time. Beginning with its star Shawn Roberts. Now, not knowing wrestling, I don’t know if Roberts has done his own time in the ring, or if this is just a performance, but Roberts fits the bill either way. The guy is a walking flexed muscle and while there are plenty of meatheads out there who can look the part, Roberts also has some truly outstanding comic timing, acting chops, and most importantly, charm to make this leading role one for the books. Roberts had small roles in the Sasquatch movie FEED THE GODS, a pit part in the first X-MEN, and a more prominent role in the RESIDENT EVIL Series, but it seems he has bulked up even more, making him a leading man unlike few others in the industry right now.
And HERE FOR BLOOD might just be the movie that elevates him to another level. Roberts is personable and downright hilarious as Tom, a good-intentioned knucklehead who doesn’t want to be in this situation but is willing to body slam, suplex, and clothesline his way through a gang of devil-worshipping cultists to save his girlfriend and a little girl.
HERE FOR BLOOD is bawdy, goofy fun. It’s semi-self aware, as everyone pretty much accepts the fact that demons and zombies exist pretty quickly, but that is only to keep the momentum going as this one never lets up on the laughs, the blood, and mayhem for a second from beginning to end. Tom is given a gauntlet to run as these cultists each have their own distinct looks, attitude, and way of fighting. Some of them are even bigger than Tom in the muscle department and that ain’t no easy order to fill. Sure it’s a simple premise; have the cultists take on Tom one by one until he gets to the big boss, but it’s the humor and gore that makes this well-tread premise such a blast.
The practical effects that HERE FOR BLOOD is decked from head to toe with are great as well. From exploding heads to faces grilled on an oven to talking skulls (voiced by Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, himself), HERE FOR BLOOD maps out an entire mythology of other worldly menaces filled with distinct and kooky man-monsters, all of whom feel the mighty elbow and jack-slaps of our hero. I loved every goppy, gory second, as this film feels as if there was a lot of hard work put into the creation and realization of these monstrous effects.
In a day and age of anything even slightly manly is deemed toxic and inappropriate, we need a movie like HERE FOR BLOOD. Yes, this is technically, a guy’s movie, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that and for the ladies, I’m sure Roberts’ muscles will be fun to gander at as well, so you can watch this with your significant other and it’ll be all ok. The ending promises more HERE FOR BLOOD and I’m hoping that happens as horror needs its own Duane Johnson and Shawn Roberts just might be it. If you appreciate the madcap fun of wrestling and wished there were more exploding heads and demons in the ring, HERE FOR BLOOD is a top contender.

And let’s keep the laughs going with today’s secondary pick, DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS.
DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS (2024)
Released on January 12, 2024 and is streaming on Shudder!
Directed by Josh Forbes.
Written by Mike Benner, Jared Logan, Charles A. Pieper.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/puY9AthRUCQ
A struggling sound technician named William (Jonah Ray) dreams of completing his progressive rock album and has been working on it for over a decade. When a noisy neighbor named Vlad (played by Alex Winter under heavy makeup) moves in next door, William’s hopes of completing his much delayed album are further than ever. While his girlfriend Emily (Kiran Deol) is getting more fed up by the day, William is losing his own mind due to the constant racket. But when William gathers the nerve to go over and confront the neighbor, it is the beginning of the end for his sanity as well as any normalcy in his life.
While many seem to look back at the nineties as a wasteland for creativity, there were some wonderful horror gems that came from that era. Two of which mixed comedy and horror much like DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS does. One of them is FREAKED which starred and was directed by one of DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS cast members Alex Winter. Most will recognize Winters from his work with Keanu Reeves in BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURES and its sequels. Or maybe his role as one of the teen vampires in THE LOST BOYS. But much like his 1991 THE IDIOT BOX series, which only lasted a season on MTV, Winter had an irreverent and over the top comedy style that crossed over into his monster epic FREAKED. It was frantic and all over the place and while Winter seems to only have produced and starred in DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS, the breakneck pace and uncageable creativity makes it feel like a soul sibling to FREAKED, or at least an inbred cousin. The second film DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS reminded me of was another irreverent and offbeat descent into madness tale called THE VAGRANT starring Bill Paxton, about a homeless man who drives a mild-mannered man insane and ruins his life. Both films basically share the same plot and while DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS goes quite a few steps further into the abyss of insanity, they would make a wonderful double feature. And add in FREAKED and you’ve got one winner of a triple play.
But naming movies this film reminded me of is doing DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS a disservice as it is an imaginative and hyperactive film on its own. Through vivid imagery, over the top practical gore effects, and rapid speed camerawork, this movie never lets up and leaves no moment to catch one’s breath. And while comedy is always relative, I found it to work for me most of the time. Again, I was a fan of the irreverent humor associated with Alex Winter’s work of the past and if you’re familiar with that, and it appealed to you, this form of grossout and off-kilter antics will work for you too. Still, those who like a more straight forward method of setting up jokes with a more predictable deliver are going to find things a bit too frantic and random. DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS definitely exists in its own distinct and kooky world where madness is something very familiar.
The cast is really what makes this one so good. I first saw Jonah Ray in the recent SATANTIC HISPANICS anthology and his performance was a true standout, offering up a manic performance being the straight guy reacting to all of the craziness around him. That’s pretty much the same role he plays in DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS, but he still has a likability and is given quite a depthy character to work with. Having many unfinished projects in my life that are still taking shape, I understand the main conflict Ray’s character goes through as he attempts to finish his prog rock album.
The other standout, of course, is Alex Winter who is gives an animated and over the top performance as Vlad the noisy neighbor from hell. Under heavy prosthetics, Winter’s goes full maniac with this role. And once the gore occurs, Winters really lets loose. DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS also has quite a few cameos worth noting like Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramiswami as a security guard…sorry I couldn’t help it. That’s comedian Kumail Nanjiani in a very small role. RENO 911’s Tom Lennon as William’s boss has a bigger role. And you might even get to see Alex Winter without all that makeup as another character. I’m sorry to say, there’s no Keanu cameo as there was in Winter’s FREAKED. But this ensemble cast of weirdos and misfits really do make for a unique and most importantly fun ride.
Finally, the effects, which appear to be mostly practical, are a marvel to look at. From animated intestines that play the drums to charred talking corpses, this film had this former Fangoria addict pleased as punch. Things are goppy and gross and in your face. And much like Bruce Campbell did in EVIL DEAD II, Jonah Ray takes all of this hilarious grue seriously and reacts comically, yet still realistically in this one.
DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS has a few pacing problems. William goes from zero to furious with all the noise in what seems to be one night and his girlfriend Emily’s decision to leave him also seems rushed, but all of this has to happen to get the story rolling so I am willing to look over it as it only gets to the good, goofy, gory stuff quicker.
Director Josh Forbes helped produce the truly disturbing film DECAY as well as directed the ultra-grody CONTRACTED: PHASE II, none of them match the tone of DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS, but he shows a skill at managing the tender balance between comedy, horror and heart. But helping him out with the comedy are writers Mike Benner from BOB’S BURGERS, Jared Logan from THE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN, and Charles A. Pieper who has written and directed a bunch of short films. This combination of writers and director worked wonders though. If you’re looking for off the cuff comedy that isn’t afraid to churn the stomach and paint the walls red, DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS is it. It blends horror and comedy well and even has an ending that made me feel somewhat uplifted by the time the credits rolled by.

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