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!

#15 – 15 CAMERAS (2023)
Released on October 13, 2023, and is streaming on Tubi and Amazon Prime from Gravitas Ventures!
Directed by Danny Madden.
Written by PJ McCabe.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/dHgt3TnswH8
One might have thought the creepy Slumlord (Neville Archambault) was done for good, at least that’s what the authorities believed when they found the creeper’s van burned to a crisp in the middle of nowhere. But his legacy lives on as a Netflix style show based on the events of the first two CAMERAS movies becomes an obsession for Skye (Angela Wong Carbone) who with her husband Cam (Will Madden), has purchased one of the Slumlord’s old homes to renovate. While repairing the water heater, Cam stumbles upon a hidden lair of the Slumlord in the walls of their duplex. At first, he wants to report it, but when he is able to access the cameras planted throughout the building, Cam becomes obsessed with watching his neighbors and his own wife through the cameras. Cam’s obsession with voyeurism grows, putting him in more dangerous situations when a pair of college gals move into the duplex. And outside, a very familiar van has been lurking around the neighborhood.

With the death of Neville Archambault, one would think the 13 CAMERAS films would have come to an end, but though he doesn’t appear in 15 CAMERAS, he is all over the movie in spirit through footage from previous movies and maybe a little camera trickery here and there. Instead, this second sequel focuses on how Archambault’s Slumlord might have started out as 15 CAMERAS focuses on the temptation of voyeurism and how that can become an addiction. This is a very smart way of continuing the series, though, the way they end this one makes me think this movie should be the final nail in the coffin for the series, so it ends on a high note.
The film slowly and meticulously maps out Cam’s fall from normal dude to twisted perv. Told pretty much solely from Cam’s point of view (and I realize the name Cam isn’t a mistake, but a somewhat clever pun about the title of the film itself). This allows us to sort of understand why Cam might become addicted to watching people as it slowly takes over his whole life, leading him to riskier and riskier behavior as the secret camera room is inside the duplex he has rented out to the two college gals. So, Cam must sneak into their apartment to see the footage. Yes, that’s creepy as all get out, but how many of you have wondered what your neighbor was up to and what would you do if you had a chance to check them out? This film forces you to ask yourself that question.

Shades of REAR WINDOW begin to pop up as it seems someone might just be stalking the house, and Cam begins to think it’s the Slumlord. Meanwhile, Skye is continuing to obsess about the Netflix series about the Slumlord, playing Jr. detective and hypothesizing that the creeper may still be alive. That’s a whole lot of intersecting plotlines, but the filmmakers behind this one, director Danny Madden and writer PJ McCabe (who starred in the first 13 CAMERAS) juggle these plotlines with ease. What could have been a messy movie with all of these differing motivations and obsessions, really played out in a cohesive and smart way.

The acting is surprisingly good here. Will Madden does a good job walking the line of sympathetic, middle-aged man facing a mid-life crisis and cretinous perv. Yes, he does some despicable things, but somehow manages to stay likable for the most part which is no easy feat given the things we see him do. And Angela Wong Carbone is mesmerizing as Skye, who is innocent and somewhat naïve to what’s going on with her husband but drawn to the mystery of the Slumlord like a moth to a flame. Both of these actors are high caliber and sell some difficult emotional scenes in 15 CAMERAS. Finally, it’s great to see Jim Cummings make a cameo in the documentary footage. It seems a lot of the actors and people behind the camera are part of Cummings crew, and the quality of his films as well as some of the wry wit rub off a lot on 15 CAMERAS.

I found 14 CAMERAS to teeter a bit too far into the torture genre as we find out what the Slumlord does with his victims after he is finished with them. 15 CAMERAS leans more towards the psychologically horrific original, 13 CAMERAS, and I think I like it a little better than the sequel. With the passing of Archambault, I would hope this film would be a good way to end the series as this one seems to be dedicated to the monstrously iconic Tor Johnson-esque actor. 15 CAMERAS circles back on itself in an almost perfect way. It’s a highly accomplished sequel that remembers what made the first 13 CAMERAS so chilling.

Plus – MIDNIGHT PEEPSHOW (2022)
Released on February 13, 2024, and is available On Demand and digital download from Dark Star Pictures!
Directed by Andy Edwards, Airell Anthony Hayles, Ludovica Musumeci, Jake West.
Written by Andy Edwards, Airell Anthony Hayles, Jake West.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/pgzBevQrsdE
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, MIDNIGHT PEEPSHOW highlights the kinkier side of horror with an anthology focused on sexual horror from some very twisted filmmakers. Reminiscent of the anthology LITTLE DEATHS from nearly a decade ago (an anthology definitely worth looking up), MIDNIGHT PEEPSHOW is a sick and twisted little affair dealing with all kinds of stuff that is not for those with sensitive dispositions.

The wraparound concerns a down and out businessman who stumbles into a seedy part of town and finds a business called the Midnight Peepshow, kind of like the name of the movie, you see. This guy pays for a gander at one of the booths and it turns out each booth babe has a devious story to tell, making up the three stories of MIDNIGHT PEEPSHOW. Ludovica Musumeci has only directed a few short films and does a decent job with this story interlacing the three tales together and making everything look and feel consistent like any good wraparound segment should.

Airell Anthony Hayles directed WEREWOLF SANTA and THEY’RE OUTSIDE and handles the first segment called “Personal Space” which deals with a cuckhold situation that is bound to make some squirm, as it really doesn’t hold back in the humiliation. This sordid affair has a surprise or two, but really is sort of a run of the mill situation that you’ve seen play out if you’ve happened to find yourself on some popular porn sites. Or at least that’s what I hear. Still, I couldn’t help but be freaked out a bit at the way this one played out.

“Eff, Marry, Kill” is from the director of PUNCH and the upcoming CINDERELLA’S REVENGE, Andy Edwards, and while it repeats the uncomfortability of the cuckhold situation, it does so in a much more sort of light-hearted way as a woman finds herself collared and trapped in a room with three former suitors, with whom she has to decide which one to eff, marry or kill. This segment is a SAW riff where an unseen voice guides the woman through the rules of the game. BTW, that unseen voice is Zach Galligan from GREMLINS, though I didn’t recognize him. I found this one just ok as well, though it seemed to have less of a perverted tone and more of a comical as all three of the former suitors, of course, are not happy to see each other at the mercy of this woman’s preference.

The saving grace of MIDNIGHT PEEPSHOW is “The Black Rabbit” by Jake West who was responsible for RAZOR BLADE SMILE, EVIL ALIENS, DOGHOUSE, and PUMPKINHEAD: ASHES TO ASHES. West tells an expansive little story in a very short time. This one deals with some really complex issues in terms of intimacy and how the spark of one’s marriage fades after time. Sarah Diamond stars as the dissatisfied housewife who finds that when her husband pays for sex, it excites her. But when her husband refuses to give in to her kink, she seeks thrills elsewhere, leading her down a very demented rabbit hole of prostitution, S&M, and finally to a dark web snuff room. This could have been made into a feature length film as I was riveted to this plot from beginning to end. The monster known as the Black Rabbit is horrifying and while I definitely got some HOSTEL and SERBIAN FILM vibes, this short keeps its dignity intact by saving the gratuitous violence to the very end.

And whoa what an ending. I would recommend MIDNIGHT PEEPSHOW for that final segment alone. The first two serve as decent lead-ins to the main course, but it’s Jake West’s segment that steals the show. It’s perverted stuff, but it is also good, mature, and twisted horror that is a nice detour from the safe horror that permeates the genre. All in all, if you don’t have any issue with having your boundaries pushed, MIDNIGHT PEEPSHOW exists to kink up your horror real nice-like.

The Best in Horror Countdown 2023-2024
#31 – HERE FOR BLOOD (DESTROY ALL NEIGHBORS)
#30 – THANKSGIVING (THE SACRIFICE GAME)
#29 – MILK & SERIAL (LOWLIFES)
#28 – PROJECT SILENCE (FROGMAN)
#27 – THE SEEDING (DARK HARVEST)
#26 – BEEZEL (THE FRESH HELL TRILOGY)
#25 – ABERRANCE (COLD MEAT)
#24 – OUT OF DARKNESS (ALL YOU NEED IS DEATH)
#23 – ARCADIAN (A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE)
#22 – YOU’LL NEVER FIND ME (GHOSTS OF THE VOID)
#21 – NEVER LET GO (LOVELY, DARK, & DEEP)
#20 – ABIGAIL (BLACKOUT)
#19 – SPEAK NO EVIL (EIGHT EYES)
#18 – BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (LISA FRANKENSTEIN)
#17 – MAXXXINE (SHERYL)
#16 – CUCKOO (AMELIA’S CHILDREN)
#15 – 15 CAMERAS (MIDNIGHT PEEPSHOW)

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Music & Arrangement by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy https://youtu.be/PDySbxQgZMg
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