All through October, I’ll be posting reviews of the best of the best films in the horror genre released since October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025. 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. GET AWAY (2024)

Released on December 6, 2024, and streaming on Hulu from IFC Films!
Directed by Steffen Haars.
Written by Nick Frost.
Check out the trailer here!!

Nick Frost plays Richard, the patriarch of a UK family who decide to go to Svalta, a remote Swedish island, for vacation. His wife Susan (Aisling Bea) claims her ancestors are from the island and looks forward to experiencing the island’s Festival of Karantan, which celebrates the island’s violent founding.
Richard can’t wait to spend time with his family, though his kids; Sam (Sebastian Croft) and Jesse (Maisie Ayers), would love to be anywhere else. Though they ignore the warnings from the locals about not going to the island, Richard and his family go anyway and find that this planned cultural experience isn’t going to be as quaint as they expected.

The Griswalds go to THE WICKER MAN island or for you modern kids, MIDSOMMAR Vacation. Nick Frost reteams with Steffen Haars, who also directed him in KRAZY HOUSE, which I have yet to see. GET AWAY is a satire on the recent folk horror craze. Everything you’d expect to see in a folk horror flick is there. The rituals. The weird harvesty masks. The worshipping of age-old traditions. The reclusive locals. The strangers in a strange land. It’s all there. It’s just, this time, it’s being done as a comedy. And it works splendidly.

Frost plays the sheepish and corny dad just looking for some time to reconnect with his family. It’s great seeing Frost return this year in three horror films. While I didn’t really like BLACK CAB, GET AWAY is more interesting and fun as it seems to lean towards Frost’s comedic talents rather than flexing his dramatic muscles. Sure, Frost can do a decent job with drama but GET AWAY shows where the man is comfortable and at his best. Here, he embodies Clark Griswald’s unwavering optimism and desire to recapture those golden years. As Richard, he delivers painful dad jokes and plays the butt of other jokes yet still shows his snarkier side when those expectations are beat down by his asshole kids and this strange island cult.

The wonderful Aisling Bea keeps right up with Frost’s comedic wit, delivering some barbed humor and witty comebacks to the less than friendly locals. Frost and Bea throw out some wonderful back-and-forthings with the ease of a classic comedic duo, really making it seem like this married couple have known each other for a lifetime. And the kids are great too. Much like Rusty and Audrey from the VACATION movies, they are jaded and bratty, mocking their lame parents and longing to be back home and miserable rather than on vacation and miserable. Maisie Ayers is especially good as the monotone Jesse, who has a love hate relationship with her brother, yet also delivers some tender moments with Frost.

Adding to the comedy is the delightful Eero Milonoff (from BORDER and more recently, AZRAEL) who plays the creepy owner of the Bed and Breakfast the family is staying at. Yes, the man looks strange, but he also skates that line of being a lovable innocent soul and a devilishly perverted monster so well. I hope this actor gets a lot of work. Horror would be all the better with Milonoff taking more genre roles.

And I haven’t even mentioned the fantastic performances from INVINCIBLE’s Jouko Ahola and Anitta Suikkari who are great as the town elders, who loathe seeing these tourists invade their island. I’m focusing on the cast because, really, it is this group of actors that really makes GET AWAY shine. The familial interactions/conflicts may be familiar, but set against the folk horror template, it all feels fresh and new. The various personalities feel developed, and the actors feel comfortable in the roles, maybe because they are basing themselves on those old VACATION movies. Either way, the cast delivers the comedy crisply and wickedly.

There is a huge turn in the story and things get absolutely blood-drenched soon enough, but the build featuring these characters interacting with one another is so much fun that it makes you overlook what could be labeled as a predictable turn. This development is best left witnessed and not spoiled, so that’s all I will say about that.

Just know that Frost and Co. have delivered a film that feels as if it made in the same vein as SHAUN OF THE DEAD, cleverly taking expectations we usually see in folk horror and flipping the hell out of them. I highly recommend this horror comedy that tickles and intrigues but never forgets the blood and scares too.

Worth Noting: DARK MATCH (2024)

Released on January 31, 2025, and streaming on Shudder from RLJE Films!
Directed/Written by Lowell Dean.
Check out the trailer here!!

Traveling around the country with a small-time wrestling crew, Miss Behave, played by Ayisha Issa, struggled with playing the heel (the role of the villain), meaning ever being the crowd-pleasing champion will never happen. When the troupe, along with her boyfriend and fellow wrestler Mean Joe Lean played by THE WALKING DEAD’s Steven Ogg, her arch rival Kate the Great played by Z and INFLUENCER’s Sara Canning, sleazy manager Rusty played by Jonathan Cherry and the silent masked wrestler Enigma played by Mo Adan, lands a gig too good to be true in a small winter town. But once they arrive, they realize the residents of this small town are strange, though they open the group with open arms. Once the match begins, led by games-master Spencer played by the always awesome Michael Eklund, Miss Behave, and the group realize they are playing for their lives in a match that turns out to be a dark ritual led by cult leader Prophet played by Chris Jericho. Now Miss Behave and her fellow wrestlers must fight for their lives as this wrestling match becomes all too real.

DARK MATCH is a whole bloody barrel of fun. In a day and age where horror sometimes takes itself too seriously with its heavy drama and elevated themes, it’s refreshing to see a film simply made to please the crowd. WOLF COP director Lowell Dean makes every match count in this tournament for the wrestler’s lives, creating unique scenarios representing the natural elements of fire, water, air, earth, and spirit to keep this action horror mashup going. The results are gruesome and bloody, never sparing the lingering shot of the carnage.

But what makes it all work is the deft use of character added by an incredibly talented cast. Ayisha Issa is phenomenal in the lead role Miss Behave. With a large stature, she is believable as a wrestler, but more importantly she is a good actor on top of that. This film would have fallen apart without her impassioned performance. We feel her frustrations for not having a chance at the best and her conflicting emotions with her relationship with her white co-star Steven Ogg. This film is set in the eighties after all, and multi-racial relationships were somewhat of a newer thing. This subtle social message is handled without beating you over the head over it and it is all the more effective because of that sole fact.

The rest of the cast rocks too. It’s great seeing Steven Ogg in a lead role of the good guy. He so often plays the scuzzy tough baddie and it’s great to see him get a chance to show his virtuous side for a change. Ogg’s got a wonderfully gruff Everyman vibe and I hope he gets to show this side more often. I also have to mention Michael Eklund, who always gives his all in his slithery performances. Here he is playing to type, but he always adds gravitas to a cast whenever he appears. Finally, while he has had cameos in the TERRIFIER series, Chris Jericho shines as the cult leader Prophet . He’s playing the role of the villain often seen in wrestling performances, but since this is an over-the-top movie, that style and presence works here. You really loathe this guy by the end.

I don’t know a lot about modern wrestling. My interest in it ended when the Rock got popular. But DARK MATCH really encapsulates the low fi wrestling vibes of old, with gimmick matches and colorful characters. Add in loads of gore and violence and especially characters worth investing in, and this one is a winner. Sure, the satanic ritual stuff is very cliched and while I liked the ending, the CG effects were less than great. DARK MATCH most importantly gives you colorful characters to root for and loathe, just like the good old days of wrasslin’! I recommend this one for old school wrestling fans and those who like a little gop and gore with their ultra-violence!

The Best in Horror Countdown 2024-2025
#31 – GET AWAY (DARK MATCH)