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!

25. LOOKY-LOO (2025)

Released on February 1, 2025, and streaming on Tubi from Weird on Top Pictures!
Directed by Jason Zink.
Written by Nolan Mihail.
Check out the trailer here!!

A twisted voyeur stalks, assaults, and murders one woman at a time as seen through the lens of his video camera.

I understand this is going to be a divisive movie for some. In a nutshell, LOOKY-LOO is one man with a camera walking around and entering women’s homes, punctuated by the occasional murder or act of perversion. It’s a simple low budget movie. But it is that rawness that appeals to me so much. This feels absolutely real. I mean, if you were to tell me that this is actual footage taken by a murderous peeping tom, I’d believe you. And that’s what makes it so terrifying.

We know very little about the antagonist. He considers himself a filmmaker as he is titling and editing this project. He takes particular items from his victims and adds them to his mannequin at home as trophies. And when he sees something that titillates him, he tends to get overly excited. All of this fleshes out the character to be a creep, but the film messes with your head in a way that few others have.

Reminiscent of the MANIAC remake from a decade ago, because the only perspective you see is the killer’s, I caught myself rooting for this awful person not to be caught. It’s unavoidable. You can’t help but do this. LOOLY-LOO plays with your morality. It entices you with that voyeuristic pull of seeing these women unaware of being watched. And never really gives you a break from that uncomfortable feeling. Sure, we’ve been watching films through the eyes of a killer for ages, starting with BLACK CHRISTMAS and HALLOWEEN, but few films place you firmly in the role of the voyeur/killer like this one does.

If you’re able to sit with the aforementioned MANIAC, or films like IN A VIOLENT NATURE and ANGST, you’re going to be able to endure LOOKY-LOO. It will effectively creep you and make you feel unclean after watching. For me, that kind of lingering after-effect is something I look for in horror. It really gets under your skin and gnaws. LOOKY-LOO certainly accomplishes that.

Worth Noting: THE CREEP TAPES Season One (2024)

Released on November 15, 2024, and streaming on Shudder from Duplass Brothers Productions!
Directed by Patrick Brice.
Written by Patrick Brice, Mark Duplass.
Check out the trailer here!!
CREEP (2014) Review here!!
CREEP 2 (2017) Review here!!
Just when we all thought there was nothing new the found footage genre could tackle, Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice delivered CREEP in 2014 and took the subgenre into a scary and uncomfortable new direction. I revisited CREEP and its sequel before diving into THE CREEP TAPES and the films still hold up in delivering chills that range from awkward to terrifying to plain wrong. The series promises more of the same as it delves into the Creep’s (Mark Duplass’) collection of videos we saw at the end of the first CREEP film. Each half hour segment is a truncated version of the two films.

And yes, they are uncomfortably funny and awkwardly terrifying as both segments have the Creep luring unsuspecting souls to a remote location to terrorize and inevitably kill them. All of these episodes have moments where you laugh because you are uncomfortable with the topics discussed that are so personal and odd, and gasp when the Creep finally turns from amusingly creepy to downright deadly.

And I think that’s where the problem might lay in this series. The first four episodes, while featuring different victims and different locales, start and end the same way—with the Creep killing the person at the end of each segment. Now I know that’s the premise of this franchise, but the series is in danger of being overly repetitive if it doesn’t look out. I’d love to see one person gets away and there’s a part one and two set of tapes. Or a tape taking place with the Creep as a kid. This would allow us into the brain of the enigmatic star of the series and offer us something new. This series needs that variety to keep from being redundant.

I trust Duplass and Brice to do just that. While it is subtle, there are moments of revelation that occur as the Creep meets a birdwatcher and finds their methods of luring in their interests are the same or in the first segment where we get a very cool scene where the Creep changes from friendly to diabolical right in front of our eyes. This is all Duplass who hasn’t missed a beat in the eight years since we last saw him in front of the camera as this Creep. The conversations will make your spine itch as he pries his way into the minds of his victims and scrapes away at their patience and sense of right, wrong, and reality. It really is a marvelous role and a performance I couldn’t see many other actors pull off.

I do have to warn you that in order to enjoy this series, I recommend watching the movies first. It’ll open up this creepy world Duplass has cobbled together and prepare you for the depravity to come.

Episode four feels like more of the same as Duplass’ Creeper once again lures some unsuspecting soul into his lair. By this time, the same format has been used in two movies and three episodes. So, it’s getting tired. Still the inclusion of actor Josh Rubin in the fourth episode only helps as his brand of humor really fits this series.

Episode five finally gets to some uncharted ground as the Creeper has a one-to-one with himself in a hotel room while waiting for his next victim. This is a real crisis of conscience episode as Duplass’ more ferocious side—Peachfuzz, the personality he takes while wearing the werewolf mask, begins to fight for control. This episode cheats in that the camera is able to capture two Duplass’ when one of them obviously is appearing only in the Creeper’s mind. I liked this venture into the self-loathing psyche of the Creeper, even though this episode broke the rules of found footage by showing a hallucination, something that just couldn’t be captured on camera. Still, this was an experimental episode that shakes up the monotony of reputation quite a bit. So, I appreciate that.

The final episode is a doozy and could have been extended to a full-length feature if they wanted to. The Creeper visits his mother’s house, scaring her with the mask, and discovering she has a new boyfriend. This, of course, doesn’t go well with the mama’s boy as the Creeper unravels right in front of his mother and her boyfriend. The result is disturbing and uncomfortable. But these are things that fans of this series of films and episodes have come to expect. I did appreciate this look behind the mask to see what the Creeper is really like. Turns out he’s quite the neurotic and doesn’t like sharing his mommy with anyone.

While the series deterred in intensity as it relied on the same format for too long. How many times can we see the Creeper lure someone into a desolate place, make them uncomfortable, and then eventually murder them with an axe. That’s my criticism of this series. Too much repetition. Yes, and those who need more action and kills per minute are going to find this a wear to one’s patience. Duplass’ Creep is going to get too much under the skin of some and they just won’t like feeling that way and turn it off. For me, I relished every weird and intrusive moment. THE CREEP TAPES gets good when it goes outside of the usual format in the final two episodes and focuses on the dynamic and warped psyche of this character Duplass has so painstakingly developed over the span of two movies and now six episodes. I don’t know if I’d like to see a Season Two of THE CREEP TAPES, even though it looks like that’s exactly what we are getting according to IMDB. I’d rather have Duplass, and his collaborator Patrick Brice wait for a clever idea to expand on in another feature lengther. But if you’re looking for horror that’ll make you squirm in your seat, Duplass and Brice know how to deliver it in bales and bales.

The Best in Horror Countdown 2024-2025
#31 – GET AWAY (DARK MATCH)
#30 – PABRIK GULA (#MISSINGCOUPLE)
#29 – YULE LOG 2: BRANCHIN’ OUT (THE LAST VIDEO STORE)
#28 – FREWAKA (THE SURRENDER)
#27 – FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES (V/H/S/BEYOND)
#26 – ALMA AND THE WOLF (CUSTOM)
#25 – LOOKY-LOO (THE CREEP TAPES)