Can you believe it’s already November!? This year is really flying by, but I’m glad it’s now my favorite time of the year with the anticipation of the holidays and, more importantly as a cinephile, fall movie season and Noirvember! Before moving ahead to the new month, a look back at October, which was filled with lots of movie-watching at home and in theaters. Beyond Fest continued from the last week of September into early October, and for me that included the West Coast premieres of Triangle of Sadness and The Menu, and a special screening of Cruising with an enlightening conversation with William Friedkin. I also saw a couple of filmmakers at the Academy Museum screenings last month: Tilda Swinton and Luca Guadagnino for I Am Love, and Park Chan-wook for Thirst. There were plenty of other great screenings that I went to but this introduction is long enough as it is, so let’s go ahead and look at the movies I watched for the first time in October.

New-to-Me: 43

Re-Watched: 33

New-to-Me Films by Decade:

• 1910s – 0
• 1920s – 0
• 1930s – 6
• 1940s – 1
• 1950s – 3
• 1960s – 4
• 1970s – 3
• 1980s – 14
• 1990s – 0
• 2000s – 5
• 2010s – 1
• 2020s – 6

List of New-to-Me Films:

1. Return of the Living Dead (1985)
2. Triangle of Sadness (2022)
3. The Woman King (2022)
4. TÁR (2022)
5. The Vampire Bat (1933)
6. Werewolf by Night (2022)
7. Near Dark (1987)
8. The House of the Devil (2009)
9. The Fan (1981)
10. The Menu (2022)
11. I Am Love (2009)
12. Little Miss Marker (1980)
13. Duel (1971)
14. Tape (2001)
15. Kwaidan (1964)
16. Decision to Leave (2022)
17. Prince of Darkness (1987)
18. The Keep (1983)
19. The Hidden (1987)
20. Memories of Murder (2003)
21. The Blob (1988)
22. Cat People (1982)
23. The Company of Wolves (1984)
24. Cage of Evil (1960)
25. Invaders of Mars (1953)
26. Stamboul Quest (1934)
27. Whipsaw (1935)
28. King of Chinatown (1939)
29. China Sky (1945)
30. China Doll (1958)
31. Pretty Poison (1968)
32. Play It as It Lays (1972)
33. Jacqueline Susann’s Once Is Not Enough (1975)
34. Crimes of Passion (1984)
35. The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
36. Mandy (2018)
37. Vampire’s Kiss (1988)
38. Secret Ceremony (1968)
39. Thirst (2009)
40. El vampiro negro (1953)
41. Mark of the Vampire (1935)
42. The Devil-Doll (1936)
43. Mac and Me (1988)

A Few Favorite Discoveries:

The Criterion Channel had a great collection of films under “’80s Horror” for October, and as you might have noticed from this past month’s stats, the decade I watched the most from was the ’80s, mostly thanks to watching several movies highlighted under that theme. The Hidden was one of these movies, and I ended up watching it as a part of the Criterion Movie Club live-tweet with star Kyle MacLachlan tweeting some fun reactions and insights. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this blend of sci-fi and horror as much as I did, but watching it in conjunction with the live-tweet definitely enhanced my viewing experience, especially because the film feels like a distant cousin of sorts to Twin Peaks, coming just a few years before MacLachlan appeared in the beloved series. As the actor himself noted, his character in this film even influenced one of the characters he played in the Twin Peaks revival. As a bit of a side note, the Criterion Movie Club viewing party was rewarding in not only giving me a new favorite movie but also because I was one of the lucky prizewinners. I now have a copy of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me signed by Kyle MacLachlan on the way to my mailbox.