The Big Picture · Review · Discussion · Top Five
October 18, 2024/ 110 min/ Sean Fennessey · Chris Ryan
The annual Halloween horror episode: Sean and Chris on Terrifier 3 and Smile 2, a long dig through the streaming pile, and each host's five best horror movies of the year.
24 films across 5 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
‘Terrifier 3’the number one movie in America
Damien Leone's third Art the Clown film opened at No. 1. Sean's read: these are Michael Bay movies, thin story, but every 18 minutes something you've never seen before. Chris admires the craft the way you'd admire dance choreography without being moved by it.
The crowdfunded surprise hit that made about $15 million and built the audience. Home of the bedroom kill Sean calls maybe the craziest in movie history: 'Tarkovsky but for slashing someone's skin off.'
The original. Neither host saw it until after 2 blew up.
Art the Clown's first appearance, over a decade before the sequels made a hit. A life's work Leone still owns outright.
‘Smile 2’Parker Finn's follow-up
Sky Riley (Naomi Scott) is a pop star relaunching her tour when the smile entity latches onto her guilt over an accident. The craft is strong (roving POV camera, sound design, practical gore), but both hosts find it shrill and repetitive, with maybe 60% of it happening in her head. They agree the final five minutes are bold and funny.
Parker Finn's $217M debut, powered by one of the great recent trailers. More dour and trauma-focused than the sequel.
The streaming pilegold, or painted copper
Gary Dauberman's long-shelved Stephen King adaptation on Max. Both hate it: meandering, streaming-tint, a period piece that looks freshly unboxed. Should have been a miniseries; Dauberman reportedly had a three-and-a-half-hour cut. Sean wanted the Doctor Sleep treatment.
The annual anthology, on Shudder, leaning sci-fi this time. Standouts: the skydiving-vs-UFOs 'Live and Let Die' (Justin Martinez), the Bollywood-robot 'Dream Girl,' and Kate Siegel's experimental Skinamarink-meets-Alien segment. Justin Long directs one; Jay Cheel does the wraparound.
E.L. Katz's nearly wordless folk-horror with Samara Weaving fleeing flesh-eaters in a post-apocalypse cult that cut out its own vocal cords. Written by Simon Barrett. More impressive than fun, but a great ending. On Shudder Oct 25.
Ariana DeBose as a chef haunted in her new restaurant. From the Blow the Man Down duo; Sean found it turgid and post-Menu late.
Not really horror. A time-jump Shyamalan-produced mystery with Dylan O'Brien and Eliza Scanlen. Both liked the performers, neither followed the movie. Sean calls the explication 'quite poor.'
Damian McCarthy's Irish horror (Shudder). A blind woman uses arcane curios to avenge her murdered sister. Three or four amazing scares; McCarthy has a real handle on dread.
A dead patriarch's apparition haunts his son and wife. Crazy sound design, strong creature design, genuine unease: the Shudder house style of obsessive craft.
Chris Ryan's 5 best horror movies of 2024revealed worst to best on air; No. 1 first here
No. 1: the one that's haunted him most. Long subjective tracking shots from the killer's POV; the cliff-edge kill is on another level even in the year of Terrifier 3. 'The pavement fan's Terrifier.'
No. 2: JT Mollner's chopped-up thriller, shot on film by Giovanni Ribisi, that plays like a slasher with a twist. Kyle Gallner terrific; the opening scene reframes the whole thing.
No. 3: taken purely as a haunted-house horror movie, Fede Alvarez's scares and kills land; the ending is as horrifying as anything in a theater this year.
No. 4: faux-found-footage about a 1970s talk show that summons a demon. David Dastmalchian excellent. The early-in-the-year release probably cost it a higher spot.
No. 5: a deep-cut found-footage entry (free on Prime) set in the Mojave. Janky true-crime framing, but relentless tempo and real scares. Sean had never heard of it.
Sean Fennessey's 5 best horror movies of 2024revealed worst to best on air; No. 1 first here
No. 1: Arkasha Stevenson's prequel, in his top 10 of the year. The Omen mythology bores him; Stevenson's take on women's bodies and church control is larded with ideas, gory and beautiful. On Hulu.
No. 2: Coralie Fargeat's body horror. Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley extraordinary; the practical effects and the swing of the final 45 minutes had him hooting in his seat. He's not there to litigate its feminism.
No. 3 (a double pick with Longlegs): Pascal Plante's Canadian thriller about a woman obsessed with a serial killer's trial. Juliette Gariépy extraordinary; horror as what an overexposure to true crime does to the mind.
No. 3 (paired with Red Rooms): Oz Perkins's post-Silence-of-the-Lambs serial-killer film with Maika Monroe. Divisive on its logic; the movie clicked for Sean after interviewing Perkins about his father and upbringing.
No. 4: also on Chris's list, at No. 1.
No. 5: Larry Fessenden's handmade werewolf movie (free on Tubi), one part character study, one part monster movie, with his usual social commentary. Alex Hurt gives a great lead performance.
Also mentioned raised along the way
The 2025 horror slate Wolf ManSaw XSpiral: From the Book of SawJigsawHereticNosferatuThe Conjuring: Last RitesM3GAN 2.0Five Nights at Freddy'sFive Nights at Freddy's 2Black Phone 2CompanionIt FollowsFinal Destination BloodlinesGuillermo del Toro's FrankensteinThe Bride!28 Years LaterI Know What You Did Last SummerPresenceBlack BagShelby OaksThe MonkeyThe Running Man
Stephen King on screen ItMaximum OverdriveThe BoogeymanPet SemataryFirestarterThe Dark TowerChildren of the CornThe Shawshank RedemptionChristineThe Life of ChuckMiseryNeedful ThingsDoctor SleepThe Shining
Also mentioned Killer Klowns from Outer SpaceNight SwimOppenheimerWhat Lies BeneathFaces of DeathHell House LLCDinner in AmericaSnack ShackPerfect BlueTrapPossessionThe Sixth SenseThe Texas Chain Saw MassacrePoltergeistThe StrangersOculusOuija: Origin of EvilThe Blair Witch ProjectHostUnfriendedSkinamarinkI Saw the TV GlowAlienTuskBarbarianGodzilla x Kong: The New EmpireThe OutwatersCheap ThrillsYou're NextStake LandBlow the Man DownThe MenuBackcountryOut Come the WolvesMonkey ShinesAnnabelle Comes HomeWolfsImmaculateGladiator IIPrometheusAlien: CovenantThe OmenArachnophobiaStingInfestedMidsommarAnoraSing SingHeatThe Silence of the LambsSe7enIt Ends with UsDepravedWendigoNightmare AlleyGuillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV The Walking DeadDarkThe StandSalem's Lot (1979 miniseries)Salem's Lot (2004 miniseries)Castle RockWelcome to DerryDead SetBlack MirrorFriday Night LightsGhostwatch
Video games Resident Evil
Ads The Ringer WNBA ShowTremfyaFanDuelGoogle AI Professional CertificateBotoxWayfairStitch Fix