October Horror Movie Challenge: Nosferatu (2024)

 Tonight is a good one. I saw this near when it came out and was going to talk about it then, but I think tonight is a good night for a rewatch. Plus it give Bill Skarsgård a chance for a better movie than last night's.

Nosferatu (2024)

Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu (2024) isn’t just a remake; it’s a resurrection. Like the vampire at its center, this story keeps returning from the grave every few generations, and somehow, each time it reflects the fears and fascinations of its age. I’ve covered this story before, the eerie, expressionist nightmare of Nosferatu (1922) and Werner Herzog’s hauntingly romantic Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979). Eggers’ version stands confidently beside them, not as a copy or homage, but as a fever dream that feels both ancient and new.

This film bleeds atmosphere. Eggers’ knack for historical texture is on full display here, shadowed streets, candlelit halls, and the creeping weight of superstition pressing in from every frame. You can practically smell the damp wood and grave dust. It’s a gorgeous film to look at, but more importantly, it feels lived in, the way all great Gothic horror should. It feels like it was shot at the same time as the original 1922 version, only you are not watching a film from 1922, you are living in Wisburg viewing the 1890s from the 1920s.

The cast is exceptional across the board. Bill Skarsgård (who is becoming a bit of horror icon) gives us a Count Orlock who is both pitiful and terrifying, a creature shaped by hunger and loneliness as much as evil. He’s not the romantic vampire of modern cinema (like his brother Alexander's character Eric Northman of "True Blood") and is more the plague and death himself, given human form. It’s not surprising that Skarsgård disappears under the makeup; what’s impressive is that he still conveys so much anguish through it.  Watch his eyes. 

Nicholas Hoult as Hutter (or Harker, for the original Stoker version) plays the role with just the right blend of innocence and mounting dread. Lily-Rose Depp brings a fragile, almost ethereal quality to Ellen (Mina), the film’s tragic center, while Aaron Taylor-Johnson (as Harding/Holmwood) and Emma Corrin (as Anna/Lucy) round out the cast with sharp, grounded performances that make the human drama as compelling as the horror.

And of course, Willem Dafoe as Professor Eberhart (Eggers’ Van Helsing figure) is a treat. It’s impossible not to appreciate the meta-textual layer here, Dafoe once played Max Schreck himself in "Shadow of the Vampire (2000)," a film that imagined the making of the original Nosferatu with Schreck as a real vampire. Seeing him now on the other side of that mirror is a delight for longtime fans of the myth.

Where the 1922 version was stark and alien and the 1979 film was slow and melancholy, Eggers’ Nosferatu is feverish, baroque, and tragic. It’s horror as folklore; personal, physical, and cosmic all at once. The tone is closer to The Witch or The Lighthouse than Dracula; it’s about fear of the unknowable and the price of obsession.

I loved it. It’s the rare modern Gothic that understands how to be beautiful and horrible in equal measure. Eggers never mocks the old tropes; he reveres them. He lets the candlelight flicker, the coffin creak, and the silence linger just long enough to make your skin crawl.

NIGHT SHIFT & Occult D&D Ideas

Do I even need to go over how this would work in-game? Pretty much Ravenloft and Vampire the Masquerade were based on the original movie and the associated Dracula myths/stories.

But taking a page from Egger's books use vampires that are not all "good evening" and charm. Some, most even, should be Death on two legs. 

In this movie Orlock was a Solomonar, or a type of evil sorcerer. This puts him more in line with the Dracula of "Powers of Darkness" and "The Satanic Rites of Dracula." So there is a lot of different things you can do with a vampire like this than you typically see with Dracula. 

In NIGHT SHIFT a vampire with levels of Sorcerer or Witch is truly terrifying creature. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 18
First Time Views: 16

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Crow (2024)

 There’s a special kind of danger in remaking The Crow. The 1994 original wasn’t just a movie, it was lightning in a bottle: grief, rage, love, and gothic tragedy all wrapped around Brandon Lee’s haunting final performance. It was an urban ghost story that meant something. It was the "Citizen Kane" of the Goth 90s.

So, when I heard that Bill Skarsgård was taking on the role, I went in with cautious optimism. He’s got the presence, the range, and the eyes for it. Unfortunately, this new version doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be, and the result feels like an empty shell with no heartbeat.

The Crow (2024)

Let’s start with what works. Bill Skarsgård is great. He commits fully to the role of Eric, giving the character a raw, wounded energy that almost saves the film from itself. Almost. FKA Twigs (aka Tahliah Debrett Barnett) as Shelly has the kind of haunting charisma you want from a supernatural love story; she’s ethereal, mysterious, and grounded all at once. And Danny Huston, as always, brings gravitas to his role as the antagonist. If he is in something, I am going to pay attention and hope he is the bad guy. He’s one of those actors who can make a line of dialogue sound like prophecy. 

But that’s about where the praise stops. 

The movie’s biggest problem is emotional weight, or the lack of it. In the original, Eric and Shelly’s love was the film’s soul. They were engaged, planning a life together, brutally murdered on the eve of their wedding. Their story hurt because it mattered. Their love was the kind of thing you could feel in the air, something worth crossing death to reclaim.

Here? I just don’t buy it. Their relationship feels more like a concept than a connection. We’re told they love each other, but never shown that, only in the most shallow of ways. Without that, the revenge story loses its heart. The violence feels hollow, the tragedy performative. It’s all mood and no meaning. This is no fault of Skarsgård or FKA Twigs, they sell it the best they can.

Visually, it’s stylish, moody neon, dark rain, that same “urban myth meets grunge music video” aesthetic, but even that feels oddly sterile. The original Crow’s world was grimy, angry, and alive. This one feels manufactured, like a high-end perfume commercial with blood spatter. Eric Draven in the original is a driven force of vengeance, not for the goal or pleasure of killing (quite the opposite in fact), but because of his pain.  Eric is this one feels like he is killing because something was taken from him. The difference is subtle, and knowing that difference tells you why the first one is a classic and the new one forgettable. 

Skarsgård deserves better. He brings shades of sorrow that could have anchored a stronger script, and FKA Twigs radiates the kind of energy that should have made her Shelly unforgettable. But without the emotional architecture, it’s all just noise and ash. 

I wanted to like it. I really did. I wanted to give it a chance. But this version of The Crow misses the point; the resurrection of love, not the celebration of vengeance.

NIGHT SHIFT & Occult D&D Ideas

If you’re playing NIGHT SHIFT, The Crow has always been the archetype for “The Driven,” characters who return from death to right unbearable wrongs. The Driven from The Night Companion is made for this kind of story:

• Origin: Murdered unjustly, bound to the world by rage and unfinished love.

• Motivation: Redemption, closure, or vengeance; sometimes all three.

• Tone: It’s not about being undead; it’s about being unable to rest.

• Mechanics: In NIGHT SHIFT terms, your “anchor” (the emotional bond that holds you here) is everything. Without that, you’re just another spirit with a weapon.

The original Crow is how you do it right, a Driven character whose power is love corrupted into wrath. The 2024 remake? It’s the opposite, wrath with nothing to redeem it. Still, as game fuel, there’s plenty to mine here: tone, atmosphere, and tragedy. Just make sure your version remembers the heart behind the horror.

Dungeons & Dragons has this in the Revenant. They even made a class for it in 4e. This could work for 5e.

I also created a Revenant class for Old-School Essentials in Monster Mash.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 17
First Time Views: 15

October Horror Movie Challenge: Sputnik (2020)

This is a "lite-horror" movie. My wife picked it, and she is not a horror person. Still, it had a good story and was a lot of fun.

Sputnik (2020)

Every few years a movie comes along that reminds me why I love the intersection of science fiction and horror—the cold corridors, the moral ambiguity, the sense that humanity is both the experimenter and the experiment. Sputnik (2020), a Russian film directed by Egor Abramenko, nails that tone perfectly. It’s equal parts Alien, Arrival, and The Thing, but filtered through the icy paranoia of the late Soviet era.

Set in 1983, the story opens with a cosmonaut mission gone wrong. One of the two men returns to Earth, alive, but not alone. Something came back with him. The surviving astronaut, Konstantin (Pyotr Fyodorov), is quarantined at a secret military facility where psychologist Tatyana Klimova (Oksana Akinshina) is brought in to evaluate him. Her discoveries form the film’s slow, unnerving reveal: the creature lives inside him, emerging only when he sleeps.

The beauty of Sputnik lies in its restraint. This isn’t a creature feature with non-stop gore, it’s a tense, methodical study of control, ethics, and survival. The creature design is excellent, organic, sinewy, almost elegant in its grotesquery, and the way it’s symbiotically connected to Konstantin gives the whole film a tragic undertone.

Akinshina’s performance carries the movie. As Tatyana, she’s brilliant and empathetic, a scientist navigating a world ruled by secrecy and fear. Her quiet defiance in the face of military authority gives the story a strong moral backbone. Fyodorov, meanwhile, delivers a layered portrayal of Konstantin—part hero, part host, part victim. The supporting cast, especially Fedor Bondarchuk as the cold, pragmatic Colonel, rounds it out with just the right shade of bureaucratic menace.

Visually, Sputnik is gorgeous. The muted Soviet palette, gray walls, cold steel, and red floodlights make the few splashes of biological horror stand out even more. Everything feels grounded and real, which makes the alien all the more unsettling.

What really sells it, though, is that under the horror, Sputnik is a story about compassion in an inhuman system. Tatyana’s empathy becomes her rebellion. The film doesn’t just ask, “What is the monster?” It asks, “Who gets to decide what’s monstrous?”

We joked that this movie took a lot of influences from both Aliens and Avatar. I imagine if James Cameron had directed this, there would have been a lot more blood and gore.

Occult D&D and NIGHT SHIFT/Thirteen Parsecs

This is the sort of thing I want to do most with a NIGHT SHIFT and Thirteen Parsecs crossover. It’s a perfect bridge between the two, space-born horror that bleeds into secret government facilities and ethical nightmares.

• Setting: The isolated Soviet research base is ideal for a one-shot or small campaign. Swap out the USSR for any Cold War or near-future setting, and you’ve got an instant “containment horror” scenario.
  
  
• The Creature: Not evil, just alien. Its bond to the host makes it more tragic than villainous. Mechanically, it could be treated like a symbiotic parasite that grants enhanced senses, physical strength, and telepathic empathy—but at a psychological cost.
  
  
• The PCs: Scientists, soldiers, or medics trapped between orders and conscience. The horror isn’t just the alien, it’s the bureaucracy trying to weaponize it.
  
  
• Tone: Think Alien meets The Fly, but stripped of corporate gloss and injected with Cold War moral decay.

If you’re running a NIGHT SHIFT campaign, the creature could easily be the remnant of a failed space probe encounter. If you’re running Thirteen Parsecs, it’s your first-contact scenario gone horribly right, or wrong, depending on your point of view. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 16
First Time Views: 14

October Horror Movie Challenge: Ed and Lorraine Warren Documentaries - The Conjuring Series

 It's Sunday. I am coming down from my Conjuring high, but I still wanted some more. Since I allow myself at least one night of documentaries, I am taking it tonight with some documentaries about Ed and Lorraine Warren's best-known cases.

Amityville Horror House (2021)

This one covers Ed and Lorraine's most famous case, the Amityville Horror House. Interestingly enough this one was not made into a Conjuring movie. Likely because there have been so many Amityville movies already. 

We start with Ronald DeFeo Jr. and the mass murder of his family in 1974. We spend a little bit of time with this case and DeFeo making claims of ghosts and devils in the house.  

The documentary quickly shifts to George and Kathy Lutz. This is the big Amityville story. I do love how the so-called "paranormal investigators" speak with such authority. Silly for reality, but great for games.

We go through the Lutzes' stay in the house day by day. It is rather fun going through it all. 

Oh, drinking game, every time they give you the full address, 112 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, Long Island, NY, drink. 

Ed and Lorraine Warren show up about 2/3's of the way through. And yes, that is Poison drummer Rikki Rockett giving us his expert opinion on the Amityville House.

The Devil Made Me Do It (2021)

This is the case that also gave us Conjuring The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) from last night. We now move to Brookfield, CT in 1981. This is the second documentary I have seen on this. I think I saw it on Netflix (very likely. Edited, yes.) and it was better than this one. This one, though, does have some footage of Lorraine Warren from 2005. 

It covers the possession of David, the murder by Johnson, and his trial. Of course, the involvement of the Warrens.

It's fun, but not as, dare I say, "good" as the Amityville Horror House one.

I freely admit I like Ed and Lorraine Warren. It is very, very obvious they would not have liked me; a skeptical atheist trained as a rationalist. Although I am not immune to the lure of empiricism, Warren and I would differ on what constitutes experience.  

Occult D&D and NIGHT SHIFT

While nothing for Occult D&D (as such) there two great ideas we can get from this all. First and most obviously is the haunted house. It's no exaggeration to say that Amityville is the best-known haunted house in America. 

Second is the idea of a demonic possession as a cause/reason for a crime. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 15
First Time Views: 11

October Horror Movie Challenge: Conjuring Last Rites (2025) - The Conjuring Series

 I had hoped this would happen. The last Conjuring movie became available for rent on Amazon earlier this week. So let's get to it!

Conjuring Last Rites (2025)  - Conjuring Timeline 1964, 1986

Last Rites arrives as the final chapter of the Conjuring saga (for Ed & Lorraine at least), and that weight is felt in every frame. It’s a film that knows it’s wrapping up decades of lore, and it leans into both sentiment and spectacle to try to stick the landing.

The film opens in 1964, with Ed and Lorraine (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, as steady and soulful as ever) investigating a haunting tied to an antique mirror in a curio shop. Lorraine, pregnant with their first child, experiences a devastating vision—a demon intertwined with her unborn baby. She collapses, and though Ed rushes her to the hospital, the child is stillborn. Only Lorraine’s desperate prayer revives the infant. She names her Judy.

Fast-forward to 1986. The Smurl family moves into a home in West Pittston, Pennsylvania, Jack, Janet, their four daughters, and Jack’s parents. At Heather’s confirmation, her grandfather gifts her that same mirror. From there, it’s all downhill: flickering lights, things that move on their own, whispers in the dark, and the slow unraveling of a family under siege by forces they don’t understand.

Meanwhile, the Warrens are older now; tired, retired, and quietly fraying. Ed’s heart is failing. Their lectures draw smaller crowds. And Judy (Sterling Jerins returning, all grown up) is seeing visions she can no longer ignore. When Father Gordon dies under mysterious circumstances while investigating the Smurl haunting, Judy defies her parents and sets out to confront what she’s certain is her demon.

That middle act, with Judy taking the lead, is where the movie really picks up. It’s not just another haunted house story, it’s generational horror. The sins and miracles of the parents come back to claim the child.

What follows is the most intense final act in the franchise. Lorraine realizes that the three ghosts tormenting the Smurls, a man, his wife, and her mother, are merely puppets, enslaved by the demon from that mirror. Judy becomes the true target, and when the demon possesses her, the Warrens must face not just the supernatural, but their greatest fear: losing their daughter to the very darkness they’ve spent their lives fighting.

The film’s climax mirrors (pun intended) the first scene. Judy, possessed, attempts to hang herself, echoing Lorraine’s near-death childbirth from years before. Once again, prayer and love pull her back, and together, mother and daughter channel Lorraine’s psychic gifts to destroy the mirror once and for all. The demon is banished, the Smurls find peace, and the cursed artifact joins the Warrens’ museum—where we know it’s just waiting for the next poor soul to stare too long into the glass.

It all ends with Judy’s wedding to Tony (a nice bit of light after all the darkness), and Lorraine’s final vision of the peaceful years ahead. For once, the Warrens get a moment of grace.

Patrick Wilson & Vera Farmiga return one last time as Ed and Lorraine with all the wear, faith, and heartbreak the roles now demand. Their chemistry still holds, and there are moments late in the film where you feel the years of fights, scars, and losses between them. If you came to this movie first, you would wonder what this was all about. There is certainly a lot of "final lap" feel about this movie. 

As I mentioned earlier, I'm a fan of these characters and actors, which makes me the target audience for this fan service.

The Future

This movie did quite well in the theatres. So well, I have a hard time believing that this will be the last one. Maybe Judy (who is a real person, mind you) will pick up the demon-hunting mantle. 

I have an idea for my wrap-up of this series tomorrow.

Occult D&D and NIGHT SHIFT

For NIGHT SHIFT:

This movie is a character-driven campaign come to life. Judy embodies that archetype perfectly, a character whose power is both blessing and burden. You could easily model her as a Theosophist or Psychic, haunted by inherited trauma, hunted by the very spirits she seeks to understand.

The mirror itself functions as a Cursed Relic, tied to a specific demon that imprints on bloodlines.

The multi-generational structure (Lorraine’s trauma → Judy’s possession) is a fantastic framework for a long-term NIGHT SHIFT campaign. The characters don’t just fight evil, they inherit it.

The exorcism and “last rites” sequence could be a full session in itself: simultaneous spiritual combat and physical rescue, with each failure raising the stakes for a possession save.

For Occult D&D:

In D&D terms, the demon would be a Bound Fiend, an entity once trapped by ritual, now reawakened through a cursed item. The mirror is the perfect anchor for a demonic spirit gone rogue.

Mirror Magic: Treat it as a magical focus that reflects the caster’s worst thoughts. Each time it’s used, there’s a chance to “call forth” the reflection’s demonic twin.

Intergenerational Curse: Perfect for a "Legacy Adventure," the descendants of past heroes confronting an evil they thought destroyed.

Final Rites: Could be written as a high-level Ritual spell, one that requires a familial bond between casters to complete.

Last Rites would make an excellent mini-campaign or one-shot finale: a family of psychic investigators confronting their own cursed inheritance.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 13
First Time Views: 11

October Horror Movie Challenge: Conjuring The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) - The Conjuring Series

 Last night's Conjuring was rather fun. Here's hoping tonight's is as good. This is the third of the Conjuring films. 

Conjuring The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) - Conjuring Timeline 1981

By the third Conjuring film, you’d expect the formula to start feeling very familiar: haunted family, demonic possession, big exorcism finale. But The Devil Made Me Do It (2021) takes a different angle, trading the haunted house structure for something closer to an occult detective story. It’s less about one cursed farmhouse and more about Ed and Lorraine Warren following a trail of dark magic through small towns, morgues, and courtrooms.

The film opens strong with a brutal exorcism sequence, one of the best in the series, where young David Glatzel is freed from possession only for the demon to leap into Arne Johnson. From there, we follow the Warrens as they try to prove Arne’s innocence in the first U.S. murder trial to claim “demonic possession” as a defense. Along the way, they uncover a hidden Satanic curse and a sinister occultist pulling the strings.

It’s a bold move. Instead of another “family in peril” story, this entry leans into mystery and investigation. That’s both its strength and its weakness. On the one hand, it freshens up the formula and gives Vera Farmiga’s Lorraine a lot more to do as she dives deeper into visions and psychic battles. On the other hand, the trade-off is fewer sustained scares. There are eerie moments, the waterbed sequence, the morgue encounter, but overall, it’s less terrifying than its predecessors.

What carries it, as always, are the performances. Wilson and Farmiga remain the franchise’s heart. Their relationship is the anchor in the storm, and this time their bond is tested harder than ever. Without them, the whole thing might feel like just another supernatural procedural. With them, it has warmth and weight.

In the end, The Devil Made Me Do It isn’t as tight or scary as The Conjuring or The Conjuring 2, but it’s a fascinating evolution. It opens the door for the franchise to move beyond just “scary houses” and into a broader world of occult threats. Think of it as a side quest that still matters, even if it doesn’t quite hit the natural 20 of the first two adventures.

I watched a documentary on the real case a while back. So I kinda knew what to expect here. 

Conjuring Last Rites was released as a rental earlier this week, so I am going to get to that one now.

Maybe I'll take on Insidious next. 

Occult D&D and NIGHT SHIFT

From a gamer’s perspective, this film feels like when the DM shifts the campaign from dungeon crawling to investigative play. The haunted house is behind you; now it’s about piecing together clues, following cultists, and uncovering who’s really behind the possession. The finale, with its showdown in an underground altar chamber, is pure “final dungeon” stuff, complete with cursed relics and a villain who thinks they’re untouchable.

It is a good template for occult investigation for any type of play.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 12
First Time Views: 10

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Conjuring 2 (2016) - The Conjuring Series

 After last night's disappointment, we come to the next movie, chronologically, and also a proper "main-line" sequel, 2016's Conjuring 2.

The Conjuring 2 (2016) - Conjuring Timeline 1976, 1977? (1979-1980)

I have run into my first dating controversy here. The movie and documentation online say this is taking place in 1977, but the movie's surroundings, Iron Lady Maggie on TV, and the Clash's "London Calling" put this more into 1979, but no later than 1980. It is based on The Enfield Case, which occurred between 1977 and 1979. The scenes with Ed, Lorraine, and Judy (who is still young here) take place in 1977, and they don't arrive in Enfield, London, until 1979 or so. Granted, I am only like 25 mins in, so this might all get explained to me later. Nope, an hour or so in Ed says it is 1977. 

The setup mirrors the first film: a struggling family, strange disturbances, and a spirit that won’t let go. This time, the Hodgson family is haunted by an old man who insists the house is his. Furniture moves, knocks echo through the walls, and young Janet Hodgson becomes the primary focus of the entity’s wrath. The Warrens (again, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) arrive to help, but soon realize something darker is at play. The setup mirrors the first film: a struggling family, strange disturbances, and a spirit that won’t let go. This time, the Hodgson family is haunted by an old man who insists the house is his. Furniture moves, knocks echo through the walls, and young Janet Hodgson becomes the primary focus of the entity’s wrath. The Warrens (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) arrive to help, but soon realize something darker is at play, namely our old friend Valak, the demon nun who would go on to terrify audiences in her own spinoffs, OR, if you are like me, watched first.

What makes The Conjuring 2 work is its confidence. Wan knows exactly how to stage a scare by this point, and he stretches them out like a conductor building a symphony. The “crooked man” sequence feels like something pulled straight out of a nightmare, while Valak’s appearances, especially the painting scene, are among the most iconic moments in modern horror. There is a reason these movies work so well, and this is just one of them.

But what really elevates the film is the heart. The Hodgsons are sympathetic, not just victims, and the Warrens are portrayed with warmth and sincerity. The scene of Ed singing “Can’t Help Falling in Love” to lighten the family’s spirits is pure magic; it’s the kind of character beat that makes the horror matter more because you want these people to survive. I am not sure if the real Ed and Lorraine could sing, but Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga certainly do. Patrick Wilson did a duet with Ghost's Tobias Forge covering the goth-rock "Stay" by Shakespears Sister. Vera Farmiga is also the lead in her own goth-metal band, "The Yagas."

I would like to give a special shout-out to the young Madison Wolfe in her dual roles as Janet Hodgson, who is fantastic as both the innocent Janet and the demon-possessed Janet. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are excellent as always. Wilson also shows a lot more of his comedic side, which is rather great. When Wilson (as Ed) picks up the gigantic VHS camera and puts it on his shoulder and exclaims, "Wow, it is so light!" I laughed out loud.

Valak

While this is the official introduction of the demon nun Valak, it's not my introduction.  Though let's be honest, her introduction here is top-notch. As a horror monster, she is right up there. Maybe not Dracula or Frankenstein's monster, iconic, but I like her better than Jason or Leatherface.  Credit to actress Bonnie Aarons for portraying her with such malevolence.  Yes, I want more of her, but I also don't want her to overstay her welcome.

Occult D&D and NIGHT SHIFT

From a gamer’s perspective, The Conjuring 2 is a masterclass in escalation. Start with the simple poltergeist (moving furniture, knocking sounds), then layer in possession, then reveal that it’s all a smokescreen for a greater evil pulling the strings. That’s exactly how you’d structure a multi-session horror campaign: minor encounters building to the reveal of the true Big Bad. And Valak? She’s the perfect boss monster, introduced with just enough mystery to keep the table buzzing long after the game ends.

I am now disappointed I didn't include Valac in my Left Hand Path book.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 11
First Time Views: 9

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Curse of La Llorona (2019) - The Conjuring Series

There is some debate on whether or not The Curse of La Llorona is really part of the Conjuring Universe. There are connections with characters, namely, Tony Amendola as Father Perez and much of the same production team. But it doesn't include the Warrens at all, which seems to be the defining element to be a proper Conjuring movie. But I have enjoyed tales about La Llorona in the past, so I wanted to include it. 

The Curse of La Llorona (2019) - Conjuring Timeline 1673, 1973

The highlight of this movie for me is Linda Cardellini as Anna Tate-Garcia, the case worker who uncovers the mystery of La Llorona.  

The story follows social worker Anna, who gets tangled up in the legend of La Llorona, the “Weeping Woman” cursed to wander the earth, drowning children to replace the ones she lost. Naturally, Anna’s own kids become the next target. With help from a former priest turned folk healer (Raymond Cruz), she has to protect them as the ghostly figure stalks the family through a series of dark nights and spectral encounters.

On its own terms, the movie is serviceable but forgettable. Sadly this is true for many of the La Llorona movies I have seen.  The scares are formulaic, long silences, sudden jolts, loud noises, bones cracking, and while La Llorona’s design is creepy enough, she never feels as iconic as Valak or even Annabelle. The performances are solid (Cardellini anchors the film with genuine emotion), but the script doesn’t give them much to work with beyond the usual haunted-house beats.

Where things get messy is the franchise connection. The film was marketed as part of the Conjuring universe, largely because of a cameo by Father Perez (Tony Amendola), the same priest from Annabelle (2014). But that’s it, no Warrens, no lore tie-ins, no connective tissue beyond a wink and a nod. The result is that La Llorona feels more like an afterthought than a true expansion of the world. It’s a missed opportunity: imagine if the film had really leaned into the folklore and shown us how global legends tie into the same demonic forces the Warrens fight. Instead, it plays like “Conjuring-lite.”

At the end of the day, The Curse of La Llorona is a footnote, a half-step: a film that wants to belong to the Conjuringverse but never quite earns its place. It’s not bad, exactly; it’s just uninspired. Horror fans deserved a folkloric deep dive; instead, they got a by-the-numbers spookfest with a brand-name label slapped on. The only thing that saves this is Linda Cardellini.

This was easily my least favorite so far. I'll go watch some Spanish-language La Llorona. They may not be any better, but at least I can practice my Spanish.

Occult D&D and NIGHT SHIFT

La Llorona could make a great folkloric monster. The archetype of the grief-stricken, child-stealing ghost is strong, perfect for Ravenloft or a NIGHT SHIFT. But in this film, the execution never matches the potential. It’s like the DM came up with a great monster idea but only used it for random jump scares instead of building a full scenario around it.

I get it. I have been following tales of La Llorona for decades. I wanted to use her in WitchCraft RPG buit never could get her just right. The same trouble, it seems, the filmmakers had here.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 10
First Time Views: 8

October Horror Movie Challenge: Annabelle Comes Home (2019) - The Conjuring Series

 I have to give credit to HBO Max, it has all the Conjuring movies in chronological and release order. So it has made it easy for me.  Tonight we come back to Annabelle and the Warrens.

Annabelle Comes Home (2019) - Conjuring Timeline 1972-1973

"She's in a case for a reason." Judy Warren on Annabelle.

This one picks up on a thread from Annabelle, the Warrens picking up the Annabelle doll from the nursing students.  As they drive home, we learn from Lorraine (again, the fantastic Vera Farmiga) that the doll attracts all sorts of wayward spirits. This is punctuated when Ed (the equally fantastic Patrick Wilson) is pushed out into the road in front of a moving truck by a ghost. He survives (we still have a lot more movies after all).  The scene where they bring the doll home and seal it up is genuinely creepy, but no scares, which works to the movie's favor. 

In this movie, we are joined by Mckenna Grace as Judy Warren, who might be one of the hardest-working young actresses in Hollywood. Seriously, go to her IMDB page.

So the big question here is: Annabelle has been featured in two movies already and mentioned in another (and movies I have not seen yet) what more could you possibly do with her? The answer, as it turns out, is “make her the centerpiece of a supernatural funhouse where every cursed object in the Warrens’ basement gets a chance to shine.” Sounds like a great adventure to me.

The setup is simple, and that’s what makes it work. The Warrens (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, in glorified cameos) head out of town, leaving their daughter Judy (Mckenna Grace) at home with babysitter Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman). Naturally, Annabelle gets loose, and soon every artifact in the Warrens’ collection is humming with malicious intent. Ghosts, specters, and demonic presences crawl out of the woodwork, turning the house into a siege of supernatural chaos.

Judy is the focus of this movie, showing some of her mother's gifts (she keeps seeing a dead priest), and as expected, she is the ostracized girl in school. The Warrens are not in this as much and you know what? You don't miss them even when their legacy looms large.

Aside. So far, this one has the best soundtrack of all the movies in the series.

If Annabelle (2014) was only ok, and Annabelle: Creation (2017) was genuinely creepy, then Annabelle: Comes Home lands somewhere in between, it’s less about building dread and more about delivering a “greatest hits” reel of haunted set-pieces. In that sense, it almost feels like an anthology: the Ferryman, the Hellhound, the Bride, each new apparition stealing a scene before Annabelle herself reminds us she’s still the queen of cursed dolls. Daniela's walk through the Warren's storeroom of haunted artifacts is actually is really fun. If you are a horror aficionado or a fan of the creepy and bizarre, there are plenty of recognizable items. 

As I mentioned above, the film’s secret weapon is Mckenna Grace. She gives Judy Warren a vulnerability and quiet strength that grounds the whole thing. She is really, really good. I am looking to seeing how much better she will get now that she can take on bigger roles. The supporting cast, especially Katie Sarife as the curious friend Daniela, brings warmth and humor to what could have just been a parade of jump scares. I mean they could have made Daniela the idiot friend that lets out all the ghosts, but instead you really feel for her. 

Is it the scariest entry in the Conjuring Universe? No. But it is the most fun. It’s a popcorn horror flick, a rollercoaster through the Warrens’ nightmare museum. And in a franchise that sometimes leans too heavy on grim seriousness, that lighter touch isn’t a bad thing.

The first Conjuring has been the best so far, but I like this one a lot too. 

We end with a photo of the real Warrens and a dedication to Lorraine Warren who died in 2019. Judy Warren is currently the owner of the Warren's Museum.  

Occult D&D and NIGHT SHIFT

From a gamer’s perspective, Annabelle Comes Home is basically a haunted dungeon crawl. The party (the kids) are locked in a location full of cursed relics, and each one is its own encounter. Open the wrong cabinet, fail the wrong saving throw, and you’re dealing with an entirely new monster. It’s the kind of “house of horrors” scenario every GM secretly wants to run, where the players never know what’s coming through the next door.

The occult angle is that each object has its own history, its own connection to the world of the supernatural.  In NIGHT SHIFT you would need to research them to figure out how to shut them down. 

The Warren's storeroom and office is a treasure trove of ideas.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 9
First Time Views: 7

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Conjuring (2013) - The Conjuring Series

The centerpiece of the Conjuring Universe, the one that started it all.

The Conjuring (2013) - Conjuring Timeline 1968-1971 

Ok. There is lot going on here. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga star as real-life couple and demonic investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Warrens' investigations also gave us the Amityville Horror story and film franchises. Maybe I should have included them in this. Nah.  Lorraine Warren even makes a cameo appearance in this movie, before her passing in 2019. 

First off, Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga are both fantastic. I have enjoyed everything they have been in even when the surrounding movie was terrible.  This movie is not terrible. 

And honestly, the whole cast is fantastic.  Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor as the Perron parents, and Joey King as one of their daughters. All also based on real people. 

The Annabelle sub-plot is only the prologue to the main tale. 

By 2013, the haunted house genre seemed played out, but this movie really revived it. Revived isn't right, it brought back to life. And there are a lot of great scares here. The demon grabbing Christine's leg is certainly going to give someone nightmares. 

We learn the house is cursed by an accused satanic witch who killed her baby and herself in a satanic ritual at 3:07 am, when all the clocks stop. 

What makes The Conjuring stand out is the execution. James Wan stages his scares with precision. Long takes, creeping camera movement, and subtle sound design build tension until it’s unbearable and then the hammer drops. The clapping game in the cellar remains one of the best set pieces in modern horror, not because of gore or CGI, but because of its timing and restraint. 

When things happen, they happen all at once. 

Turns out the place is full of ghosts and demonic forces. 

There are a lot of parallels between this and Steven Spielberg's Poltergeist. You would be excused if you thought  they were based on the same story and told from very different points of view. 

NIGHT SHIFT & Occult D&D

There is no end of material for either my Occult D&D and NIGHT SHIFT. I mean, this is a NIGHT SHIFT campaign right here. Ed and Lorriane are by the rulebook occult scholars and a psychic. The scene where the occult investigators come into the house is fantastic and feels like found footage.  Not to mention, there are more secret rooms in this house than in a Gygax dungeon.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 8
First Time Views: 6

October Horror Movie Challenge: Annabelle (2014) - The Conjuring Series

Now we come to the first proper sequel, or prequel to the Conjuring universe, 2014's Annabelle. 

Annabelle (2014) - Conjuring Timeline 1968-1970

Ok, now we are in the 1970s, the start of the modern Satanic Panic. 

There is an attempt here to connect this all to the Manson Family murders, which I understand was an inspiration for some part of this series.

John and Mia Form (Ward Horton and Annabelle Wallis) are a new couple and Mia is very pregnant. John gives her a gift of the Annabelle doll. 

We are treated to a scene later, Mia's point of view of the adopted Janice, aka Annabell, from Annabelle: Creation, killing her adoptive parents. The killers come next door and attack Mia and John. One of the killers kills herself, holding the Annabelle doll.  We do learn that the killer was Janice/Annabell. Is the doll the same one as in A:C? No idea, but we do know they were all made by Samuel Mullins.

The predictable spookiness starts. BTW, this series does a lot to make rocking chairs scary. The sewing machine was stressing me out, too. My mom was a seamstress, and she used to run needles through her fingers all the time. The TV going out was too much like Poltergeist. 

The actors are not great, save for Alfre Woodard and Tony Amendola, who are both always great. To be fair, Ward Horton and Annabelle Wallis are not given a lot to work with. 

I had heard that this was the weakest link in the series, and I can see that. It is certainly not as good as Annabelle: Creation. The movie is slow, unnecessarily so, really. Annabelle: Creation really redeems this series so far. 

NIGHT SHIFT & Occult D&D

You know I love 1970s occult horror, and there are plenty of ideas here, even if the movie itself didn't fully take advantage. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 7
First Time Views: 6

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Nun II (2023) - The Conjuring Series

The next in the Conjuring chronological timeline is 2023's The Nun II. This time we move from an orphanage for girls to a boarding school for girls. 

The Nun II (2023) - Conjuring Timeline 1956

We start this one four years after the events of The Nun. This one starts with the death of a Priest in Tarascon, France (yes, where they defeated the Tarasque). We also find Sister Irene in an Italian Convent, and Maurice, aka Frenchie, is working at a school in France. Father Burke, we learn, is dead. 

Sister Irene is charged with investigating Valak again. This time, the setting shifts across Europe, with the demon’s shadow stretching into the French boarding school. That shift works: there’s something inherently creepy about children in peril, especially when Catholic ritual and dark demonic legend overlap.

The visuals remain the franchise’s strongest card. If you’re into ruined chapels, candlelit corridors, and sudden blasts of holy fire, this movie has you covered. Valak remains terrifying, arguably even more so here than in the first film. She looms larger, and the filmmakers lean harder into the iconography: shadowy halls, painted saints staring down, and that pale face waiting just past the edge of the light.

Where it falters is pacing. At times, the movie wants to be a detective story, with Irene piecing together the mystery of Valak’s hunt for a sacred relic. At other times, it just wants to throw another jump scare at the screen. The result is uneven. There are moments that feel like The Exorcist by way of Hammer Horror, and then there are moments that feel like a haunted house ride we’ve been through before. The shadow of the Exorcist looms large. 

Still, I found this one more satisfying than the first. It is a slower burn, and there’s a stronger sense of continuity, not just with The Nun, but with The Conjuring films overall. The lore deepens, and the stakes feel higher. Farmiga is still great, and she anchors the film with quiet intensity, and Storm Reid (as her ally, Sister Debra, and from A Wrinkle in Time) brings some fresh energy to the dynamic. Honestly, I want a movie of these two criss-crossing Europe as demon hunters. Psychic Irene and skeptic-but-looking-for-her-faith Debra in a trans-European romp. Doesn't fit the vibe of the series at all, but it would be fun. 

Is it perfect? No. But The Nun II knows what it’s about, and it leans harder into the occult Gothic aesthetic that made Valak such a standout villain in the first place. If you liked the first but wanted more, this delivers. If you didn’t like the first at all, this won’t change your mind.

Occut D&D and NIGHT SHIFT

From an RPG perspective, The Nun II plays out like a second act in a campaign. The first adventure introduces the villain; the second broadens the scope, drops hints of deeper lore, and raises the stakes with bigger set pieces. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 7
First Time Views: 6

October Horror Movie Challenge: Annabelle: Creation (2017) - The Conjuring Series

 Moving on to the next movie in the series, we come to the cursed doll Annabelle. There is something scary about creey dolls, so this should be fun.

Annabelle: Creation (2017)  - Conjuring Timeline 1955

Samuel Mullins (Anthony LaPaglia) and his wife Esther (Miranda Otto) are mourning the loss of their daughter Annabelle, nicknamed "Bee" (and played briefly by Samara Lee). Among the orphans is Janice (Talitha Bateman) and Linda (Lulu Wilson, no relation to Patrick Wilson of The Conjuring and better known for her role in Becky)

What works here is the slow build. Director David F. Sandberg (who also gave us Lights Out) knows how to stage a scare. Instead of cheap jolts, the movie leans into atmosphere: shadows moving just out of sight, doors creaking open on their own, the doll staring blankly from across the room or from under the staircase. When the horror finally ramps up, it feels earned. 

Our Nun in this one, Sister Charlotte (Stephanie Sigman), has a connection to the cloister in Romania from The Nun. 

The performances are solid, especially from the child actors. Lulu Wilson stands out, bringing both innocence and terror to the role. The kids feel like real characters, not just cannon fodder, which makes the haunting all the more effective.  There are not as many jump scares as in The Nun, but this film features a very effective slow-burning horror that works well.

The Raggedy Ann doll at the end was a nice touch.

Occut D&D and NIGHT SHIFT

Creepy dolls have long been a staple in Ravenloft and constantly come up in horror stories and movies, so adapting them NIGHT SHIFT is easy.

For my Occult D&D possession is always fun, and a haunted house is a time-honored classic.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 6
First Time Views: 5

October Horror Movie Challenge: The Nun (2018) - The Conjuring Series

This year I am doing something I have been wanting to do for a while. I am going to watch all The Conjuring movies in chronological order, instead of release order. Now I have not seen all of these movies, so I might miss out on some details, but I still think it is going to be a lot of fun.

The Nun (2018) - Conjuring Timeline 1952

We start this movie with two nuns attempting something, one dies, and the other commits suicide. This movie introduces us to the demonic nun Valak.

The film follows Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga, one of my favorite actresses and whose casting creates an unintended but interesting echo of her sister Vera’s role in The Conjuring films) and Father Burke (Demián Bichir, looking like the son fo Christopher Lee and Gabriel Byrne) as they investigate a string of dark happenings at a Romanian abbey. They meet local guide Frenchie, played by Jonas Bloquet.

The scares start early, and often, with Valak lurking around every corner, doing the heavy lifting of the scares. There’s a lot of candlelight, a lot of whispering in the dark, and a lot of “Is it behind you?” moments that would work better if they weren’t so telegraphed.

What the movie nails is the creepy atmosphere. The abbey and lands look like they stepped straight out of an old Hammer Horror film. The fog, the forests, the decaying stone walls, it all feels like an RPG adventure hook waiting to be written. (You could drop this abbey into Ravenloft tomorrow and no one would blink.) Unfortunately, the script doesn’t give that backdrop much substance. Characters explain the lore more than they actually uncover it, which makes the whole thing feel less like an investigation and more like a tour with jump scares. Still, it is a fun tour, and the jump scares are effective. For example, while investigating, we hear about Father Burke's failed exorcism, the history of the Abbey, and so on. It is all fun, but it doesn't push the plot forward.

Valak herself is terrifying. The plotting could use some work, but a demon nun with sharp teeth stalking around in torchlight is always effective. You don't even need to be Catholic. In fact, it makes me think there is an entire sub-genre of "religious horror" of which The Exorcist would be the lead example. 

I do love the period feel of this movie, something I know extends to the rest of the series. 

Our heroes do defeat Valak, but since the first, we know it doesn't last. We even get a "flash forward" of Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren documenting the possession of Frenchie 20 years later.

NIGHT SHIFT & Occult D&D Ideas

Obviously, each movie is an adventure in a long campaign. The occult aspects primarily come from the need to investigate long-forgotten lore.  Of course the demon Valak/Valac is always good hook, a reminder that even a "low level" demon should be terrifying. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 5
First Time Views: 4

October Horror Movie Challenge: Late Night with the Devil (2023)

 Oh. Now this one was so good. I had been waiting to do this one for a bit, and it did not disappoint. 

Late Night with the Devil (2023)

Late Night with the Devil (2023) is one of those movies that grabs you from the very start and doesn't let you go until the very end. It takes the form of a “lost” late-night talk show broadcast from Halloween night, 1977, and gradually descends into chaos, possession, and live-on-air damnation. It is rather great to be honest.

The always amazing David Dastmalchian gives the performance of his career (so far) as Jack Delroy, a talk show host desperate for ratings. He is part Carson and part Jerry Springer. His Halloween special promises seances, psychics, skeptics, and, of course, Lilly D'Abo, the young survivor of a Satanic cult. Played with equal amounts of innocence and horror by newcomer Ingrid Torelli. As the broadcast unfolds, things start to go very wrong. The brilliance of the film lies in its commitment to the format: the cheesy set, the awkward banter, and the canned applause, all slowly giving way to dread as the occult elements seep through the cracks. The cinematography is an art of its own. The on-set show, the backstage, the unfolding horror, all seen via a different lens.

What makes it work is the restraint. For most of its runtime, the horror is suggestive: a flicker on a monitor, a sound from offstage, a psychic’s nervous glance. Then, when the supernatural finally takes the stage, the gloves come off. By the finale, we’ve left the safety of “TV land" and "Standards and Practices” and plunged into something raw and terrifying.

Thematically, it hits a sweet spot. It’s about the start of the 70s Satanic Panic, the exploitation of trauma for entertainment, and the cost of ambition. But it never feels preachy, it’s too busy building atmosphere and keeping you glued to the screen. Dastmalchian is excellent, walking that fine line between smarmy showman and desperate man circling the drain.

There is no way this movie would have been as good as it was without the talents of David Dastmalchian. Though even then it would have been good. This one is my favorite movie of the challenge so far. 

NIGHT SHIFT

Found footage is a great tool. We saw this in "The Blair Witch" and now in "Late Night." Found footage of, well, anything, is a great hook. Found footage of demonic possession? That's a golden hook.

Occult D&D

This movie is the Occult era gift wrapped. It is the start of the modern occult era, so to speak, and everything I want to try to capture here. I love it.

 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 4
First Time Views: 3 

October Horror Movie Challenge: Demons (1985)

Again, this October Horror Movie Challenge, I am going "themeless." Well, not entirely themeless, I am going to hit some movies I have been wanting to see for a while. I am going to hit some movies with a strong occult themes to help with my Occult D&D ideas. And a lot of movies that are random picks. 

Tonight's movie is a bit of all the above. It was on my list, so when flipping through Tubi (Tubi is a GOLD MINE of old horror!) I figure, let's give it a go. 

Demons (1985)

One of the things about my Occult D&D project that I keep coming back too is I want it to feel like a book I would have been able to by in 1986. So in addition to reading all the Appendix N books, I am filling my brain full of events from the mid-1980s and horror movies that would have had an enfluence on my writing. Demons for 1985 seems to fit the bill well.

Some movies are subtle. "Demons" is not one of them. This Italian splatterfest from Lamberto Bava (with Dario Argento producing) is pure, unfiltered 1980s horror excess: neon lights, heavy metal, gore by the bucket, and a “plot” that’s basically just a vehicle to get from one outrageous set-piece to another. And you know what? It’s great. I love it. 

The story is simple: a group of people are invited to a special screening at a mysterious Berlin movie theater. During the film, a cursed mask displayed in the lobby starts turning viewers into ravenous demons. Soon, the audience is fighting for their lives as the theater itself becomes a trap, sealing them in with the growing horde. From there, it’s a descent into chaos, blood sprays, limbs fly, and at least one person rides a motorcycle through the aisles swinging a samurai sword while a metal soundtrack blasts in the background. It’s that kind of movie.

Gods, I love the 80s.

What I love about Demons is how it feels like watching someone’s horror RPG campaign go entirely off the rails in the best way. You start with a spooky hook (a cursed mask, a haunted theater), then unleash wave after wave of enemies until the players stop caring about logic and just lean into survival mode. It’s less about character development and more about whether you’re going to get your head ripped off before the next guitar riff kicks in. It FEELS like the Nightlife RPG or the way I like playing NIGHT SHIFT.

The effects are gloriously practical. The transformations are gooey, gross, and wonderful, faces bulge, teeth sprout, and eyes ooze in ways that would make even David Cronenberg nod in approval. The demons themselves are nasty, feral things, closer to zombies than elegant vampires, but with enough supernatural menace to keep them distinct. 

Of course, none of this makes a bit of sense if you think too hard about it. Why is the theater cursed? Who set it up? How does the mask work? Don’t worry about it. Demons isn’t here to answer questions. It’s here to drench the screen in gore while Claudio Simonetti’s score and a soundtrack full of 80s metal make sure your head keeps banging as the blood keeps flowing.

It has been years since I have seen this and I admit I got it all mixed up in my memories with other, similar movies, from the time.  Still, it was nice to come back to this one after so long. 

NIGHT SHIFT

If I were to drop this into a NIGHT SHIFT game, the Metropol Theater would be a perfect one-shot dungeon: a closed environment with escalating waves of monsters, random NPC allies turning into enemies, and no real “solution” except trying to survive until dawn (or until you blow the place to pieces). It’s survival horror at its most distilled.

Occult D&D & NIGHT SHIFT

Demons is not high art. It is not even low art. But I do love the 1980s, Lamberto Bava, and Dario Argento movies. Argento gave me a lot with his Mothers Trilogy, so I am not looking for a lot here except for atmosphere. 

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 3
First Time Views: 2

October Horror Movie Challenge: Jennifer (1978)

Tonight's movie is a complete attack of opportunity, but I am glad I found it.

If the Exorcist spawned hundreds of imitators, then Carrie (1976) spawned at least a dozen or so as well. 

Marketed at the time as a kind of Carrie knock-off (and yeah, the comparisons are impossible to avoid), this one has a twist: instead of telekinesis, the outcast girl at the center of it all has the ability to control snakes. This comes seven years before Jennifer Connelly's bug-controlling powers in Phenomena (1985).

Lisa Pelikan stars as Jennifer, a poor girl from West Virginia who earns a scholarship to an elite girls’ school. She doesn’t fit in, wrong background, wrong accent, and, well, she has that weird “snake thing.” The wealthy students torment her endlessly, and like in Carrie, the cruelty builds until it finally explodes in a climax where Jennifer unleashes her reptilian powers in full. The bullies learn the hard way that mocking the psychic girl is always a very bad idea.

The movie sits in an interesting middle ground. On one hand, it wants to be a serious supernatural thriller, and there are moments where it almost works, Pelikan does a great job selling Jennifer as fragile but simmering with potential rage. On the other hand, it’s also a 70s exploitation horror film, which means you get plenty of lurid bullying sequences, nudity, sexual assault, melodramatic overacting, and snakes crawling across every possible surface. The tone veers from tragic to campy to horror, sometimes in the same scene.

Star Lisa Pelikan was quite good in this. Better than the movie actually deserves to be honest. I can't help but think I have seen this one already; something about her performance was so familiar to me. I may have seen a lot of 70s/80s horror featuring a redhead outcast girl with psychic powers.  I am going to say "First Time View."

Occult D&D & NIGHT SHIFT

One of the big bads of the various Appendix N books are Snake Men and Serpent Men. Jennifer could very well be the offspring of these serpent men surviving into modern times. Or at least the 1970s.   

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 2
First Time Views: 1

October Horror Movie Challenge: Witchcraft (1988)

This October Horror Movie Challenge, I am going "themeless." Well, not entirely themeless, I am going to hit some movies I have been wanting to see for a while. I am going to hit some movies with a strong occult themes to help with my Occult D&D ideas. And a lot of movies that are random picks. 

So, lets get in a Witchcraft Wednesday special!

Some horror movies become classics because they’re great. Others become classics because they’re terrible. And then there are the ones like Witchcraft (1988)—movies that sit in that odd middle space where you can’t really call them good, but you also can’t quite look away. This was the beginning of what would inexplicably become the longest-running horror franchise of all time, with over a dozen sequels. Yep, this little direct-to-video oddity outlasted Friday the 13th.

Witchcraft has always been out there, taunting me. The later direct-to-video offerings are essentially cheesy, low-grade horror with soft-core porn. There is a time and place for that, but not often in the Horror Movie Challenge. Still, I am not going to rule out more of these for the simple reasons that A.) this one wasn't so bad (ok it is, but) and B.) maybe there is something to extract here.

The setup is Gothic in all the right ways. The film opens with a young woman, Grace Churchill, giving birth to a child in a spooky old mansion, watched over by ominous figures who may or may not be part of a Satanic coven. The baby, William, grows up haunted by strange powers and a dark inheritance. That’s about as coherent as the plot gets. The rest is a mix of supernatural brooding, awkward family drama, softcore sex, and a finale where witchcraft and devil-worship clash in melodramatic fashion.

It’s the kind of movie that promises “occult terror” on the box but delivers more soap opera than sorcery. The budget clearly wasn’t there, and it shows—cheap sets, stilted acting, and special effects that would’ve been laughed off Tales from the Darkside. But there’s something about the sheer earnestness of it that makes it oddly watchable. You get the sense that everyone involved thought they were making something serious, maybe even artistic. Instead, they accidentally launched the trashiest franchise in horror history.

What stands out, though, is the vibe. Witchcraft is soaked in late-80s VHS energy, grainy lighting, synth score, and a sleazy Gothic tone that feels like it belongs in a tattered paperback you’d find in a used bookstore. It’s not scary, not really, but it is atmospheric in that “midnight cable TV/Cinemax” way.

Witchcraft (1988) isn’t good. But it’s important. It’s the seed from which a whole weird forest of bargain-bin horror would grow, a franchise that leaned more and more into sleaze and supernatural soap opera. I can't help but think that this series promises a better movie. 

Maybe I'll watch them all one day. But not this month. 

Occult D&D and NIGHT SHIFT

Yeah, there is a NIGHT SHIFT campaign here, but it is likely a silly one.

October Horror Movie Challenge 2025
Viewed: 1
First Time Views: 0