November 2021 Review: The Best and Worst Movies I Saw Last Month

Another rough month for me personally, November came and went without much fanfare. I got the chance to catch up on a lot of recent releases, which has made making my best of list much easier. While it’s getting to that point in the year where I’ve run out of a seemingly unending supply of great movies, I still managed to find a film that might just end up being my personal favorite of the year. In the end, I watched 29 movies this last month and the following are the best and worst of the lot.

WORST #3) The Last Rite (2021); Director: Leroy Kincaide; United Kingdom

Please check out the full review here.

Overall Score? 3.5/10

BEST #3) Séance (2021); Director: Simon Barrett; United States

Please check out the full review here.

Overall Score? 7/10

WORST #2) Ghoulies (1984); Director: Luca Bercovici; United States

Jonathan Graves inherits a mansion home and decides to throw an elaborate party and host all of his friends. His plans are foiled by the mysterious force that lies dormant within the home that takes hold and possess him. Compelled by the house, Jonathan will sacrifice his friends in the name of the demonic spirits that operated years ago. Aided not only by the force, Jonathan also now has an army of devilish little creatures that stalk and murder his friends while two doting sidekicks carry out his innermost evil desires. Unfortunate timing has this movie open the same year as the much more successful horror flick centering on small evil entities: Gremlins. Ghoulies is an irritating endeavor in braindead creature horror. Despite an interesting premise, nothing really goes together in the end, which makes it feel more like a slapdash amalgamation of three different films in one. Another interesting note, originally the film was meant to be in 3D, which explains random scenes where the cast wears glasses for no other reason than to signal to audience members to put theirs on. Aside from a charming performance from a young Mariska Hargitay, who isn’t immune from the film’s wacky dialogue and cheap production values, there isn’t much to look at here. Ghoulies may have some goodwill from those invested in the subsequent franchise, but this reviewer finds it dull, repetitive, and annoying.

Overall Score? 3.5/10

BEST #2) Wait Until Dark (1967); Director: Terence Young; United States

Susy is a blind woman adjusting to life after a fire took her sight and lives with her husband Sam in an apartment complex. Unbeknownst to either of them, the body of a young woman is hidden in their apartment: the result of a heroin deal gone wrong. Two small time criminals are tasked with finding the heroin, which is hidden inside of an old doll, by the man who ordered the initial hit. They must figure out a way to retrieve the doll without alerting Suzy to their true intentions. Suzy, however, is smart and suspects that something isn’t right. But will she be too late? Wait Until Dark is an incredibly tense film that holds up extremely well, even fifty years later. Strong characters and great writing make for plenty of white-knuckle moments. Suzy is a protagonist that is easy to root for not only because of her cunning and charm but also her ability to make mistakes and learn from them just as quickly. There’s no weak link among the cast but Audrey Hepburn stands out far and away from the rest, making Suzy feel like a fully realized and genuine human. Home invasion horror with a twist that hasn’t been replicated in years makes Wait Until Dark a classic worth revisiting time and again.

Overall Score? 8.5/10

WORST #1) Hoodman (2021); Director: Mark Curran; United States

Please check out the full review here.

Overall Score? 3/10

BEST #1) The Medium (2021); Director: Banjong Pisanthanakun; Thailand

Please check out the full review here.

Overall Score? 8.5/10