PopGap Diary: Octoblur 2025 has Rocked Out

Our attempt at restarting Octoblur after last year's flame-out wasn't bad — 44 movies used to seem impressive before we became overachievers. The movies themselves could've been better. Is it possible to quickly tap out of good movies within a very specific theme, like Rocktober, especially when stretched over one-and-a-half months a year apart? Certainly. But here's the thing: I kind of like watching shitty horror movies, so one man's depressing toil is another man's comfort food. Now I can start planning my theme for next year, which promises even shittier movies. Who can wait for that?

OCTOBLUR 2025, RANKED

A rough ranking of the 44 Movies I watched last month. The top 5, and 7 of the top 10, were re-watches.

1. 95.48%: The Return of the Living Dead (1985) / Dir.: Dan O'Bannon
2. 94.39%: King Kong (1933) / Dir.: Merian C. Cooper; Ernest B. Schoedsack
3. 90.46%: Suicide Club (2001) / Dir.: Sion Sono
4. 83.14%: Messiah of Evil (1975) / Dir.: Willard Huyck; Gloria Katz
5. 76.65%: Elvis Apocalypso (1986) / Dir.: Ken Sylvester
6. 71.71%: Deathgasm (2015) / Dir.: Jason Lei Howden
7. 69.44%: I Married a Witch (1942) / Dir.: Rene Clair
8. 67.05%: The Lords of Salem (2013) / Dir.: Rob Zombie
9. 64.75%: Pater Noster and the Mission of Light (2024) / Dir.: Christopher Bickel
10. 63.58%: The Black Cat (1934) / Dir.: Edgar G. Ulmer
11. 59.49%: Bubba Ho-tep (2002) / Dir.: Don Coscarelli
12. 58.66%: The Fifth Floor (1978) / Dir.: Howard Avedis
13. 57.06%: Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype (1980) / Dir.: Charles B. Griffith
14. 56.75%: Studio 666 (2022) / Dir.: B. J. McDonnell
15. 53.92%: Ghoulies II (1987) / Dir.: Albert Band
16. 51.02%: House of 1000 Corpses (2003) / Dir.: Rob Zombie
17. 50.71%: Wacko (1982) / Dir.: Greydon Clark
18. 50.41%: The Toxic Avenger (1984) / Dir.: Lloyd Kaufman; Michael Herz
19. 50.33%: The Mummy (1932) / Dir.: Karl Freund
20. 48.61%: Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College (1990) / Dir.: John Carl Buechler
21. 47.65%: Ghoulies (1985) / Dir.: Luca Bercovici
22. 47.25%: A Blade in the Dark (1983) / Dir.: Lamberto Bava
23. 46.94%: Lurker (2025) / Dir.: Alex Russell
24. 45.98%: Don't Go in the Woods (2012) / Dir.: Vincent D'Onofrio
25. 45.72%: Neon Maniacs (1986) / Dir.: Joseph Mangine
26. 45.66%: Nightmare Beach (1989) / Dir.: Umberto Lenzi;James Justice
27. 45.16%: Sadistic Intentions (2019) / Dir.: Eric Pennycoff
28. 44.44%: Unhinged (1982) / Dir.: Don Gronquist
29. 44.05%: The Bloodstained Lawn (1973) / Dir.: Riccardo Ghione
30. 43.36%: The Toxic Avenger Unrated (2025) / Dir.: Macon Blair
31. 38.39%: Scared Stiff (1987) / Dir.: Richard Friedman
32. 36.21%: Lone Wolf (1988) / Dir.: John Callas
33. 34.87%: Verotika (2019) / Dir.: Glenn Danzig
34. 32.73%: Art of a Hit (2024) / Dir.: Gaelan Connell
35. 30.98%: Scary Movie (1991) / Dir.: Daniel Erickson
36. 30.53%: HauntedWeen (1991) / Dir.: Doug Robertson
37. 30.46%: Strangeland (1998) / Dir.: John Pieplow
38. 28.72%: The Devil's Rejects (2005) / Dir.: Rob Zombie
39. 19.59%: Evilspeak (1981) / Dir.: Eric Weston
40. 13.51%: Death to Metal (2018) / Dir.: Tim Connery
41. 13.43%: Where the Devil Roams (2023) / Dir.: Toby Poser;John Adams;Zelda Adams
42. 11.66%: Ghoulies IV (1994) / Dir.: Jim Wynorski
43. 10.08%: Slaughterhouse Rock (1988) / Dir.: Dimitri Logothetis
44. 0.32%: Intercessor: Another Rock 'N' Roll Nightmare (2005) / Dir.: Benn McGuire; Jacob Windatt

And here are the 22 movies I watched during 2024, before it halted:

1. 95.57%: Phantom of the Paradise (1974) / Dir.: Brian De Palma
2. 94.34%: Freaks (1932) / Dir.: Tod Browning
3. 92.88%: The Phantom of the Opera (1925) / Dir.: Rupert Julian
4. 73.97%: Frankenhooker (1990)
5. 62.47%: Uncle Peckerhead (2020) / Dir.: Matthew John Lawrence
6. 62.46%: Vamp (1986) / Dir.: Richard Wenk
7. 59.56%: The Ranger (2018) / Dir.: Jenn Wexler
8. 53.29%: Hellbender (2021) / Dir.: John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser
9. 52.65%: Rocktober Blood (1984) / Dir.: Beverly Sebastian
10. 50.15%: Rockula (1990) / Dir.: Luca Bercovici
11. 41.91%: Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers (1988) / Dir.: Fred Olen Ray
12. 41.91%: Jennifer's Body (2009) / Dir.: Karyn Kusama
13. 35.44%: Hollywood 90028 (1973) / Dir.: Christina Hornisher
14. 35.19%: Mad Monster Party (1967) / Dir.: Jules Bass
15. 33.62%: Suck (2009) / Dir.: Rob Stefaniuk
16. 33.54%: Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare (1975) / Dir.: David Winters
17. 29.98%: Grotesque (1988) / Dir.: Joe Tornatore
18. 25.54%: Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare (1987) / Dir.: John Fasano
19. 23.71%: Blood Harvest (1987) / Dir.: Bill Rebane
20. 16.50%: Paganini Horror (1989) / Dir.: Luigi Cozzi
21. 12.01%: GWAR: Phallus in Wonderland (1992) / Dir.: Judas Bullhorn, Distortion Wells
22. 11.99%: Zombie Nightmare (1986) / Dir.: Jack Bravman