September was a great month for movies, both in theaters and on home entertainment platforms. Here are the five best movies that I watched this past month.

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5. The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

With October just around the corner, I always allow myself to begin at least to devolve into a mischievous little goblin time of year, shutting myself away late at night and immersing myself in horror niches and oddities. This year, I decided to give Amy Holden Jones’ 1982 slasher film a run for the first time, and I am immensely glad that I did.

The Slumber Party Massacre is the kind of work that makes for ideal midnight movie viewing: it has some bona fide suspense credentials to it, feels like you’re watching it off of a battered VHS tape even when you’re streaming it, and seems to be powered by sheer willpower alone. The fact that it is a made-for-cheap riff on John Carpenter’s Halloween is fairly self-evident, but there is this unique verve to Jones’ direction and a subversive quality to the writing. This is a slasher from the feminine perspective in every way, and while it doesn’t always stick the landing on its most ambitious swings, it is nothing if not raucously entertaining.

4. The Long Walk (2025)

I really liked Francis Lawrence’s Stephen King adaptation, and found it to be a standout of my in-theater cinematic viewings this past month. Were it not for one other film (included later on this list), The Long Walk would be my favorite new release of the month. Lawrence’s direction is stellar, J.T. Mollner’s script is articulate, and the lead performances by Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson are nothing short of miraculous.

It was recently announced that Hoffman and Jonsson will be starring alongside one another in a different upcoming film, fortifying their bond of sorts, and I think that’s delightful. They are two incredible performers, and The Long Walk serves as a glowing testament to their unique camaraderie. Great stuff.

3. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

I had somehow gone my whole life without seeing Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock, despite the fact that I adore existential, cosmically-indebted horror tales and Australian cinema in equal measure. Fortunately, I rectified this issue last month, as I watched the film for the first time and was utterly entranced by it.

From the powerfully staged and deeply motivated direction, to the gorgeously scenic cinematography of Russell Boyd, to the profoundly affecting performances from its ensemble cast, to the remarkable pan flute and synthesizer-driven score by Gheorghe Zamfir and Bruce Smeaton, to the genuinely transgressive editing of Max Lemon, this thing absolutely rules. If you have not seen Picnic at Hanging Rock, check it out pronto; it’s a great film and one that clearly had a strong influence on one of this year’s best horror hits, Zach Cregger’s Weapons.

2. One Battle After Another (2025)

Paul Thomas Anderson makes films like no one else in the industry. To this end, from the moment that I heard early rumblings that Anderson was making a big-budget quasi-adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland and that it was going to come complete with action sequences, high-stakes chases, and a lead performance by Leonardo DiCaprio, I was sold.

However, One Battle After Another is even better than all of that might suggest. The cast is remarkable (special shoutouts go to Benicio del Toro and Teyana Taylor, who are each nothing short of mesmerizing in their own distinct ways)  the action is visceral and heart-pounding, and it manages to be both presciently harrowing and ludicrously entertaining. If you haven’t seen this A-grade film yet, head to your nearest theater and see it on the biggest screen possible; it is such a treat.

1. Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

The best film I saw this month was neither a new release nor a new-to-me viewing, but that didn’t dilute the impact of this absolutely unbelievable film even a twinge. Director Michael Curtiz (who would go on to direct The Adventures of Robin Hood and motherfucking Casablanca after this) made this gnarly pre-code horror film in 1933, utilizing one of the earliest forms of two-strip Technicolor, and it is absolutely breathtaking.

It is a gorgeous film bursting at the seams with big, ambitious cinematic ideas, full of go-for-broke performances, and some genuinely terrifying and suspenseful sequences. The early ‘30s were a magical time for cinema, as essentially everything converted over to talkies full-time. As such, you get a litany of unforgettable and insatiably iconic films (especially within the horror genre) in this time frame, with everything from Dracula to Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Island of Lost Souls, and King Kong all debuting.

Mystery of the Wax Museum is less known than many of these (partially due to the fact that it was believed to be lost for an extended period of time before George Lucas of all people helped to fund a restoration effort), but it absolutely deserves to be a vital part of the conversation. If you haven’t seen this, do yourself a favor a throw it on for an upcoming October eve; you will not regret it.

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