2 out of 5

Directed by: Kurt Sayenga

I get it: it’s Halloween, you’re a horror channel, and you gotta make that content. And that content doesn’t come out of thin air!, and we horror fans will dive in for similar head-patting “yes, Nightmare on Elm Street is a great movie” reminders over and over… so I can understand why view-baity things like ‘The 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time’ show up on Shudder during the holiday.

Describing it as such is also not especially kind, since curator Kurt Sayenga gathered together many notable and knowledgeable people to talk through a thorough list, divvied up over 6 episodes, and it’s all put together effectively: well edited with clips, well paced, and clear – each entry feels warranted.

At the same time, it’s nothing but talking heads on the same green screen background, and because it’s primarily a small handful of speakers with some guest stars popping in, you know this could’ve been extended or shrunk down to any size list / # of episodes necessary. There’s no (apparent?) theme to each episode; and no intended sequence – which makes sense when we’re at 101. And though I’ve said the entries are warranted, that’s in the sense that nothing feels included “just because” or phoned in; however, we do stray from “moments” on occasion to inclusions that are more about a general feeling.

This is all very watchable, mind you, and not unentertaining, but I’m dropping it below that ranking – which would be an average one – because the view-baity part of it is that we’ve seen stuff like this before. It’s just programming to fill a gap. It’s a fun way to be reminded about some flicks, or to find some new recommendations, or to confirm your seen-it-all bona fides, but there’s nothing otherwise challenging or mind-blowing about the show, to the extent that I watched a few episodes multiple times, and maybe skipped some, not remembering what I’d actually paid attention to, and not being too concerned about what I may have missed.