47 Ronin (2013)

I didn't remember whether this was supposed to be good, but its 118-minute run made it seem a decent choice to keep me occupied while donating platelets. I later learned that it bombed at the box office but still managed to get a Netflix sequel last year. Go figure.

Circa 1700, half-English, half-Japanese Kai (Keanu Reeves) is rumored to have been raised by demons or perhaps be one, which doesn't stop Lord Asano (Min Tanaka) from giving him shelter since boyhood. But one day, power-hungry Lord Kira (Tadanobu, heh, Asano) uses demonic connections of his own to deceive Asano into an act bad enough to demand seppuku. The shogun (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) awards Asano's domain to Kira and orders Asano's daughter Mika (Ko Shibasaki), Kai's love, to marry Kira after a year of mourning. Asano counselor Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada) spends a year in jail, then frees Kai from slavery as a combatant. Regretting his earlier acquiescence to such injustice, Oishi now plans to lead Asano's former samurai to illegal revenge on Kira before the wedding. Since ronin are considered honorless, they become more amenable to accepting help from Kai, who really does know a thing or two about demons....

The Sea Beast (2022)

This is not one of the more esteemed or discussed Best Animated Feature nominees for the year. I gave it priority over the other two I hadn't seen only because it's streaming on Netflix. I figured if nothing else, it's a DreamWorks-esque story of sympathy for a giant mythical animal.

In an alternate version of the 17th century, sailors from what I assume to be the British Empire have made a name for themselves as sea monster hunters. The crew of Captain Crow (Jared Harris), in fact, has been idolized in books within their time. Nevertheless, their royal sponsors (Jim Carter and Doon Mackichan) plan to sunset their ship, the Inevitable, in favor of a new one under an admiral (Dan Stevens), unless they kill the notorious Red Bluster before he does. Antics in their next attempt lead to adventurous orphaned preteen stowaway Maisie (Zaris-Angel Hator) and Crow's next choice for captain, Jacob (Karl Urban), getting lost at sea with the intended target, whom Maisie calls "Red" and identifies as female. Maisie reevaluates what she thought she knew about sea beasts; Jacob is more gradual about it. Crow, meanwhile, had sworn vengeance on Red long before this bet, so he'll go to lengths even his loyal first mate (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) deems dishonorable.

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)

I realize it hadn't been long since the last movie I saw to include heavy focus on a British royal -- indeed, Queen Elizabeth I in particular. But this one is 32 years older, so I figured it would feel rather different.

Robert Deveraux, 2nd Earl of Essex (Errol Flynn), has had a victory in the Anglo-Spanish War, but not enough to satisfy Her Majesty (Bette Davis). Insulted and sensing support only from Sir Francis Bacon (Donald Crisp), he leaves the court and doesn't return until ordered back for more military expertise in the Nine Years' War. In truth, that's largely an excuse for Elizabeth to be close to the man she craves. But Sir Robert Cecil (Henry Daniell), Sir Walter Raleigh (Vincent Price), and Lord Burghley (Henry Stephenson) see an opportunity to get him out of the way of her favor once again.

Hocus Pocus (1993)

A few years ago, I was surprised to see an article listing many reasons that this was the #1 Halloween flick. I hadn't even heard about it since I saw the trailer in a theater. Besides, it had a middling rating on IMDb and a green splat on Rotten Tomatoes. But after encountering multiple citations of the haunting pseudo-lullaby "Come, Little Children," and simply not having a lot of Halloween-type movies on my Netflix queue, I decided to give it a try.

After a setup conveniently set exactly 300 years before the rest of the movie, we see teen Max (Omri Katz) missing L.A. now that he's moved to bully-infested Salem. His bratty but ultimately likable sister, Dani (Thora Birch), strong-arms him into accompanying her for trick-or-treating. When he sees an opportunity to get closer to his crush, Allison (Vinessa Shaw), the three of them break into an abandoned museum that had been the home of the Sanderson sisters -- Winnifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker), and Mary (Kathy Najimy) -- before they were hanged for murderous witchcraft. Max doubts the folklore until after he follows instructions to revive the weird trio. The young heroes must prevent them from draining the life force from any kids before the resurrection spell wears off at dawn. Their only ally is Thackery, a former teen interloper cursed to eternal life as a black cat.

Day of Wrath (1943)

Ah, Carl Theodor Dreyer, it's been a while. When you're not dabbling in artistic horror, I can count on you for some sort of religious message. This film, based on a play, is more drama than horror, but it seemed appropriate for my October lineup due to a focus on witches.

It's set in 1623 small-town Denmark, which apparently had the same problem as 1692 Salem. Early on, a woman begs Rev. Absalon to get her off the hook for alleged witchcraft, as he did for his eventual mother-in-law. He shows concern only for her soul, not her life, even when she threatens blackmail if not a posthumous curse. The thought weighs heavily on him after her execution, but it's rather incidental to his most immediate problem: His young wife, Anne, who apparently married him for convenience and not love, falls for his son from a previous marriage. What's more, Absalon's mother has suspected from the get-go that Anne takes after her mother in wickedness.