January 2025 first-watches ranked

I went 31-for-31 in January -- 31 movies in 31 days. Nine of them were rewatches, which I wrote about here. The rest were movies I saw for the first time, most all of them streaming on Prime Video. I bought a subscription early in the month to see Abigail, which I had heard so much about. So while I was there, I decided to pick off as many watchlist entries as possible before my subscription expires

I have a few more days and movies on my Prime watchlist. I'll finish that up soon and move on, back to Paramount+ and my still-growing disc collection. In the meantime, here are my first-watches from last month, ranked bottom to top:

22. Dead End, 2003, directed by Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa, streamed on Prime Video, 0.5 star.

This is the worst movie I've watched in quite awhile. It fails as comedy, it fails as horror, it fails as mystery, it fails completely. It earns a half-star because it's the minimum rating on Letterboxd.

21. The Calendar Killer, 2025, directed by Adolfo J. Kolmerer, streamed on Prime Video, 1 star.

This one earns a full star because the climactic scene is technically well-done.

20. Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, 1974, directed by John Hough, streamed on Prime Video, 1 star.

Exciting stunt driving and beautiful scenery are worth a couple stars. Terrible screenwriting and acting are worth a negative star.

19. Terrifier, 2016, directed by Damien Leone, streamed on Prime Video, 1.5 stars.

Great scene setting up the central conflict, interesting slasher character, excellent practical effects, absent plot. I'm hearing the next two films in the franchise are better, but I think I've seen all I need to see of Art The Clown.

18. Wolfs, 2024, directed by Jon Watts, streamed on Apple TV+, 2 stars.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt usually always are worth watching, and they have their moments here. But it's a lame, badly written concept.

17. Foxy Brown, 1974, directed by Jack Hill, streamed on Prime Video, 2 stars.

Classic Pam Grier vehicle. But nothing about this movie is good enough to forgive the racial and misogynistic hatred at its core.

16. Blink Twice, 2024, directed by Zoe Kravitz, streamed on Prime Video, 2 stars.

More disgusting misogyny, this time disguised as feminist revenge. The movie looks great and the third act is thrilling enough to salvage this from the bottom of the dumpster.

15. Suspiria, 1977, directed by Dario Argento, streamed on Prime Video, 2 stars.

The most disappointing watch I've had in awhile. I had been hearing how great a classic this is, and I did not get it at all. I plan to revisit, see if it clicks on a second watch.

14. White Lightning, 1973, directed by Joseph Sargent, streamed on Prime Video, 2 stars.

I really don't have anything bad to say about this movie. Problem is, I don't have anything good to say about it, either, other than it was better than Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry.

13. Open 24 Hours, 2018, directed by Padraig Reynolds, streamed on Prime Video, 2.5 stars.

Half of this movie was excellent. The first half, though, was lame. Hence, it's half of a perfect rating.

12. In The Forest, 2022, directed by Hector Barron, streamed on Prime Video, 3 stars.

I liked this more than most everyone else on the Internet. Not necessarily a good movie but enough of a story to hold my attention.

11. Freeway, 1996, directed by Matthew Bright, streamed on Prime Video, 3 stars.

I was loving this through the first 30 minutes or so, setting up a tense conflict between Reese Witherspoon and Kiefer Sutherland. But it all disintegrated into disjointed silliness in the back half. 

10. V/H/S, 2012, multiple directors, streamed on Prime Video, 3 stars.

This found-footage anthology starts out badly but delivers a string of exciting shorts to tip the balance to the good side.

9. The Stepfather, 1987, directed by Joseph Ruben, streamed on Prime Video, 3 stars.

An entertaining psycho-thriller carried by Terry O'Quinn, one of my favorite TV actors through the '00s.

8. Frozen, 2010, directed by Adam Green, streamed on Prime Video, 3 stars.

This one moved up a couple of spots from an earlier ranking. It's still a 3-star, but on reconsideration, I think this was better that a couple of those other 3-stars. Three friends stranded 50 feet above ground in a ski lift shut down for several days. No rescue is imminent. What would you do?

7. Assault On Precinct 13, 1976, directed by John Carpenter, streamed on Prime Video, 3 stars.

Night Of The Living Dead with gangbangers instead of zombies, Rio Bravo with armed warlords instead of outlaw cowboys. Soon-to-be-iconic horror/thriller master John Carpenter did a lot with a microbudget.

6. The Woman, 2011, directed by Lucky McKee, streamed on Prime Video, 3.5 stars.

I was confused at first by coming into the middle of the conversation -- I did not know going in that this was a sequel to a film that provided The Woman's backstory. But I got on track pretty quickly and enjoyed this creepy kidnapping tale quite a bit. It closes not on a cliffhanger so much as a setup for another sequel. Other than that, it's a solid sordid standalone story.

5. Life After Beth, 2014, directed by Jeff Baena, streamed on Prime Video, 4 stars.

Aubrey Plaza in a unique, comic, slow-burning take on apocalyptic zombies? I'm all-in.

4. Copycat, 1995, directed by Jon Amiel, streamed on Prime Video, 4 stars.

A solid entry in the 1990s rash of tense serial-killer crime thrillers. Holly Hunter drives this ride, with Sigourney Weaver riding shotgun. They're a great team.

3. Alone, 2020, directed by John Hyams, streamed on Prime Video, 4 stars.

I found nothing particularly noteworthy about this psycho-stalker cat-and-mouse thriller other than the plotting is flawless and the cinematography is breath-taking.

2. The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane, 1976, directed by Nicolas Gessner, streamed on Prime Video, 4 stars.

This was my best surprise of the month. I knew nothing about it when I blindly fired it up and got totally wrapped up in this Hitchcockian thriller starring 13-year-old Jodie Foster. Fantastic.

1. Abigail, 2024, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, streamed on Prime Video, 4.5 stars.

High expectations going in were easily exceeded by this stunning modern horror film. Brilliantly scripted, brilliantly acted, brilliantly explosive. The ending falls a little flat, which is why I don't rate Abigail as perfect. Still, I expect this could be a contender in 11 months for my favorite first-watch of the year.