A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Here's how this works, we will rank all the MCU live-action Spider-Man films (excluding Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018) only because animation is on a whole other playfield) before Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). Each of the films will be ranked based on their most awesome scenes, which means the more not-so-awesome scenes we find in the films, the more likely they will be at the bottom of our list. Let's see if your favorite Spider-Man movie will make it to the top.

7. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Awesome Scene: Gwen Stacy’s fall was the most climactic and heartbreaking scene in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. This scene was visually stunning and had great VFX that allows viewers to feel suspense as Gwen Stacy is falling to her death. The sequel was not as epic compared to the other Spider-Man films that came before and after. It’s a shame that a scene with tragedy and no dialogue was the most memorable part of this film.

Not-So-Awesome Scene #1: Any scene with Harry Osborn in it, especially his Green Goblin transformation. I get that the character is supposed to resemble a goblin like in the comics, but maybe Sam Raimi was smart to put a Goblin mask on Dafoe instead of an actual makeover. 

Not-So-Awesome Scene #2: Any scene with Electro (I’m narrowing it down because this film has major flaws). Electro’s disappointment has more to do with how he was written and his facial CG than Foxx’s acting. Electro would have been an amazing villain for the film, since he is one of the most notorious villains Spider-Man faced in the comics. Both Green Goblin and Electro would have been worthy opponents for our superheroes, but their story arcs were a letdown and I can’t help but feel they were trying to pull off a trio battle like in Spider-Man 3.

Nightbooks, directed by David Yarovesky and written by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis, is an adaptation of the children's book by J.A. White. The film follows Alex (Winslow Fegley), a young boy obsessed with scary stories and all things horror until one day, he doubts himself and vows never to write another scary story. This is the same day he is lured in by a witch Natacha (Krysten Ritter) and must write scary stories to survive. Once trapped, he meets up with another kid, Yasmin (Lidya Jewett) who has given up the hopes of escape.

The child-friendly horror is a somewhat rare thing, especially in the realm of movies with films like The House With a Clock in Its Walls and Goosebumps being some of the only somewhat recent releases. Having another addition to this small yet in-demand genre is wonderful. Also, the timing is perfect for parents and children wanting to start celebrating the spooky season. In this house, we celebrate Halloween through all of September and October.

Nightbooks succeeds in its ability to craft fun and scary moments that will keep horror-loving children entertained without going too far. But the biggest success is knowing that horror-loving kids want some amount of fright. So often films in this arena do not go far enough, assuming that any amount of fright is too much for every child.

Nightbooks is produced by Sam Raimi through Ghost House Pictures, and its blend of humor, memorable creature design, and POV forest shots brings to mind Evil Dead II. The scares in Nightbooks are well-crafted and the cinematography of the film captures different eras and styles of horror from the aforementioned Evil Dead style POV shots to silent horror and the art style of Fangoria covers and the nostalgic pull of Creepshow.