Every horror movie review on Grave Tone ends with a score out of 10, measured in Digs. One Dig is one star; we just call them Digs. The icon is a shovel because the show is called Grave Tone and graves get dug with shovels. That is the whole origin story.

What a Dig actually measures

A Dig is an enjoyment score, not a scariness score.

A movie can be genuinely terrifying and still land mid-range for us. A campy gorefest with zero real scares can score high. We are rating whether the thing worked, not how badly it wrecked our sleep schedule.

We also think about what a film is trying to be. There are four moods we come back to:

  • Terrify Me (pure fear)
  • Creep Me Out (slow dread)
  • Fun & Wild (campy, gory, a good time)
  • Wreck Me (emotionally devastating)

And separately, how hard it hits:

  • Nightmare Fuel (you are not sleeping tonight)
  • Solid Scares (tense but manageable)
  • Light (more fun than frightening)

A movie going for Fun & Wild does not get punished for skipping Nightmare Fuel. We judge it against what it set out to do.

What the numbers mean

  • 9 to 10: Among the best in its lane. We will rewatch it, and we will bring it up unprompted for years.
  • 7 to 8: Strong. It does what it set out to do and does it well. Easy recommend.
  • 5 to 6: Enjoyable but flawed. Worth your time if the premise appeals; skip it if it does not.
  • 3 to 4: Does not work. We liked some things in isolation, but we cannot recommend it.
  • 1 to 2: A chore. We finished it so you do not have to.

Two scores, one number

Arthur and Meaghan score separately, then we average. We do not talk each other into a number first.

That is where the half-points come from. A 7.75 means one of us said 8 and the other said 7.5. When we disagree, the disagreement usually ends up in the review, and honestly it is often the best part.

How we watch

We rate on a single viewing. That is how you are going to watch it, so that is how we judge it.

If we rewatched a franchise before a new entry (we did exactly that for Insidious, Silent Night, Deadly Night franchises among others), we say so in the review, because it changes what you notice.

When we change our minds

Sometimes a movie grows on us. If we substantially change our take on a score, we say so in a new post and amend the old one with an update note.