With Halloween right around the corner, Ingrid Cox brings you 5 top horror films to watch for a scary night in!
Halloween
We can’t talk about a Halloween movie list without mentioning well, Halloween. There have been many interesting versions of the slasher series, you have the ones from 2007 and 2009 which were directed by Rob Zombie. And you have the most recent film which came out in 2018 that redefined the series. However, John Carpenter’s original with Jamie Lee Curtis has been noted as the horror movie classic. It’s unsettling, it’s a slasher and it has one of the greatest horror themes in history.
Us
After the success of Get Out, Jordan Peele returns with another slasher smash hit. The horror film follows a young family, led by Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke, who encounter a group of silent, terrifying doppelgängers. This horror will guarantee to leave you feeling unsettled and intrigued as every image seems to foreshadow the dangers approaching.
Midsommar
This is a horror film where the majority takes place outside in the daytime – and yet the film still manages to keep viewers scared and constantly on edge. It may be summer in Sweden, but this film channels dark, folklore themes similar to those explored in The Wicker Man and A Field in England. From the director of ‘Hereditary’, Ari Aster continues to deliver horror films with a twist that keeps the genre from becoming stale.
The Exorcist
No horror film list will be complete without including this cult classic. This horror favourite follows the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother who attempts to exorcise her. This Oscar-winning film is regarded as a blueprint for future thrillers to come as it features practical effects that still manage to rival modern-day CGI. The film does not rely on typical horror tropes like jump scares and gore but instead stands out for its highly quotable script and notable acting.
Scary Movie
Ever since the release of the first Scary Movie film in 2000, the spoof films have been dubbed an ultimate Halloween comedy classic. The films directed by the Wayans Brothers, are films that spoof a spoof – e.g. Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Sure, they occasionally feature a horror trope or two (the vengeful spirit and death by sex), but most of the ‘spoofing’ done involves re-creating movie scenes and then adding a comedic value to them.
