I love horror.
LOVE IT!
That said, I am not one of those Genre Clownshoes who thinks EVERYONE should love what I love! I respect that a lot of people don't dig horror. For all kinds of reasons.
Me though... oh good LORD, I'm a fan!
First of all: I watch horror for my mental health (no, really!) - I take it like a prescription!
Secondly: just because I love horror doesn't mean I love EVERY horror film, or every subgenre. Of course not! (I co-host an entire podcast on the topic! Come give us a listen!)
But if there's ANY time of year that the general audience considers dabbling in this fantastic realm - October is it!
So in no particular order here are films I highly recommend for the best and most spooky month of the year! I won't be dishing any spoilers but I will be giving a vibe check on each, so you can make your selection depending on the mood you're in!
One more thing... only one of this selection (maybe two) could be even considered family-friendly, so don't look for something to share with your kiddos. These are grownup movies.
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X (2022)
The vibe: a stylish period piece: sexy, irreverent, and (once it gets going) gory
X is almost a perfect film, a better caliber of Grand Guignol horror than ninety percent of films that wanna be this cool. I have one little complaint but to air it would risk spoiling a major plot point (ask me after you've seen it)! X obviously has some sexual content - although not as much, and not as frank, as I thought it might. The film has a great soundtrack, a fantastic atmosphere, the perfect comedy note here and there - and a pretty satisfying denouement. Honestly, it looks like the cast had a great time making it - and it shows! I haven't seen prequel Pearl and sequel Maxxxine yet. I'll let you know what I think!
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
The vibe: atmospheric, creepy - a great date-night scarefest!
I was all set to hate on this film for no particular reason but I was drawn in by generally positive reviews - plus I adore Brian Cox in everything, ever. Turns out Jane Doe is such a great popcorn movie! It sets up a little slow but by two-thirds the way through my movie buddy and I were hollering at the screen and covering our eyes! Definitely watch this one at night - and make sure you've got someone to give you comfort-cuddles afterwards!
The Uninvited (1944)
The vibe: cozy, spooky, mysterious and charming!
Okay this one is legit okay for kids to watch, although young children might get bored. We've got a brother and sister who purchase a possibly-haunted Cornish castle atop some windswept cliffs - I mean come on, what's not to love? Neither as frightening as 1963's The Haunting nor as silly as 1959's House on Haunted Hill, this black and white keeper features a charming little romance with (one of my favorites) the debonair Ray Milland as a music critic who falls for a local lass. An excellent date-night ghost tale that is timeless - and just the right note of spooky!
The Other Lamb (2019)
The vibe: slow, chilling, artsy - and ultimately satisfying!
Do you like religious cults? Sure, we all do! This might not be considered a true horror film by a genre standard but anyone saying this doesn't know what they're talking about. This kind of thing is very real, and very awful! The film is slow-paced, but pays off. Michiel Huisman puts in an entirely believable turn as a charismatic and evil man - he's fantastic. The Other Lamb is a bit self-indulgent here and there but I fear otherwise the subject matter would be too grim. Stories like this are not pure fantasy; unfortunately cults like this rise and fall all over the world.
The Fly (1958)
The vibe: a simple sci-fi horror tale told exceedingly well!
Most of us know the punchline to this one but I'll bet it shocked the pants off original viewers! This story is so well and economically-told, and delivers surprising depth in its simple tragedy. Al / David Hedison is note-perfect as the lovely family man and driven scientist who, well, fucks up just once and pays the price. Definitely a more serious film than a lot of sci-fi shlock of the era, delivered expertly and at a nice pace.
The Fly (1986)
The vibe: body-horror, romance and pathos at its best! An almost perfect film!
Cronenberg is pretty hit or miss but damn, his take on The Fly is so good! Jeff Goldblum is at his best - perfectly-cast in a highly sympathetic, endearing, and tragic performance. Geena Davis is wonderful as his co-lead: a woman who falls in love with a doomed lover and tries, increasingly confused and scared, to help him. In a brilliant combination Cronenberg ups the ante on the original by delivering more sex, more body horror, and a more visceral tragedy. I highly recommend watching the '86 Fly the night after watching the original. But put the kids to bed first!
The Blackcoat's Daughter (2015)
The vibe: slow-burn and deeply unsettling
Ah Oz Perkins! I've seen all three of his feature films and they're all great! Any of them belong on this list! Gretel & Hansel (2020) is creepy, queer, and slyly funny. 2016's I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House gave me a lowkey stomach ache - and delivered a jump-scare that took a chill year off my life! Perkins' use of music and sound design is impeccable; in his films each frame is artistically perfect.
But The Blackcoat's Daughter is on its own level. Unnerving from the opening moments, and gradually ramping up to some truly shocking shit! It's just: [chef's kiss!] - horror perfection!
The Stepfather (1987)
The vibe: less campy than you might think; real crime, and real disturbing
Unfairly lumped in the hack-and-slash genre, this film is a lot deeper than it first appears. Terry O'Quinn is absolute perfection here, serving up a domestic violence vignette very loosely based on a real crime. O'Quinn's micro-expressions and the little bits of "family values" speech he lets slip are chilling because we know there are men like this who do things like depicted in this movie. Shout-out too to Jill Schoelen who is the perfect secondary lead: the suspicious teen stepdaughter no one is listening to (because we don't listen to teenage girls - and we really should)! The second Stepfather is okay, but just another far-fetched tropey horror film. Skip Stepfather III - and the Penn Badgley remake - not worth it.
The Evil Dead (2013)
The vibe: unfettered gore and demonic drama
This movie alone proves all those remake-hating dorks wrong. While it's true many horror reboots don't hold a candle to the original, some of them really hit it out of the park! This 2013 refashion of the Sam Raimi classic is wonderfully fun and delivers on the gore in a most effective, delightful way. The entire cast is fantastic - but Jane Levy absolutely slays it. The action (once it gets going) is nonstop and features a few horribly violent scenes I couldn't watch (and that's saying something)! An instant rock and roll horror classic!
Hereditary (2018)
The vibe: probably the most upsetting film on this list
Who flexes this hard on a directorial debut? Ari Aster, that's who! Listen, of Aster's two films I love 2019's Midsommar just a teensy bit more, probably due to the latter work's artsy excessiveness. But as a straight-up horror experience Hereditary is one of the best out there. It's unsettling, frightening, gory in a way you will not be expecting, deeply upsetting - and awfully sad. It's a horror movie for people who like feeling fucked up for a day or so after. The kind of film I watch in the middle of the day, cheerfully dust off my knees and get up from the couch saying, "Wow, that was great!" - then wake up at four in the morning remembering that one scene. Peak horror!
What Lies Beneath (2000)
The vibe: a Hitchcock-esque thriller - a little campy with a wonderful turn by Pfeiffer
What Lies Beneath is a self-indulgent haunted house thriller, and I love it for this! Perhaps just fifteen minutes too long, one gets the distinct impression director Robert Zemeckis was having the time of his life putting it together. Pfeiffer is eminently watchable but never more so than as the fragile Claire, playing (on first appearances at least) a highly strung wealthy housewife trying to navigate a new chapter in her life. You'll keep guessing at the mystery and you'll appreciate it all the more on repeated viewings! The plot twists aren't rocket science, but they're effective and satisfying nevertheless.
Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), and Halloween Ends (2022)
The vibe: slasher, family drama, brutal kills - a Horror franchise for those who love horror!
This latest reboot/sequel series has been controversial amongst horror fans, by that I mean there are a bunch of dried-up genre turds who want to have the same-ol' same-ol' slasher fare we've seen ad infinitum.
It's not just that I like these three films - I actually think they are brilliant and they were planned expertly as a whole. All three have been astonishingly successful financially - breaking loads of records - which bodes well for horror's future because I think audiences are smart enough to want something new. These three films were made in loving homage (and as sequel to) to the 1978 original and reference a few subsequent Halloweens (of which there are too many). Watching the 2018 Halloween in a packed theater was one of my best horror memories ever: so many delicious film Easter eggs yielding so many yells, laughs, and clapping from the audience!
I think the writing and direction for these three films was bold - and I think those risks paid off. Time will be kind to this trilogy and the reputation will stand. So if you've not yet tried Halloween out, give yourself the gift of watching Carpenter's first film (1978), then these three. You can skip the rest.
I may make a Michael Myers convert of you yet!
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So what do you think? Have you watched any of these films? Agree? Disagree? What movie would you put on the list?
I'd love to hear your thoughts!