The best horror films to watch this Halloween
Kitty Barnes
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Get Out (2017)
Not quite as gory as other films you might have seen before, what makes Get Out truly captivating is the way it addresses suburban racism and police brutality. A young African-American photographer Chris ventures with his girlfriend Rose to meet her parents in the isolated suburbs. At first, Chris is apprehensive about finally meeting his girlfriend’s family, but he soon eases off when he sees that they’re just your average middle-class white liberals. Soon, you’ll start to sense a bitter taste of discomfort in this home; yet, like Chris, you won’t initially be able to put your finger on what it wrong. Much to Chris’ displeasure, the Armitage family have a sinister and venomous secret that is only revealed to us towards the very anticipating climax of the film. Director Jordan Peele toys around with present-day social problems whilst twisting it with hypnotic and psychotic themes which almost make you think too hard about how it links to what the racial issues in America are today
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Scream (1996)
Scream is a film you should watch if you’re quite squeamish yet still like a bit of suspense. It’s a fun movie in which you an almost laugh at the stupidity and ignorance of the young characters which are being hunted down by the truly iconic Ghostface. Director Wes Craven made such a witty and fresh film; it gained plenty of attention from the media at the time because of its distinctive flavour which didn’t follow the norm of horror films. What also makes it amusing is the blatantly obvious references to other horror movies as well as having a very sardonic plot by making Ghostface call up his forthcoming victims and verbally grilling and interrogating them in such a casual nature.
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The Shining (1980)
Although an old film, I think that The Shining is truly iconic. The movie is captivating throughout despite its menacingly evil plot. Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer, becomes the caretaker of a hotel in winter alongside his wife and 7-year-old son. As the – what seems to be - tedious narrative progresses, you start to learn about Jack’s poisoned and deteriorating mental health and short temper. You’ll also learn that his son, Danny, is also mentally haunted by a psychotic power that he can’t quite control. The narrative is quite haunting in the fact that it’s the actual hotel that seems to be the ultimate creator of chaos of the imperfect family. It’s a twisted and quite strange story that will leave you in an amusing disturbance.
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Sinister (2012)
Sinister is a frightening thriller that could give you chills but is so creative, that you forgive director Scott Derrickson for creating such a chaotically clever picture. It entails the story of a true crime novelist Ellison Oswalt, relocating with his family, who takes his curiosity and growing fascination too far when he unravels the gruesome past of the former family in a box of dusty Super 8 reels. His desperateness makes him hooked on figuring out the previous truly grisly incident that the tapes graphically depict – despite the risks it could be having on his own family. It’s a hair-raising movie which makes you want to get to the bottom of the twisted story that Ellison is trying to solve whilst also wanting to scream at him to just get out of there safely. Sinister is a gripping and bizarrely hypnotising film – it’s definitely a must-see if you enjoy the electrifying thrill that a terrifyingly-marvellous film can give you.
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Hush (2016)
Yet again not as grim as horrors can be, but the reason I hand-picked this film is because of its chilling and suspenseful tone. A deaf-mute author Maddie finds herself in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with a deranged masked killer who terrorises the individual in her isolated home. The reason I find Hush so unusual and rare in comparison to other films is the way that director Mike Flanagan teases the audience with the lack of audio. He doesn’t put in slow, eerie music to play with your anticipation, but instead doesn’t add any sound in at all – which I find even more intensely-torturing. In a way, Flanagan does this so the audience can level with Maddie’s disability, it will literally put you in the protagonist’s shoes. The way that the masked-man plays sadistic games on her convinces you to endure on the slow-burning, torturing hunt.
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