Halloween Horror Movie Guide, Pt. 1: Best of the Best
Whether you’re the type to dress up and go to a house party, or stay in and eat all the candy that you told people you bought for trick-or-treaters, Halloween can be a great time. Most of the year I’m not a big horror movie fan, but when late October rolls around, something just clicks; I can’t get enough.
So, here’s what I decided to do. I watched a bunch of horror movies available on several streaming services in order to determine if they’re worth adding to your Halloween weekend movie marathon.
For the sake of concision, I excluded classics and other obvious movies you’ll be watching whether I recommend them or not — nobody is adding American Werewolf in London or Halloween to their watch list because of my recommendation. The following are mostly modern horror movies that you might be on the fence about watching.
The Babadook (2014)
Streaming: Netflix
This is the mother of all psychological horror films, literally. When a single mother unwittingly reads her child a terrifying story disguised as a children’s book, her problematic son begins to have terrible nightmares. She, in turn, has bouts of crippling insomnia and begins to realize that her son may not be dreaming after all.
I often find that Rotten Tomatoes struggles with horror movies since critics are usually only impressed with originality and don’t care much for jump scares regardless of whether or not they’re earned. The critics nailed this one, though. It was almost universally hailed.
This movie won’t scare everybody. It definitely takes a certain personality to identify and empathize with the characters to be affected by it psychologically. It’s enjoyable either way. In terms of horror themes, it combines a little bit of The Omen and The Shining, so people who find creeping madness and mothers turning against their children scary, this one’s for you.
9.5/10
Housebound (2014)
Streaming: Netflix
I’ve seen a lot of movies that claim to be “horror-comedy,” but it usually skews one way or the other. Housebound really strikes the perfect balance. It’s legitimately hilarious and genuinely scary.
The film follows a troublesome young woman named Kylie who’s been sentenced to home detention after repeated arrests. The compelling part of the plot is that Kylie, a total ass, doesn’t get along at all with her mother, a spacey gossip who believes the house to be haunted.
The scares are earned, the humor never seems over-the-top enough to feel like parody, and there are multiple twists that keep you guessing till the end. Throw in the delightful New Zealand accents, and this film is brilliant.
9.4/10
The Conjuring (2013)
Streaming: HBO Go
One of the things that makes this movie great is that it wastes no time. Every moment of this film either serves to increase the tension or to scare you. And scare you, it does.
The premise is that a family moves into a house in 1971. The film follows the tried and true haunted house formula where the family starts to notice strange things. Then those strange things get scarier and scarier to the point where there’s no question that something supernatural is afoot.
Where the film deviates from the formula is that the family hires a pair of paranormal investigators, which really puts a great spin on the whole thing. Instead of wasting time, it jumps right in to solving the problem rather than proving that one exists. It’s truly unique and one of the most consistently engaging modern horror films.
9.2/10
We Are Still Here (2015)
Streaming: Netflix
This movie is an awesome 1970’s period piece/creepy haunted house flick. It’s pretty much perfect. The pace is slow, but the peaks are incredible, and the slow moments work to develop the characters and build the tension.
A man and woman move to snowy New England to escape the memory of their dead son. Only they find that the house they’ve moved into harbors a secret in its basement, and something is slightly off about their new town.
This film is beautifully shot and deeply unsettling. It contains one of the creepiest sequences I’ve seen in any horror movie (a seance gone awry), and the climax is absolutely epic.
9.0/10
The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Streaming: HBO Go
Part of what made the first entry so successful was its eschewing of the long setup of convincing people that the supernatural was for real. The Conjuring 2 instead takes that frustrating trope and uses it as a major plot point. It makes the movie more stagnant than its predecessor, but it helps it to refrain from recycling the same formula.
A little girl is possessed by the spirit of the man whose family left him alone to die in his home. The problem is, nobody, not even Ed and Lorraine Warren can prove that she is actually possessed.
What I will say about The Conjuring 2 is that it’s absolutely terrifying. It’s scarier than the first installment, which is no small feat, and it’s actually one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen. Seriously, maybe watch this one in the daytime with a few other people. The jump scares are set up fantastically, and in such a way that they still pay off even though you know they’re coming. It may not be as good or original as the first, but it’s still a fantastic horror flick.
8.7/10
