10 Horror Films You Need To Watch This Halloween Season
Published in Entertainment at April 20th, 2017 at 5:15 AM
10 Horror films you need to watch this Halloween season, if you can't decide what to watch this Halloween season then here is quick list review on our recommendation to help make your mind up.
Halloween 1978
Okay this one is a no brainer! This film is pretty much perfect as this and another film that has yet to appear on this list pretty much defined the modern day slasher film genre.
This film took Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and cranked it up to 11 as the film focuses on the deranged psychopath Michael Myers going on a killing spree in Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night.
The short build up of Michael Myers is done incredibly well as it show that he has always been deranged as the introduction to the film shows a young Michael Myers dispose of his own sister.
This film is timeless as it is still a fantastic watch even to this day. Sure the series had it’s fair shares of ups and downs, But this film alone easily makes Michael Myers one of the greatest villains in horror film history.
If not this then check out either John Carpenter’s The Thing remake from 1982,
or They Live. Either one of these 3 are John Carpenter’s best work.
Brain Dead / Dead Alive
Released as Brain-Dead in Sweden, Dead Alive is a contender for one of the goriest films ever made.
Directed by Peter Jackson, Dead Alive takes place in New Zealand's as a zombie epidemic sweeps the country thanks to a group of explorers capturing an ancient animal,
called the Sumatran Rat-Monkey who has venomous bites and scratches that can turn the living into zombies.
This film itself is just freaking madness!
The Reanimator
Unlike most zombie films, The focus isn’t on the zombies themselves but it is more based on the characters who have CREATED the situation that there in.
Herbert West is a young doctor who has created a serum that has the ability to bring the dead back to life. This serum turns the dead into unholy abominations that are able to retain their intelligence after reanimation.
This H.P Lovecraft story is one you can’t miss if you love the zombie genre.
The Exorcist
Without a doubt, a staple in the horror genre. The Exorcist is still to this day, One of the scariest films ever made.
Originally released in 1973, The Exorcist focused solely on paranormal events as well as demonic entities which back in the 1970's and 1980's wasn't seen all too much (As the market was saturated with Slasher films).
The film centres around a young girl by the name of Reagan who has been possessed by a demonic entity. That alone makes the film creepy. Kids in horror films are ALWAYS going to be creepy.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Okay…...All that really needs to be said is this. A Psychopath who wears a mask made out of the flesh of one of his victims carries a chainsaw and chases after groups of people so he can provide his redneck, cannibalistic family with food.
That simple premise alone should set you up for a fantastic horror experience. Technically this film is credited as one of the first modern day slasher films to be released as it single handedly revitalised the genre that would find mainstream popularity within the coming decade.
As stated, the film centres around The Sawyer Family. A family who are not only cannibalistic but also use human flesh to create things such as furniture and clothing. Needless to say, they’re insane!
Leatherface himself is the main antagonist of the whole series as he is the one who does all the dirty work for the family. The reason for this is because Leatherface is special.
He doesn’t know any better and does exactly what his family asks of him. This is one film you simply can’t miss.
Day of the Dead 1985
Although considered the black sheep of the original 3 “of the dead” films, Day of the Dead is still a competent zombie flick.
The film takes place some time after Dawn of the Dead. At this point, The undead plague has consumed the populace of the world with only a few living left to fend themselves. This group of people consist of scientists as well as military who have been given the task of eradicating the zombie plague.
Scientists suggest either finding a cure to reverse the infection or train the zombies to live alongside the living.
The military however are sick of living in a bunker and want to escape, taking out as many zombies as the can in the process.
This film is accompanied with some amazing special effects for its time as well to make the experience that much more immersive.
Candyman
The Candyman is counted as one of the last classic horror films in what would become a dying genre. Sure throughout the 90's we still got horror films, hell we even got some decent horror films but Candyman is a film that came out in the mid 90's, yet had the feeling of a slasher and psychological horror film from the 70's and 80's.
With a short running time, the film not only establishes a deep and interesting backstory behind the main villain of the film, The Candyman (Played By Horror Veteran, Tony Todd),
and is able to show him wreak terror on the mind of a young journalist by the name of Helen Lyle (played by Virginia Madsen).
This film has an instantly creepy vibe to it as it mixes fictional modern day horror with the classic myth of Bloody Mary. The acting is on point as Tony Todd Nails it as the Candyman, The situations presented in the film are horrifying and has gained a tremendous cult following since its original release. Check it out!
Evil Dead 2
Without a doubt a staple of the horror genre, the evil dead films not only brought something original to what was an already saturated market. The first film was pretty damn good, However the second film without a doubt found it’s own groove as it was able to find a balance between horror and comedy.
Because of this mixture, it literally gives the film a much more “Insane” vibe as we see the film’s main protagonist Ash Williams descend into madness during the first half of the film’s running time.
The effects in this film were much better too as makeup for the possessed characters had improved tenfold over the first film (Although that shouldn’t tarnish what the first film accomplished on a very minimal budget). Without a doubt a film you should check out this Halloween.
Alien
So in general, The first 2 alien films were incredible! It’s pretty rare to find a sequel that is better than the original, But Aliens manages to do this. Aliens takes what makes the first one so awesome and adds in a ton more action elements and surprisingly it worked out as the film was both a box office and critical hit.
However when it comes to horror, The first film, Alien has that genre on lockdown. The 1979 film follows a crew on board of the commercial spacecraft called “The Nostromos”.
During this expedition, The crew are intercepted by an alien species known as “The Xenomorph”. The film takes the slasher genre and incorporates sci fi elements to it flawlessly. The tagline for the film alone sets the tone as it states that “In Space, No one can hear you scream”.
The tagline couldn’t be anymore true to the film as this leaves all the main characters helpless as they have to either hide or defend themselves from an entity from another world.
Oh not to mention Sigourney Weaver’s character, Ellen Ripley is a complete badass in this film. Just Saying.
Friday the 13th Part 6
Okay so technically speaking, Most Friday the 13th films aren’t anything special. All in all, they’re just fun to watch. This film however we do consider to be the best. No what makes this film different you ask?
First off, This is the first time we see Jason as an undead being rather than a large living serial killer. Because of this, The series is able to get away with more illogical things such as Jason later on in the series being able to survive gunshots,
being electrocuted, survive being blown up and ect. This film also adds a lot more personality than the other films.
At this point, The main protagonist, Tommy Jarvis has appeared in 3 films, Thus giving his character a whole story arc. We’ve been with this character from when he was a child to growing up being haunted by what Jason has done to his family,
to now when he wants to finish Jason off once and for all so he can finally move on with his life. That alone gets the viewer invested, not to mention how much more creative Jason is in this film when disposing of people and the fact it has a kick ass soundtrack by Alice cooper!
Some people may argue that other films in the series are better than this and believe us, we find other films in this series just as fun, but this one sticks out the most to us.
