Collage of various horror movie posters (Ruby Costa / The Puma Prensa)
By Ruby Costa, Co-Executive Editor
Horror movies are a staple of any perfect Halloween season. Though they may not be for everyone, there is enough variety in the horror genre that almost anyone can find something they’d like.
To finish off October on a good note, here's a list of horror movie recommendations—organized by genre and scariness—that has something for everyone.
Zombie:
1. Zombieland (2009): This zombie apocalypse horror comedy follows four strangers who join forces in an attempt to find a safe haven. They travel across the post-apocalyptic United States, bond, and kill some zombies. Though this movie is not conventionally scary, it has quite a lot of gore and a stand out comedy element.
2. Train to Busan (2016): This is a South Korean zombie apocalypse movie set primarily on a high speed train from Seoul to Busan. The outbreak traps a busy, workaholic father and his daughter on the train to fight for their lives, featuring an assortment of other characters and real actors for the zombies rather than CGI. The gore and acting is highly realistic and immersive, but the storyline is much more reliant on drama, emotions, and character relationships than it is pure horror.
3. 28 Days Later (2002): This movie is truly horrifying in a sea of cheezy zombie movies. It follows a former bicycle courier when he wakes up from a coma 28 days after a “Rage Virus” has spread across England. He and the small group of survivors that he meets travel across the country as they try to find a supposed safe blockade near Manchester, encountering many erratic and dangerous infected on the way. Something that 28 Days Later is known for is the way it was filmed— all on a consumer-grade digital film camera.
Psychological:
1. Get Out (2017): Get Out is Jordan Peele's most famous horror movie, mixing social commentary and horror aspects into something truly captivating to watch. The movie follows a young black man who is invited to stay with his girlfriend's family in upstate New York, though he soon uncovers the white family’s horrifying secret. There is an overall feeling of dread and suspense as you watch this film, like you know something will go wrong, and the ending comes together perfectly, bit by bit, through subtle tells and horror techniques.
2. Black Swan (2010): This horror is as beautiful as it is disturbed. It follows a young ballerina who descends into madness as she becomes obsessed with perfection. Real elements of ballet are wound together with body horror and suspense, making the viewer feel as if they are losing their minds alongside the main character. Whether or not you know anything about ballet, I’m sure you’ll enjoy Black Swan.
3. Midsommar (2019): Set mostly in rural Sweden, a grieving woman becomes entranced in a cult on a Swedish commune and witnesses their deprived rituals as well as the death of her friends. Midsommar will mess with your head and give you a fright, including shocking gore, physiological elements, and an ending that people debate about to this day.
Supernatural:
1. The Others (2001): When a wealthy family in an isolated mansion take on some help, they begin to experience horrifying supernatural encounters involving the two children, brother and sister, who are allergic to light. The Others culminates in a well earned plot twist and has elements of both psychological and “scared-of-the-dark” horror.
2. The Shining (1980): The Shining is one of Stephen King’s most famous book-to-movie adaptations, featuring a small family that goes to stay at a hotel in Colorado after the father gets the job as the caretaker over the winter. Little do they know, malicious spirits haunt the hotel, and as the fathers mental state begins to decline, he becomes a danger to his family and himself. The acting and slow pace are known to be what makes this film so suspenseful, though there are many spontaneous, terrifying scenes as well.
3. The Witch (2015): Set in seventeenth century New England, a family is banished from their plantation and struggles to survive in the harsh conditions near the edge of the woods. When the youngest son vanishes without a trace, the deeply religious family blames it on witchcraft and descends into paranoia, the eldest daughter bearing the brunt of the blame. The dark, depressing atmosphere and haunting imagery makes The Witch a distributing watch.
Creature Feature:
1. The Thing (1982): A team of researchers in the Antarctic begin being tormented by a shape-shifting alien, causing them to lose trust in each other and resort to desperate measures to make sure the alien does not infect the rest of humanity. Despite being made 44 years ago, the practical effects hold up fairly well, and the body horror elements make it truly grotesque to watch.
2. Alien (1979): In Alien, the crew of a commercial towing spaceship responds to a distress signal that turns their life upside down. Alien, as the name suggests, features many terrifying extraterrestrial monsters, and similar to The Thing, is known for amazing practical effects that are impressive even to this day. The claustrophobic feeling of being trapped on a spacecraft, the expert pacing and suspense, and, of course, the terrifying aliens are what makes this movie so famously fantastic.
3. The Descent (2005): When a group of friends and cave divers go into a previously unexplored Appalachian cave system, they encounter not only claustrophobia and narrow passageways, but also violent creatures that they can’t quite explain. The setting is enough on its own to put some people on edge, but the addition of unexplainable creatures, well crafted jumpscares, and the intense and complex relationships between the main characters all make this movie just that much more enjoyable for horror fans.
Found Footage/Mockumentary:
1. Creep (2014): When a freelance videographer answers an ad on Craigslist, he gets more than he signed up for after traveling to a remote cabin in California. One reason that this film is so iconic is because of Mark Duplass’ performance as the antagonist, though it's also well revered for the mix of comedy and suspense. Many fans of Creep also praise the relationship between the two main characters—essetnailly the only two characters in the film—and its homoerotic undertones.
2. The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014): This mockumentary follows a film crew making a documentary about Alzheimer's disease after they get permission to document an elderly woman suffering from said disease. What they don’t know, however, is that the woman’s declining mental state is due to something far more sinister. A lot of the horror in The Taking of Deborah Logan comes from putting someone primarily innocent, a sweet elderly woman, into horrifying circumstances. The body horror, jumpscares, and eerie atmosphere certainly contribute as well, and the mockumentary style makes you as the viewer feel that much closer to the subjects of the film.
3. As Above, So Below (2014): When an archaeologist leads a team into the Paris Catacombs in search of what she believes to be the location of Nicolas Flamel's Philosopher's Stone, the group begins to experience a series of terrifying events. As Above, So Below takes advantage of the dark, cramped interior of the Catacombs as well as the psychological impacts of multiple physical manifestations of trauma. Overall, it’s scary enough that you’ll want to cover your eyes, but it also leaves you with an unnamable, bone-deep feeling that may cause you to rethink some of the aspects of your own life.
Satire:
1. Scream (1996): Possibly one of the most well known horror movies ever, Scream is both a slasher and a satire of popular slasher tropes— you can watch it as a legitimate horror movie, but also as a commentary on the tropes and rules used in other horror films. It follows a girl who begins to be harassed by ominous phone calls and a masked killer, though it diverts many of the following cliches. The mix of humor and jumpscares makes Scream a fun Halloween movie, though it's not actually very scary, all things considered.
2. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010): This is a dark comedy satire of the “killer hillbilly" slasher trope, setting up the classic premise and then diverting expectations and flipping it around. The two main characters—blue collar best friends trying to renovate their new vacation cabin—are not violent at all, simply trapped in a series of massive misunderstandings and cliché horror movie plot points. There's some over the top gore, plenty of comedy, and a satisfying ending, making this satire an exciting experience to watch.
3. The Cabin in the Woods (2011): When five college students—all based on popular slasher movie architects—travel to a remote cabin in the woods, they are unknowingly forced into horror movie roles as ritual sacrifices. They encounter many horror villain spoofs and cliché tropes, and the movie is dripping with references and meta commentary as a whole. It's a fun watch, and though there is a small share of gore and horror elements, it's definitely not going to keep you up at night.
No matter how you choose to spend your Halloween this year, finishing your night off with a good horror movie can really make it all the better. Happy Halloween, Pumas!
(Visit The Puma Prensa again this December for similar Christmas movie recommendations).