It is Halloween! The perfect time of year to enjoy some amazing Horror Films.
I want to take this opportunity to drop some recommendations for anyone looking for some quality films... Lets be honest the world is full of some totally awful horror "films" that are churned out at the pace and even with the budget of porno's. badly written and executed films that rely on crass gore effects and cheap jump scares but are still just dumped on streaming services and unfortunately can be peoples first experience of horror so these cheap pieces of nonsense taint the whole genre for people which is a shame.
Horror cinema can be truly spectacular tapping into the human psyche and exercising those parts of our primitive lizard brains like our fight-or-flight response which releases adrenaline. buildups of tension and dread that are then broken can give the viewer a release of dopamine and endorphins and can then lead to a feeling of pleasure and a boost in mood.
So even if you are not a regular viewer of horror movies you really should occasionally dip it.
As always I will be viewing my two annual Halloween watches,
First up will be Robin Hardy's 1973 folk horror triumph "The Wicker Man". A film that I regularly sight as my Favourite film of all time. I adore this film! It is as chilling as it is beautiful and is so wonderfully weird and with the addition of a few musical numbers makes it totally unique.
I am a lucky boy so I will be watching my 50th Anniversary 4K Blu-ray SteelBook which was released by StudioCanal in 2023.
If you want to watch this spectacular British folk horror masterpiece... and for some strange reason you don't already own it on physical media! You can pay for a subscription for the
Studiocanal streaming service or I'm pretty sure if you pay for the ITVX streaming service you get access to the Studiocanal catalogue. You could also rent the film via Prime Video or Apple TV for £3.49.
I will also be watching John Carpenter's cult classic "Halloween" (1978)
This film did not invent the "slasher movie" but it did perfect the sub genre. John Carpenter had made an offbeat low budget sci-fi film and a brutal crime thriller but it was with this film elevated Carpenter to a true master of horror as well as giving us the absolute cinema treasure Jamie Lee Curtis.
Does the whole "Michael Myers" thing make sense... No! he is either a disturbed kid who grew up in a mental institution or some kind of supernatural immortal being... but what to do is just disregard any other film in the Halloween franchise except this one (and Halloween 3: Season of the Witch which is brilliant)
You can watch this on Netflix!
My recommendation for Halloween is to sign up to the Streaming service... Shudder!
Even just for a month it costs £4.99 P/M and on shudder you can watch...
Suspiria (1977)
Italian horror wizard Dario Argento's phantasmagorical supernatural horror film loosely based on Thomas De Quincey's 1845 essay "Suspiria de Profundis".
Suzy travels to Germany to attend ballet school. she has a difficult time settling in. She hears noises, and often feels ill. As fellow students die, Suzy uncovers the terrifying secret history of the place.
This film is wonderfully bonkers and genuinely creepy. Argento thrusts you into this dream like surreal world of dance, murder & the occult.
This film was remade in 2018 by director Luca Guadagnino and I enjoyed that as well but it is a very different film. If you haven't seen the 1977 film I highly recommend it.
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
George A. Romero wrote, directed & edited this must see horror classic.
As zombies swarm over the U.S., the terrified populace tries everything in their power to escape the attack, but neither the cities nor the countryside provide sanctuary. In Pennsylvania, a radio-station employee and his girlfriend, escape in the stations helicopter, accompanied by two SWAT team members, The group retreat to a shopping mall, to mount their last stand.
After the phenomenal success of Night of the Living Dead (1968) Romero avoided making another zombie movie for almost a decade to prevent him from being typecast but that plan failed. Romero is cemented in pop culture as the godfather of the zombie movie.
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Simply one of the finest Horror/Comedies ever made because it manages to be genuinely funny and genuinely frightening.
David Naughton is pitch perfect as our protagonist with a lycanthropic issue and Jenny Agutter is fantastic and she appears in an old school nurse's uniform.
David & Jack, two American college students, are backpacking through Britain when a large wolf attacks them. David survives with a bite, but Jack is brutally killed. As David heals in the hospital, he's plagued by violent nightmares of his mutilated friend, who warns David that he is becoming a werewolf. When David discovers the horrible truth, he contemplates committing suicide before the next full moon causes him to transform from man to murderous beast.
The film is also notable for its innovative makeup effects by the great Rick Baker.
Evil Dead II (1987) Yes! another horror/comedy.
an example of a sequel that is better than the original but it is also basically a remake of the original! think of it as a "re-quel". Directed by Sam Raimi who shot to infamy with his film "Evil Dead" (1981) which garnered much controversy and was branded a "Video Nasty". Evil Dead and Evil Dead II both star actor Bruce Campbell as our hero Ash Williams who must battle demons at a secluded cabin in the woods. After playing an audiotape left by a college professor that contains voice recordings of readings from the Book The Necronomicon.
Genuinely gruesome and hilarious, Bruce Campbell's swagger and physical comedy prowess mixed with brilliant makeup and special effects and Raimi's imaginative camera work
and the general manic pace makes this film a gem of horror cinema.
[•REC] (2007)
This is a Spanish language horror film that is for better or worse an example of the much maligned "found footage" genre. This film varies by most films in that genre by being actually really good and genuinely scary.
Late-night TV host Angela and her videographer are following the fire service on a call to an apartment building, but then the police seal off the building due to a resident infected by a virus.
When I first saw this I knew nothing about it apart from it being a Spanish horror movie it blew me away and genuinely creeped me out. This film did get an unnecessary Hollywood remake in 2008 called "Quarantine" that should be avoided like a mysterious virus in an apartment building.
The House of the Devil (2009)
The director Ti West is now very well known for his "X" trilogy of horror films that includes the film "X", its prequel "Pearl" (both 2022), and its sequel MaXXXine (2024) but back in 2009 Mr West made this low budget horror offering.
Desperate to make some money so she can move into a new apartment, college student Samantha takes a mysterious babysitting job. When she arrives at the house, Mr. Ulman mentions a full lunar eclipse and explains there is no child, but that Samantha will be watching his mother instead. After exploring the sinister-seeming house, Samantha soon comes to realise that her employers are hiding a horrifying secret and have plans to use her, dead or alive.
This film is great it feels like a throw back but not in a derivative way the film also features an appearance from a young aspiring film director Greta Gerwig in the role of Samantha's friend Megan.
I could recommend another 10 or 20 films and only scratch the surface of Shudder. it is a fantastic depository of horror cinema that gives you access to some of the greatest horror made by many of the greatest horror filmmakers.
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