Netflix and Kill
Must watch Halloween movies
By Riley Nerbas, Staff Writer, & Colin Macgillivray, Contributor
As Halloween approaches, many of us will be spending our time sitting through class wondering what we will be dressing up as for the clubs, the pubs or our friend’s house. For the day after, or for those who no longer dress up but stay in on All Hallows Eve, here’s a list of Horror movies you should check out with your candy and popcorn!
A Canadian cult classic featuring two strong female leads, Ginger Snaps grips from the beginning in a macabre environment as it takes you through two teenage girls fascination with death until they encounter a werewolf and turns their obsessions to reality. Ginger Snaps shows all the blood and guts surrounding puberty by wonderfully comparing a first period to becoming a werewolf. There is a great amount of gore, but if you love dogs you may want to pass up this film. Poor, poor Norman.
28 Days Later
This is the movie that rebirthed the zombie into everyday Hollywood filmmaking and television show entertainment. The classic coma patient waking to a world overrun by zombies is how this story begins. The film has breathtaking shots of empty streets in London and wild horses running gracefully through empty landscapes, while the world the protagonists inhabit is being torn apart. The film carries all the common tropes of zombie films: group of survivors scavenging for survival, bumping into soldiers who have created their own law, and the captured zombie, but one thing differs, these zombies can run and they are fast and hungry.
The Invitation
No dinner invitation will be the same after seeing this film. The tension is built around the main character’s relationship with his ex-wife and the flashbacks of their son, whose death is never fully revealed to the audience. The suspicions and tension between the dinner guests is what drives this film and you will be completely spellbound until the ending when everything unravels.
An American Werewolf in London
Yes, there are two werewolf movies on this list, but nothing to do with Taylor Lautner shirtless in Twilight, so you’re welcome. Another cult classic for its humour and grotesque werewolf changing sequence set to Blue Moon by the soulful voice of Sam Cooke, this movie is unique, be it aged. Set in London – of course – it follows two American backpackers and their encounter with a wolf in a midnight field, and one man’s subsequent descent in becoming a werewolf, while talking to the ghosts of the people he has killed. One mesmerizing scene will have you forever terrified to take the train at night.
Don’t Breathe
Fede Alvarez’s sophomore effort as a feature filmmaker was definitely a success, as Don’t Breathe is a tight and confined thriller. It’s premise is quite simple; Three down on their luck, Detroit delinquents make a living by breaking into homes and selling the items that they retrieve. They decide to rob a rich blindman, thinking of it as an easy score, but just like all horror movies, it takes a turn for the worst for the protagonists. Don’t Breathe succeeds in conveying the sense of fear and claustrophobia that the characters are feeling to the audience, as well as offering some incredible cinematography, established in a beautiful unbroken shot that defines the space for this largely one-setting exercise in terror. Don’t Breathe offers a clever twist on the whole home invasion genre, and it is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat.
The Witch
Robert Eggers delivers a masterclass in psychological horror in his debut as a director. An incredibly compelling and visually stunning piece, The Witch is a 17th century period piece which follows the plights of an incredibly religious New England family. Upon having their youngest son disappear right under their eyes, the family goes through countless horrors which leads them to question their faith, their lives, and Satan himself. As deeply unsettling as it is, I couldn’t keep my eyes off the screen. Coupled with a haunting soundtrack, an excellent cast, and the exquisite attention to period detail, The Witch was a film that kept me up thinking of black magic and witchcraft for days.
Green Room
It might not be your typical horror, but Green Room was an extremely tense and chilling experience. An uncommonly fun horror-thriller, Green Room follows “The Ain’t Rights”, a group of punk rockers willing to play any gig they can get their hands on. When their next venue turns out to be a Nazi skinhead bar in the backwoods of Oregon, the punk rockers clearly realize the sinister intentions of the bar owner, a white supremacist brilliantly played by Patrick Stewart. Intense, emotional and ridiculously twisted, Green Room is so far my favourite film of 2016 due to its twists and turns and different take on the classic horror tropes. Regardless if you are a horror fan or not, Green Room is worth the watch due to it being one of the late, great Anton Yelchin’s last performances, and as usual, he is incredible.
