Whenever Halloween rolls around it really makes you want to, well, rewatch Halloween.
Halloween hit theaters in 1978 and changed the horror genre like a cleaver to the heart. Now, 45 years later, its influence is still felt. And following the trend of popular franchises that are sequels/reboots, we have a new crop of Halloween films. Halloween 2018, Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends.
Halloween is The Slasher, and many a horror film owes quite a lot to it. Slashers are the sharks of the horror movie genre. Simple predators for the most part, yet terrifyingly effective. The stalking figure a mile behind gets your heart racing like a shark fin gliding through the water. So if you want to fill your entire October with that sensation,
Our Slasher Recs Are
A Nightmare on Elm Street – Born from the mind of Wes Craven, Freddy is perhaps the most iconic horror movie villain. He has his own theme song! Sure a killer who can take a bullet and keep trucking after you is scary, but what about one that haunts your dreams? That never lets you rest? That gives you chills just thinking about it.
Candyman – The 1992 film is still one of my favorites. The story follows Helen, a grad student studying urban legends. She takes an interest in one that circulates in the Cabrini-Green projects. The Candyman. Her research puts her right in the crosshairs of the living legend himself, played by actual living legend Tony Todd. I saw that movie as a kid and I still haven’t said Candyman three times while looking in a mirror.
Happy Death Day - And now for something lighter. Groundhog Day, but with murder. Tree, short for Theresa, is a sorority girl who keeps reliving her birthday. That doesn’t seem so bad, except it always ends with her getting stabbed, drowned, hit by a car, hit by—you get the idea. The only way to break the loop is to figure out who the killer is and stop them. That’s harder than it sounds when you’re a mean girl and the suspects are everyone you’ve ever been mean to.
Now, if you'd like to switch up your thrillfest with another subgenre of horror,
Our Supernatural Recs Are
The Exorcist - As an exorcism movie, Prey for the Devil owes quite a lot to the original. Precious few horror films have ever won an Oscar, and The Exorcist has two. It was also the first to be nominated for Best Picture. Decades later, it still holds up. A child is possessed by a demon. A priest is having a crisis of faith. What will happen, when the three of them cross paths? You’ll have to watch to find out.
The Omen – A lot of exorcism-related films are about demons, how about ones that are about the son of the devil? In The Omen, Robert Thorn and his wife end up raising the Antichrist, unbeknownst to them. Well, they might not know he is the Antichrist, but they are starting to realize that something is wrong with their son. I am pleased to report that both the 1976 original and the 2006 remake are good, so you can pick your poison.
Trick 'r Treat - Five different stories set during Halloween night, with five very different kinds of people. A married couple arguing about Halloween decorations, a teacher and his son, a gaggle of kids collecting pumpkins for a ritual, a group of pretty young women looking for dates to a party, and a crotchety neighborhood man alone in his house. Or is he? Somehow, they all come together. Trick 'r Treat is a fun, morbid, Halloween staple. I put it on every year.
Make sure to watch with the lights off!
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