Trick or treat? Well, do I have a treat for you, it’s my latest blog post! I know that’s a bit of a cop-out dad joke line to start off a Halloween-themed blog, but I can’t help it. It's that time of year again, the pumpkins are out, the nights are getting darker and all manners of scary things are lurking about in our imaginations. Film has been ripe with all sorts of horror films for many years now. Some of them I have seen, and there are still a lot for me to discover. So even though I am going to go through five of my favourites, the list is subject to change. And with that in mind, let’s dive right in...
5. The Babadook
They always say to first-time filmmakers that it’s easier to make a horror as it is affordable, there’s a large market and it just needs an interesting hook. So the first film from Jennifer Kent seems very run-of-the-mill. However, instead of a stereotypical horror film of confronting fear it instead confronts grief and also mental illness. This film has a lot of depth which horror films usually lack. Instead we are treated to a mother-son story and how she’s still grieving the loss of her husband, years after he died. Its central monster, the Babadook, is literally nightmare fuel and is both menacing and terrifying. I was hooked into this film instantly and it didn’t disappoint. Check it out for yourself!
4. Donnie Darko
If you’ve seen this film then you’ll clearly remember the very famous song Mad World by Tears for Fears, which was used heavily throughout. This song is so haunting and resonates within the psychology of the film very well. It’s sleepy, poetic, almost trance-like. This is exactly what the film is like. I don’t wish to spoil the details of the plot, but I first watched this without knowing the plot or what was going to unfold. All I knew was that Jake Gyllenhaal and Patrick Swayze were in it. This film left me with so many questions and disturbed me for many weeks. It’s not your average horror film but still give you goosebumps.
3. Annabelle: Creation
A prequel to a prequel but it is a sequel, which is loosely based off of a real story. Confused? Well, that’s what I was expecting to be. The first film Annabelle was a spin-off and a prequel to The Conjuring. The Conjuring is a fantastic film, but Annabelle was nothing to brag about, and yet we still got a sequel. I was expecting more of the same, where a possessed doll haunts someone until it's destroyed or given away.
Instead we got to the roots of what the titular doll was made of to begin with, to horrifying results! There are moments in this film which genuinely unnerved me and I felt uneasy. That’s how a good horror film should make you feel and this is why this film makes my list!
2. The Ring
First of all I should clarify that I have not seen the Japanese original.
Instead I am talking about the Naomi Watts film, which I believe is just as eerie and spooky. This was a horror movie made for a new generation, a generation of people who love to scare themselves by watching horror movies. The premise of watching a mysterious video, which is apparently cursed, with a series of creepy imagery was enough to make myself feel uneasy. I saw this film at a young age, which a lot of people did not. Just myself. And even though horror films don’t scare me as much as they should this one did have an effect. The story about Samara trying to attach herself to her victims by crawling through the telly is something that definitely stays with you.
1. The Grudge
There’s so many brilliant scenes in this film which are just pure bone-chillingly creepy. The film was made by the original director of the Japanese films, which is why the supernatural elements work so well. The atmosphere, characters and story all interweave so cleverly and make you wonder what is going to happen next.
There are no jump scares and supernatural elements don’t seem silly or forced - and this is why I believe The Grudge works so well as a horror. It just aims to scare you as much as the characters in the story.
As I said before, this list will change as more filmmakers will introduce us to more scary stories and I will stumble upon a film classics that I have not yet seen which will make the hairs on my skin shiver. This Halloween, if you are going to watch one of these films then I have one piece of advice — don’t watch them alone! Mwahahaha! 🎃
Thank you for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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