This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at McGill chapter.
I love horror movies. This is something I got from my dad—I can’t remember when exactly we started this little ritual but our father-daughter bonding time often includes getting together to watch scary movies (and comment on how bad they are most of the time). Here’s a list of some of my favourite spooky movies to get into the Halloween spirit (don’t worry, I’m a seasoned veteran of the genre, so I can assure you I have impeccable taste).
Hocus Pocus (1993)
- Content warnings: cartoonish violence? (zombie heads roll and a cat gets run over but he’s okay)
- The plot: A boy named Max moves to Salem and accidentally ends up resurrecting the Sanderson sisters, three witches who were executed 300 years before, on Halloween night. The sisters have until sunrise to brew the potion to achieve immortality—and the main ingredient is children’s souls. Max, his sister Dani, and his friend Allison work together to protect the neighbourhood kids and each other.
- The hot take: I have watched this movie every single Halloween since I was like 7. It’s a classic masterpiece and deserves to be number one on this list, even if it’s not a scary movie per se. Watching it is always a good time, and who doesn’t love a good musical number in the middle of the movie? Anyway, I really like any narrative that has siblings learning how to get along, loving your siblings is important.
The Raven (2012)
- Content warnings: some gore, bad CGI blood
- The plot: It’s 1800s Baltimore and a serial killer is on the loose recreating the murders that happen in Edgar Allan Poe’s works. The police recruit Poe himself to help them solve the murders.
- The hot take: Listen, not only am I a Lit major, I’m a Lit major FASCINATED with Poe’s writing. I have this super thick anthology of his collected works and it’s one of my most prized possessions. Every time I watch this movie I catch myself mumbling along to the lines of poetry that make it into dialogue. Ugh, so good, such a delight. This one is more mystery/crime than horror (mostly because all the CGI is bad lol) but whether you’ve read Poe or not, the murders and clues are pretty ingenious. The ending is kind of bad, though, haha.
The Ring (2002)
- Content warnings: body horror, murder, epilepsy warning
- The plot: A journalist named Rachel investigates the murder of her niece (and 3 other teenagers) at the hands of an allegedly cursed videotape. Her son accidentally watches the tape, and now if she doesn’t solve the mystery behind the urban legend, he will die in seven days.
- The hot take: Granted, I have not watched the original Japanese version yet and I do not condone whitewashing, but this movie is genuinely engaging. The first time I watched it was actually last year, and it was a lot more than the stories you hear growing up about it? I really loved the detective-esque puzzle-solving bits of the plot, and the plot-twist at the end was unexpected but very, very welcomed. Creepy and creative, in my opinion.
As Above, So Below (2014)
- Content warnings: blood, death, jumpscares, claustrophobia
- The plot: Scarlett, an archaeologist continuing her late father’s research on the Philosopher’s Stone, goes to Paris to explore the forbidden parts of the catacombs under the city. The maze of bones has a lot more to offer than they expected, though, and soon they’re face to face with the ghosts of their past.
- The hot take: Found footage-style films are rarely ever executed properly but THIS one!!! This one is so well done. The group of explorers has to awkwardly make their way through a literal maze made of human bones underground and the way the movie is shot puts you right there in the center of the claustrophobic nightmare. Some parts of the movie towards the end are a bit of a stretch because they go too far with the supernatural element and they fit in awkwardly with the rest but what I love most about this movie is how they use the creepy physical space to reflect a creepy psychological space. Bonus points because it uses a real-life location and setting, adding to the spook points.
Train to Busan (2016)
- Content warnings: body horror, violence, death
- The plot: Dreamboat Gong Yoo plays a hot single dad who has to take his daughter on a train from Seoul to Busan to visit his ex-wife, but he has the worst possible timing: a virus has kick-started the apocalypse and everyone is turning into zombies. One manages to get on board and starts spreading the disease, so the passengers have to fight for their lives until the train can reach a secure location.
- The hot take: For a period of time circa 2017, I made every single one of my Tinder dates watch this movie with me. What can I say, I’m a simple woman: I like trains and dilfs. Definitely one of the best zombie movies I’ve ever watched, this one somehow manages to keep you tense and on edge and at the same time have an emotional connection with the characters. Be warned: the ending is quite sad.
Crimson Peak (2015)
- Content warnings: blood, murder, graphic injuries, creepy ghosts, sex
- The plot: Super cool business woman and writer Edith Cushing gets married to Loki from Avengers after he shows up in her old-timey American town trying to get funding for an engineering project. They move to England to live in a creepy, dilapidated Victorian manor with Loki’s sister, but Edith falls ill and begins having vivid nightmares about ghosts as red as the clay soil trying to reveal to her a dark secret.
- The hot take: The AESTHETICS of this movie! So Gothic, so delicious. The plot is a little predictable, but still well-executed. Some bits are unnecessarily gory, but then again, it IS a horror movie (I’m just not a fan of gore as shock factor). Absolutely love the creepiness of the ambience and how memorable all the red makes the movie. You also get to see Tom Hiddleston’s ass, if that’s something you’re into.
The Invitation (2015)
- Content warnings: blood, murder, general violence
- The plot: Protagonist dude accepts the invitation to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife and her new husband in the house they shared before the death of their son. Throughout the evening, he is the only one among his group of friends who seems to notice that there’s something inherently wrong about the whole situation, but doesn’t have enough evidence to prove to the rest of his friends that they need to get out of there immediately.
- The hot take: THIS movie. God, this movie was amazing, but it’s the kind you can only watch once because it just isn’t the same. Veeery slow build-up but the director really managed to convey the tension and suspense. The whole time, you’re just sitting there feeling like everything is slightly off and you can’t tell why. The ending had me with my jaw on the floor, it was something so simple yet so powerful. Chef’s kiss.
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
- What We Do in the Shadows (satirical documentary about funky New Zealand vampire roommates)
- Jennifer’s Body (hot bi cheerleader eats men and tries to get gf while delivering amazing one-liners)
- Secrets in the Hot Spring (3 idiot friends go to a hot spring hotel which they believe to be haunted)
- Sweeney Todd (barber murders clients and landlady bakes them into meatpies while singing)
- Corpse Bride (loser accidentally gets married to a dead lady)
Images obtained from:
https://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/john-cusack-the-raven-poster.jpg
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQzNzg0NDI2MF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMzgxNzY2MTE@._V1_.jpg
http://fontpc.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Train-To-Busan-Font.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a6/1f/e1/a61fe149809356e1c8396be6cef3e440.jpg