I love horror movies. There’s something about that creepy feeling that makes you look over your shoulder to check if there’s somebody there and the chills that run up and down your spine as you wait for a jump scare that makes watching scary movies so fun.
There are classic horror movies and mainstream horror movies that everybody knows, like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, but there are so many more movies out there to watch. A horror movie may fall under the radar for many reasons, from it being an indie film to being released at the same time as big blockbuster films.
Make sure to put these movie on your must-watch list for the month of October! Get your friends together, grab some candy corn, curl up in a blanket and prepared to be scared.
1. The Devil’s Candy
This 2015 horror movie follows a struggling painter as he and his family move into a new house. However, the painter, Jesse Hellman, soon finds himself being possessed after he begins hearing voices in the house. He is inspired to paint new disturbing pieces, all depicting the faces of children. Jesse and his family are then visited by the previous owner of the house, who shows up at their doorstep talking about hearing the voice of “Him.”
The Devil’s Candy is rated 92% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and received a 72 from Metacritic. You can check out the trailer here.
2. Berlin Syndrome
A young Australian tourist named Clare visits Berlin and meets a seemingly-normal man named Andy in this movie. Soon though, Clare realizes that her one-night stand with him has led to her being trapped in his apartment with no way to escape. The plot follows Clare as she attempts to escape and even potentially develops Stockholm Syndrome.
Rotten Tomatoes rated Berlin Syndrome a 74% fresh rating, and you can watch the trailer here.
3. The Blackcoat’s Daughter
The Blackcoat’s Daughter, starring Emma Roberts, is a supernatural psychological horror movie that follows a troubled young woman on her journey to an isolated New York private school, as well as two girls who are stranded at their prestigious Catholic school as they wait for their parents to pick them up for winter break. While the two students are waiting, however, a sinister force within their school awakens and begins hunting them.
This movie was well-received and was the debut film of Oz Perkins, who also directed and wrote I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (I would highly recommend this one, too, especially if you like The Blackcoat’s Daughter). The film scored a 68 on Metacritic and a 73% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Watch the trailer here.
4. The Void
The Void is inspired by 80’s body horror movies and H.P. Lovecraft’s writings. It’s full of twists and turns and big reveals as it follows the experiences of a group of people trapped in an under-staffed hospital by hooded cultists. There is more than just the horror of the cult outside that awaits them; inside the hospital, there are grotesque creatures waiting around every corner to attack the group members.
The Void was well-received by audiences everywhere, which got it a 73% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 62 on Metacritic. Check out the trailer here.
5. Dig Two Graves
In Dig Two Graves, teenager Jacqueline Mather is grappling with the mysterious drowning that killed her older brother. She is visited by three moonshiners who offer up a solution to her that will bring her brother back to life, but at a cost. The title of the movie, as well as the premise of the plot, revolves around the old quote, “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” The entire movie was crowdsourced through Indiegogo and even used cinema students from Southern Illinois University as interns, which was near the filming location.
Dig Two Graves has won several awards, including “Best Picture” at Beaufort International Film Festival. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 80% fresh rating. You can watch the trailer here.
6. Train to Busan
Train to Busan is a 2016 South Korean zombie apocalypse horror film. The movie follow Seok-woo as he travels on a train with his estranged daughter, when a zombie apocalypse breaks out and traps him and the other passengers on the train. They are forced to run from car to car in order to escape the zombies.
When Train to Busan premiered, it became the highest-grossing Korean film in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore. In total, the movie grossed $87.5 million worldwide. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating of 96%. You can see the trailer here.
7. The Pact
The Pact follows the story of Annie, whose mother has recently died, as she tries to unravel the mystery behind the disappearances of her sister, Nicole, and her cousin, Liz. Annie decides to stay at her childhood home while she is in town to attend her mother’s funeral, and strange things begin to happen. She begins having visions and terrifying dreams that lead her to call a psychic. In her investigation, Annie discovers more about her mother’s past than she ever thought she would.
For its reviews, The Pact earned a 65% from Rotten Tomatoes, a 54 from Metacritic, and three out of four starts from DailyFilm. Check out the trailer here.
8. Baskin
In this Turkish film, five policemen respond to a distress call that leads them to a subterranean labyrinth that may or may not be Hell. This is definitely one of the bloodier movies on this list (gore-fests just aren’t my thing, if you can’t tell from all the suspenseful movies in this article), so be prepared! The policemen are brought into the labyrinth through a mysterious black mass they find within a building on their police raid (“baskin” means police raid in Turkish, FYI), and they are brought into a horrifying world full of monsters and gore.
Critical reception for Baskin includes a 74% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and several awards from different independent movie festivals. It’s also only the eighth Turkish film to be released in the United States. Check out the trailer here.