It’s that spooky time of year again! Although there’s never a bad time to watch a good horror movie, now’s the time of year that they become way more popular. The classics — Friday the Thirteenth, Saw, and Halloween — are certainly well-worth the watch, and It is all the rage this year, but that’s not the whole scene, I promise! If you’re looking for a good, new scare, here are some movies you might not have heard of, but should definitely put on your list.
If you’re looking for something a little spooky and a lot weird: House
House is a Japanese-made film about a bunch of schoolgirls and their exploits in a haunted house. Fair warning, this one is whacky. It’s a genre-bend, and it blurs the lines of horror, the surreal, and how many people you can dismember in a short period of time.
If you’re looking for a period piece: The Witch
This one is a bit-more well known, but still not in the mainstream canon. You can find this one on Netflix, which is always a bonus. I found this film absolutely terrifying, and it also has a very feminist reading to it, so it’s worth the watch. Pro tip: watch it with subtitles on! It is very historically accurate, so a lot of the time it’s hard to understand what the characters are saying, despite the fact that they’re speaking English.
If you’re looking for something creepy AF: The Innocents
If you liked The Others with Nicole Kidman, this movie is based on the same short story, but has many different twists. The movie is older and it shows, but it is elegant and disturbing for multiple reasons — even beyond the paranormal.
If you’re looking to change your perspective on religion (and your entire world view, to be honest): The Wailing
This is a relatively new horror film out of South Korea. It’s an absolutely wild ride that won’t make any sense unless you analyze every detail to death. The basic premise is that someone in the town is the devil and someone in the town is God’s representative, but no one knows who is who, leading to a questioning of blind faith.
If you’re running short for time: Downstairs
This is a spooky short with all of the jump scares and horror of a feature-length, all wrapped up in a 20 minute package. Will it scare the daylights out of you? Maybe, maybe not. If you like jump scares and a mix of dark humour into your horror, this is an excellent (and award-winning) choice.
If you’re looking for something that’s a bit too close to home: It Follows
This is probably one of the most popular films on this list, but for good reason — critics are hailing this as the best horror film of our generation. The main character is a female that is university aged and the movie is about how she has to take control of a situation she never asked for or deserved. Even if you’ve already seen it before, watch it again and keep this in mind: the whole film is a metaphor for debt and how Baby Boomers left us, the Millennials, to deal with.