A CREEPY COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN: 20 Movies to get you in the Mood.
Halloween is arguably the best holiday of them all.
The costumes, candy, and jack o'lanterns set a tone of excitement that is unparalleled. After the age of twelve however, the promise of free candy and dress up might not ring like it used to. How else should one get themselves in the festive mood, but with a healthy dose of fear?
Scary movies on Halloween are the equivalent of chocolate on Valentines Day or presents on Christmas. They are something that you’ll never age out of, unless you become weak-hearted that is.
So as to keep with the festivities, we at GATA have curated a list of films that are sure to keep you from sleeping.
HOUR OF THE WOLF
Ingmar Bergman (1968)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman, Hour of the Wolf follows the story of a married couple; artist Johan Borg and his pregnant wife, Alma. While vacationing on a small island, things begin to go wrong when Johan Borg begins having hallucinations.
“The time between midnight and dawn when most people die, when sleep is deepest, when nightmares are most palatable. It is the hour when the sleepless are pursued by their sharpest anxieties, when ghosts and demons hold sway. The hour of the wolf is also the hour when most children are born.”
2. ANGST
Gerald Kargl (1983)
Loosely based on real-life mass murderer Werner Kniesek; Angst follows the story of an unnamed serial killer recently released from prison. Eager to kill again, he searches for the next victims to quench his long unsatiated dark desires.
“The fear in her eyes and the knife in the chest. That’s my last memory of my mother.”
3. MISERY
Rob Reiner (1990)
Based on a Stephen King novel of the same name, successful author Paul Sheldon gets in a car accident and is grateful to be rescued by an obsessive fan - only to realize that his nightmare is just beginning.
“I’m your number one fan. There’s nothing to worry about. You’re going to be just fine. I will take good care of you. I’m your number one fan.”
4. THE FACE OF ANOTHER
Hiroshi Teshigahara (1966)
Japanese horror films never fail to disappoint in providing a scare that will stay with you for life. The Face of Another is a movie that stays true to this idea.
When a burn victim obtains a mask from his doctor to cover his burns, the mask begins to create for him a new, darker, personality.
“There are monsters who act like people, and people who act like monsters.”
5. THE BROOD
David Cronenberg (1979)
Directed by David Cronenburg; a severely disturbed woman is put into isolation by a psychologist known for his controversial therapy techniques during the midst of her divorce. Meanwhile, her daughter is tormented by her new menacing siblings.
“They’re her children. More exactly, the children of her rage.”
6. MUTE WITNESS
Anthony Waller (1995)
Mute Witness follows the story of a woman who is unable to speak. While working as an FX makeup artist on a low-budget Russian horror movie, she witnesses a real murder and must escape for her life, or become the movie’s next star.
“...they saw the film, and it’s not the real thing.”
7. VIDEODROME
David Cronenberg (1983)
Renowned for having special effects quality ahead of its time- Videodrome, directed by David Cronenberg, follows the story of TV producer Max Renn. Renn is desperate for new programs, when he chances upon “Videodrome” a show that mainly depicts graphic torture and violence. After viewer test subjects enter an altered state of being and Ren’s girlfriend goes missing following an audition, he realizes that “Videodrome” might be more than it seems.
“Your reality is already half video hallucination. If you’re not careful, it will become a total hallucination. You’ll have to learn to live in a very strange new world.”
8. AUDITION
Takashi Miike (1999)
Directed by Takashi Miike, Audition follows the story of a widowed man, Aoyama, who is urged by his son to begin dating again. Aoyama, aided by his filmmaker friend, uses an actual movie audition as his personal dating service in hopes of finding a woman. Despite having screened many women, only one stands out to him and they begin a relationship. However, she is not what she seems.
“Only pain and suffering will make you realize who you are.”
9. THREE…EXTREMES
Fruit Chan (2004)
A Collaborative trilogy by three renowned directors, Fruit Chan, Takashi Miike, and Park Chan-wook. This cross-cultural film tells the stories of a witch doctor, twin sisters, and a director.
10. GOODNIGHT MOMMY
Veronica VerFranz, Severin Fiala (2014)
Goodnight Mommy is an Austrian psychological horror film that follows the story of two tight-knit twin boys. When their mother returns home from reconstructive facial surgery, she truly becomes someone the boys don’t recognize.
11. THE OTHERS
Alejandro Amenabar (2001)
Starring Nicole Kidman, The Others is a psychological horror film that depicts the story of a family that moves into a new home during World War II. Grace, a deeply religious woman, aims to protect her children from their rare photosensitivity, a disease that causes them harm from sun exposure; when suddenly her housebound children begin making claims of seeing ghosts.
“Sometimes the world of the living gets mixed up with the world of the dead.”
12. CREEP
Patrick Brice (2015)
In the first minutes of Creep it's easy to forget that what's playing is a horror film, what with its cheery music and quirky quips. As the film continues on, things do indeed become “creepy”.
The story follows a man named Aaron, who accepts an online advert from a dying man who wants to document his last days as a gift for his unborn child. As the day goes on Aaron realizes that he is in a remote location, unable to contact anyone, with a stranger who becomes weirder by the minute.
“I love wolves. because they love deeply, but they don’t know how to express it, and they’re often very violent and, quite frankly, murder the things that they love, and inside of the wolf is this beautiful heart.”
13. CARNIVAL OF SOULS
Herk Harvey (1962)
Following a traumatic car accident, a woman moves to a new city. Unable to assimilate to her new surroundings she's drawn to a strange abandoned carnival.
“To me a church is just a place of business.”
14. SISTERS
Brian de Palma (1973)
Sisters is a voyeuristic horror film that follows the story of Grace Collier who witnesses a brutal murder from a neighbouring apartment block, but upon investigation, nothing is proven to be amiss.
15. SUSPIRIA
Dario Argento (1977)
Suspiria is a movie renowned for its “VisualBasic” cinematography, unsettling soundtrack, and brutal use of violence for its time. The film plot follows Suzy who travels from America to Germany to attend a prestigious ballet school only to discover a string of murders have been occurring and something even more sinister is taking place.
“Susie, do you know anything about — witches?”
16. BLOOD AND BLACK LACE
Mario Bava (1964)
In a bid to recover a scandalous diary, a masked man carries out brutal murders of models from a famous Roman fashion brand.
“Perhaps the sight of beauty makes him lose control of himself, so he kills.”
17. DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS
Harry Kümel (1971)
A classic lesbian-vampire horror flick, Daughters of Darkness tells the story of two newlyweds. During their hotel stay, they encounter a strange woman.
“Love is stronger than death — even than life.”
18. THE LOVE WITCH
Anna Biller (2016)
With cinematography reminiscent of the 1960s, The Love Witch follows the story of a young witch desperate to find love at ANY cost.
“ampons aren’t gross. Women bleed and that’s a beautiful thing. Do you know that most men have never even seen a used tampon?”
19. HOUSE
Nobuhiko Obayashi (1977)
House is a Japanese horror-comedy with beautiful imagery that follows the story of a schoolgirl who takes her classmates on a trip to her family country house, only to find that it's haunted.
“The spirits of lovers may live forever.”
20. DEATH BECOMES HER
Robert Zemeckis (1192)
Starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis; Death Becomes Her is the quintessential Halloween movie. A novelist loses her husband to a former friend and movie star. The trauma of the loss sends her to a psychiatric hospital for years. After some time, she becomes motivated to confront the two with a killer weapon that keeps her drop-dead gorgeous.
“This is life’s ultimate cruelty. It offers us a taste of youth and vitality, and then it makes us witness our own decay.”