10 Movies To Watch For Spooky Season
10. Scream (1996)
Not only is Scream one of the best horror movies but it's also one of the best movies of the 90's. Directed by the late Wes Craven (R.I.P.) Scream follows five high school teens as a their town is Haunted by a masked serial killer known as “Ghostface”. It later went on to spawn five sequels but there is nothing like the original. What makes the original Scream so great is it makes fun of a lot of the cliche horror tropes while portraying them. Such as saying, “I’ll be back” when you won't, running upstairs from the killer chasing you instead of outside, having sex and etc.
To this day Scream not only has one of the best killer reveals but it also has one of the best opening scenes. The studio originally wanted Drew Barrymore as the lead but she declined because she always wanted to be killed in a horror film. She was one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood at the time and seeing her die so quickly was very shocking.
9. Don't Breathe (2016)
You know this is one of the rare horror films where every character is unlikable. A group of friends (Rocky, Alex & Money) plan to ransack this blind old man's house. However, things go horribly awry when they become his prisoners. Guarded with a Rottweiler and a handgun, Rocky, Alex and Money must fend for their lives when this blind of man plans to put them in a body bag for breaking into his house.
Seeing how this blind old man is just protecting himself from three visitors that broke into his home you would assume that you’d side with him. But when you find out that this Blind Man is hiding a sinister secret, you switch sides almost immediately. What makes this so great is no one in this film is entirely good.
8. The Batman (2022)
One of the best comic book films and also one of the best films of 2022. You can really tell that Matt Reeves really has a passion for this beloved masked vigilante. This film gives off Se7en, Zodiac Killer vibes, which is perfect for a comic book character like Batman. Hell The Riddler is even based on the Zodiac Killer.
The one thing the Nolan Dark Knight trilogy lacked is that it was too afraid to embrace the comic books. They're more like crime dramas featuring comic book characters. Meanwhile, The Batman takes a lot of influence from the following Batman materials: Arkham video games, The Long Halloween and Year One. Everything about this film is spectacular from the outstanding Cinematography, Hair & Makeup Design, Paul Dano's Riddler, Matt Reeves Direction, Batman and Gordon's partnership, costume and production design.
7. They Cloned Tyrone (2023)
They Cloned Tyrone is an original Netflix film released in late July of 2023. This film flew under the radar because it came out the same weekend as Barbenheimer (Barbie & Oppenheimer) so if you weren't melanated then you didn't hear about this film until later on. The film stars John Boyega, Jamie Foxx & Teyonah Parris. John Boyega plays a drug dealer named Fontaine, Jamie Foxx plays a pimp named Slick Charles and Teyonah Parris plays a hoe named Yo-Yo.
The time period where this film takes place is a little wonky and is left up to interpretation. After Fontaine finds out that the government is experimenting on black people, it's up to him, Slick Charles and Yo-Yo to stop the corruption. This film is a great allegory for how a lot of white supremacist see black people as subpar and not human.
6. Nope (2022)
Jordan Peele's, Nope might be his most divisive film so far. Some people love it and some people think it's, okay. For me I loved this film when it came out and I still love it. The horror of this film is the spectacular of humans. Rather making a profit off of wild animals or even putting other people's lives on display for their own joy and satisfaction.
For his debut film Brandon Perea knocked it out of the park. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer have great chemistry as brother and sister and I’d love to see them work together again. This film also does something really great: night scenes shot during the day. Not only is that difficult to do but depending on how it's done it could make or break a scene.
One of the most memorable scenes is when we see the UFO dropping everything it digested onto OJ and Emerald's house. While, people love Get Out this is Jordan Peele's best looking film to date. From the cinematography, production design, VFX, Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer's chemistry, Brandon Perea scene stealing performance to even the Sound Mixing. This film is a joy to watch from beginning to end.
5. Fresh (2022)
Fresh is staring Sebastian Stan and Daisy Edgar Jones. After constant failed luck with dating apps Noa (Daisy Edgar Jones) meets Steve (Sebastian Stan) while grocery shopping and they immediately hit it off. Noa's friend Mollie warns Noa about moving to fast when they go take a trip to the Cabins after only a few weeks of knowing each other. Well, it turns out that Mollie was right to worry because it turns out that Steve is a cannibal.
Yes, you read it right people: Steve is a cannibal. Now while I haven’t met Sebastian Stan he does a phenomenal job at playing these unhinged, broken characters despite him being the complete opposite in reality. This is probably the most grossed out and uncomfortable I’ve felt in a film. Get your barf bag ready because if you're not prepared for what Sebastian Stan does in this film as a crazed cannibal then you might need a Sprite or Ginger Ale to go along with it.
4. The Invisible Man (2020)
The Invisible Man is a remake of the classic film of the same named originated in 1933. While that film might seem, “goofy" by some people of today standards, this remakes takes a darker approach to the, “Invisible Man”. Elisabeth Moss is absolutely spectacular as Cecilia Kass. I love how the opening of this film says a lot without hardly any dialogue. You can tell Cecilia is in a very controlling relationship and feels like a prisoner in her own home.
Even though Cecilia escapes her abusive boyfriend (for the time being) she still has a sense that he is out to get her. This film not only says a lot about domestic violence but also about PTSD as well. The constant gaslightning the Director does to me felt like I was just as crazy as Cecilia. There are some scenes where you think someone is with Cecilia and there isn’t. You won't be disappointed by this, trust me when I say that Cecilia gives a truly spectacular performance that was worthy of an Academy Award.
3. Blade (1998)
A martial arts, vampire played by Wesley Snipes?! Sign me up! Blade was Marvel's first box office success. Without Blade there would be no MCU and it even paved the way for later Marvel films to come like the Sam Rami Spider-Man films and the 2000 X-Men films. With the current Blade film in development hell from Marvel you can always go back and watch the Wesley Snipes films. P.S. stay away from the third Blade: Trinity.
While, the CGI might not be up to date by today standards the action sequences are awesome and Wesley Snipes is cool as hell as Blade. Plus, this is one of the few films where the love interest saves the hero which I would love to see more of.
2. A Quiet Place (2018)
Damn, this movie is great. This film holds a special place in my heart because I got into learning ASL (American Sign Language) because of this film. Which I still study to this day by the way. It's one of the best films with little to no dialogue. A Quiet Place takes place in a world where humans have to remain silent in order to survive against aliens.
This film isn't necessarily about the scares but more about family. What lengths is a man willing to take to protect his family?
1. Coraline (2009)
Coraline is based on a child's book of the same age. If you think that Coraline is a child's film well then you're sadly mistaken. This film is a great balance between scaring adults and being an entertaining animated film for kids. I was 12 years old when this film came out and it scared me then.
This film is one of my favorites to watch YouTube reactors watch because of how dark it is for an animated film. The amount of fan theories I've seen regarding this film is absolutely crazy. Think about this for a minute: an animated film about child abandonment and child abduction? Who the hell wouldn't be frightened by that?
Let me know if there are any films I left out? Enjoy your Spooky Season and let me know your thoughts.
