October is here and the spooky season is lighting up. I mean what can be scarier than a pandemic itself? Well, except the people who would go on social media and say “We don’t celebrate Halloween in India, Boo!” You are right but can we have a reason to make our terrified friend watch something scary?
Here are some of our top picks that you should definitely binge on this season.
- Psycho: For starters, something classic. Psycho is a 1960 American psychological horror thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Can we say that the movie gave birth to stalker flicks? Psycho tested the censorship boundary 60 years back. The jump scares and provocative sexual explicitness was something new for the audience back then. In our opinion Psycho still holds a good place in the horror movie run.
- Kaun?: Indian horror films are not good enough. We have heard it enough! Go watch this 1990 beauty starring Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Bajpai and Sushant Singh; directed by Ram Gopal Verma and written by Anurag Kashyap. Three characters and one house, it is an Indian psychological suspense thriller that should not be missed. Rarely do you find a true gem in the Indian horror space.
- Tumbbad: Tumbbad is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language period horror film directed by Rahi Anil Barve. Another Indian horror movie that is gripping and is bound to give you those goosebumps. On the surface it looks like any other horror movie that is set early in time but it is more than that! It is about morality, greed and sprinkles of Indian mythology. The movie is in a story-chapter format. Needless to say the initial chapters are better and sets us an eerie environment quite right.
- A Quiet Place: Silence can be deafening and this movie is a proof. Raising a whole family in the presence of a haunting force who is ready to wipe them off at any point is horrifying. The movie has a simple premise and plot but there is a nerve-racking tension that lingers all around. The movie demands attention which maybe a slight pain to offer due to the absence of sounds. Can you watch the whole movie without making any noise?
- The Exorcist: The film courted controversy in the US where it had supposedly provoked fainting, vomiting and heart attacks in cinemas. It is one of the most successful and terrifying horror films of all time. Released in 1973 this movie still manages to get some of those scares right! One of the most profitable horror movies ever made, this tale of an exorcism is based loosely on actual events.
- The Cabin in the Woods: The Cabin in the Woods is a 2011 American horror comedy film directed by Drew Goddard in his directorial debut, produced by Joss Whedon, and written by Whedon and Goddard. The movie sets off with an ancient and familiar story plan. The Guardian called this movie a “hilarious blood-spattered escapism”. Plus point for zombie enthusiasts!
7. Train to Busan: Train to Busan is a 2016 South Korean action horror film directed by Yeon Sang-ho and starring Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, and Ma Dong-seok. Now we are talking about zombies! It is a harrowing zombie horror-thriller that follows a group of terrified passengers fighting their way through a countrywide viral outbreak, trapped in a train. This movie is horrifying and is wrapped with social commentary which by the way is a mark of a lot of great South Korean movies. What can possibly go wrong on an hour train journey? Well, this movie is the answer.
8. The Conjuring: It is hard to abstain from talking about this one to be honest. The Conjuring is a Good Horror movie directed by James Wan, as it is real-story based. It is well crafted and uses old school techniques to create some authentic scares. It is not unexpected but it still scares and we think that is the beauty of it. The Conjuring series will keep you busy on a horror movie night!
9. Hereditary: Ari Aster directed 2018’s “Hereditary,” which focuses on a broken family haunted by demons. When the matriarch of the Graham family passes away, her daughter and grandchildren begin to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry, trying to outrun the sinister fate they have inherited. It is quite a creepy movie
10. Scream: Let’s end the list with a classic. The scream series is quite popular otherwise too because of the mask. Also, you are right in time to watch the four part movie as the shooting for the fifth movie from the franchise has begun. Scream is a 1996 American film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. Scream is funny, clever & scary all at the same time!
Happy screaming! Do let us know which is your favourite horror movie.