Your Netflix Halloween Horror Guide
It’s Halloween time and that means two things; fancy-dress and horror films. Although I can’t comment on your skimpy witch outfits or give you tips on getting the best fake blood effects for the big night, if you are staying in I can recommend a few horror flicks. All films below are available on Netflix (and maybe at Xtra-Vision?).
So, the amount of horror films on Netflix can be kind of daunting but if you give a quick run through their collection you will notice an awful lot of tripe and churned-out sequels. Saw 5-7, Human Centipede 1-3, Friday the 13th 4-8, Paranormal Activity 2-4, Child’s Play 1-3 and Seed of Chucky make up some of these terrible films at your fingertips. But let’s not dwell on these – we want something different, something worth your time. I present, your Netflix Horror Guide.
So the first question is what kind of horror you are looking for? There are plenty of choices; classic, comedy, body horror, creature feature or maybe just something a bit different. Hopefully I can point you in the right direction no matter what you are in the mood for.
Classics
There are a few “classics” in the Netflix library. By “classics” I don’t mean 50s noir horror and unfortunately they don’t have the likes of Nosferatu or any of Christopher Lee’s early Hammer work (Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein) but they do have The Hound of Baskervilles (1959), starring Lee and Peter Cushings, and The Skull (1965) (also starring Lee and Cushings) which was made to try and challenge Hammer’s dominance in the horror genre.
What Netflix do have are the following, modern classics.
The Omen (1976) Dir. Richard Donner
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Mysterious deaths surround an American ambassador. Could the child that he is raising actually be the anti-christ? The devil’s own son?
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Dir. Philip Kaufman
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In San Francisco, a group of people discover the human race is being replaced one by one, with clones devoid of emotion.
Flatliners (1990) Dir. Joel Schumacher
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Four Medical students experiment on “near death” experiences that involve past tragedies until the dark consequences begin to jeopardise their lives.
Scream (1996) Dir. Wes Craven
[youtube[youtube id=”23jmjs-rMGI” align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]A killer known as Ghostface begins killing off teenagers, and as the body count rises, one girl and her friends find themselves contemplating the “rules” of horror films as they find themselves living in a real-life one.
You can read Graham Connors’ ‘In Appreciation of Scream’ here.
Comedy
Sometimes you want a bit of a chuckle to accompany the bump in the night and there are plenty of choices on Netflix. From the cult classic Idle Hands (starring Seth Green and Final Destination’s Devon Sawa) to the critically loved and box-office success Zombieland, there are plenty to choose from. They also have recently included Housebound to their collection. I haven’t seen it yet but it has received impressive critical reviews since its release last year. Here are my picks that you may not be as familiar with.
Tucker and Dale Vs Evil (2010) Dir. Eli Craig
[youtube i[youtube id=”OsTPkzWZb5A” align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]cker & Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are attacked by a group of preppy college kids.
Fright Night (2011) Dir. Craig Gillespie
[youtube id=[youtube id=”6enhzzeK6l0" align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]enager suspects that his new neighbour is a vampire.
John Dies at the End (2012) Dir. Don Coscarelli
[youtube id=”I[youtube id=”IfJp417dyig” align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]reet drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return no longer human. Can two college dropouts save humankind from this silent, otherworldly invasion?
What We Do In The Shadows (2014) Dir. Jermaine Clement & Taika Waititi
[youtube id=”IAZ[youtube id=”IAZEWtyhpes” align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]con, and Vladislav are vampires who are finding that modern life has them struggling with the mundane – like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into nightclubs, and overcoming flatmate conflicts.
Body Horror
Body Horror is a sub-genre dedicated to the destruction or deterioration of the human form as the main plot of the movie. It can also include movies that show medical experiments to add or take away body parts or horrific transformative diseases or mutations. Some great examples of these (that are not available on Netflix) are The Fly, Akira, Slither and The Thing. Netflix does indeed have a few options, if this sub-genre is your thing, with the aforementioned Human Centipede trilogy, Thinner (based on the Stephen King novel) and, one of last year’s indie hits, Spring are all available. Also in the library are:
Re-Animator (1985) Dir. Stuart Gordon
[youtube id=”6NOcR[youtube id=”6NOcRIHiRtc” align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]student at a medical college and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue when an odd new student arrives on campus.
Teeth (2007) Dir. Mitchell Lichtenstein
[youtube id=”J-qd-k0[youtube id=”J-qd-k0Vg7s” align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]er to her own body, a high school student discovers she has a physical advantage when she becomes the object of male violence.
Creature Features
Who doesn’t love an auld monster in their horror? With the recent addition of Resident Evil: Apocalypse to their catalogue (Resident Evil: Afterlife is also there) you could go for a fast moving, gun-slinging, mutant-around-the-corner marathon with the surprisingly enjoyable Doom (starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson). You could also take it easy and watch Kevin Bacon do his thang in Tremors, because it’s hilarious. Or check out any of my picks below:
Cloverfield (2008) Dir. Matt Reeves
[youtube id=”sQFpMZ6gl[youtube id=”sQFpMZ6glTo” align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]ds venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.
Troll Hunter (2010) Dir. André Øvredal
[youtube id=”uvwEyHeRSvE[youtube id=”uvwEyHeRSvE” align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]s investigate a series of mysterious bear killings, but learn that there are much more dangerous things going on. They start to follow a mysterious hunter, learning that he is actually a troll hunter.
Grabbers (2012) Dir. Jon Wright
[youtube id=”4e3izWdh9WM�[youtube id=”4e3izWdh9WM” align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]he coast of Ireland is invaded by bloodsucking aliens, the heroes discover that getting drunk is the only way to survive.
Best of the Rest
Here are a few more options if nothing has grabbed your attention yet.
Stigmata (1999) Dir. Rupert Wainwright
[youtube id=”rwsTYQ26QDQ” [youtube id=”rwsTYQ26QDQ” align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]n is affected by mysterious wounds called Stigmata. When a Catholic Priest comes to investigate the so called “miracle”, he discovers this woman may be possessed by someone… or something… and a message originating from the time of Jesus Christ.
Cropsey (2009) Dir. Barbara Brancaccio & Joshua Zeman
[youtube id=”ANek84jNYp8″ al[youtube id=”ANek84jNYp8" align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]nd of their youth has actually come true; two filmmakers delve into the mystery surrounding five missing children and the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearances.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy is one of the greatest shows of all time, there I said it, I know you were all thinking it anyway. It terrified me as a child and there are still a few episodes that creep into my thoughts as I lay my head down at night. Here are the three scariest/creepiest episodes I can remember.
Season 1, Episode 10 ‘Nightmares’
The episode is about the students at Sunnydale High beginning to experience aspects of their worst nightmares while awake, leading the Scooby Gang’s investigation to a young boy with a secret. However, before they can get to the bottom of things, they must face their own nightmares, which are rapidly taking over reality.
Season 7, Episode 3 ‘Same Time, Same Place’
A super-creepy, flesh-eating, monster called Gnarl, abducts Willow, paralyses her, brings her to his cave and starts eating her stomach. A perfect hybrid of physical and psychological horror wrapped up in a nice neat creepy package.
Season 4, Episode 10 ‘Hush’
[youtube id=”zVF6UzwyUnQ” align=[youtube id=”zVF6UzwyUnQ” align=”center” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”702"]e creepiest things I have ever watched. The town wake up one morning to find everyone has lost their voice, apart from the breakdown in communication (enter the whiteboard salesman) there doesn’t seem to be any major problem. That is until the Gentlemen show up and pin you down so they can remove your heart while you are still alive, awake and screaming silently. That feeling of not being able to scream while running from those creepy bastards is terrifying and will certainly be a deep dark memory of all Buffy fans.
If nothing here takes your fancy, we can’t be friends.
Until next time, have a scare-filled Halloween.
Featured Images:
Forbes.com
ihorror.com
