Top 5 Horror Movies to Watch on Halloween
If you’re not planning on going to a party or handing out candy, Halloween is the perfect time for a horror movie marathon. If you need some inspiration, here are some options that some may find scary, while others may find entertaining. Disclaimer: these movies may depict heavy violence (but don’t worry, none of it is real).
Starting at number 5: Sinister, released in 2012, is considered to be one of the scariest movies of its time because, scientifically, it has one of the highest heart rates per minute, according to the Science of Scare Project. The project, made in 2020, documented the physiological responses of participants watching different horror movies and measured the scariest horror movies by using the “scare score,” which combines the measurements of heart rate. Sinister has remained the scariest movie of all time with a score of 96/100 for the past four years. The movie has an average heart rate of 86 beats per minute during the film, the highest heart rate spike being 131, and a heart rate variability drop of 22%. Some avid horror movie viewers have grown out of Sinister, as many consider it anticlimactic. Even with its criticism, the movie still has a good amount of scares and is fun to watch with others. The beginning of the movie starts as a mystery as the main character, Ellison Oswalt, tries to figure out weird occurrences with massacred and missing families throughout the town. He is a true crime writer who has a fixation with violent cases. This leads him to investigate a series of films found in the house he and his own family recently moved into. So if you’re a fan of mystery and paranormal threats, this will be a great first watch with friends or family.
At number 4, Hereditary is one of the slower-paced horror movies, but when the action starts, it is worth the wait. Released June 8th, 2018, it still holds up to this day as it’s regarded as one of the more unsettling horror films, with a very engaging plot. The audience will have to make sense of the story and unravel it for themselves, as it can be up for interpretation in the eye of the beholder. The score and atmosphere of this movie create a pretty uncomfortable feeling, as the audience witnesses a family facing tragedy after tragedy; it ponders the question of whether it’s just bad luck or if there are more supernatural things at play. After the mother of this family, Annie Graham, experiences traumatic losses, she uncovers that the family she’s created is being targeted by a supernatural cult, ever since the passing of her mother at the beginning of the movie. Annie and her family try to endure their lives slipping from their own control while being haunted by supernatural forces. This movie is unsettling to watch alone in the dark, but can be enjoyable to witness the story unravel with others.
Backrooms is a movie adaptation that already had popularity before its release in theaters, with short horror videos created by Kane Parsons. Parsons published his first viral video on YouTube in January 2022 when he was just 16 years old. The video was well received, and Parsons ended up releasing more short horror videos, expanding the story and increasing the popularity of the web series. These videos he created were made mostly of CGI with some real actors, and as time went by, the concept of the Backrooms grew so popular that he was able to expand the story and create a movie. The Backrooms are based on liminal spaces; places that are normally populated but are found vacant. The Backrooms isn’t entirely explainable; but all that’s known is that it takes objects and people from the real world and tries to replicate them, but creates disfigured monsters. To get into the Backrooms, random “doors” open and close, trapping a person in the space. The story follows a divorced, failed architect named Clark who runs a struggling furniture store. Clark is someone who is at the lowest point in his life, being kicked out of his house, stuck at his dead-end job, and sleeping in his own store, he feels as if things aren’t going his way and everything bad that has happened to him is happening unfairly; this only increases his frustration, resentment, and stress. One night, he notices the lights are not working in his store, and as he goes to repair the lights he finds something uncanny. This movie is an interesting watch as it provokes you to theorize what the space is itself.
Scream is a very well-known slasher that most people have already watched and for good reason; this movie was released on December 20th, 1996, and it was ahead of its time. But if someone hasn’t watched it yet, Halloween night would be one of the perfect times to finally see it. The Scream franchise consists of numerous decent movies, but the first movie will forever remain the strongest one. Scream was very ahead of its time as the slasher film references common horror movie tropes, like knowing they are the antagonist of this story. The story itself is also entertaining, along with the various plot twists, as it follows Sydney Prescott, a high school student who is suffering from the traumatic loss of her murdered mother. Seemingly out of nowhere, a killer ends up targeting her and other people closest to her, such as friends and family, which makes her suspect them of being the killer. This is a classic and well-appreciated slasher movie from horror fans and is a highly recommended watch, especially on Halloween night.
Shaun of the Dead is a very comedic, horrific, and yet heartfelt movie, released on September 24th, 2004. It pays homage to another zombie horror film, Dawn of the Dead, and is a satirical take on the zombie genre. The movie has horror elements whilst having very funny dialogue and occurrences throughout the whole movie. The characters don’t entirely feel unrealistic as they have relationships with one another, and it can be seen as the story progresses through their personality and emotions. The story follows Shaun, a regular guy who lives in London, England; he works a dead-end job, lives with his lazy best friend, has frequent visits to his local pub, and has just been dumped by his girlfriend. As soon as he thinks to turn his life around, the zombie apocalypse starts out of nowhere. He then decides to go out of his way to try and rescue his ex-girlfriend with his best friend and meets other survivors along the way. This is a very entertaining watch with others, as it has a comedic yet heartfelt tone but still contains horror elements, which makes it very memorable.
These movies are great seasonal options if your plans this Halloween are to just sit back, relax, and eat some candy while enjoying a good jump scare. Happy watching!
