We’re quite a bit late getting these out to you, but who says that Halloween has to end on October 31? Certainly not me. Enjoy this second to the last helping of streaming movies to put you in the Halloween mood.
17. Eraserhead
Streaming Service(s): HBO Max
Though not technically a horror movie, David Lynch’s debut film is the stuff of fever dreams and nightmares. With a somewhat confusing plot about a man who lives in a Kafkaesque industrial part of town and his girlfriend who gives birth to…umm, some sort of…umm, thing, the film is unsettling and beautiful.
It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but if you want to feel really uncomfortable for two hours and watch really pretty images, it’s hard to pass up a Lynch film.
18. It Follows
Streaming Service(s): Peacock
If the nightmare reality of David Lynch is too intense for you, or if having watched that movie, you need a horror pallet cleanser, look no further than indie filmmaker David Robert Mitchell’s ‘80s stylized pastiche “It Follows.”
The style of Micthell’s film, which borrows heavily from the likes of John Carpenter (director of Halloween) and other slasher filmmakers of the late ‘70s/’80s, is one of retro revival and tense, unending torture. It does this with its conceit, setting the protagonist up against an unstoppable force that follows her forever like a shadow, the corner of each shot often left blank and ripe with the possibility of the killer showing up at any moment. Add to that a brilliantly composed soundtrack that conjures up the slasher hey-day and you have quite the feast for horror fiends.
19. The Cabin in the Woods
Streaming Service(s): HBO Max
Speaking of genre explorations of yesteryear, Drew Goddard’s exploration of genre tropes, ala a horror-comedy that simultaneously mocks the industry and the conventions they live by, as well as the audience in their strict acceptance of only such conventions.
But, it does this deconstruction not just of the “cabin the woods” variety of horror films that have become ubiquitous within the medium but of all horror in general in such a loving way that it speaks only of the filmmakers’ true adoration of the genre.
20. Hereditary
Streaming Service(s): Amazon Prime
Already heralded as one of the great horror films of the past few years, despite the director Ari Aster being reluctant to refer to his movies as such, Hereditary is a skin-peeler of a film that is horrifying, not just for its frightening moments but also for how it digs deep into the emotional bonds of family and tears them to painful shreds.
What else is there to say about the film that hasn’t already been said ad nauseam at this point. It is a deeply affecting quasi-horror film that leans towards the cerebral side and watching it will be a painful experience, but it is truly, truly worth it.
21. Midsommar
Streaming Service(s): Amazon Prime
Speaking of Ari Aster films that are emotionally destructive, why not make it a double-feature, and stream both movies one right after the other, if you can take that much abuse?
Midsommar though is a bit lighter, kinda. For many, it is a rather cathartic experience of letting go of pain and sadness, and all of the people in your life that made it hard to live in the past. Complete with a somewhat joyful, lighthearted Frankie Valli song to complete said catharsis.
22. The Lighthouse
Streaming Service(s): The Lighthouse
Staying on the A24, indie horror of the past couple of years theme that this part of this list has seemed to taken on, why not watch the sophomore effort by “The Witch” director Robert Eggars, as he plows through an ode to David Lynch in this dense, but infinitely watchable take on myths of the sea.
Lot has been made of the direction and writing, especially with all of the supposed depth and metaphors and imagery laced throughout the movie, but much like Lynch’s films, there is little given away in terms of the meaning of any of it, till all we’re left with is a lot of beautiful imagery and frightening imagery that feels like a fever dream we’re glad to remember.
23. Nosferatu/Nosferatu the Vampyre
Streaming Service(s): Amazon Prime/Peacock
Feel free to watch either the original silent-era masterpiece of German Expressionism by F.W. Murnau, an era of film that Tim Burton basically mainlined throughout the early half of his career, or watch the excellent Werner Herzog remake from the ‘70s.
Both are great, both are creepy, and both are an alternate retelling of Bram Stoker’s classic novel that, although not being the first vampire story, certainly made them a mainstay in the horror annals for all-time.
Richard Foltz
Associate Editor