Halloween 2024: quick view
Get Out (Netflix)
Film (2017). When a young African-American man visits his white girlfriend’s family in upstate New York for the weekend, things start to go awry, then go more awry, then come completely off the rails. Directed by Jordan Peele. Starring Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams and Bradley Whitford.
Halloween (Netflix, Stan, Prime)
Film (1978). A decade and a half after murdering his sister, white-masked Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to his Illinois hometown to kill again. It’s the film that launched a franchise, introduced us to Laurie Strode, and saw Donald Pleasence standing behind a hedge for about half the movie doing not much at all. Directed by John Carpenter. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence and Tony Moran.
ScreenHub: Laurie Strode and the legacy of the final girl
X (Prime Video, Binge)
Film (2022). Not the social media platform formerly known as Twitter … although, that’s a bit of a horror too these days, amirite? A band of youthful filmmakers want to make an adult film on a Texan farm but – thanks to their elderly hosts – they’re soon fighting for their lives. Directed by Ti West. Starring Mia Goth, Jenny Ortega and Brittany Snow.
ScreenHub: Pearl vs X: what you need to know before seeing the slasher prequel
Heriditary (Netflix)
Film (2018). Annie and the rest of the family are in mourning after the death of her mother, the family matriarch. Soon enough, very odd things start happening and a horrifying truth about Annie’s ancestry starts to emerge. Directed by Ari Aster. Starring Toni Collette, Milly Shapiro and Gabriel Byrne.
Saw (Stan, Prime Video)
Film (2004). The first installment of the Saw film series introduces us to the Jigsaw Killer, who puts his victims through ‘games’ (we’re not talking Monopoly) that require them going through extreme self-inflicted pain in order to survive. The huge success of the film at the box office ($103.9 million takings worldwide from a $1 million(ish) budget) gave birth to the franchise. Directed by James Wan and starring Cary Elwes, Danny Glover and Monica Potter.
ScreenHub: Saw X – need to know
Paranormal Activity (Binge, Prime)
Film (2007). One of a spate of found-footage type horror films that have worked their way into our collective disquietude in the last couple of decades or so, spurred on by The Blair Witch Project (1999). A young couple know they’re being haunted but not by what, so they set up a camera to document traumatic events for them and us. There are five films currently in the Paranormal Activity franchise, the latest being Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (2021). If you’ve not seen any, then the original is a good place to start. Directed by Oren Peli. Starring Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat.
Talk to Me (Netflix)
Film (2022). A huge Australian hit at the box office. In this jumpy horror, several friends get to grips, literally, with an embalmed hand that allows them to communicate with the dead – which is all fun and games until it’s most definitely not. Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou. Starring Sophie Wilde, Ari McCarthy and Hamish Phillips.
From ScreenHub’s five-star review:
‘The moment you glimpse a harried mum incongruously chopping veggies in the midst of a heaving, strobe-lit house party in the Adelaide suburbs during the frenetic, one-shot cold open of twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou’s frighteningly good horror debut Talk to Me, something in your bones tells you the term ‘Chekhov’s gun’ – in which a firearm spotted will almost certainly be shot later – needs updating. The ching-ching of Emma Bortignon’s razor-sharp sound design slices and dices it and, suffice it to say, this Chekhov’s knife does not disappoint.’ Read more …
Totally Killer (Prime Video)
Film (2023). OK, so a murdered known as the Sweet Sixteen Killer resurfaces 35 years after his first spree to claim another victim – but then 17-year-old Jamie travels back in time (accidentally) and tries to stop Sweet Sixteen before he ever gets going. Directed by Nahnatchka Khan. Starring Kiernan Shipka, Olivia Holt and Charlie Gillespie.
Audition (Apple TV+)
Film (1999). A widower filmmaker and his friend screen girls at a set-up film audition in order to find him a new wife. What starts as a dated-seeming, politically wrong-footed romantic comedy (and continues in that way long enough to make you forget what you’re watching) becomes, when you least expect it, the kind of horror that will have you shouting J**** F****** C***** at the telly and holding your face in sympathetic agony. Directed by Takashi Miike. Starring Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina and Tetsu Sawaki.
The Thing (Binge)
Film (1982). All is going more or less OK for a research team in Alaska – that is, until an alien that can assume the appearance of its victims comes out to play … less Face Off than Face On. Directed by John Carpenter. Starring Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley and Keith David.
Rosemary’s Baby (Prime Video)
Film (1968). A newlywed in Manhattan falls pregnant – yay! – only to start sensing that her neighbours belong to a Satanic cult – nay! – and would really, really like to use bubba for you know, Satanic rituals and stuff. Directed by Roman Polanski. Starring Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes and Ruth Gordon.
M3GAN (Netflix, Binge)
Film (2022). A cutesy-patootsy lifelike robot doll becomes the stuff of nightmares, almost certainly meriting a refund from the toy company – if anyone’s still alive to claim it. Directed by Gerard Johnstone. Starring Allison Williams, Violet McGraw and Ronny Chieng.
From ScreenHub’s four-star review:
‘Horror is an extremely difficult genre to do well. First of all, what we find scary is too subjective. Sure, we know that jump scares will probably get some sort of instant reaction from just about anyone, but ultimately, one person’s tense thriller is another persons yawn-fest.’ Read more …
Night of the Living Dead (Prime Video)
Film (1968). With flesh-eating ghouls chomping their way through northeast USA, a group of Pennsylvanians do the smart thing and pen themselves up in a rickety old farmhouse with big gaps in the wall to remain safe … A stone-cold bloodcurdling classic with a lasting influence on horror. Directed by George A Romero. Starring Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea and Karl Hardman.
