It’s that spooky time of year again: Halloween time. Unfortunately, I don’t think this Halloween was particularly scary considering that in 2020 every day feels more horrifying than the last, but that doesn’t mean we still can’t enjoy some scary movies!
Here are three horror films that might help you forget the horror movie right outside your door.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Often cited as the first mainstream slasher movie, few movies since have reached the bar that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre set in 1974. It’s interesting watching this movie now, nearly fifty years after its original release, seeing its pioneer techniques and story elements that would go on to become a staple of the horror genre.
The plot you’ve heard before: five teens go on summer break to an abandoned house only to get attacked by a lumbering psychopath. However, don’t let the plot fool you, this film still has many unexpected scenes that will shock and horrify you.
One of my favorite things in the movie is the props. There is furniture made out of human parts, a loud roaring chainsaw and even the use of a simple photograph in one scene.
Often scenes are very blunt with their brutality, some even refraining from using any music at all. This produces a different kind of fear than other films. Sometimes it feels like you’re watching a documentary which helps draw the audience into the depraved world of the film.
This film is a classic and if you haven’t seen it, it’s a must-watch for the Halloween season.
Event Horizon (1997)
Often overshadowed by another, more popular spaceship based horror film,Alien,Event Horizon is nothing to overlook.
The film is about a group of astronauts sent to investigate a spaceship named the Event Horizon that has reappeared after being lost for about seven years.
As the crew slowly finds out the macabre secrets of the vessel, the evil held within the ship begins to put the lives of all the crew in jeopardy.
This film has some cool props and makeup, as well as many elements that would greatly appeal to sci-fi fans.
I thought Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill put in very memorable performances. The spaceship itself becomes something of a character, making it one of the better settings I have ever seen in a horror flick.
The underlying mystery of the film kept me wanting more and the small clues the film drops are enough to make you create your own ideas of the horror within your mind. With so many unique ideas and concepts, it’s no wonder that Event Horizon is one of the best horror films of the 1990s.
Raw (2016)
Raw is a French horror film that despite being offbeat and in a foreign language, still manages to be approachable to Western audiences.
The plot follows a young woman named Justine who goes to veterinary school and finds herself forced by the other students to participate in strange hazing rituals. Entering the school as a vegetarian, she is coerced into eating raw meat.
After she gets a taste of the raw meat, she can’t get enough of it which leads to Justine going to some sinister lengths to get her hands on more. If you’re trying to get into foreign films or horror flicks, this movie is a pretty good place to start.
The acting is great and all of the writing and directing decisions were meticulously done. The character drama I found to be interesting and more relatable to the current times.
The movie is good at building up suspense, earning its fear rather than using cheap jump scares. It also has a strange vibe that really helps it stand out from other horror films.
I know that foreign films aren’t for everyone but this one is still worth checking out with subtitles (I’d avoid watching a dubbed over version).
