It’s the time of year to celebrate all things spooky, kooky and fantastical. So what better way to pay your respects to all things scary than by hosting a scary movie marathon? The College Tribune’s very own certified film buffs have banded together to suss out the best horror films for you to add to your home horrorfest this Halloween. Whether you’re looking for golden oldies, something artsy, or just a good scare, we’ve got the recommendations you need. Just make sure you won’t have to sleep alone the night you watch them, yeah? And keep a good grip on your popcorn! (If all else fails, there’s always Hocus Pocus….)
Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
- Niamh Crosbie
A landmark of horror from one of the greatest directors in Hollywood. No Halloween movie marathon can possibly be complete without Psycho, and if you’ve yet to watch it, make this the year. Marion arrives, with a newspaper full of money stolen from her employer, at a motel owned by the mysterious Norman Bates. Unsuspecting, Marion has no idea that she’s about to take the most famous shower in the history of film. Fun fact: actress Janet Leigh took baths for the rest of her life after realising how vulnerable she appeared in the shower scene.
Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977)
- Jennifer Smyth
Suspiria balances style and substance to make a horror film where the girls are just as creepy as the boys. If you have a fear of looking out of windows at night then this film is absolutely not for you. Suzy, a ballet dancer, comes from America to train at a school in Germany. The school however, isn’t as prestigious as it first seems once maggots start falling from the ceiling. Even if you don’t enjoy horror films the visual style of Suspiria balances out the gore and terror experienced those attending the school and makes even the most violent scenes interesting to watch.
The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
- Niamh Crosbie
Gather your friends and wait with baited breath for the “Heeeeeeere’s Johnny!” moment…. Yet another directing legend makes an appearance in our marathon, with Stephen King’s iconic work of horror, The Shining. Join Jack and his family as they spend winter in the isolated Overlook Hotel, where a whole host of ghastly apparitions are just waiting to happen. This film is intensely psychological, visually colourful and extremely memorable, and if it gets too scary, remember what Joey (Friends) said: never start watching The Shining unless you’ve got plenty of room in the freezer….
John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982)
- Fiachra Johnston
Set in an Antarctic research camp, this 1982 classic stars Kurt Russell and Keith David as they try to fight off a mysterious shapeshifting creature that impersonates their fellow scientists. Few directors are able to frighten and chill me to the core the way Carpenter can, and through its superb story, stellar cast, and its horrifyingly good practical effects, The Thing ranks as one of the greatest horror films of its time. It’s also shown to researchers working in Antarctica on the night the last plane back home leaves!
The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, 1999)
- Niamh Crosbie
Fans of found-footage movies will adore this film; the entire film – which is an impressive, independent project – is supposedly the footage recorded by the three protagonists before they disappear mysteriously while making a documentary about the legendary “Blair Witch”. The Blair Witch Project is a stylistic masterpiece, but it also weaves a timelessly frightening tale, and is guaranteed to send shivers down your spine at every turn. If you aren’t a fan of jump-scares and you prefer to be thoroughly creeped out, I cannot recommend this film enough. You may want to avoid camping for a while after you watch it, however….
The Others (Alejandro Amenabar, 2001)
- Sinead Keane
Grace, played by Nicole Kidman, lives with her two children Anna and Nicholas in an old manor house on the remote Isle of White. Grace hires servants that arrive on her doorstep the day after the previous help disappear in the middle of the night. In the aftermath of World War II, not knowing if her husband is alive or dead, a trio appear. The Others uses vintage suspense instead of special effects to ramp up tension. As a result, when one of the children hears something go bump in the night we know that this is a house populated by ghostly beings.
The Orphanage (J.A. Bayona, 2007)
- Jennifer Smyth
Creepy children are always a staple of any Halloween movie binge. The Orphanage uses this idea and puts it in a scarecrow mask to create a chilling film about family, murder, and the old creepy h
ouse on the haunted hill. In the film, Laura and her family return to the orphanage where she grew up in an attempt to re-open it as a home for disabled children but everything goes wrong after her son Simón goes missing. With the help of a séance, truths are revealed and the story twists itself into a narrative that you won’t see coming. The Orphanage is suspenseful and scary but thankfully doesn’t rely on cheap thrills to keep you watching.
Sinister (Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, 2012)
- Niamh Crosbie
This one is not for the faint-hearted, unless, of course, you are looking for something that will make you jump out of your seat at every turn. Ellison is a true-crime novelist who has chosen his family’s new house with an ulterior motive – the house has horrifying and unexplained death attached to it. However, as you might expect, everything begins to go downhill when things start going bump in the night and the terrifying “Mr. Boogie” and his young companions begin to make themselves known. Sinister is creepy and unsettling, but not without its jump-scares, so hold onto you popcorn and maybe have a pillow nearby in case you need to hide….
The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014)
- Niamh Crosbie
Kent’s directorial debut is creepy, psychological and incredibly pointed. Amelia and her son Sam are plagued by the presence of a terrifying evil which has assumedly entered their home through the pages of a storybook. Many haunted-house films play on the uncertainty of whether the monster is real or a product of the character’s imagination, and The Babadook takes this to an entirely new level. Where it lacks in “jump scares”, it makes up for with it the horrifying manifestation of inner torment – because no matter what, “you can’t get rid of the Babadook”….
