Every year when October comes around, we read the same old features suggesting the same old stale movies to watch for Halloween.
With that in mind, we decided to take a look back at some of the scariest and most mind-blowing films of the past few decades, that you might want to enjoy as part of an alternative October 31st binge-fest!
Here are our top seven spooky suggestions:
Rebecca (1940)
Alfred Hitchcock is renowned as a masterful storyteller and, that's an extremely apparent feature of his work in the black-and-white film Rebecca.
Based on the gothic novel of the same name by Daphne du Maurier, the movie tells the story of a young woman who marries a widower, settling in his mansion and adapting to a life she never thought she'd be a part of.
It’s a stunning watch, with brilliant performances from Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier and Judith Anderson.
If modern adaptations are more your thing, there is another version of Rebecca coming to Netflix before the end of October, starring Lily James and Armie Hammer.
The Platform (2019)
Another fantastic and unsettling feature available on Netflix is unexpected psychological thriller, The Platform.
Directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, the Spanish sci-fi horror takes place inside a large, tower-style voluntary prison.
Disguised as a self-help program, residents are forced to take part in a gruelling social experiment for a pre-determined amount of days. If successful, they’ll win their freedom (if they are serving a prison sentence), or the item/object they bargained for ahead of their arrival.
The titular platform is what descends through the tower, initially being filled with the perfect amount of food to feed every prisoner upon its descent. Of course, greed gets the better of some residents…
Those taking part are randomly placed into a block every 30 days, meaning they could be eating like royalty for one month, before being left the scraps - or potentially nothing at all - of what is tossed aside for them if they find themselves at the bottom of the tower.
It’s a stunning film, that asks the audience some vital questions surrounding morality. What would you do in the residents’ positions?
Rabies (2010)
If gore's your thing, this Israeli film from Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado will be right up your street!
Rabies was considered to be Israel's first feature-length horror, so had high expectations - and managed to deliver.
Determined to keep their incestuous love for one another a secret, a brother and sister go on the run, hiding deep in the forest.
With traps and landmines scattered amongst the trees however, and a whole bunch of characters causing them trouble, it soon becomes clear not everybody in this story is going to enjoy their twisted happily ever after.
Despite having a budget of just $500,000, Rabies does an incredible job of looking like a Hollywood blockbuster; and entertaining more than most.
Repulsion (1965)
Roman Polanski is the director behind this British psychological flick, based on a story he created alongside Gérard Brach, who in turn wrote a screenplay alongside David Stone.
Repulsion follows Catherine Deneuve in the lead role of Carol, who cannot stand sexual advances from the opposite sex - and men in general.
With a highly-detached mental state from reality, being left alone in an apartment whilst holidaying leaves her lost in her potentially devastating dark thoughts.
As Polanski’s first English-language film, many held it to a higher standard than would usually be applied. Fortunately, it ticks all the right boxes, despite his prehistoric views on the #MeToo movement.
The VVitch (2015)
One of the best modern-day horror releases that often goes overlooked, is 2015 release The VVitch.
Taking place in 1630s New England, English settler William and his family are banished from their colony due to a religious dispute.
When they build a farm in a nearby secluded forest, they think life may not be as bad as they previously assumed. Following the disappearance of their newborn baby however, they realise that there is evil in the air.
Go in expecting scares and stay for the excellent performances from Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson and Kate Dickie.
The Reflecting Skin (1990)
Don't write this one off just because you haven't heard of it; The Reflecting Skin is one of those films you can go back to time and time again, enjoying it as if it's a fresh watch each time.
When an impressionable young boy in 1950s America, played by Jeremy Cooper, believes a young widow (Lindsay Duncan) is a vampire, things start going wrong very quickly.
Viggo Mortensen also stars, in what has been described as a “coming-of-age story”. If this is what it means to “come of age”, may the children of this world stay young forever!
Green Room (2015)
Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, Green Room tells the story of a punk band who strive for greatness, but find themselves attacked by neo-Nazis after witnessing a murder.
Thrown into the green room at the bar alongside the body of the victim, the group must work together if they’re to escape the remote location with their lives.
Their captors have other plans, looking to dispose of the band and all witnesses to the crime in any way possible; but by ensuring that when they do so, the authorities cannot charge them with a thing.
The tension and suspense running through this one is indescribable. Only give it a watch if you’re made of tough stuff!
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