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Lesser-Known Halloween Horror Film Suggestions

by Terry Morgan Oct 18, 2024

Lesser-Known Halloween Horror Film Suggestions

Every year around this time media of all sorts try to get into the Halloween spirit and either posts lists of films to watch or programs a slate of scary fare. This is all well and good – the more Halloween stuff the better – but in general these lists and programs serve up pretty familiar stuff for experienced horror fans. To that end, I’ve put together a list of nine possibly lesser-known films and one better-known but completely appropriate streaming series to hopefully add some variety for your October viewing, subdivided into categories.

MONSTERS

Splinter – A nasty indie shocker that deserves to be better known than it is, this 2008 film is suspenseful, surprising and altogether a gruesome good time. Directed by Toby Wilkins and co-written by Wilkins, Ian Shorr and Kai Barry, it tells the tale of a group cornered in a gas station mini mart by some sort of toxic waste-derived goop monster that can infect and control its prey. It’s an early highlight in Shea Whigham’s career, the gore effects are gnarly (especially if you have an aversion to spiky growths), and there’s a bone-breaking sequence that almost prepared me for the Suspiria remake.

Crawl – One of the best killer gator movies ever made, except in this 2019 story there’s not just one maneater but a congregation of them (this is the actual term for a group of gators or crocs, apparently). Horror veteran Alexandre Aja directs the hell out of Michael and Shawn Rasmussen’s tight script, ratcheting up the tension and action to match the concept of people fighting off alligators during a hurricane. Kaya Scodelario kicks ass as the swim champ saving her injured dad from the beasties. This one goes for it (a gator encounter in an enclosed shower is representative of the delicious nuttiness), and it’s pure horror entertainment.

SURPRISE!

My Little Eye – A 2002 take on Big Brother-type television programs wherein people agree to stay in an isolated house and be filmed all the time, this film highlighted the unnatural nature of such a thing and how it could easily be turned into horror. David Hilton and James Watkins’ screenplay is clever, and director Marc Evans effectively uses all of the different cameras positioned around the house to create a sense of oppressive doom.

Kris Lemche gives a memorable and funny performance as one of the more astute game participants, and Bradley Cooper makes an intriguing early career appearance. It’s a high-concept piece with a twist that works very well. Bonus – if you see this on DVD, there’s an extra commentary track from the mysterious characters who are watching the game participants throughout the film, which is a unique extra in my experience.

Intruders – This 2015 home invasion thriller seemed to come and go with no fanfare, but it deserves much more respect. Director Adam Schindler’s film is a stylish, surprising piece, benefiting from T. J. Cimfel and David White’s smart script. Beth Riesgraf is memorable and sympathetic as an agoraphobic woman having to defend her home from a team of thieves, and Martin Starr plays effectively against type as one of the villains. The production design is a star here, where the house itself is almost a character of its own. If you haven’t seen it before, this picture deserves a look.

CULTISH PRACTICES

The Void – This 2015 indie is a tense and gory romp with Lovecraft pumping through its veins. A group of people get trapped inside a small local hospital by a cadre of hooded cultists who surround the facility, but the true danger of course is inside the building. Writer/directors Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski deliver both believable characters and terrific special effects. The cast are all great, and the vibe of the flick is a rapid descent into nightmare. What more could you want for All Hallows’ Eve?

Dark Harvest – This 2023 film may be a bit more uneven than the other choices on this list, but it makes up for it with lush Halloween atmosphere and a visually excellent monster. Every year in a small midwestern town, the young men of the community have to find and kill a beast called Sawtooth Jack or their crops will suffer for the following year. Of course there’s more to this situation than meets the eye. The movie is an adaptation of a novel by Norman Partridge, and Michael Gilio’s script retains the longer pace of a book, perhaps a little to the film’s detriment. Director David Slade (who directed the great 30 Days of Night) provides a gorgeous look to the movie, and the design of Sawtooth Jack is fantastic. This one takes a while to get going, but makes up for it in the second half.

THE SUPERNATURAL

Immaculate – Director Michael Mohan and writer Andrew Lobel’s religious thriller is gleefully blasphemous with an ending that has to be seen to be believed (then they play Ave Maria over the credits and they opened it Easter weekend). Sydney Sweeney plays an innocent young nun who is brought over to a nunnery in the Italian countryside for reasons she doesn’t yet comprehend. Suffice to say that the film’s title is a clue for what to expect. What one might not expect is the intensity of the movie and how thoroughly Sweeney commits to her role. If you’re going to see one Catholic horror film this year, this is the one.

Don’t Look at the Demon – I found this 2022 film to be a compelling surprise, featuring supernatural lore I wasn’t familiar with and a darkness of tone that startled me. The story is set in Malaysia, in which a tv show supposedly exploring and curing supernatural events finds a real one and the star of the show wants nothing to do with it. Fiona Dourif is terrific as the medium who knows enough to stay away from true evil but ultimately tries to help in spite of her fear. Director/writer Brando Lee and co-writer Alfie Palermo bring ferocious energy to this complex tale of demonic possession.

SERIAL KILLERS

Milk and Serial – Here’s something different – a one-hour film premiered on You Tube for free that is one of the best horror features of the year. It’s the creation of writer/director/star Curry Barker, and it’s perhaps the best resume for work as a Hollywood director I’ve seen in ages. Milk and Seven produce a social media prank show in which they each try to one-up the other with ever more elaborate and disturbing “pranks.” When people start dying, they start suspecting each other. This is a well-acted (Barker is especially memorable), disturbing and compact little thriller, with the killer’s repeated catchphrase, “What do you mean, you don’t like it,” especially chilling.

HAUNTED HOUSES

The Haunting of Hill House – Okay, so you’ve heard or maybe seen this one, but Mike Flanagan’s 2018 adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s classic novel is a stone cold masterpiece and perfect viewing for the Halloween season. The fact that he created an entirely new story inspired from the novel and managed to pull it off is amazing, but that it’s also full of three-dimensional characters, exquisitely spooky atmosphere, incredible ensemble performances, ghosts hidden in the background of many shots and the world’s greatest jump scare (sorry, Exorcist III) makes it phenomenal. Also, it recognizes that the heart of much classic horror is tragedy, which makes this series not only scary but also very moving.

Happy Halloween to you all.

About Terry Morgan

Terry Morgan has been writing professionally since 1990 for publications such as L.A Weekly, Backstage West and Variety, among others. His love of horror cinema knows no bounds, though some have suggested that a few bounds might not be a bad thing.

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