13 Horror Movies to (re)Watch on Halloweek (Vol.1)
by Anass El Wardi - October 2017
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UnFramed’s movie collection is a rubric destined to the writings of articles about movies that have changed our vision of film-making and that we want to share with you. Movies which are coming from all time and all continents alike.
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Horror is one of my favorite genre in cinema, in my opinion the horror genre is the most varied in films, there are countless subgenre making the use of imagination almost unlimited. But lately, imagination is a word that studios, film-makers and as a result audiences have completely veiled and forgotten about, being either satisfied by the endless wave of mass-produced, brainless and normalized horror jump scare fests or giving a wide berth to the whole genre. Thus, sadly, true great horror is being burried underneath a pile of pop-corn teen movie whilst great feature are underrated. Therefore, I’m doing this list to give back to the horror genre its nobility letters, inviting you to rediscover what good horror is, what the horror genre has to offer, to reevaluate the notion of fear itself and what better week to do so than this one!
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Pan’s Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro (2006) – A masterpiece Spanish-Mexican dark fantasy
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Every single time I watch Pan’s Labyrinth it transports me into a world of wonder that is just as magical as the first time. Everything from the to be remembered lullaby, to the peculiar dark and eerie ambiance, the crossover from fantasy to horror, the two intertwined storylines that question and complement each other constantly making us wonder whether everything that we’re seeing is real or not, every single aspect of this movie is brilliantly handled and part of the mystical experience that is Guillermo Del Toro’s masterpiece. It’s an unforgettable and unique experience where magic, reality, beauty and darkness come together to create this must-watch instant classic, so let’s delve right into it.
Pan’s Labyrinth is a beautiful dark fairy tale that pays homage to old myths and European folklore and yet stays completely original, incredibly engrossing and very creative. Its biggest perks would be its brilliant storyline, in a way it tells two different story that intertwines within one single character: Ophelia. The first is set in 1944 in post-civil war Spain where Ophelia and her pregnant mother arrive at their new home and attempt at restarting their life in company of the ruthless Captain, the second one, is a magical quest given to Ophelia by the Faun who tells her that she is the reincarnated princess of the Underworld. In true Guillermo Del Toro style, both of this storyline are brutal and dark in their own ways, despite the magical fairy tale like qualities the film doesn’t shy away from its dark sides that often turns violent making the feature cross over into horror. If anyone else than Del Toro would’ve to tell this story it would have had a much lighter quality to it, but I would argue that it’s this peculiar melt of the two genre that makes Pan’s Labyrinth so rich and unique.
In addition to that, the cinematography and art-direction in this movie is mind-blowing. Pan’s Labyrinth is one of the most visually stunning films I have ever seen, every shot seems to be looking like a genuine piece of art. This is something that’s obvious upon first viewing but that I’ve appreciated more and more on every repeated viewing because every visual choice made in this film serves a purpose, the color palette, the composition, the framing, the textures, the lighting which alone could be the subject of a whole article, everything serves brilliantly the storytelling and adds an original visual atmosphere giving the Pan’s Labyrinth the unique look that transports its viewers in toot’s worlds. Another case in point, would be the creature design which is flawless, the fairies, the toad, the incredibly creepy pale man who may haunt your nightmares afterwards, and the faun all look incredible. They’re beautifully detailed and so creatively designed to the point that they feel real, and so much of it is done with practical effect as opposed to CGI, it’s just pure magic. Finally, the cherry on the cake in term of general ambiance is the music, anytime I see something even remotely related to Pan’s Labyrinth I immediately want to start humming that lullaby, there is a reason why this film was nominated for best original score and it’s that here music is not background but an essential part of the feature that helps convey the story as much as script or overall cinematography.
Overall, Pan’s Labyrinth is not just Guillermo Del Toro’s masterpiece, it’s a masterpiece in general when comparing it to the overwhelming majority of fantastic/horror movies of the 2000’s. It’s the perfect combination of storytelling, visual effect, great characters, peculiar and greedy ambiance… with a compelling and original idea that adds layers to the fantastic horror genre, the dark fantasy genre is one to experiment once in a lifetime and Pan’s Labyrinth is the perfect introduction to it.
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Suspiria by Dario Argento (1977) – An aesthetically mind-blowing horror movie
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I was planning to put this one at the very end of the list because It’s my favorite horror movie of all time but I couldn’t wait to talk about it. The plot of this film is very simple yet Dario Argento, an italian director very influenced by the work of giallo specialist Mario Bava whom we’ve talked about in the previous article, manages to turn it into one of the most influential movie of the century. American ballet student Susy Banyon travels to Germany to attend an exclusive ballet school. Once there, she discovers that there is more going on within than just dance instruction…
The thing that struck me most in this movie is the use of primary colors as a way to convey raw fear. What sets Dario Argento apart from many of his contemporaries is his success with visual imagery. In a style where sudden visual shocks are used to thrill the audience, Argento creates elaborate deaths which cannot be quickly forgotten. The highly involved double-murder towards the beginning of the film still remains one of the most memorable scenes in horror history, standing next to the Psycho « shower scene » in pure sensory input. And in a technique so powefully employed here and here alone, Argento sets scene after scene aglow with color, using it to express the mood in ways only the subconscious can fully appreciate. In addition to that the music is incredible as if hell’s devils came around to jam and recorded the whole thing. All around, this is an excellent addition to the genre of horror cinema, one of the most expressive films to ever plunge a knife into the psyche of its viewers.
American Psycho by Marry Haroon (2000) – A satire of mass-consumption societies featuring a glamourous psychopathic anti-hero
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In the age of the anti-hero, among the Lannister’s and the Underwood’s, American Psycho’s hero Patrick Bateman stands out as an unsettling yet compelling prototype and prime example of a strange but fascinating subset of the anti-hero type: the glamourous psychopath. Indeed, very much like Alex in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, a must-see curiosity, or Hannibal Lecter in Johnathan Damme’s Silence of the Lambs, which we already talked about in the first volume, Patrick Bateman is a deeply complex character. Unlike other villains, his pure elegance and superiority makes us care for him and understand his actions and that is truly unsettling and horrific.
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American Psycho is one of my all-time favorite movies, it’s a film that is so different and original that it’s difficult to explain my love for this feature without showing it directly to you, but I’ll try anyways. The movie tells the story of a guy named Patrick Bateman, he’s the most narcissistic full of himself businessman you could ever run into and his two passions in life, is listening to late 80’s music and explaining the musical stories of the aforementioned albums to people right before he kills them with various weapons. This man is a blood thirsty serial killer who likes to go around finding random people to take out when the sun goes down, this new addiction that he has is starting to impact his everyday life and the way this film depicts that through Christian Bale’s performance and Mary Harren’s great direction is so cool to watch.
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With this movie you get two different but equally enjoyable things. First you can get a compelling and hilarious story of an over the top glamourous psychopath that goes on murderous rampages over who has a biggest business card than his, or yells at his dry cleaner because he won’t remove the blood stains on his pillows. But you also get a second layer of reading, a great look and commentary on the narcissism and selfishness of capitalist business spirit that is embodied in the characters of the movie. Indeed, the psychopathic element of Patrick Bateman is an attempt to differentiate himself from the faceless mass of classical rich consumers, to find a difference between him and the other suits. Christian Bales performance in this regard is truly Oscar worthy in this movie, there is so many quotable moments and many scenes stick with you for years to come. This is an absolute must-watch, it’s not a horror movie per say but It gives you a great commentary on how can modern society drives us to weird and psychotic behaviors. And I’ll not spoil anything, but the ending will undoubtedly leave you wondering for quite some time.
Let the Right One in by Thomas Alfredson (2008)- A touching Swedish vampire romance story
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Let the Right One in or Morse in its original Swedish version, is another one of my favorite foreign film but more precisely it’s one of the very best vampire story I’ve had the chance to see. The movie is set in the 80’s, and the story centers around Oscar who is a 12-year-old boy living with his mother, that is regularly bullied at school, one night he meets a girl, Elie, and she seems a little strange which is normal considering that she’s nothing but a vampire. But as opposed to the quasi-majority of vampire movie which centers around jump scare, scary toots and gore violence this movie is a beautiful subtle story about growing up, loneliness and friendship. It’s core subject are the two kids, one of whom happens to be a vampire, it could’ve been a classic glamourous romantic vampire film but it’s actually a coming of age drama that struggles with concepts of good and evil whilst also having some genuine horrific moments that will make you pee your pants.
The cinematography of Let the Right One In is very strange, its beautifully shot but its beauty isn’t exactly your typical conception of what a beautiful film looks like. It’s cold, minimalist and actually pretty simple and yet it conveys so much when it comes to visual story telling. In his interview, the director Tomas Alfredson talked about how he tried to make this feature as a silent movie and have it tell the story without relying on dialogue and I would argue that he succeeded in doing so. So much of the story telling is made through what the audience sees rather than telling the audience what is going on and that is a key aspect of film making theorized by no one else that Alfred Hitchcock the master of suspense who underlined the cruciality of the “Show don’t tell” rule. Thus, it’s not surprising that some of the best scenes in this movie feature very little dialogue and sometimes even silence and that brings us to our next point the very intelligent use of soundtrack. If the soundtrack fits the tone of the film well it also knows when to stop and when to let the imagery speak and sounds for itself to convey even more this dark wintery mood. In fact, the film stars and finishes with pure and complete silence.
Finally, the character building is excellent. It plays with our classical conception of good and evil interchanging the stereotyped roles of Elie and Oscar, whilst we may think that a bullied kid is sad and defenseless and a vampire brutal in its murders, the movie shows us that the violence of Elie is a violence that surges from necessity and that is contrasted with guilt and remorse while Oscars deep lust for violence isn’t applied but highlights the fact that he wants to murder. What we think of the characters in the surface and what they really are deep within themselves is completely different and thus the movie allows us to see beyond normative concepts like good and evil, and that’s where true horror lies when we realize that it may be where we don’t expect it. The performance by the two kids are stunning and compelling, the director and his team spent a year looking for the perfect actors to fill these roles and they did an amazing job because we don’t feel at all that they’re acting throughout the whole movie. They give an innocent and honest performance that is just heart-melting.
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Halloween by John Carpenter (1979) – One of the landmark of the 80’s Slasher movie
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How can we do a Horror movie watchlist for Halloween without THE movie that is eponym to that day. This movie came out in 1978 for an extremely low budget and grossed just in the United States 50 times its original budget, it’s one of the most profitable movies of all time, it has marked and been impactful for many generations and been passed on to the next ones, it is still watched today at Halloween by millions of viewers to the point that it has become a culturally significant movie. To put it in a shell it has become a timeless classic, but how did a low budget B-Movie remain timeless?
As you probably already know because either you watched it, or you’ve heard a great deal about it, Halloween is about Michael Myer a young boy who in a very effective and chilling opening scene murders his sister. Yes, you’ve read correctly. Then it flashes forward to 1978 where an adult Michael Myer escapes from the Asylum and goes on a murdering rampage across the city where Jaime Lee Curtis, a young high schooler who’s not as promiscuous as her other dumb care-free friends, lives. This simple plot, started a genre of his own known as the slasher movie which was very influential in Hollywood cinema of the 1980’s with features like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th… whom draw directly from Halloween in their spirit and their basic codes. It was directed by relatively young director John Carpenter who had only one low budget action movie on his resumé (Assault on Precinct 13) and yet his direction in this movie shines above virtually anything else. He took what is arguably an incredibly simple premise and with beautiful shot composition used the foreground, the background, things out of focus, blurs to hint, suggest things rather than show them directly and with that gifted us with a film that is far better than he ever could’ve been on paper. Another bow on his string is his musical talent, he managed to compose an iconic theme even though he stated that he can’t write a single note.
It’s almost amazing how this film became so popular considering the fact that so much of it was sort of left to chance, so much in this movie seems up in the air from the music composed by non-musicians to the cult mask of Michael Myers that they bought for a dollar and yet became burned into the minds of every teenager’s nightmares. But what makes it so impactful beyond the nostalgia, the score, the funny acting and the fact that it’s related to a specific holyday it’s that at its core this film examines evil and how it can infect somebody. And that fascinating aspect of the character of Michael Myer, to understand the connection between humanity and evil is a timeless subject that is very well tackled in this feature. Nevertheless, without entering philosophical consideration and further character analysis, Halloween is a very fun movie to see alone or with friends on Halloween night, it’s the perfect film to pop up when cozy and worm bundle up under a blanket.
Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn by Sam Raimi (1987) – An enjoyably over-the-top gore fest horror comedy
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We already talked about horror comedies, this very peculiar genre that makes the horror, the gore, and the unsettling violence go a step too far to enter the realm of humor. It’s not an easy task to dose correctly the many elements in order to come up with the right horror-comedy recipe but one of the first films that did that brilliantly and set out the path for other to come was undoubtedly Evil Dead II. After a relaxing cabin vacation doesn’t go as planned,Ash,is left with three dead friends,an undead girlfriend and an angry evil spirit on the loose. As nightfall approaches,Ash must prepare again to battle the legions of the damned if he wants to make it to dawn.
Evil Dead II is proof that Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell were the gods of low budget filmmaking, proof of both the incredible intelligence and stupidity of the horror genre. It is among the best horror comedies ever made. No much needs to be said from Raimi’s spot on direction and Campbell’s iconic, ridiculous parody of the action hero, the feature combines ludicrous amounts of gore with ludicrous amounts of hilarity. The inventive style of the director and the hilarious performance of the actor melt perfectly and have allowed the horror-comedy genre to become legitimate. Even though there are tedious stretches with less-than-riveting charachters, the film gradually pulls us into its claustrophobic spell and becomes acutely suspensful in its final half-hour. To summarize Evil Dead 2 is the perfect combination of laughter and fear, and with this in mind would be the perfect choice for a chill night with friends around a horror movie.
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Rosemary’s Baby by Roman Polansky (1968) – A disturbing thought provoking psychological thriller
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Why aren’t the horror directors of today as careful with their scripts as Polanski was? Not that this is really horror. Horror as we know it came into being with the slasher flicks of the late 1970s and early 1980s; « Rosemary’s Baby » is rather the kind of thing that the term « psychological horror » was coined to describe, by people of taste who noticed that the word « horror » promised audiences something distinctly unpleasant and nasty, suggested rather than shown in a brutal heartless way.
It wouldn’t make sens to try and summarize the plot of Rosemary’s Baby but take my world that it is one of the best horror films ever made. This isn’t because it’s going to scare the pants off you with a series of sensational jolts. This isn’t the shallow, gimmicky kind of horror movie we mostly get these days, and it isn’t the traditional old-fashioned horror film of an earlier era. This is a movie that came out during a period of transition in Hollywood. The old production codes were breaking down and films could suddenly be more true to life in the way they showed how people really lived, acted and talked. 1968s « Rosemary’s Baby » is a more sophisticated, less elegant thriller of the kind that Alfred Hitchcock patented, but it displays much more class and intelligence than the horror movies that would come out in its wake. Popular ’70s films such as « The Exorcist » and « The Omen » are the prodigy of « Rosemary’s Baby, » but offer far less nuance and much greater vulgarity. What we get here is a more naturalistic depiction of modern life, but without the crassness that would soon explode into American cinema.
All in all, a film that tempts you to rank it with the best ever made – which is more, but not much more, than it deserves – simply because it’s perfect. Everything went right. Rosemary is a wonderfully sympathetic heroine, powerless without being passive, largely ignorant of what’s going on around her without being at all stupid, and Mia Farrow makes you care deeply about her. The cinematography is pellucid; the art direction is subtly right; there’s also a fine, odd yet tuneful, musical score.
Seven by David Fincher (1995) – A suspenseful police thriller inspired by horror
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“Oh good! What’s in the box?? What’s in the fucking box???” I think everybody heard that sentence quoted at least one, but I still encounter people that haven’t yet seen the masterpiece thriller Seven by the absolutely brilliant and acclaimed director David Fincher. One of my all-time favorite police thriller is without a doubt Seven, there is a phrase that most of the movie critics myself included have a hard time saying or writing and that is admitting that a movie might be one of the best of the year or the best of all time, but I’ll tell you I have absolutely no fear nor doubt to say that Seven is one of the greatest films ever made.
If you don’t already know the film is about a serial killer who is going on a pattern who follows the seven deadly sins, he’s going killing seven different people in ways that reflect those aforementioned sins and Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman are the detective trying to figure his motive to ultimately catch him and putting an end to his killing spree. If you go back and read the critics of 1995, the main downs underlined was that the feature was overly gruesome, relying on blood and gore because the film was the first of its kind to attempt at incorporating horror into a thriller mystery police story. But today, I would argue that this is the movie biggest strength, rarely have I been one the edge of my seat for the entirety of a run time of a film and the horror element melt perfectly to the suspenseful story and add a sentiment of disarray and unsettlement that renders the experience even more unique and compelling. I remember the first time that I sat down to see this movie at night, I was so sucked into the movie that I didn’t realize I had my hand wrapped around my blanket so hard that it was torn up eventually, I was able to forget that I was watching a film and it doesn’t happen to me much. David Fincher’s work seems so realistic, the film looks so dark, murky, frightening and one of the most important aspect of the movie is that you don’t even know the name of the city, you just see a place where crime is rampant, there’s murder everywhere and the ambiance is very creepy and dread. But Fincher knows also how to suggest horror rather than show it.
But apart from the very good ambiance and mood-setting done by Fincher, one of my favorite thing when re-watching Se7en is paying attention to the small dialogues between the brilliantly portrayed characters. These conversations are about deep subject, about human nature and that what’s make Seven so much better than your average serial killer story because the focus is not on the violence, the focus is on the people and that’s true horror. Everything on Seven builds perfectly to one of the best climax in cinema history featuring an excellent villain brilliantly played by Kevin Spacey, quotable moments, likable characters with deep storyline behind them, suspenseful story and frightening horror mood. I wish I could be there to see your faces during the incredible ending of one of Fincher’s finest movies.
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Cube by Vincenzo Natali (1997) – A mind-fucking science fiction minimalist torture porn extravaganza
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Cube is a film boxed in by its own intriguing central premise. A group of strangers awaken to find themselves in an empty high-tech room with doors in the middle of each wall. Going out to explore what’s on the other side of their strange new homes, they discover identical rooms (save for the different colors), some of which have been equipped with deadly booby traps. Six people eventually find each other in this cubist maze, all determined to find a way out of their mysterious prison before starving or going mad.
I will try to keep this very short because you’re not supposed to know anything before going into this movie unless you want to ruin it. The movie is filled with dazzling effects and smart plot, with good acting and phenomenal direction. It is filled with tension, claustrophobic atmosphere and shocking events. It is smart, shocking and entertaining, with masterful direction, dazzling effects, considering its very low budget the film with a very simple premise and virtually no filming location manages to give a very good and disturbing result. A weird but must-see science fiction torture porn, with multiple layers of understanding the highest one being a philosophical maze to the meaning of life itself.
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Night of the Living Dead by George Romero (1968) – The black and white inception of the Zombie movie
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When we watche an older, classic horror film, it can sometimes be necessary to alter our expectations and frame of reference. The special effects may not be up to muster, the delicate sensibilities of its day may seem tame to modern audiences. The mark of a truly transcendent horror film is often apparent in how little the viewer needs to change their perspective to enjoy it. George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead is certainly such a film.
To summarize the plot of the movie I’ll quote the NYT of 1968 which does a very efficient job at describing the storyline in a rather humoristic manner: « Night of the Living Dead is a grainy little movie acted by what appear to be nonprofessional actors, who are besieged in a farm house by some other nonprofessional actors who stagger around, stiff-legged, pretending to be flesh-eating ghouls. » Indeed, released in black and white in 1968, this movie has a very simple plot but it influenced a generations of film to come.
While the word zombie doesn’t appear once in its ninety-seven minute runtime, the film’s shuffling masses lay the groundwork for a multitude of tropes to follow, including the insatiable appetite for human flesh, their seeming immunity to violence unless it destroys their brain, and the fact of the virus’ transmission through blood and saliva. And because this movie was the first of its kind, the horror on the character’s faces as they are confronted with each of these facts feels genuine. They don’t kill the little girl who has been bitten, rather, they try to nurse her back to health, only to have her turn. When Ben first drives a weapon through a zombie’s skull, he is visibly shaken.
In a year that saw the release and blockbuster success of Jordan Peale’s Get Out which we reviewed in our latest article, we can see the groundwork even for his film in Romero’s 1968 classic, which could just as easily be called a “social thriller” as well. What makes Night of the Living Dead so incredible is that outside of it’s deeper messaging, it exists as a truly unsettling horror movie experience. The film’s music serves it well and its practical effects are not only well done, but shocking. This is a film that was incredibly gory and violent for its time, and its horror holds up.
The Witch by Robert Eggers (2015) – An independent Canadian folktale witch story
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The Witch subtitled A New England Folktale, writer-director Robert Eggers’s Sundance prize-winning feature debut is an atmospheric chiller rooted in the fertile soil of religious zealotry, social isolation and original sin. On the surface, it is the story of a puritanical 17th-century English family enduring an American nightmare, tormented by a wicked witch who steals their children and their souls. But beneath that surface lurks something more disturbing – a tale of God-fearing folk whose terrified belief in the twisted fantasies of folklore hides their own darker secrets.
One of the things I loved so much about this movie is that it’s not just about a witch, it’s not just horror conventions, clichés and tropes that we’re used to seeing just because they can do some scary stuff with some music or jump scares. It’s really about how a terrible situation brought on by a supernatural entity affects the unity of a family, this movie is more so about this family tearing themselves apart when one family member gets snatched away by said witch, they don’t know if there is something in the woods, they’re unsure of what is going on, and they all start to suspect one another. They’re stuck on this very creepy farm and it gets very suspenseful and tragically dramatic because we get to see this entire family’s foundation erode because of this supernatural force. It thus felt more realistic, more grounded you could relate more easily to those characters who were very well portrayed, the acting was terrific particularly the one of the daughter.
This movie also features a haunting score, that really emphasizes the importance of music in horror movies. It builds certain scenes up much and really makes you feel the true horror of the horrifying situations that are happening on screen. The editing also is remarkable on this regard, it is really tense with very long takes, slow moving slider shots, things that can really give you the goosebumps and a style that makes you appreciate the location. You feel the environment, it’s a very claustrophobic movie. The main antagonist is also a major perk of the feature, although I won’t get into too much spoilers because you just have to experience it, but the way they set up this character got under my skin. Even though the first act is a bit too slow in my humble opinion, you have to give this movie a shot you won’t regret it for a second it’s one of the best horror movie of recent years.
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Grave by Julia Ducournau (2016) – An unsettling coming of age tale between body horror and cannibalism
The directing debut of newcomer Julie Ducournau got highly noticed this year, on the international and national scene, providing French cinema with a potential revival of its infamous horror genre the New French Extremity. We follow the transformation of Justine, from a sweet and innocent young girl to a lustful anthropophagiste.
The from ingénue to femme fatale trope is pretty common in cinema, especially to describe coming of age stories, but, here I find it even more sensitive, in the way that the director decided to represent Justine’s transition towards adulthood by using analogies of body horror and cannibalism. In fact, it’s after tasting meat during a hazing ritual, here perceived as the forbidden fruit since Justine is a stringent vegetarian, that her body undergoes painful transformations, an obvious analogy to puberty. In addition, she begins to crave the taste of meat, raw and tender, as a metaphor for sexual awakening, Justine’s personality begins to change, she becomes less fearful and shy, adopting a bold and provocative behavior.
Without saying much more, I believe Grave is a daring work of art, it’s even more interesting to see a gory coming of age tale done by a female director and with her own perspective, deciding to represent the female sexuality and transition to adulthood in such a violent and raw way. It is a bold statement for the French cinema and the whole horror genre usually male dominated and where women are mostly used as eye candy.