Halloween is right around the corner, which means you’re going to need to find a perfect stack of movies to watch and/or play inappropriately in the background while answering the door for trick-or-treaters to get you into a nice and spooky mood. Amazon Prime has a dauntinglyrobust selection of horror flicks, which is both a blessing and a curse, because most of them are very bad.
But don’t worry! I’ve put together a list of the best scary movies currently available on Amazon Prime to boo-tify your Halloween, whether you’re watching alone or with a bunch of friends while struggling to drink a beer through your Iron Man mask. Onward to the list!
Event Horizon
Director:Paul W.S. Anderson
Writer:Philip Eisner
Cast:Sam Neill, Laurence Fishburne, Joley Richardson, Kathleen Quinlan, Jason Isaacs, Richard T. Jones, Sean Pertwee, Jack Noseworthy
Say what you will about the collected works ofPaul W.S. Anderson, but his 1997 horror movieEvent Horizonis one of the best mainstream horror films of the past 20 years. A rescue crew of astronauts go to investigate the derelict interdimensional ship Event Horizon when it suddenly reappears in orbit around Neptune after vanishing on its maiden voyage seven years earlier. The ship, for lack of a better word, is haunted as shit. It’s basicallyThe Shiningin space, if every single character was Jack Torrence.
The film is effectively spooky, thanks in large part to the design of the titular ghost-infested spaceship. The Event Horizon is angular and oppressive, like a floating Dracula’s castle. Owing even more toThe Shining, the interior of the ship doesn’t make logical sense, creating a pervasive sense of unease, even during the more quiet moments when the characters aren’t violently tearing themselves apart. Despite being a critical and commercial failure,Event Horizonhas cast a wide net of influence on horror since its release, in particular the infamous “blood orgy” sequence. If you want a gory haunted house movie to watch with a group of friends, look no further.
Director:Anthony Hickox
Writer:Anthony Hickox
Cast:Zach Galligan, Deborah Foreman, David Warner, John Rhys-Davies, Patrick Macnee
Waxworkis easily the best movie in whichJohn Rhys-Daviesturns into a werewolf and tears a man in half down the middle like a bag of potato chips. A bunch of insufferable teens visitDavid Warner’s evil wax museum, which is loaded with gruesome scenes depicting everything from vampires to zombies to the Marquis de Sade. The displays are actually portals to horrific dimensions, and one by one the kids are trapped inside and must attempt to survive as the scenes come to life around them. Most of them wind up getting super-murdered, and are turned into wax figures and added to the display. The directorial debut of English horror directorAnthony Hickoxis like a carnival ride, and nobody gnaws on scenery like David Warner. It’s over-the-top shlock with some truly great practical effects, and it never, not for one moment, takes itself seriously. Hickox knows his movie isn’t scary, but damn is it fun.
The Woman in Black
Director:James Watkins
Writers:Jane Goldman, based on the novel by Susan Hill
Cast:Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer, Liz White
Nobody saw this movie coming. A January release, starring a newly de-PotteredDaniel Radcliffebefore we knew his range, didn’t look like anyone’s idea of a memorable horror film. ButThe Woman in Blackis a surprisingly effective ghost story. Radcliffe plays Arthur Kripp, a lawyer sent to a small English village on business who winds up investigating the suitably creepy local legend of the Woman in Black, a spirit whose appearance heralds the death of a child.
The film is gorgeously bleak, set mostly in a dark manor house and the grey English countryside of the early 20th century, so you never feel at ease even when the sun is out.James Watkins, best known for this film and for theBlack Mirrorepisode “Shut Up and Dance”, steadily builds a mounting feeling of dread until finally hitting us with the film’s truly sinister reveal. There are a few jump scares, but it’sThe Woman in Black’s overall mood and gut-punch of an ending that will have you lying in bed wide awake at 2 A.M.
Hellraiser
Director:Clive Barker
Writer:Clive Barker
Cast:Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence
In 1987,Clive Barkerdecided to ruin sleepovers for the rest of time and madeHellraiser.Adapted from his own novellaThe Hellbound Heart,Hellraiseris, and I say this without hyperbole, one of the most grotesquely disturbing films I have ever seen. The plot centers around a mysterious puzzle box that, when solved, opens a portal to a hell-dimension full of brutally violent beings called Cenobites, who look like members of an industrial band. Meanwhile, a man murders his brother, dons his dead brother’s skin, and tries to have sex with his niece. These two things are surprisingly related.
Fair warning: this is the kind of Halloween movie you rent when you want to destroy friendships. Putting this on at a get-together will assassinate all of the small talk in the room. It’s so pervasively dark and catastrophically violent that you feel like you need a shower afterwards. That said, it is absolutely worth seeing. Barker’s directorial debut came about simply because he was tired of seeing shitty adaptations of his writing, and decided to do it himself. The end result is one of the most iconic modern horror movies ever made.
Lake Mungo
Director:Joel Anderson
Writer:Joel Anderson
Cast:Talia Zucker, Rosie Traynor, David Pledger
Lake Mungois a slow-burn that rewards paying careful attention to every frame, so it might not be the best choice for a Halloween gathering. But if you’re looking for a solid ghost story that is equal parts creepy and emotional,Lake Mungois a great pick. Don’t let the found-footage style fool you - this is hands down one of the best supernatural thrillers I’ve ever seen. It tells the story of a teenage girl named Alice (Talia Zucker) who drowns during a family outing, and her parents and brother struggling to deal with their grief. Her brother, in particular, believes her spirit is still lingering in the home.
What follows is a compelling mystery that slowly unravels as we learn about Alice’s life, the secrets she was keeping, and the strange circumstances leading up to her sudden death. The scares inLake Mungoare subtle, although there are a few moments that will slap you right in the face like an angry poltergeist. And the film’s ending somehow manages to be simultaneously heartbreaking and utterly bone-chilling. You’ll want to watch it again immediately, after switching on every light in the house.
What Lies Beneath
Director:Robert Zemeckis
Writer:Clark Gregg, Sarah Kernochan
Cast:Michelle Pfeiffer, Harrison Ford
The best way to describeWhat Lies Beneathis “imagine if Alfred Hitchcock made a supernatural thriller.”Robert ZemeckisfilmedWhat Lies Beneathin the middle of filmingCast Away, during a break in shooting to allowTom Hanksto lose a ton of weight and grow a crazy island beard. I bring that up to emphasize the fact that Zemeckis crafted a near-perfect ghost story in what was essentially his spare time.
Michelle PfeifferandHarrison Fordstar as married couple Claire and Norman Spencer, who have just sent their only daughter off to college. Claire, going a little stir-crazy now that she’s suddenly in the house alone while Ford is at work all day, overhears her neighbors, the Feurs, having a terrifying shouting match. After not seeing Mrs. Feur for several days and noticing strange occurrences in her own house, Claire begins to believe that Mrs. Feur has been murdered and is trying to contact her from beyond the grave. And that’s just the beginning of a delightfully twisty mystery, loaded with suspense and more than a few truly unexpected scares. Ford cleared his schedule after reading the script, written by Agent Coulson himselfClark Gregg, and after watching Ford’s performance in the film it’s easy to see why he was so eager to be in it.
