October, the month I watch horror movies the way kids eat candy. For years, my wife and I came up with a list of movies and named the whole thing Shocktober. A few years ago, we started sharing the list, and that’s what I’m here to do today. If you’re new to horror, check back tomorrow for a totally different list!
Right, so!
The spirit of Shocktober is to try and watch as many of these as you can, knowing in advance that it’s probably impossible to watch a movie every single night. Generally speaking, we tend to make it through roughly half of the list. That’s why followers of my previous lists might be wondering why there are some movies popping up here again. If you’ve seen ’em before, skip ahead.
This is not a list of the best horror movies ever made, but a curated list of films that, with the exception of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, I have not seen before. (RIP, Mr. Craven.) A few movies are already in theatres or are coming later this month. Everything has links to where you can rent ’em, buy ’em, or stream ’em, and if you click on the movie’s title, you’ll be able to watch a trailer.
(Be careful with horror movie trailers, though. They’re notoriously spoiler-y.)
You’re encouraged to drop your own suggestions in the comments, so please do!
With all that in mind, here’s the list for 2015:
- Goodnight Mummy (Theatre)
- Unfriended (VOD/DVD)
- Cooties (VOD)
- A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (VOD/DVD/Streaming)
- Westworld (VOD/DVD)
- Deep Red (DVD)
- The Visit (Theatre)
- Jacob’s Ladder (DVD/Amazon Streaming)
- Knock Knock (Theatre)
- Contracted: Phase 2 (VOD/DVD)
- We Are Still Here (VOD/DVD)
- Cub (VOD/DVD)
- Don’t Look Now (VOD/DVD)
- The Devil’s Backbone (VOD/DVD)
- Crimson Peak (Theatre)
- Stage Fright (VOD/DVD)
- White God (VOD/DVD/Netflix)
- The Lazarus Effect (VOD/DVD)
- The Tenant (VOD/DVD)
- Poltergeist [Remake] (VOD/DVD)
- Them (VOD/DVD)
- Insidious: Chapter Three (VOD/DVD)
- Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (Theatre)
- The Falling (VOD/DVD/Amazon Streaming)
- Starry Eyes (VOD/DVD/Netflix)
- Invaders From Mars (VOD/DVD)
- Under the Skin (VOD/DVD/Amazon Streaming)
- Lyle (VOD/DVD)
- Black Death (VOD/DVD/Netflix/Amazon Streaming)
- Magic (VOD/DVD)
- Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (VOD/DVD/Netflix)
Every Thursday or Friday — I’m still figuring out the schedule — I’ll have a writeup on the movies, so there’ll be an opportunity for Kotaku readers to discuss what you’ve watched, too! Hopefully you’ll enjoy this as much as I do!
And as mentioned at the top, there’ll be another list tomorrow directed at people who’ve thought about getting into horror but don’t know how to jump into the genre. Think of it as Horror 101, a selection of movies that will have you hitting all the classics, in addition to understanding what the genre is like in modern day.
Good luck!
Illustration by Jim Cooke
Comments
11 responses to “31 Movies For Hardcore Horror Fans”
No Krampus on the list? I’d say it’s shaping up as potentially the best movie of 2015, if it lives up to the trailer.
Dario Argento, nice. Some of his movies are pretty messed up for their time.
WESTWORLD 😀 absolutely fantastic film. Sci-fi/western/horror. I’m approaching the tv series with caution but hopefully it will be brilliant too.
Ohh, Gonna see Goodnight Mommy tomorrow night. Likely with a blanket over my head as the asshole i’m watching it with mocks and laughs at me…
Maybe the article head should have been “31 Horror films I have yet to see.” As “31 Movies For Hardcore Horror Fans” is a little misleading as of course the list leaves out a lot of classic true horror films.
I feel like “31” in the title is a numerical implication that this list (of 31 films) is in fact limited to 31 films. Indicative of the fact that it will not encompass and include every film that you – as an individual – deem to be representative of your incorrect definitions of “horror”, “classic” or “true”.
I hope you’re not saying that “The Exorcist” or “John Carpenter’s The Thing” are not a true, horror classics. That’s borderline blasphemy.
Under the skin is a great film and certainly unsettling at times, but definitely not horror. It’s a slow paced art-house film, almost the complete opposite of horror. Just a PSA; if you’re in the mood for horror or thrills of some sort, Under the Skin will be totally ruined for you. Again, i’ts a great film, but not horror at all.
So let’s get this list going then. I can add a few of my old favourites:
The Thing – Extraordinarily tense horror sci-fi with some fantastic practical effects. My favourite film regardless of genre.
An American Werewolf in London – The other classic go-to film when looking for masterful
practical effects. Sizeable dollop of humour thrown into the mix
The Fly – Practical effects. Jeff Goldblum. Practical effects attached to Jeff Goldblum.
Splice – I do like a good creature design and this is a great one. Scientists create life. Goes about as well as you’d expect.
Slither – Great horror comedy with Nathan Fillion and lots of nasty squirmy monsters.
Let the Right One In – Not a traditional horror, but a beautiful, dark film which you should see. In Swedish.
Cronos – Alongside The Devils Backbone from the list, this is also a great early Guillermo Del Toro film. A strange, unconventional vampirey movie.
That’ll do for a start.
Event Horizon – Even though it’s sci fi, it’s the only one that affected me the most.
Watched it follows the other day. It was pretty good