Feat. The Music of Ladyhawke
Happy Halloween! Here’s a jam track to add to that killer party playlist! As well as links to a few of my favorite horror movie (or semi-horror) posts of yours! They are all bloody good and well worth reading. I hope you Enjoy!
On a side note, I know for some of you horror movies aren’t your speciality. For some it’s games. Or books (Lioness I’m looking at you :)). Also, a few of you have said you are usually too scared to watch horror, but also that you were pleasantly surprised when you indeed watched the movie, and it showed in your writing! Kudos for daring yourself to experience the fear and plant your flag on new emotional territory. That’s what this blog is about!
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EF Halloween Party Soundtrack: “Dusk Till Dawn” by Ladyhawke (Blaring on repeat)
Be sure to check out these terrifying, awesomely written posts, and the movies they are about!
Don’t Breathe: A Play on Your Senses (2016) (by Film & Nuance): “Don’t Breathe is the exact kind of film that horror fans will love. But it’s not horror. And it’s the kind of film that folks who just want a good time would enjoy as well… (And) the payoff is sick. I mean sick to the rotten core… Don’t Breathe is one of the most nerve-wrecking films of the year and there’s no way to suppress this anxious…almost breathless feeling.”
The Babadook (2014, dir. Jennifer Kent) (by TheProjectionBooth): “If it’s in a word, or if it’s in a book you can’t get rid of the Babadook… one of the most terrifying movie creatures in recent memory… I stand by what I said: The Babadook is one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen, and while I probably won’t watch it again (just because it is a horror movie) I would have no issue recommending it to a horror buff. If you like scary movies The Babadook is a great film to watch.”
A (Spooky) Review: The Witch (2016) (by I Don’t Make The Movies, I Just Watch Them): “A slow burn horror, more psychological than anything else. Full of tense scares, it’s a real treat for film and horror fans alike… It gets under your skin and settles there, makes you sit on the edge of your seat but not fly out of it at every jump scare (there are practically none). I found the writing, directing, acting, cinematography and score all top-notch. It’s meant to be spooky and unsettling, and it is, but it’s also incredibly smart and engaging… Take a moment this Halloween season and enjoy the atmospheric horror of “The Witch”.”
Cabin in The Woods (2012): BLOODY GOOD ORIGINAL FUN (by Reel thoughts of Jacki K): “For once reader, I give you 10 out of 10 daggers… This movie has everything that a Slasher Film needs. It has your 5 basic prototype characters that have been around since the dawn of this genre…But there is so much more to this film than even just the “Prototype Characters,” there are actors and characters in this film that you wouldn’t know were in it because of the “second layer” they are bringing to this film… I do not want this review to have any spoilers… But this second layer is what makes this film so damn good, what makes it original. For once, there is something original that Hollywood has finally fucking done, and I could not be more ecstatic about it.”
The Visit, American Movie (2015) (by Raistlin0903): “Mr. Shyamalan has become famous for some of the twists he puts into his movies. There is another one in this one, and I really did not see it coming. It was truly magnificent, and it was a twist that made this movie all the more disturbing… The tension and atmosphere in this film were perfect, the story was great, and there were enough scares in the film to satisfy the lovers of thrillers and horrormovies alike. After seeing this movie, you might think twice about sending your kids off to visit their grandparents though.”
EFC 03: It Follows (2015) (by Experience Film): “Imagine: a shapeshifting specter is somewhere on this Earth (somewhere in your neighborhood in all likelihood) and it is walking STRAIGHT FOR YOU. Time and space are irrelevant to this phantom. It will never stop hunting you. And when it finds you it will kill you. There is no telling how exactly. Where the hell would you go? It Follows is a multidimensional, compositionally layered film like few I have seen… A Lynchian dream-like quality pervades the film (Weinberg). The anachronisms are but one of many factors contributing to this space cadet style cinematic atmosphere which is simultaneously ambiguous, unsettling, and beautiful.”
SE7EN (by Lioness at Large): “Se7en builds on a solid tradition both in its own domain and in other art forms, topically as well as in its approach, denouncing society’s apathy towards vice and crime. Yet – and although expressly referencing the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, Chaucer and Dante – David Fincher’s movie eschews well-trodden paths and grabs the viewer’s attention from the beginning; and it does so not merely by the depiction of serial killer John Doe’s crimes… Fincher uses the crimes’ gruesome nature to create a sense of stark realism, rather than for shock value alone.”
BOYS IN THE TREES (2016) (by Mr. Movie’s Film Blog): “Set in the late ’90s on Halloween night in a quiet Adelaide (Southern Australia) suburbia, Boys in the Trees tells the story of graduating high school senior Corey (Toby Wallace), a skater and aspiring photographer… I’d like to really make it clear that despite its marketing campaign, this is not a horror film — Halloween setting and October release date aside — as Boys in the Trees is really a Gothic drama interwoven with playful eeriness, even if it does have its horror-esque moments.”
‘The Wailing’ (哭声) – Movie Review: Director Na Hong-Jin Graduates To A Whole New Level (by SHOT ON 35): “The Wailing is a stupendous and sustained piece of storytelling. It is loaded with frightful incidents and stuffed with mystifying characters. On top of that, it is genuinely terrifying as it preys on the goodness of ordinary people. God has seemingly excused Himself from the battleground as can be gleaned from a scene in which the church says it will not lift a finger to help. The story is compelling and riveting, and every twist, turn and outcome totally earned. There are plenty of bloody scenes for the gore-hounds but they are never ladled out to pump up a sagging plot. The plot never sags, not even for one instance.”
10 Cloverfield Lane Review: Monsters Come in Many Forms (2016) (by Jason’s Movie Blog): “Paranoia and mystery play as the central elements for the movie 10 Cloverfield Lane. Director Dan Trachtenberg’s film is a remarkable film, one that’s plays with a viewer’s mind with well-drawn out execution and foreboding intrigue, with its narrative and from its three primary performances. Its a sharply made movie that definitely has its twists and turns… While on a smaller scale than the original Cloverfield (and bearing no direct sequel link to the 2008 movie), 10 Cloverfield Lane is no less effective in its ways to excite and unnerve a viewer’s expectations while watching this movie.”
The Conjuring 2 (2016) (by CINEMAZING): “…Paranormal happenings on set, people dying of heart attacks in the theater, priests helping the audience to cope… Enough to give us the chills before even seeing the film!.. Set in England in the 70s and based on a true story, The Conjuring 2 draws inspiration from many famous horror movies, including The Exorcist (1973)… But the director goes even further, combining the most terrifying ideas from his own films and others : Babadook (2014), Insidious (2010), Amityville (1977), etc.”
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari – One of The Earliest Horror Films (by RobbinsRealm Blog): “The compelling and effective silent film, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” directed by Robert Wiene (The Knight of the Rose) is considered, by critics and enthusiasts alike, to be a masterpiece of the German Expressionist movement… The film, which was produced on a budget of approximately, $18,000, looks fantastic given its age and the available technology of the early 1900s. The staircases, windows, and walls appear as if they are products of an hallucination… For those of you, who normally opt to, perhaps never watch silent films, I think you will be pleasantly surprised if you make an exception in the case of this movie.”
Scream (by Dawson Film Reviews): “Scream is one of my favorite horror films of all time…Everything about (it) is great, it’s fully aware of what it is and knows exactly how to do it well. The cast is electric and works so well together… The opening scene itself is flawless… Using famous horror trivia as a way of causing horror is very imaginative… There are some intense parts and some quite disturbing parts mixed in with the black comedy elements and that really mixes with your emotions but emphasizes even more how good Wes Craven is as a director, he knows exactly what he’s doing and this film was a huge risk but the opening scene does a great job of showing everything you get in the film; horror, black comedy, shock twists, horror clichés and a stellar cast.
Experience Film 
Good list! Thanks for linking my post to yours! I feel honored!
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Happy to! Keep up the good work. Lots of good movies coming out soon.
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Great list, thank you so very much for including a link to my post. Seriously cool 😀
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I was happy to. And I was deciding between a couple posts of yours because you have reviewed a lot of good horror lately. But I liked reading “The Visit” the most so I picked that one in the end. Did you have your party yet? How’d it go?
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Wow, just saw the link to my review — thank you so much! Great post!!
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