The spookiest night of the year is fast approaching and, to get you all in the seasonal spirit, we’ve picked out five things to watch that’ll get you hiding behind the couch in no time.
By David Deignan
Halloween
This one had to be included, if only for the title. The original Halloween, released thirty-three years ago, is not a particularly frightening film when watched today, but it’ll sure get you feeling the Halloween buzz all the same.
This horror classic is a slasher film that follows a young boy who murders his older sister, before returning as a very creepy looking young man intent on spoiling the Halloweens of teenage babysitters everywhere. By viciously murdering them, of course.
Halloween’s success led to eight sequels and two remakes, none of which are worth wasting your time on.
The Walking Dead
This hugely popular American zombie-horror-drama based on the comic series of the same name is well worth watching.
Not so much a traditional zombie-horror series, The Walking Dead focuses more on relationships between the people left behind in a zombie apocalypse as they try to survive in a world gone mad.
Each week, The Walking Dead reminds us how fun it would be to kill zombies
Featuring a cast made up of some very badass characters, if watching the undead getting shot in the head with a crossbow isn’t enough to get you pumped, well then we don’t know what is.
Plus, any show that includes a character called T-Dawg is at least worth a watch.
Paranormal Activity 3
The third film in the very successful series was released to reasonably positive reviews last weekend and like any Paranormal Activity flick, demands to be seen alongside a frightened cinema audience.
The first Paranormal film was a budget film that got great acclaim by critics and made a massive profit at the box office, while the third film is a prequel to its predecessors and acts as a mockumentary for its entirety – supposedly being a true story.
Of course, it is not real but that shouldn’t put you off heading out to see this year’s biggest Halloween flick. But, just in case, it might be a good idea to sleep with the lights on afterwards.
Psycho
Albert Hitchcock’s 1960 film forever changed the tone and shape of the screen thriller.
Psycho was released to huge critical acclaim and is one of the most fondly remembered films of all time and features a number of memorable moments, including the now infamous shower scene.
Things get pretty stabby from here on in
It may be older than many of you reading this but, if you haven’t seen it already, you owe it to yourself to make sure you do. And if you have, then watch it again. Just make sure you avoid the utterly pointless shot-for-shot 1990s remake.
Treehouse of Horror V
Influenced by The Shining, this is widely regarded as the best of The Simpsons Halloween special. Remember when that show used to be good?
Treehouse V gained massive critical acclaim at the time and has gone down in pop culture history. Rather than being possessed by supernatural forces as Jack Nicholson was, Homer is driven insane while on a family vacation due to the lack of television and beer. He then goes on to try and murder the rest of the family, with some fantastic multiple “Here’s Johnny!” riffs thrown in for the bargain.
As well as The Shining parody, there is another sketch titled ‘Nightmare Cafeteria’, in which Principal Skinner begins turning misbehaving students as cafeteria food.
Featuring more graphic violence than usually seen in even the darkest of The Simpsons and with none other than James Earl Jones guest starring, this is a must watch for anyone looking for something a little more light-hearted this Halloween.
What’s your favourite horror watch each Halloween? Let us know your favourites in the comments section below.
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