Halloween Movie Hits

Posted on October 30, 2019 by methuenhigh Leave a comment

By Caroline Calla

Halloween is a holiday that has been celebrated for hundreds of years. Similar to other holidays, it is jam packed with different activities; from trick or treating, dressing up as ghastly ghouls, to scaring children. Halloween is a holiday that is always feverishly anticipated as the cool weather hits. While some prefer to spend their holiday a little more mildly with fun family events, or dressing up, others turn to horror movies to really help them get into the spirit. Horror movies have been around for years, but just in the past ten years they seem to have gotten a lot more disturbing, and lot scarier. Here are five must see horror movies from the past decade that will surely get your heart pumping this holiday season.

It (2017)

Stephen King, the man known to many as the king of horror, delivered everyone with a beautiful and highly anticipated depiction of his 1986 horror novel about a killer clown. Although It is relatively new to the horror movie scene, many claim that it is truly the new king of horror. It rocked theaters when it was released in the fall of 2017, when it made $123 million from just the opening weekend. The 2017 adaptation of the horror novel follows a group of seven outcasts as they face their worst fears in the form of a shape-shifting ancient evil that appears from the sewers of Derry, Maine every 27 years to prey on the children of the town. The audience accompanies the outcasts as they are forced to face their fears in order to survive and fend off the killer clown known as Pennywise.

Kelley, Seth. “Box Office: Stephen King’s ‘It’ Officially Opens to Massive $123 Million.” Variety, Variety, 11 Sept. 2017, variety.com/2017/film/news/it-box-office-stephen-king-movie-opening-weekend-1202553361/.

2. Hereditary (2018)

If killer clowns aren’t your style, this horrifying story about a grieving family by Ari Aster, will surely do the trick. Hereditary is a triple threat with it’s drama, mystery, and horror aspects. Hereditary follows the story of a woman named Annie Graham and her family as they prepare for the funeral of her late mentally disturbed mother. As each member hunts for a way to cope with the grief that shrouds the family, Annie and her daughter turn to something a bit more supernatural. Consequences are quick to follow as disturbing, otherworldly experiences begin to plague the grieving family. As the experiences become more consistent, secrets from the family’s past are uncovered revealing the evil that has tormented the Graham’s for decades. Something that Annie and her family have now inherited. Now, Annie must make difficult sacrifices in order to outrun the sinister fate that is looming over her and her loved ones. A fate that she inherited.

Tomatoes, Rotten. “Hereditary (2018).” Rotten Tomatoes, 2018, www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hereditary.

3. The Conjuring (2013)

The first installment in what is now known as the Conjuring series is definitely what most consider to be a must see when it comes to horror movies. The Conjuring is the first movie to follow the true story case files of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. This particular case is that of a real life haunted house. Carolyn and Roger Perron move their family out to a secluded farmhouse in Rhode Island. Unbeknownst to them they accidentally placed themselves in harms way. At first, they experience minimal signs of a haunting. Things being moved or displaced, or the death of their dog. As things begin to pick up, Carolyn calls the notorious Warrens for help. Together, they battle the horrors that live within the old farmhouse. This first installment in the series is sure to leave you trembling. A real nightmare for those who live in older homes.

“The Conjuring.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 18 July 2013, www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt.

4. The Witch (2015)

Taking a step back in time a couple hundred years, we have The Witch. A “New-England Folktale” that follows a family of settlers in 1630 New England. The gist of it is a family being torn apart by the horrors of witchcraft, black magic, and possession. The Witch is the classic witchcraft movie with a bit of a twist, everything is peaceful in the family of seven, until the newborn son vanishes into thin air. The family then experience crop failure and other odd occurrences as the blame shifts around the family eventually landing on the eldest daughter. The inability to accept their own sins and mistakes leaves them vulnerable to unexpected evil. The family is forced to deal with their own sins as they hunt to find the source of their misfortune.

Imdb. “The Witch.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 19 Feb. 2016, www.imdb.com/title/tt4263482/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt.

5. Get Out (2017)

2017 was a popular year for new horror classics. Leading the pack at the beginning of the year, comedian Jordan Peele unexpectedly delivered the world with a fantastic take on a visit to the soon-to-be in-laws house gone wrong. No one saw it coming that the Saturday Night Live comedian could deliver such a suspenseful horror film, but deliver he did. Get Out dives into the real life horrors of racism that still exist today. It follows Chris Washington, an African American man as he goes upstate to visit his girlfriend’s family for holiday. At first, Chris sees the family’s efforts to be as accommodating as possible as a way for them to deal with the idea of their daughter’s interracial relationship. As the weekend away progresses, things start to get a lot more alarming. Raising red flags that maybe they aren’t as hospitable as they seem to be.