The poltergeist slithers from the screens to the real life. The floorboards creak, doors slam, and footsteps are heard. The wind moans against the windowsills, and we feel a penetrating stare behind our necks. As the suspenseful music reaches its peak, our heartbeat quickens and never lessens.
Can curses seep from the screen and into real life? Is our fate similar to that of the protagonist? When fear courses through our veins and reason flees, we realize we are completely alone. If someone was next to us, maybe this terror wouldn’t grip us so hard and our sanity would return.
Obstinacy, madness, or sheer stupid bravery pushes us to watch these films on our own and die of terror. We share with you ten horror films that you should watch on your own and risk entering a psychological web of horror you will never extricate yourself from.
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Sinister (2012) Scott Derrickson
This film tells the story of writer Ellison Oswalt, who discovers a box filled with homemade videos of families murdered in the house he just moved in with his family. Oswalt, who finds inspiration from horror stories in his novels, realizes that in this case he will have to investigate who is behind the murders to save his family. Criticized for being predictable in some ways, it is still a modern proposal with an interesting plot.
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Suspiria (1977) Darío Argento
Considered to be among the best 25 horror films according to the Chicago Film Critics Association, it is also celebrated for its use of color and detailed scenography. The plot follows Suzy, a young ballet enthusiast who enrolls in the Tanz dance school. Her arrival is marred by the murder of a student. This death is only the start of a series of bizarre events that are masterminded by a powerful witch.
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Poltergeist (1982) Tobe Hopper
Produced by Steven Spielberg, the plot revolves around multiple paranormal events, known as Poltergeist, which occur in a family home in California. This concept refers to perceivable paranormal phenomena like TV static, movement of objects, and scratches on the walls or doors. Hopper set a trend in that decade and sparked the start of the homonymous trilogies. In 2015, a remake was made, and while it was a box office hit, critics poorly received it as a pale shadow of the original.
IT (1990) Tommy Lee Wallace
IT is considered to be one of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s work and an icon of nineties cinema that traumatized a generation with nightmares of Pennywise. A group of children in a sleepy town of Maine encounter a killer clown who has the ability to shapeshift. Determined to liberate their town from this evil spirit, they decide to confront him.
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Babadook (2014) Jennifer Kent
This Australian production accompanies Amelia and her son Samuel, who is obsessed with a supposed monster living in the house. Samuel asks his mother to read him a bedside story and she reads him Mister Babadook. The story is of a supernatural monster no one can get rid of, and it only becomes more powerful each time its existence is denied. Lauded by critics, many don’t consider Babadook a horror movie; however, it is an enjoyable film worth watching.
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Blair Witch Project (1999) Daniel Myrick y Eduardo Sánchez
This independent American film is one of the most successful in relation to investment/box office ratio. For every thousand dollars invested in the production, ten million dollars were generated, which resulted in 248 million dollars in total. Integrated with “amateur recordings,” the film tells the story of three young filmmakers who venture into a Maryland forest in 1994 to investigate the legend of the Blair Witch. All three of them disappear, and only years later their equipment is found. Finally, the legend is explained.
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The Orphanage (2007) Juan Antonio Bayona
Laura returns with her family to the old building that once served as the orphanage where she grew up and where she plans on refurbishing as a residence for disabled children. Laura realizes how the old house feeds her son’s imagination and his new imaginary friend Tomas. However, this sweet and childlike innocence become perverse when one day her son, Simon, disappears after going to visit his imaginary friend’s house.
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The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) Scott Derrickson
This production is based on the story of Anneliese Michel, a German woman who was exorcised and died after refusing medical treatment. In the film, the priest Richard Moore is charged with negligent homicide after the death of a young woman who began to have visions in university and sought religious advice. In the film, she undergoes an exorcism, which ultimately leads to her death. A lawyer must risk her reputation, investigate the case, and separate the myths from the facts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ch1yyvmIr4
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Halloween II (1981) Rick Rosenthal
Following the prequel, we discover that the psychopath, Michael Myers is alive and in search of the last survivor, Laurie Strode. Myers looks for her victim as she lies convalescing after the six gunshot wounds, and without mercy he will kill anyone who stands in his way. Strode will discover some truths that will irrevocably change her life, especially after learning that she is tied to the killer in ways she never imagined.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FFXNmmxQ4Y
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House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
Rob Zombie
Zombie’s debut in the cinema world is set in 1978, a year where two university students travel around the US seeking information on the legend of Dr. Satan. After their car breaks down, they accept the help of a family, which will result in a torment since this “ordinary” family masks vicious serial killers.
