If you are looking for a spine-tingling Halloween horror marathon then Netflix’s current library of fright films could very well fit the bill this season. Which are the real treats that are guaranteed to put you in the Halloween spirit?
Here are our Top Ten Scariest Films currently streaming on the service.
How many have you seen?
10. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Okay, this pick has way more laughs than frights but Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is perfect for those who need to temper their scares with some chuckles. Two country bumpkins stumble into a bloody and gory comedy of errors when a group of vacationing college students mistakes them for serial killers.
9. The Mist
The controversial ending to Stephen King’s novella turned into a feature film had some fans chattering at the time. Written and directed by Frank Darabont, who also directed King’s The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, is what happens when a strange mist and its monstrous denizens invade a small town in Maine, of course.
8. Scream 3
Spoofing itself, this entry in the franchise isn’t the best but it is still far better than many of the current offerings on Netflix. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has gone into hiding just as the third sequel in the Stab series is set to film. It isn’t long before the bodies start piling up again and a new mystery begins.
7. Cult of Chucky
One of the best sequels in the franchise, Cult of Chucky brings back an adult Andy Barclay and Nica Pierce as they do battle with Chucky and his new bloodthirsty followers in a mental hospital. Far more clever and entertaining that it sounds.
6. The Ritual
I originally saw this film at Midnight Madness during the Toronto International Film Festival and even though I am not a fan of supernatural or folk horror, The Ritual was a stand-out for me that year. A group of university friends set out to honour one of their own with a hiking trip. They stumble across all sorts of macabre horrors lurking in a Swedish forest. If this one doesn’t creep you out, I don’t know what will.
5. Candyman
Clive Barker’s classic Books of Blood series finds its way to the big screen with this adaption of his short story “The Forbidden”. A student investigating urban legends uncovers supernatural horror that seemingly will never die.
4. Train to Busan
This Korean zombie movie came out of nowhere to win over horror audiences who thought they had seen it all when it comes to tales of rotting apocalyptic horrors. A workaholic father, his young daughter and the passengers of a high-speed train are trapped as waves of quick and nimble undead descend upon the city.
3. Carrie
Big Steve King makes another appearance with his first big mainstream hit which also pushed the careers of Brian De Palma, Sissy Spacek, William Katt, John Travolta and Piper Laurie through the stratosphere. A bullied teenager who is also lorded over by her fanatical mother, seeks revenge by unleashing her hidden telekinetic powers.
2. Scream 2
Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson return to pick up less than a year after the first film left off. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her college friends are stalked by a Ghostface copycat. Body bags abound although the mystery isn’t as intriguing as the original was.
1. Scream
The one that started it all. Horror fan and screenwriter Kevin Williamson (Dawson’s Creek, The Vampire Diaries, I Know What You Did Last Summer) teamed with horror master Wes Craven to create a meta film franchise which brought in new fans and amused veteran fans with all of its horror genre references. It pumped new blood into the horror, slasher genre which was lagging in the nineties. Inspired by slasher films like John Carpenter’s Halloween as well as the Giallo genre, Scream finds a group of teenagers terrorized by a masked killer whose identity remains a secret until the end of the film.
Top Photo: Ghostface from Scream, Yoo Gong in Train to Busan and Chucky from Cult of Chucky. Courtesy: Dimension Films, Next Entertainment World and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
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