The Cinephile: Netflix Instant’s Best Halloween Movies
The Horror Auteurs
1) Dial M for Murder (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954): Did you know Dial M for Murderwas originally released in 3-D? Even on your computer screen, though, this Hitchcock caper is rich with his innovative visuals and marks his first collaboration with Grace Kelly.
2) The Fog(John Carpenter, 1980): You’re undoubtedly familiar with John Carpenter’s work on Halloween (1978), but how about The Fog? I often wonder how many Scooby Doo episodes this film directly inspired.
3) The Evil Dead(Sam Raimi, 1981): Before Sam Raimi went on to direct the Spider-Man movies, he was the master of low-budget horror.
4) From Dusk Till Dawn(Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, 1996): One of the nineties’ greatest indie filmmakers crafts a B-movie starring Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney—who saw that coming?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urIXnyF0aJ0
Foreign-Language Scares
1) Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008): This is how a vampire movie should be done. Alfredson nails the horror aesthetic while effortlessly weaving in a touching tale of childhood romance.
2) A Tale of Two Sisters(Jee-Woon Kim, 2003): Were you freaked out by the twins in The Shining (1980)? Then see this Korean slow-burner.
3) Funny Games(Michael Haneke, 1998): This year, the German auteur is getting awards attention for Amour—which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes—but check out the director’s most twisted flick from 1998.
4) Thirst(Chan-wook Park, 2009): If you’re not familiar with Chan-wook Park, you may want to read up on his distinctive style before attempting this film about a vampiric priest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZJUgsZ56vQ
The Utterly Depraved and Divisive (watch at your discretion)
1) Antichrist (Lars Von Trier, 2009): There’s no arthouse director who can better get under the viewer’s skin than Lars Von Trier (last year’s Melancholia). This controversial film, recently inducted into the Criterion Collection, deals with the aftermath of a little boy’s death and is famous for some particularly gruesome sequences.
2) The Snowtown Murders(Justin Kurzel, 2012) Based on the real Australian murders, this powerful film is only for the strong-stomached—but it’s also amazing Netflix acquired it.
3) The Woman(Lucky McKee, 2011) After prompting a ridiculous amount of controversy at the Sundance Film Festival last year—and a viral video of a man trying to convince organizers that it should be removed from the slate—“The Woman has become renowned for misogynist gross-outs (or a statement on our society).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO-TNfPzh_k
The Classics
1) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920): A silent German Expressionist masterpiece, “Caligari” is often considered the first horror film (you can also watch it on Youtube below).
2) An American Werewolf in London(John Landis, 1981) Impress your hipster friends by oh-so-casually referring to this cult classic.
3) Insidious(James Wan, 2011): A modern classic that, like Paranormal Activity (2007), has catapulted low-budget horror into the multiplex.
4) The Omen(Richard Donner, 1976): Features one of the original creepy kids of the horror genre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrg73BUxJLI
B-Movie and Indie Horror
1) The House of the Devil (Ti West, 2009): Ti West is one of the best new talents on the indie horror circuit, and this film cleverly mimics and subverts ’70s and ’80s horror conventions. His most recent, The Inkeepers(2012), is also on Netflix.
2) Red State(Kevin Smith, 2011): Strangely, I first heard about this religious slasher when I was in France. Critics are split, but Quentin Tarantino called it one of his favorite films of 2011.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SOur3WwZvM
Only Slightly Creepy
1) Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001): A suspenseful exploration of what it means to be an American teenager who feels out of place (and consequently a favorite of any teenager, anywhere).
2) Insomnia(Christopher Nolan, 2002): Al Pacino’s insomniac detective is convinced Robin Williams is the serial killer he’s hunting (the real question is, why doesn’t anyone else see that from the get-go?) in a stark Nolan film.