If you’re looking for something scary this Halloween, here are five movies to check out:
Watcher
Rent on: YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon
Stream on: Shudder
It’s profoundly upsetting and disturbing how often women aren’t believed when there’s an imminent threat. Watcher is about the consequences of not taking a woman’s claims seriously.
The story begins with a couple who have just relocated to Romania due to her husband’s job. Julia (Maika Monroe, best known for It Follows) feels isolated and lonely because she’s often left alone in their apartment.
Things start to go awry when she notices that a stranger who lives across the street has been watching her. It suddenly becomes more chilling when she suspects him of following her. The problem is the police don’t take her seriously, and even her husband has doubts. This psychological thriller captures what it’s like to be asking for help but no one is listening.
Barbarian
Available: HBO Max
The double-booked Airbnb is becoming a cliché. At least three different movies in 2022 use it as a plot device (Love in the Villa, Alone Together, and Barbarian). In this one, Tess (Georgina Campbell) rents a place while on a job interview in Detroit only to discover, A) the house is in a shady neighborhood, and B) it’s already occupied by Keith (Bill Skarsgård), who also seems shady.
The two decide to make the best of awkward circumstances and share the place but quickly discover something odd about the home. That’s enough for a solid thriller, but Barbarian goes the extra mile with another story involving the house’s owner AJ (Justin Long) who lives in Los Angeles but needs to return to his rental property due to some unsavory accusations. Barbarian is very weird but also very interesting.
Bodies Bodies Bodies
Rent on: YouTube, Apple TV, Amazon
This clever spin on the whodunit genre is more of a dark comedy than pure horror but it has plenty of gore. When a bunch of rich 20-somethings (and one 40-year-old dude) decide to ride out a hurricane by throwing a party, it sounds like a good time. Everything seems to be going swimmingly until someone ends up dead. As they try to solve the crime, they’re forced to confront old wounds and their distrust of each other.
Bodies Bodies Bodies features a great cast that includes Pete Davidson, Maria Bakalova (Academy Award nominee for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), and Rachel Sennott (terrific in Shiva Baby). This movie is worth it for Davidson’s gaslighting rant alone.
Smile
Available: only in theatres
On one hand, Smile is a mostly original premise. On the other hand, it seems like a distant cousin to It Follows. The best compliment you can give to Parker Finn’s directorial debut is that it’s extremely creepy (that birthday party scene, yikes!). Even the soundtrack is unnerving. There’s not a moment where you feel at ease, and no comic relief is offered.
Credit lead actor Sosie Bacon’s commitment to her role as Rose, a clinical psychologist who is trying to figure out why one of her patients committed suicide right in front of her. Bacon, whose character has her own demons stemming from a dysfunctional and tragic childhood, is exceptional as a person of science trying to understand something that seems supernatural.
Fresh
Stream on: Hulu
If you’ve ever been on a run of bad first dates, you know exactly how Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) feels. The disappointment, exhaustion, and annoyance are enough to make you consider celibacy. But just when Noa is at her wits’ end, she meets charming Steve (Sebastian Stan) in the produce aisle of a grocery store. Sounds like a Hallmark movie, right? Nope. While it starts with the usual romcom clichés, the movie takes a dark turn when they go on a road trip.
Fresh is reminiscent of Get Out, using horror to tell a larger story about modern dating culture and misogyny. There are elements of this movie that some viewers may find hard to watch. But it’s a fantastic debut from director Mimi Cave.
[Photo Credit: (Barbarian) 20th Century Studios]
