Alex’s Halloween Horrors List 2020

Photo of the moon peaking up behind creepy clouds and the tips of trees.

Last year I had the absolute honor of publishing a collection of movie reviews from an anonymous Horror Reviewer discussing the top movies of the last decade.

In the time since, I’ve watched some from his list but have shared some of my own, shorter reviews on Twitter.

You can find my Twitter Moment with the collection of these reviews and ratings here:

image links to Horrifyingly God Horror Moment on twitter

Last year I crafted a list of horror movies to watch every single night in October based on some cult classic favorites and found myself thoroughly disappointed in much of the list.

In approaching my list for this year, I wanted to increase my odds of finding movies I haven’t seen but will likely enjoy. I wanted to focus on movies within genres I know I enjoy, because hey I’m not a movie critic and it’s okay to want to watch movies that won’t bore me to death.

There’s a variety of found footage, foreign films, nature based thrillers, and classic “follow the rules of horror” films within my selections for the year and if you happen to enjoy these I invite you to watch them with me this October!

This list is comprised of recommendations from friends, horror writers, and movies described in last years horror series that caught my attention.

17 movies have made the cut.

1. Unfriended (2014) and 2. Unfriended Dark Web (2018)

Pulled directly from the Best Found Footage Films of the decade list from last year I’m looking to dig into a slightly different version of the Found Footage genre. I absolutely adore the haunted house vibe, so shifting away from Halloween could be a good thing, could be not so good. I opted to watch the original and the sequel, because in cases like the Hell House LLC franchise, the continued found footage storyline is a thriller to follow.

3. Willow Creek (2013)

Outside of Chasing Bigfoot on Animal Planet, I’ve never come across a legit BigFoot movie with anything close to high praise. Could this be the one? The movie trailer is promising.

Available on Amazon Prime with Subscription

4. The Visit (2015)

Although this movie has peaked my curiosity before, I’ve avoided it. However seeing it in the “found footage” category of last year’s reviews it has become a must watch film about kids visiting their grandparents with a very dark twist.

5. Haunt (2019)

Last year my favorite movies came out of Haunted Houses and this movie fits perfectly and has the potential to become a new favorite. There’s something especially eerie setting a Halloween movie in one of our favorite Halloween attractions and making it deadly.

Available on Amazon Prime with Subscription

6. Host (2020)

A pandemic based horror movie coming out of the depths of Zoom. Recommended by a good friend, and then re-recommended with incredible enthusiasm means this one might just be an incredible hit. I’d say it pairs well with the likes of Unfriended (2014).

Available on Amazon Prime with Subscription

7. Summer of ’84 (2018)

If you were into movies like The Lovely Bones or spent some weekends binge watching serial killer documentaries, this thriller/mystery looks like it will be a perfect match. A group of friends launch an investigation on their neighbor, who they believe is a serial killer. And oh boy, does it look good.

Available on Amazon Prime with Subscription

8. Southbound (2015)

Something about creepy highways always gets me. Like the truck chase scene in Jeepers Creepers. Except this time, its the highway’s truck stop that’s a tad bit evil.

Available on Amazon Prime with Subscription, Hulu and Sling with Premium Subscriptions

9. Truth or Dare (2018)

I am a sucker for Lucy Hale and the premise of this movie looks like so much fun. You have to tell the truth or do the dare or die. Stop playing and you die. What could possibly go wrong?

10. It Follows (2014)

I’m almost ashamed to admit I haven’t seen this movie, one that follows one of the most clear cut rules of surviving a horror movie: don’t have sex. This one makes my list this October because it’s been on my list for a few years and left Netflix right as I decided to watch it.

Available free on Tubi

11. Raw (2016)

This is the only movie on the list that I have started but not finished. It’s a French horror movie that follows a vegetarian starting at Veterinarian School. Needless to say, I don’t have high expectations for the retention of her vegetarian status.

12. Kill List (2011)

A subtle attempt at getting my dad to agree to watching a horror movie this year comes as a horror/thriller about a contract killer. I can say I have no idea what to expect as the trailer is messy and perhaps cult like?

13. The Guest (2014)

I’ve declared this movie to be a horror version of Nicholas Sparks’ The Lucky One. Solider goes home and seeks out family of dead friend? What could possibly go wrong with someone with suspicious intent who didn’t call to announce his arrival?

Available on Netflix

14. The Wailing (2016)

A South Korean film that depicts the all to familiar strange entity that has been awoken and is killing of villagers. This falls into the likes of The Woman in Black and perhaps a mix of The Happening which is why it has captured my attention.

Available for free on Tubi, Vudu, and Crackle

Bonus Film to Watch: Train to Busan (2016)

This movie has been heavily discussed as an incredible film worthy of all praise, and in keeping with The Wailing (which I suspect was overlooked for this film). It is a South Korean horror movie about an inescapable train ride to a zombie outbreak. I always try and toss in a few movies I’d love to watch if time permits.

15. The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)

A sequel of sorts to the original 1976 film taking place in the same town following a masked maniac who might just be the Phantom Killer from decades before. I like the vibe of this movie, reminds me of the Scream series continuation and the 2018 Halloween.

16. Don’t Breath (2016)

I completely forgot this movie existed and then couldn’t find a name for it until recently, so it had to make my watch list. A group of thieves targets a blind veteran under the assumption he’s an easy target, but alas this proves to be a fatal mistake.

Available on Hulu with a Premium Subscription

17. A Quiet Place (2018)

I have a strange obsession with movies similar to The Happening and The Silence, and although Bird Box came to capture audiences even though it was a rip off of existing films, I have hopes for A Quiet Place. I suspect there will be a lot of crossover with The Silence but this movie came first, so it may be the blueprint of “if they hear you they’ll kill you” nature based horror films.

Of course, I had hundreds of films to choose from so this list reflects what I’m hoping is the best of the best based on recommendations.

Looking for more horror recommendations and legitimate reviews? Head on over to the Horror Corner tab of my blog for full access to the top 101 Movies of the last decade!

Happy Horrors,

A.

One thought on “Alex’s Halloween Horrors List 2020

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s