Beyond the Blockbusters: 6 Spooktacular Halloween Movies

Up Your Scare Game this Halloween with 6 Indie Flicks 

As October comes to a close and Halloween creeps closer and closer-- a shadowy, spooky and spectacular day when, lore says, the veil between the living and the supernatural becomes thinner than ever ghosts and haunts are in the air. Whether you’re obsessed with the paranormal and a total Halloween junkie, or just craving the chills and thrills from turning down the lights and cranking up the volume on a horror flick there’s no better time to seek out cinematic spine-tingling scares!


Unlike recently box office darlings like The Conjuring, It, and Get Out and famous Hollywood horror hits like The Shining, The Omen and The Exorcist, this tribute to terror features just a meager sampling of sleeper hits that may not have enjoyed the widespread popularity and massive critical acclaim, but they will still make your jaw drop, your blood run cold and haunt your thoughts for days!





The Witch: A New England Folktale
A young Puritan girl named Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her fervently religious parents are ousted from their community when their rigid beliefs become too disruptive. Striking it out on their own in a rural, and unsettled pastures it doesn’t take long for things to get pretty darn unsettling. Their little farm and homestead are surrounded by a dense wood with impenetrable darkness that only amps up the anxiety of the family. While tending to her younger siblings, Thomasin looks away for a blink of an instant, and her infant brother is taken. Snatched by someone. Or something, as we see his tiny wriggling body on an altar before he’s sacrificed. Grief-stricken by her loss Thomasin’s mother Katherine (Kate Dickie, Game of Thrones) falls into a deep depression-- leaving the fifteen-year-old Thomasin primary caretaker of her sibs. Things take a sinister turn when the animals are afflicted by strange symptoms-- like blood spurting out of udders instead of milk-- and the behavior of Black Phillip -- a hulking black goat-- becomes queerly aggressive. Then, the family is targeted-- plagued by illness, mania, and possession. With each incident, the film gets darker, the hum in the music louder, and the hysteria mounts higher and higher. The Witch is a deeply atmospheric and disturbing look at the witch hysteria that ran rampant in the 1630s. The cinematography is absolutely stunning, the dialogue is authentic and the performances by the actors aren’t just attention-grabbing, they’re utterly intoxicating. There are no jump scares or generic slasher tropes here. This historically accurate glimpse into Puritan-era New England is psychological horror trip.





Crimson Peak


Guillermo del Toro’s Victorian era horror features a young horror writer who goes from penning ghost stories late into the night to falling into her own nightmarish ghost story that is anything but fiction. After tragically losing her father to a gruesome murder, bookish author and naive romantic Edith Cushing (Mia Wasikowsa, Alice in Wonderland)tumbles into a whirlwind romance with a handsome and enigmatic inventor, Baronet Thomas Sharpe (Tom Hiddleston).


Sharpe was hoping to earn funding for his clay-harvesting machine from Edith’s investor father, Carter Cushing (Jim Beaver, Supernatural) before his untimely demise but he doesn’t leave with nothing. The attraction between Thomas and Edith is unstoppable and before she is even out of mourning for her father’s graphic murder, she and Thomas fall into an abrupt marriage. Edith leaves America behind her and she accompanies Thomas and his humorless older sister, Lucille (Jessica Chastain), back to their estate in England. No sooner does the carriage roll through the black iron gates of the sprawling estate, Allerdale Hall, that an unnatural hush descends on the couple. As the camera pans to reveal a sweeping view of a steely gray sky and inhospitable setting the audience feels Edith’s unease. This creepy old house, along with the tag team of suspicious, and otherwise isolated, English aristocrats, Sharpe and Lucille, makes for a recipe of a good old fashioned haunt. Especially when spectral apparitions appear to Edith, and she finds herself becoming increasingly ill. Edith gets tangled into a twisty turny mystery that’s endured beyond the grave. The cinematography, camera work and meticulous set designs create a foreboding and shadowy gothic horror setting and Wasikowsa brings naivety and a sense of wonderment to the part as Edith. Enrobed in billowing layers of clothing, and her milk-white complexion enhanced with fear, she prowls the grounds of the vacant mansion in a performance that is unforgettable.




An American Werewolf in London

“Stay on the road, keep clear of the moors” and “Beware the moon, lads” two warnings from the unfriendly and suspicious townsfolk at a rural pub, The Slaughtered Lamb, are impossible to heed. Stranded in the English countryside on a stormy night, American backpackers David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) cross paths with a werewolf that’s been terrorizing the village. Jack is mauled to death by the beast, but David survives - bitten, scarred and scratched- and wakes up in a hospital in London. Supposedly the villagers stumbled upon his and Jack’s body, citing a “mad man” as the culprit. While recovering in the hospital bed, David has vivid hallucinations of wolves hunting and prowling the forest, and nightmarish visions of animalistic killers. As if that’s not freaky enough, his bestie Jack pops up beside him, shredded and savaged by the werewolf, and gives David the low down: they were attacked by a werewolf, Jack’s unnatural death means he’s stuck in limbo until the werewolf’s curse ends. How? Well...with David’s death--because it turns out that David contracted lycanthropy on that fateful night, and only by ending his life can Jack be able to move on in peace. Tended to by the pretty and upbeat nurse Alex Price (Jenny Agutter) David tries to convince himself that Jack is just his imagination and as amazing as he thinks Lon Chaney Jr. is, that werewolves are just Hollywood movie monsters. That is until he finds himself at the centre of a series of killings around the city, and with urges he’s never had before. This 1981 movie is horror, make no bones about it. But it also is undeniably comedic. This is the rare film that balances hilarity with terror-- it never goes too far into campy territory OR the brutal slasher realm. There’s also an element to An American Werewolf in London that is deeply tragic. There is no guarantee that a happy ending is on the horizon, especially as attacks and violence towards innocent men and women begin to erupt throughout London. Perhaps the most incredible moment is the werewolf transformation scene. Nixing that man-in-clothes to furry-beast time lapse effect of classic horror films, David collapses and contorts into a wolfish creature in a fully lit room. The makeup and prosthetics are absolutely incredible for the year they were created in are still impressive today. Director (and former stuntman) John Landis is the one responsible for all of the iconic man-to-wolf scenes we see in film and tv today. That brutally painful transformation, featured in shows like Being Human and Bitten among others is all from David’s change!




The Boy

Another American heads to England in this 2016 mystery-horror. This time the lead, Greta Evans (Lauren Cohan, The Walking Dead) goes across the pond to escape the reach of her abusive ex-boyfriend. An elderly couple, living in a remote and picturesque village hires Greta to be the nanny for their young son, Brahms. When Greta first steps into the elegant Heelshire mansion she’s captivated. The antique furniture, impeccable design and architecture and old money vibes are stunning. A little eerie too… but mostly stunning. Mr. and Mrs. Heelshire are no-nonsense as they show Greta around and explain her duties, none of which are too strange. That is, until she meets her charge. The little boy she’s hired to care for is nothing more than a porcelain doll. He perished in a fire some years back before he even reached his tenth birthday-- and his parents, sought solace in keeping close a doll made in young Brahms’s likeness. Living in such a sprawling house with only the weekly visit of the grocery man Malcolm (Rupert Evans) to break up the the long stretches of solitude Greta’s boredom edges towards anxiety. After violating the rules one time too many, Greta incurs Brahm’s wrath as things go missing, bumps and thumps and giggles ring out, and one night she’s locked in the attic when she dares to try to go out on a date with Malcolm. Greta goes from incredulous nonbeliever to someone dedicated to abiding to Brahms’s whims, getting more and more intertwined in the long-held dark secrets of the Heelshire family. The knife-sharp tension is one of the most distinguishing elements of The Boy as is the atmospheric set design and deliberate camera work that makes our own anxieties about what’s around the corner and in the darkness rise ever higher. The Boy is a creepy child meets evil doll movie. But don’t confuse it with Chucky from Child’s Play or Annabelle from The Conjuring universe. This peculiar doll isn’t simply possessed by a demon. . . the truth is far more disturbing. And Brahms… Brahms refuses to let Greta go...




A Cure For Wellness

The story begins when Lockhart, a self-centered and smug young financial executive, is instructed to bring back his elite company’s CEO, a man named Roland Pembroke. Pembroke, who sought a brief respite in a remote Swiss Alps spa, and shows no sign of returning

 A bizarre note from Pembroke raises a lot of red flags and makes this rescue mission more than a little urgent, especially because the company he left behind is about to tank. Because you know. Wall Street and criminal misconduct. Yikes. 

In this Gore Verbinski film, Dane DeHaan plays Lockhart an uptight and easily angered young man who just can’t deal with BS. He’s prickly and far from likable, but absolutely outstanding on screen with a commanding presence that never once falters. 

Some critics have bashed the length of the film but the artistry of the film and carefully crafted cinematography is unlike any other horror/thriller out there. A scenic train ride and car drive up the grand and gorgeous mountains to where the remote spa is perched, is breathtaking and is one of many stunning scenes that make up A Cure For Wellness.

 Lockhart’s simple mission goes awry when Pembroke refuses to leave, and he gets in a near fatal car crash that leaves him hospitalized and the newest patient at the wellness centre. *Gulp* 

The team of bizarre nurses and doctors, led by Doctor Heinrich Volmer (Jason Isaacs) are eerily unconcerned and stepford wife level cheerful. 

A mysterious girl named Hannah is the youngest patient and with her porcelain doll appearance, naivete and seemingly preternatural perception, catches the eye of Lockhart. Why she’s there is one of the most prominent plot points. 

As is the haunting history of the sanatorium: a place that was once a grand castle and home to cruel and twisted Baron. It was more a castle of horrors than anything and became a breeding ground for mad science experiments, incest and violence. 

In the present day things are still grim. The idyllic spa is anything but healing, as we find out many of the patients are deteriorating: Lockhart included. The soundtrack of tinkling music box melodies, and the chilly and winding never ending corridors of the hospital are enthralling. 

The Lovecraftian and Twilight Zone vibes are unmistakable and the intricate narrative that unwinds (Eels! Experiments!) is strikingly original. The graphic displays on camera aren’t gratuitous blood-and-guts slasher film fare-- but more psychological body horror that is disgusting and disturbing and once again gorgeously filmed. Don’t listen to the naysayers who tear A Cure for Wellness apart just because of its run time and some of the plot points. This is one sinister story that is not to be missed.

Little Evil


Taking on the step-dad role to a six-year-old is a little stressful and a little scary. Add in the fact that said six-year-old is the spawn of Satan, and the situation gets exponentially worse. 

When Gary (Adam Scott) a stiff, and awkward real estate agent marries his gorgeous girlfriend Sam (Evangeline Lilly) he doesn’t bargain for a pint-sized Antichrist named Lucas to be part of the package. But that’s EXACTLY what happens. 

Director Eli Craig takes the diabolical child trope and tweaks it here and there. Veering away from heavily concentrated horror, Craig instead hits up dark humor. Little Evil is packed with cheeky nods to other evil kid horror fare: Omens, Poltergeist, The Babadook, and The Shining. 

The farce is strong with this movie which also plays off of common horror film tropes like getting lost in corn fields, and demons aiming to invade small and quaint towns. 

And most specifically, Lucas’s bedroom. It’s a puppet-filled, flickering-lighted, black-curtains-billowing, chamber of terror. Bloody words like “the rapture” is scrawled on his ceiling and walls, and a tv set hisses with black and white static. Talk about cheeky! 

The supporting cast is outstanding here as well. A scene-stealing Bridget Everett plays Gary’s BFF, and a trans stepdad named Al. Then there's a totally bananas cult leader named Reverend Gospel (Clancy Brown) and a demon hunting dwarf named Gozamel (Brad Williams). Both are hilarious without being too slapstick. 

But perhaps one of the best things about this Netflix original movie is the young talent who plays Lucas (Owen Atlas). This dark-haired, dark-eyed, stoic-faced little boy sets his menacing gaze on Gary which is both hilarious and freaky as hell. Atlas has an ominous and dangerous aura much like Hero Fiennes Tiffin who played young Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Ultimately, Little Evil turns many of those classic horror movie tropes on their heads. But, this satire isn’t without some real screams. There are some legitimately skin-crawling-creepy scenes -- one-word hint: WORMS!

Happy Halloween Foolish Mortals! 

all images from IMDB