31 horror films you need to watch this October

Sinister

The Plot

Don’t be fooled by this movie’s generic title—and admittedly generic premise. Once again, we see the classic haunted house set-up; writer Ellison Oswalt moves into a new house with his wife and two kids, looking for material for his next true crime book—on a bizarre quadruple murder which took place in the very house they moved into.

The fact that Ellison actively seeks out the murder house (without telling his family until after they move in—so not cool) helped refresh the concept and prevent some of the tedious detective work of characters having to slowly realize someone died in the house. But what really kicks this haunted house flick off is when Ellison discovers a box of old Super 8 videotapes in the attic containing footage of families being murdered—including the family that used to live at the Oswalts’ new house. As Ellison starts to investigate the string of murders, he starts to put together the similarities: all the tapes involve an entire family murdered with one of the children missing afterward, and the all involve a strange archaic symbol and a shadowy figure in the background.

The Breakdown

Creepy found-footage style snuff films interspersed with the characters’ non-8mm terror and a competently handled investigation plot make this movie well worth watching. Stylistically there’s some great stuff to dig into as well; a surreal, ethereal horror sequence in the middle of the movie where Ellison is surrounded by the ghosts of dead children moving around him unseen and unheard is a strangely beautiful counterpart to the disturbing videos.

The Scare Factor

Personally, I found the Super 8 films to be highly disconcerting. They’re silent, but for the bizarre music; they feel almost dreamlike at times, or perhaps more accurately, nightmarish. On top of that, the “real-life” horror sequences are conventional, but effective. This one definitely will make you think twice before getting up for a glass of water at night.