31 horror films you need to watch this October

The Witch

The Plot

While living on the edge of the sprawling forest in early 1600s New England, a Puritan family struggles to eke out a living in a strange and unforgiving land. But when the family’s infant child is taken by something in the woods, they start to believe that a familiar evil dwells deep within the forest. Paranoia among the family mounts, as the pressures of their difficult life compound with tragedy after tragedy, and as they struggle to repel the evils from without, the evils within gain a foothold. Wracked with grief and fear, the family begins to believe that one of their own is in converse with the devil.

The Breakdown

At its heart, The Witch is a story about all the ways that hardship and suffering can turn a family against itself. The period setting is so much more than set dressing; the aura of religious superstition and paranoia around the devil are the very air the characters breathe. The forest itself feels as if it is watching them at all times; when they venture into it, it’s almost as if they’ve entered a hostile and alien world—the characters cling to memories of “home” while moored in a harsh and unforgiving land, struggling just to stay alive even without the strange events that plague them.

The Scare Factor

Scary from the very beginning, The Witch is a glorious patchwork of intense atmosphere and genuine terror. It will leave you with a sick feeling in your stomach and a wariness of going for a walk in the woods alone at any point in the near future.