Whether it’s October or July, you can cozy up with a blanket (with the AC on full blast), grab a pumpkin spice something or a tropical drink, and scare yourself silly with a good thriller or horror flick.
Every year, I compile a list of the best spooky and suspenseful films I’ve watched. This time, I’ve spiced things up by grouping them into 10 cleverly creepy categories.
As a Halloween enthusiast, you might assume that I really like horror movies … I don’t.
Plot twist: I’m not.
Blood, guts, and excessive gore? Hard pass. Movies like “Saw” and its many splattery sequels aren’t for me. I’ve also never been particularly scared of monsters, witches or zombies. Why? Because they’re fictional — and often so over-the-top that they feel more like fantasy than fear.
Every now and then, I offer a list of some of the best horror/thriller movies, television shows and documentaries I’ve recently seen. Here they are:
Black Mirror: I originally began watching “Black Mirror” a couple of years ago when the first season came to Netflix. At the time, I was a little embarrassed to share with others some of the content of this British science fiction series set in the near future with a technology/social media theme.
Whether you’re in the mood for a clever mind-bender, an eerie ghost story, or a slow-burning mystery with emotional depth, there’s no shortage of spine-tingling films to explore.
Every year, I curate a personal list of thrillers — foreign, indie, cult classics, and hidden gems — that left a lasting impression. Here’s a roundup of more than 40 compelling movies and series I’ve discovered over the past few years that are perfect for a night of tension, reflection, or sheer entertainment. Some will haunt you. Others will make you think. All are worth the watch.
It takes 25 years before a car can generally be deemed a classic. Perhaps the same rule applies to “classic” films.
As a lifelong horror/thriller fan, there aren’t many from the genre I haven’t seen.
If you’re like me, you’re always on the lookout for a good heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat thriller that keeps you guessing until the final frame. Whether it’s the slow burn of psychological suspense or a full-blown panic-room-style adrenaline rush, there’s something incredibly satisfying about a movie that toys with your nerves in all the right ways.
So once again, I’ve rounded up a few recent thrillers that delivered the chills, the tension, and yes — even the occasional existential crisis. Here’s a quick rundown of the ones that left a lasting impression (and might make you think twice about the weather, your sanity, or a late-night stroll through Paris).
If you’re in the mood for a psychological curveball, a little cult horror, or a thriller with unexpected twists, here’s a batch of lesser-known films I recently watched that delivered more than I anticipated.
From David Hyde Pierce’s wild turn in “The Perfect Host” to Wes Craven’s eerie asylum flick “The Ward,” this list features B-movie gems, creepy kid staples, and sci-fi experiments that somehow work.
It’s Oscar night, and we’ll soon see if Black Swan wins the award for Best Picture. After reading several Black Swan reviews that referenced The Red Shoes (1948), I decided to watch the vintage film and compare the two that bear striking similarities, including creative visuals.
The Red Shoes stars Moira Shearer as Vicky Page, a beautiful redhead that is selected as the featured dancer in a new ballet called The Red Shoes that is based on a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale about a pair of mystical ballet slippers. Vicky falls in love with and later marries the young composer, Julian Craster (Marius Goring), who has been charged with writing the score for the ballet.
If you’re hunkered down at home watching sleet fall and waiting for the roads to ice over, there’s no better time to stream a movie that matches the wintery mood. For those craving suspense and survival horror, “Frozen” (2010) is a chilling and underrated gem that’s worth your time.
Written and directed by Adam Green — not to be confused with the Disney animated hit — “Frozen” is a tension-packed thriller that taps into primal fears of isolation, exposure, and helplessness. It’s currently streaming on Netflix and holds a solid three-star rating, which is impressive for a film in the thriller/horror genre. That rating alone piqued my interest, so I gave it a watch — and I wasn’t disappointed.
If you’re a horror and thriller enthusiast like me — always hunting for a heart-pounding, edge-of-your-seat scare — “Eden Lake” is a must-watch.
When I recently searched “best horror films of 2008 and 2009,” this gritty British thriller kept popping up, hailed by many critics as “one of the best of the decade.” Thanks to a YouTube find, I dove right in — and I wasn’t disappointed.
If you’re a fan of horror anthologies, you may have come across Stephen King’s “Nightmares and Dreamscapes,” the 2006 TNT miniseries based on King’s short stories. While the show delivers a few compelling moments, it doesn’t quite reach the chilling heights of Showtime’s edgier “Masters of Horror” series.
One of the standout episodes from “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” is “The End of the Whole Mess,” a haunting tale about a genius who creates a serum to end human aggression — only to trigger a global catastrophe. Another worth-watching installment is “Autopsy Room Four,” featuring Richard Thomas (John-Boy from “The Waltons”) in a role that’s a far cry from his wholesome TV past.
Anyone who’s ever taken a long road trip knows the moment: You pull into a random gas station or rest stop — tired, hungry, desperate for a bathroom — and what greets you is a scene straight out of your worst nightmares. Filthy floors, broken faucets, the unmistakable stench of neglect. But what if that unsettling experience was just the beginning of something far more sinister?
That’s the premise behind the aptly titled horror flick “Rest Stop,” a gritty B-grade film that turns the familiar discomfort of roadside travel into a full-blown horror show. When two rebellious teens run away to Los Angeles, they make the fatal mistake of pulling into a rest stop that’s become the stalking ground of a deranged killer — a death trap decades in the making.
I hadn’t seen “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” since the 1980s, when I first watched it at my cousin, Pam’s, house. She was a big Halloween fan, but I was still too young (and too scared) to handle the film’s chaotic terror. I remember leaving her house early that night, practically running home to my mama.
Fast-forward to last night when I caught the film on FUSE. It didn’t seem quite as frightening this time around — probably because I’ve seen far more horror movies since — but for anyone unfamiliar with the genre, “Chainsaw” still has the potential to scare the leggings off you.
LaReeca Rucker I rented the 1967 film “Persona” after reading multiple articles that referenced it in connection with other psychologically complex films. Since I had recently watched David Lynch’s surreal, open-ended “Mulholland Drive,” it seemed like the right time to give Ingmar Bergman’s classic a try. The two films share some intriguing similarities — most notably, their exploration of the psychological bond and blurred identities between two women. “Persona” focuses on a nurse and her patient, whose personalities begin to merge in strange and unsettling ways. It’s an intense, cerebral dive into identity, silence, and emotional trauma. If I hadn’t already seen some of Roman Polanski’s earlier films, like “Repulsion,” I might have been more shaken by “Persona.” But “Repulsion” — another raw, disturbing examination of the female psyche — had already prepped me to expect a certain level of intensity from 1960s European psychological cinema. Still, “Persona” is a strong example of how film can probe corners of the mind that most movies never attempt to reach. Its experimental feel and avant-garde cinematography are …
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