As Halloween approaches, watching movies to get in the holiday spirit is a must! These are my top five favorite psychological horror movies. Most of them are older, underrated classics, and this is the perfect year to revisit them!
Midsommar (2019) R 4.9/5
This movie garnered huge hype after its release, and when I finally got around to watching it, it delivered. It follows a group of college students visiting Sweden for their final thesis project, and they quickly realize the community they’re studying may not be as idyllic as it seems. The director, Ari Aster, and the actors suffered psychological problems, such as increased nightmares and poor mental health during and after the making of this movie. Ari Aster has directed a few horror films now and has truly made a name for himself based on what I believe to be the magnum opus of his career. This movie is not for the fainthearted, but if you go in prepared (and relatively spoiler-free!) it will be an experience you won’t forget.
The Village (2004) PG-13 4.7/5
This was the second Shyamalan film I have ever watched, and it was incredible! It was one of his better movies, with actors Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), Bryce-Dallas-Howard (who has gone on to direct episodes of The Mandalorian), and Adrien Brody (The Pianist). The script blew me away!! In movies with period dialogue, the script can be especially challenging to pull off, and for the actors to sell, but everyone spoke realistically, and their performances pulled me in. There were some points where I thought I had figured out the next twist ahead of time, but this movie works well at subverting your expectations and surprising you! If you like plot twists and period clothing, this is the perfect watch!
The Ring (2002) PG-13 4.6/5
Admittedly, I have an obsession with consuming content from the year I was born. Just missing out on remembering the beginning of the 2000s makes me want to live it through movies, and although The Ring didn’t focus on the time period, it did focus on delivering a rich cinematographic experience. To this day, I can picture certain rooms and settings because of the extreme coloring. Everything seems washed out and gray, from the creepy ranch to the lush forests, even the cabin she stays at is shadowy. The story was fascinating to me, and the infamous “7 Days” of time ever-decreasing heightens the tension of the film. Naomi Watts is an incredible protagonist and is the emotional core of the film, delivering a memorable performance at its end.
Silence of the Lambs (1991) R 5/5
Hannibal Lecter has been scaring people forever, the most normal-looking monster to ever grace the screen. His obsession with manners, unblinking gaze, and eating people with fava beans and a nice chianti has long terrified audiences and cemented the film as a classic. Anthony Hopkins plays the wildly smart cannibalistic serial killer who holds the keys to catching Buffalo Bill, another serial killer who wants to wear the skin of a woman. Jodie Foster plays Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee who is sent in to question Dr. Lecter. Her Virginia accent and her command over the camera made this movie an incredible watch. It was excruciatingly tense at every turn, getting closer and closer to discovering the killer. The movie itself is a gorgeous 90s movie, and many of the scenes are pulled directly from the source material, Thomas Harris’s book of the same name, the first of a series that would later also be adapted. This movie is a perfect watch for wannabe film-buffs and horror movie fanatics, as it has reached cult classic status and is so widely known and referenced in modern pop culture.
The Descent (2005) R 4.4/5
This movie is an extremely underrated Y2K film, starring an all-female cast and mostly taking place in the caves of North Carolina. It plays on the human fear of small spaces and darkness, starting off as a lighthearted spelunking trip but taking a much darker turn. I was very affected by the last half hour, desperately wishing I could rewind and pretend they all remained close friends and stayed in the cabin the whole weekend. The performances were very good, although the beginning dragged, the end completely made up for any slowness or predictability in the setup. It’s a horror movie rolled into a story about sisterhood and betrayal, all while taking place in gorgeous cinematic shots. Once they get underground, the camerawork becomes incredibly creative, which heightened the experience. I would recommend this movie to people who are less claustrophobic than me because you definitely will be afterward! This movie feels nostalgic for Gen-Z kids, like myself, who want to go back to the 2000s while offering up horrifying visuals and jump-scares on par with more acclaimed horror movies.