It’s officially October! Spooky season is upon us and it’s time to make a watchlist; view and read about some of our members’ favourite scary movies — get inspired to watch something new, or compare notes about a movie you’ve seen before. Either way, here are four movies you can add to your list this month!
Coraline (2009) — M. Byers, President
Personal Rating: 5 Stars | Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
This American stop-motion animated fantasy is easily considered a cinematic masterpiece by most and is the perfect selection to welcome the spooky season onto your television. Starring Dakota Fanning as the voice of the titular character, Coraline focuses on a young girl and her new house containing a secret door to an alternate world that mirrors her own. The characters, Coraline, Other Mother, Wybie, and more leave memorable impressions in the hearts of audiences year after year. Even fifteen years after its release, the film continues to be analyzed by filmmakers as a highlight of the entire stop-motion genre.
Although advertised as a children’s film the movie includes various unnerving scenes and characters that are sure to make you jump. Despite my usual distaste for scary movies or Halloween films, Coraline seems to rise above the category and into cinematic history. Its scenes are vivid with detail, causing viewers to press replay again and again. My personal favorite character is Wybie, the goofy and anxious grandson of the owner of the Pink Palace Apartments. His presence invites laughter and warmth into an otherwise lonesome and spooky story. Whether you love a funny fright, enjoy reminiscing your childhood, or wish to critique a beloved cinematic sensation, Coraline is the film for you. The movie can be viewed on Netflix, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video during this spooktacular season.
A Quiet Place (2018) — J. Sprague, Vice President
Personal Rating: 5 Stars | Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
A Quiet Place is a horror/thriller movie that is about a family that struggles to stay in a world invaded by alien creatures with great hearing. If the family makes even a peep one of the alien creatures will come after them and try to kill them. Will the family survive this crazy world filled with the alien creatures watch the movie A Quiet Place to find out. This movie came out in 2018. The rotten tomatoes rating of this movie is a 96% which is great.
On, a scale of 1-5 this movie is a 5. I would rate this movie a 5 because it just keeps you in it the whole movie and doesn’t make you bored which is amazing. This movie is a great movie for people who are new to horror movies because it is scary but not like overboard scary it’s just the right amount. This movie is also in a series with 2 other movies. The sequel of this movie was telling more info about the family and how they survived the alien creatures. Whereas the 3rd movie was telling about how the alien creatures came to the earth and how the world became quiet. Some of the well-known actors/actresses in this movie are John Krasinski and Emily Blunt. Without these two actors in the A Quiet Place series these movies may not have been as good. Overall, I recommend that you give A Quiet Place a watch it is a great movie series and is worth your time.
Hell Fest (2018) — K. Wilson, Social Media Director
Personal Rating: 4 Stars | Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 39%
Hell Fest is a movie that features a masked killer, who ends up coming after a group of three teenage girls and their boyfriends. The group of friends is wandering at an amusement park during their haunt celebration, but someone took this opportunity to fulfill their own bloody interest. Will the group of friends make it to see light of day, or will they be trapped with the killer of which they cannot escape from a place that is supposed to only be thrilled of fun thrills, not danger?
Personally, the movie is too “close to home” to which makes me uncomfortable. The actual content of the movie is a little too cringey also. With having experience of going to an amusement park often especially for their haunt event, I know how realistic it is. The fact of how if a serial killer got their information on such a scheme and was sneaky with it, they could easily get away with a mass murdering. Getting caught like how the killer in Hellfest almost did not get caught is not realistic to me due to advanced technology and security found within these events. Overall, the movie was very entertaining for me to watch, but there were certain aspects that could have been improved especially since it is a 2018 horror film. It was an enjoyable watch with my friends, but there are some switches and edits that could be made to better reach my viewing standards.
Stay Alive (2006) – C. Spann, Campus Outreach
Personal Rating: 4.9 Stars | Rotten Tomatoes: 10%
Stay Alive centers around a group of friends, including actor and race car driver Frankie Muniz, who become involved in a deadly video game based on the gruesome life of a real-life historical figure, Elizabeth Bathory (look her up — interesting read). But the action taking place on their computer screens becomes a terrifying reality when they realize that each time a person’s character dies during the game, they die as well.
It can be categorized into the slasher movie genre along with Friday the 13th, Scream and many others, and I believe this is accurate for two reasons. One – the obvious, the villain’s choice of weapon is used to, you guessed it – slash. And two, a few characters themselves are more one-dimensional – they are here to advance the story, not really an essential part of the plot; this is very common in this genre. And even though this happens, it is balanced out by how stimulating the storyline is, the originality and artistic traits shining through. Stay Alive may not have the best jump scares, but I find the storyline intriguing, plus the creep factor was working overtime. I love this movie; the villain is disturbing, the cast brings the panic – it may be cheesy, but it’s still entertaining and captivating.