Which is scarier – watching horror movies alone in the dark or *accidentally* missing 10 calls from your mother? For me, there’s no difference. But it takes a lot of bravery and insanity for someone to watch horror movies alone, with endless jump scare scenes, suspense and disturbing themes.
Anyhow, with the current pandemic situation, I feel it’s still unsafe to go around trick or treating this Halloween. And as much as I want to put my best costume on, nothing brings me more joy than to cuddle up on the couch, with pumpkin pumpkin spice latte at hand, and screaming my lungs out while watching my favourite scary movies. If you want to join me in the rush of adrenaline, or the ensuing nightmares, go ahead and pick your favourite from this listicle:
1. The Conjuring Trilogy
Oh c’mon’ – are you even a horror movie fan if you haven’t watched any of these movies yet? The Conjuring is really the top tier on the list when it comes to discovering haunted cases. They’re really the subgenre at its best. Though we hate to tell you that The Conjuring is based on a true story, too. If you like it, the original inspired a whole series of sequels. (One is being released this year, in fact.)
2. Netflix’s The Fear Street Trilogy
This is by far the best Netflix horror trilogy, in my humble opinion. Fear Street trilogy is fun, fast-paced, and appropriately bloody. It might fill the Jason Vorhees-sized hole in your life. Plus, if you’re missing Stranger Things right about now, Fear Street features Sadie Sink and Maya Hawke in its ensemble.
3. Truth Or Dare
Truth or Dare! You will bloody love this game (if you’re up for a challenge). This horror adaptation revolves around a slumber party that one campus student hosted, which starts with a bunch of kids drinkin’ beers around a campfire, and ends with them bloody, crying, and playing the titular game, of course.
4. Unfriended
Sure, 2017’s Unfriended – a story of social-media-use-gone-wrong told largely through a webcam – is already massively outdated. Which is fun! Laugh at these teenagers and their pre-AirPod plights.
5. In The Tall Grass
In The Tall Grass, the latest in the mill of Stephen King’s story-to-screen adaptations, is basically everyone’s pumpkin patch nightmare come to life – two siblings dive into the titular grass to find a lost boy – and shady business ensues. But I have to warn you that you’ll probably be a bit confused in the first 30 minutes of the movie – but once you get the tempo, you’ll understand the plot!
6. The Nun
Yet another gift from The Conjuring Universe that literally no one asked for, The Nun is about that *historical figure* of a demonic nun which you saw at the beginning of The Conjuring movie. In short, this f’ed up Nun gets her kicks from terrorizing people at an abbey in Romania.
7. Munafik
I remember watching Munafik at the cinema and once the curtain opened, I forgot how to walk. Munafik tells the story of Adam, a religious medical practitioner struggling to cope with grief after losing his wife in an accident. Shortly after, he meets Maria, who suffers from depression. When she gets possessed by an evil spirit, Adam uses his expertise to help her – but strange things start to happen when he discovers that Maria is linked to the accident that killed his wife.
8. Dukun
Um, I could never understand the Malaysian obsession with Mona Fandey. This story follows a real life event of a prominent figure who got killed and slashed by the infamous dukun, Mona Fandey. The film had Malaysians shivering with anticipation, with horror movie buffs more than eager to catch the controversial movie.
9. Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam
This movie was a box office hit thanks to Maya Karin, who played Meriam the pontianak. The movie tells the story of a beautiful prima donna who captivated the hearts of many when she was still alive. However, she was stabbed in the stomach while pregnant, and since then, has turned into a restless spirit to torment those who killed her.
10. Chermin
I remember my 12-year-old self watching this movie over and over again, thinking it has some kind of connection to Snow White’s Evil Queen in ‘’Mirror Mirror”. How silly. Anyway, this film revolves around Nasrin, who was involved in an accident that caused her to become disfigured. Hoping to cheer her up, her mother gives her a family heirloom – an antique mirror. Nasrin finds herself inexplicably drawn to the mirror and over time, develops an obsession with it. What she doesn’t know is that a spirit is trapped inside the mirror and her life is about to be in danger.
