The horror on Netflix
Since you’ll be stuck inside anyway, here are five movies to watch on Netflix, and five to avoid.
- Watch: Hush
Hush is a movie directed by Mike Flanagan and starring Kate Siegel. The movie takes place at a cabin in the woods where a deaf writer is terrorized by a masked killer.
This move will have you on the edge of your seat. Despite having little dialogue from the characters, you will find yourself rooting for them.
Hush is definitely a movie for the people who enjoy a psychological cat-and-mouse-type plot.
- Don’t Watch: 47 Meters Down
47 Meters Down is a 2017 shark movie. Two sisters, Lisa (Mandy Moore) and Kate (Claire Holt), travel to Mexico to help Lisa get over a recent breakup. Kate convinces Lisa to go diving in shark-infested water. While diving, the cage breaks from the boat and they are soon stuck 47 meters under water.
While the premise is promising, the movie lacks entertainment. It fails to deliver interesting characters or dialogue. When they get trapped, instead of picking up, the movie stays the same rejected Goosebumps episode. The movie’s ending, while interesting, felt like a last minute thought.
Avoid 47 Meters Down unless you’re looking for a nap.
- Watch: Emelie
Emelie is a movie portraying parents’ worst fear. Two parents are forced to hire a new babysitter after their usual one is unavailable. She starts out sweet, but soon reveals she has darker intentions.
This movie is a hidden gem. Emelie does an amazing job of building suspense. The pacing goes at a speed which allows you to really be in the moment of a scene. The movie also allows younger viewers to get a glimpse of the anxiety parents feel about leaving their kids in someone else’s care.
Emelie is an excellent film for people looking for a different perspective.
- Don’t Watch: Holidays
Holidays is a movie with eight different short films about the different holidays.
The film tries to go for a comedic vibe, but fails miserably. The stories are drab and feel as if they were taken from a middle schooler’s dream. Some stories you can almost laugh at but mostly it’s a lot of groaning and wondering why you’re still watching.
It’s not worth it.
- Watch: Raw
Raw is a French film directed by Julia Ducournau. It’s about a girl who just entered veterinary school. While being hazed she’s forced to eat raw meat despite being a vegetarian. She soon develops a craving for it.
When Raw came out it had a lot of hype. There was news of people vomiting and fainting during early showings. Because of all the hype, once it was widely released people felt cheated. Despite this not being as much of a slasher film, it still offers it’s fair share of disturbing moments. Raw delivers a horror movie that will make you think, and also cringe.
Raw is a must-see movie for bloody horror fans.
- Don’t Watch: Truth Or Dare
No, it’s not the 2018 one with Lucy Hale. It’s movie made by the Syfy channel in 2017, starring a group of college kids going to haunted house and playing a haunted game of truth or dare. “If you don’t do the dare, the dare does you,” says the tagline.
This should be an obvious film to avoid, but I was prompted to see it because an actor I enjoy was starring in it. But let’s just say he should keep it off his resume. The film suffers from a dialogue obviously written by someone who’s never encountered actual people. The conversations feel unnatural and forced. There’s no development for the characters, so you feel nothing if one dies (the acting didn’t help either). The game has almost no truths and is all gross Hostel like dares. The ghost of the game constantly changes his mind about the dares he makes them do. The ending is atrocious, and if you have subtitles on, it ruins it.
Truth Or Dare is a big pass.
- Watch: Creep
Creep is a found-footage style horror that has a videographer, Aaron, taking a job he found on Craigslist to film a man for a day. Aaron soon realizes the man might be holding back the truth.
This movie is a masterpiece. You’ll be hooked just five minutes in. The pacing is done amazingly, so as to not reveal anything too soon, but instead to drop subtle hints for the viewer to question. The man who Aaron films, Joesf, is played by Mark Duplass, and stands out in this film. He gives a stunning performance. As the one who’s shown the most, he has the task of captivating the viewer, and he does so. He’s able to transform himself into a man who’ll make you feel uneasy and at the edge of your seat. I will say that if you suffer from motion-sickness, this movie won’t be for you. There is quite a bit of shaky-cam at the beginning.
If you can handle that, it’s a must-see.
Do not skip Creep.
- Don’t Watch: Friend Request
The movie Friend Request is about a girl, Laura, who becomes facebook friends with a girl online. The girl is a loner and becomes obsessed with her. Laura unfriends her and the girl kills herself. Then from beyond the grave the girl ruins Laura’s life.
Friend Request is a terrible movie. The story is b-movie, the acting is bad, and it hurts to watch. It’s a movie you’d expect from a middle schooler.
Friend Request is a flop.
- Watch: Train To Busan
Train To Busan is a Korean zombie film. A man and his daughter get trapped on a train during a zombie outbreak and must fight to survive.
Train To Busan stands out in the hoard of zombie flicks. It delivers stunning visuals and CGI. Unique to its genre, Train To Busan takes time to introduce and develop their characters. It makes each scene more dramatic as you watch someone you like put in a life or death situation. Train To Busan is also able to handle gore in way that won’t cause the audience to vomit. This film is an excellent example of how the horror genre is still thriving.
Train To Busan is one of the best movies on Netflix right now.
1.Don’t Watch: Open House
Open House stars Dylan Minnette as a teen who moves into an unoccupied house that’s still on the market. Soon, they start to think they might not be alone.
This movie is one of the most boring horror films I’ve ever seen. The movie seems to think it’s audience is a group of toddlers who’ll watch anything. Open House tries to be a balanced film of a mom and son’s estranged relationship and someone possibly invading their house. The movie’s pattern is, teen disrespects mom and goes on a run, something is lost, back to more teen angst. The only real “scares” we get is at the end which instead of saving it, makes Open House a laughing stock among critics.
The movie Open House is an insult to horror fans everywhere.
This list should help you plan your Halloween movie marathon, and make you popular among the movie buffs.
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