Something many people don’t expect of me is that I like to watch horror movies. I’ve been told I have a princessy way of dressing and I light up a room, and people expect my hobbies to match. Many of them do. I consume fairy tales at three times the rate of a normal person, I play clarinet and dream of playing in the orchestra for a Tchaikovsky ballet, and I hate listening to sad music. I’m a sucker for a happy ending.
But for some reason, I love the thrill of a horror movie.
Of course, I’ve seen my fair share of crappy ones. In fact, I think horror is the most delicate genre. It is a careful balance to create compelling characters, chilling scares and dread, and jaw-dropping, heart-stopping plot twists.
When that balance is there, that’s what I’m talking about when I say I love horror.
Now, are we still to be careful about the content we consume? Absolutely. I stay away from horror that glorifies morally wrong things. But I’ve found that most horror presents evil in a way that compels the watcher to stay away and be wary. This is an essential lesson as we walk in a world that has evil people, paranormal activity to be very cautious of, and dreadful situations to avoid at whatever cost.
I think another, more superficial reason for me liking the genre is the simple, heart-racing enjoyment of an adrenaline rush.
Anyway, what better time to indulge in this genre than the month of October? Here is a ranking (from worst to best) of all the movies I watched this October that are in some way classified in the horror genre.
Knock at the Cabin
I already know people will fight me on counting this as a horror movie, but it’s what Prime said it was. After watching it, I have to disagree with Prime's classification. This is drama, but not horror. It’s scary in the same way it’s scary to think about the destruction that comes with the end of the world and natural disasters, but this is more of a psychological movie. It’s not scary. And to be honest, I was pretty bored.
Lights Out
This is your standard horror movie. It was good, but it didn’t stand out to me. Again, we have family members (a sister and little stepbrother) as the central characters, which was a good device, but the characters didn’t seem super memorable to me.
The jump scares did, in fact, make me jump, but only because of the way too loud sound effect that accompanied them. It was a little scary in theory, but I wasn’t that wowed. Creepy, for sure. The monster was a cool concept, but not the brand of paranormal I was expecting or liked very much. I didn’t really care for the backstory of how the monster came to be with them, and overall, while the movie was well made and I don’t have any serious problems with it, I won’t be itching to watch “Lights Out” again soon.
The Strangers
Very much like “Us,” this movie also tackles the scary reality of home intruders. But this portrayal is different. While the doppelgangers of "Us" are uncanny valley, psychotic intruders with masks who only want to harm sounds like horror stories we have heard in the news. And the acting was phenomenal. I felt the fear, loved the use of music, and the pacing was well done, as were the relationships. And that last image? Goodness gracious, I jumped so high.
Us
I’m a big fan of Jordan Peele’s work. I saw “Nope” in the theater and loved the concept and how much it made me think. (Also, the flashbacks to the chimpanzee attack? Chills.) I watched “Get Out” on a plane recently and thought it was less frightening, except for the ending, which filled me with such appalment and dread. It was very well done.
I was excited to watch “Us” because I thought Peele’s other movies were so masterfully made. I think Nope is still my favorite overall, but may “Us” be the best and scariest of the three? I think so.
If you have a fear of your double showing up at your door and taking over your own life, “Us” may hit way too close to home. I’ve never thought much about evil doppelgangers, but its portrayal on the screen filled me with dread. The best horror movies feature family members as the main characters. There is no better way in my opinion to capture interest in the characters of a horror movie than to have the main characters be family members who have fierce, innate care and concern for one another that is clear from the get-go.
The use of music was great, the acting was phenomenally uncanny, and I was on the edge of my seat to see how it ended and what the plot twist would be. I was not disappointed. Jaw. Dropped.
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