2021 Best Halloween Movies You Haven’t Heard Of. In the past year, we have had a lot of fun reviewing a ton of fun movies, and many of them were missed by most of you. Better yet! A ton of them were really, really, REALLY scary. And since COVID dissuaded me from doing a list last year, I figured we should make this list EXTRA good. TONS of body horror movies, and chaos that will just ruin you in a good way. It’s actually how into horror movies I am now, and it’s mainly because of you all. But I don’t do your standard, brainless, horror films. Instead, I skew to more international, or thinker films. So let’s parade out our Halloween movie list right now, so you have them in time for the big day of the dead.
In the Earth – watch on Hulu –
Let me be clear – the movie, In the Earth is an Arboreal Apocalypse Now. You remember the dark, downward spiral, that was Apocalypse Now? Starts off with a green recruit, slowly adapting the weird normalcy that is Vietnam. But soon the normalcy gives way to new lows of darkness. And soon he realizes that the only surety he had was that there was no low to the darkness of Vietnam. This Heart of Darkness voyage becomes an intimate internal struggle for mental survival…a psychosis struggle of the soul. Well, Ben Wheatley, the creator of High-Rise, Free Fire, and Kill List, has brought us another mind job of mind jobs, “In the Earth.” I mean, come on, if I’m likening it to Apocalypse Now? Yeah – this one is an epic ride.
Malignant – watch on…. nowhere? –
So apparently James Wan crafted a brilliantly scary and amazing twist with Malignant. But the problem is? It left the theaters and HBO MAX October 10th. I literally just missed it. GAH. But if you are super slippery, like maybe a ghost, you might find this one hiding out in various places online. Or wait until they bring it back – your call. “Madison is paralyzed by shocking visions of grisly murders, and her torment worsens as she discovers that these waking dreams are in fact terrifying realities with a mysterious tie to her past.”
Possessor – watch it on Hulu –
Possessor is that rare mindjob of a film that will horrify and fascinate in equal measure. First, a warning, this film is ghastly bloody. I’d say this is a body horror film. A scary body horror film. Maybe a bloody mindjob thriller is the better way to think about it. But if splatter and crunchy death sequences are a no go for you – PLEASE PASS ON THIS ONE. Possessor… it’s as if you took the cinematic lovechild of Inception, Mandy, and Color Out of Space – you might have an idea of what we are talking about here. I actually heard it described as an extremely elaborate game of Among Us (yes, that is a link showing you an explainer of the game Among Us if you are old) and yes, my cerebral cortex exploded at the analogy. Such wicked brilliance. But there are going to be a million people that are sitting in a Drive-In going, WHAT THE HECK DID I JUST WATCH?!?! And that is what this primer walk through is all about. So let’s do this thing – Possessor Mindjob Movie Unpacked and Discussed.
The Night House – watch it on Prime –
Currently working on a write up for this one. Loved it. An intelligent movie about a woman in grief… and her husband who may, or may not, have been up to no good before he died. Dunno. “Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth (Rebecca Hall) is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. She tries as best she can to keep it together-but then the dreams come. Disturbing visions of a presence in the house call to her, beckoning with a ghostly allure. But the harsh light of day washes away any proof of a haunting. Against the advice of her friends, she begins digging into his belongings, yearning for answers.”
The Swarm – Watch it on Netflix –
Um. Hold on, did you know you can make high protein flour out of locusts? Wait, WHAT? (Googling. Huh.) Anyway. This movie is NOT about locust farming. Although, it seems to be. To those of you who have not seen the French movie La Nuée (The Swarm – or, better translated, The Cloud) over on Netflix, please do so now. But buckle up, because this one is going to blow your mind. There’s a bit of body horror going on here. So it might not be for you. That’s fine. Just sit this one out, and make sure you watch Pig instead. No really. Those are your options. The Swarm, or Pig. You get to pick.
Block Island Sound – Watch it on Netflix –
For you hardcore horror fans this is a thriller. For you pansies out there, this is a horror film. For you X-files fan, this is a bughunt X-file, with an off brand Mulder and Scully. Paranormal fans? This is your jam. Extraterrestrial film fans? Maybe? This thing is like 360 degrees all over the map. And that is why I enjoyed it so much. You just had no idea where it might go. So let’s do this, The Block Island Sound Ending Explained. And a shout out to Chris for originally recommending the movie out on the Patreon chat server. Kudos, mate, great find.
Hagazussa – watch on Prime – Dark. Disconcerting. And relentlessly ruthless . And yet, visually glorious. Introspective. And beautiful. Lukas Feigelfeld’s freshman debut is really solid, impressively solid. But maybe just a bit too scarily solid. Okay, maybe one too many slow motion cuts of horse hooves, and the trees. But what, my friends, does hagazussa even mean? Well, it comes from the High German haxa, which is a term for a witch, or the bizarrely occult. Which makes this film perfect for our Halloween list.
Home With A View of the Monster – Watch it on Prime –
After a couple place their lake house on a vacation rental app, they return home to discover eerie secrets left behind by their previous guests. This one has everything. Demon monsters. Confusing non-linear-ness. It has an ending that will scribbling out timelines and theorems hoping to pull it all together. I liked it so much I went and interviewed the creators of the film. I really enjoyed it. Thanks Alexis.
Slow burn over jump-scares for me any day. When a movie takes the time to invest in the characters. Invests in the situations and the relationships. Spends time investing in the idea. And all while casting doubt on them all at the same time? Yeah, thank you – I’ll have seconds of that, if you please. Relic is just such a movie. A movie that tells the story of a grandmother who has gone missing, and at the same time, casting doubt on that very same narrative simultaneously. It’s a movie about a family intruder, and not. And as things reveal themselves some more it then casts more doubt on the revelations. This isn’t a horror movie. It isn’t Friday the 13th, or Halloween. But rather a story about your grandmother, or mine, but only slightly turned inside out. If slow pans across dark mold stained wood, and the sound of flies buzzing incoherently in the distance is more your thing, then I can’t recommend Relic highly enough. But if jump-scare horrors with cartoon’s wielding knives is more your thing, then this rodeo just won’t be for you.
But if you are looking for the scariest movie ever made? And don’t care about ever sleeping again? You’d be looking for Midosmmar. And that’s the last bit of help on that front I’ll offer you. I’m still talking about that one in my daily counseling sessions. Thanks guys for breaking my brain. Yeah, super kind of you.
Edited by: CY
—–
And with that dear friends, you have your allotment of thrillers for October and more. If you have other movies that are worth trying out, don’t hesitate to add them to the comments. I’m always looking for new craziness to partake in.