Each year, Fresh Fear recommends 10 horror features—new, classic or rarely seen—available now on streaming to binge for Halloween! Here’s our October 2024 list:
Barbarian (2022)
Hands down, Barbarian (2022) is one of the most original, entertaining and well-made horror movies I’ve seen in decades. It proves Stephen King’s thesis that horror should originate from everyday characters and situations that the audience can identify with. It’s triumph for writer/director Zach Cregger who struggled for years to bring his original and nonconforming screenplay to box office success.
Black Christmas (1974)
Not only did filmmaker Bob Clark make the classic Christmas comedy A Christmas Story (1983), he also pioneered the slasher horror genre with Black Christmas (1974), arguably the first modern slasher feature. Set in Montréal and starring a young Margot Kidder, Black Christmas remains a classic slasher feature that I love to watch every Christmas on Christmas Eve as it was originally titled Silent Night, Evil Night.
The Djinn (2021)
It’s a contained but entertaining horror feature about a mute teenage boy invoking the mythical Djinn set in literally one apartment on one night. Young Ezra Dewey carries the the whole movie on his shoulder and his performance makes The Djinn a memorable monster movie with a twist.
Kill List (2012)
Out of all the genre-blending horror movies, Kill List is one of my favorites. What starts off as a thriller about an assassin soon turns into something much more sinisterly supernatural. The outrageous last act, reminiscent of A Serbian Film meets The Wicker Man, is what makes this indie British chiller a genre-bending feast.
Late Night with the Devil (2024)
Imagine Saturday Night Life meets The Exorcist set in the 70s is what you get for Late Night with the Devil. It’s a mix of horror and comedy in Sam Raimi style set against the backdrop of a 70s late night TV show and its host. It’s as original and cheeky as a modern horror movie gets… highly recommended if you haven’t seen it!
Longlegs (2024)
Longlegs is essentially a serial killer thriller in the vein of Silence of the Lambs with a Satanic twist starring nonetheless the iconic Nicholas Cage as the titular villain. An FBI agent discovers a serial killer is more connected to her past than she knows. The box office success of Longlegs is more curious than the film itself and makes you wonder why such a film can work with a minimal cast and stylish visuals.
Speak No Evil (2022)
I have to admit that I love this original version of Speak No Evil (2022) so much that I refuse to see the American remake with the same director. A Danish couple meets a Dutch couple at their country house and gets way more than what they bargain for. Ultimately it’s a critique of Western European civility envisioning the current decline and collapse of Eastern European politics and culture that makes the film a haunting vision of the ominous now.
Street Trash (1987)
Street Trash (1987) marks historically the height of the Vestron / Lightning Video era and simultaneously the summit of prosthetic make-up effects pioneered by female Hollywood make-up artist Jennifer Aspinall who created the make-up for the original The Toxic Avenger (1984). It was a small indie classic about a homeless community being transformed by bad booze. I look forward to the 2024 remake with a lot of CGI… NOT REALLY!
The Wailing (2016)
Mysterious and confusing, The Wailing is a horror movie posing more questions than it answers about the Korean mudang (a traditional Korean shaman) culture and its supernatural mythology. Even after watching it twice years ago, I’m still fascinated by the movie and its characters which are nothing short of haunting.
We Are What We Are (2010)
We Are What We Are (2010), as opposed to the lame American remake, remains one of my favorite and most memorable horror movies I’ve seen, turning an urban cannibal tale set in Mexico City into a disturbing yet sexy critique of gender inequity and homophobia in modern Latino society. It’s precisely everything its higher budget American remake misses that makes this original vision such a timeless gem.
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#freshfear #freshfearlist #octoberlist #2024
