Now that the spooky season has rolled around, it’s time to decide what horror movies are worth watching. Here are five psychological horror movies that will intrigue your emotions and leave you with lingering thoughts.
First is the shocking film Get Out written, produced, and directed by Jordan Peele. It received amazing ratings and reviews when it was released in 2017, with 98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Get Out follows the story of a young man Chris and his girlfriend, Rose. Chris has finally made it to the stage of his relationship where it’s time to meet Rose’s parents so they both travel upstate on a family getaway trip. Chris expresses some concerns about what Rose’s parents might think about their interracial relationship, but Rose insists there will be no issues. After disturbing interactions and altercations, Chris realizes this “getaway” trip is nothing of what he thought it would be and Rose and her family are not who he thought they were. This film is described as spine-chilling with a deep, disturbing plot.
Second is the uncomfortable film Hereditary, a 2018 film written and directed by American filmmaker Ari Aster. While there are a lot of mixed reviews about this movie, it did receive 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, but many people agree and disagree that this movie didn’t necessarily need to be made. Hereditary is a story of a strange family following the experience of grief. After the matriarch of the family, Annie’s mother, passes away from mental illness, as did the rest of her family, they begin to discover the dark secrets about their ancestry. While it seems most of the family is moving forward with the death of their mother and grandmother, Annie’s deranged daughter, Charlie is still in mourning. Once unfortunate events occur and tensions arise between Annie and her son Peter, many uncomfortable moments are shown throughout this film. There are multiple times this film’s dynamic will have you covering your eyes and wincing at the terrifying scenes.
Next up is, Us, a 2019 film directed and written by Jordan Peele who also directed Get Out. This movie also received amazing reviews and ratings with 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Us follows the story of a woman named Adelaide returning to her beach home in Santa Cruz, California with her husband and two children. Adalaide is returning to Santa Cruz after a disturbing occurrence when she goes missing on the pier as a young child; she later returned but she had unusual changes in behavior. Her mother and father knew something was not right. After an interesting turn of events and commotions occur, look-alike clones of themselves and friends begin to appear. A gripping discovery is made about Adelaide and what really happened that night on the pier. Us shows the assumptions about race and criminality through these douple-gangers, it deals with a deeper political message. This film has mysterious thrills and leaves clues throughout, leaving the audience to make conclusions until they are finally revealed.
The fourth horror movie is The Silence of the Lambs, written by Ted tally and directed by Jonathan Demme. This psychological horror film was released in 1991 and received exceptional ratings with 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The Silence of the Lambs is about Clarice Starling, an F.B.I. trainee. She is advancing in her career and also working to push away her past and personal life in fear of bad reflection on her name. Her boss, Jack Crawford, Signs her a case to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a serial killer, cannabilist, and psychiatrist. Clarice interviews him to help gather information on a case where a man whose name is later revealed to be Buffalo Bill, kills women and skins their bodies. Clarice is faced with dark and twisted mind games from Dr. Hannibal. She has to decide if she wants to play these mind games to help solve the case of a missing woman. This movie is described as frightfully intense and shows the psychological power and complexity through manipulation of the mind. It indicates just how complex human nature really is.
The fifth movie which is described as a classic and “timeless terror”, The Shining is a Gothic horror novel by Stephen King that was adapted into film. It was released in 1980 and received 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The Shining is about a family that is staying in an outlying hotel during the cold season of winter. There is a sinister dynamic that pushes this retired alcoholic father, Jack Torrance into violence terror and actions. During this time, his son, Danny has “psychic gifts” that they refer to as “the shining”, after these episodes occur he has seizure-like incidents. Jack is entering dark places and is slowly slipping away from reality after making disturbing discoveries about this hotel, he begins to make sinister and terrorizing acts on his wife and son. The Shining features outstanding actor and actress Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duvall who use deep emotions to portray these petrified characters. The 1980 film focuses on the destruction of a family through evil interactions and is suspenseful, chilling, and psychologically fascinating.
Many people are intrigued by horror movies, especially the psychological genre. It shows the manipulation of human nature and is stimulating both mentally and physically. Pick what horror movies you’ll be watching this spooky season.
