Tonight is Halloween, and even if candy hunting is less popular in France than across the Atlantic, many horror fans want to tremble on October 31. If you have already returned your video games like Alan Wake 2, Resident Evil 4, Dead Space Or The Dark Pictures: Switchback VRthere are still films, notably on Amazon Prime Video.
A few hours before Halloween evening, we offer you a selection of horror films available on Prime Video, with old or recent feature films, cult or sometimes forgotten. More than fifteen films are listed here, in no order, you should find your pleasure!
Before tackling the franchise Halloweenthe musician Rob Zombie has obviously warmed up behind the camera with other projects, and his first film is The House of 1000 Dead, a kind of truly gory and dirty horror comedy, drawing inspiration from the entire history of cinema. A film that follows a small group of young people investigating the Doctor Satana local serial killer, and who comes face to face with the family Firelfyled by the Captain Spaulding (played by the late Sid Haig). Yes, it strongly resembles Chainsaw Massacreeven bloodier and with black humor that hits the mark.
Inspired by a horrible news story where a young man massacred his entire family with a gun, Amityville: The Devil’s House takes place a few years later, when a family moves into the house, before experiencing events that are strange and disturbing to say the least. A story of madness in a cult house of horror cinema, the film has still aged a little, but it is worth seeing at least once for all thrill-seekers.
Is it still necessary to present The Blair Witch Projectthis film which popularized the genre of found footage ? The story is simple, a group of friends go deep into the woods while making a documentary about the witch of Blair. But the small team quickly finds themselves lost among the trees, and terrifying things happen at night. A film which increases in intensity, until a chilling finale, and which at the time had fun blurring the line between reality and fiction.
When a couple is on the verge of separating, the family of Dani dies, forcing his companion Christian to stay with her. He takes him to Sweden to clear his mind, to a remote village which celebrates a pagan festival. Where the film impresses is in its ability to terrify the viewer even with scenes in broad daylight, Florence Pugh is perfect in her role, and here again, the finale does not leave you indifferent. If you prefer more classic horror, the excellent Heredity (2018) is also available on Prime VideoAri Aster’s previous film with a very shocking car scene.
Caving is already not very reassuring. A group of friends plunge into an unmapped cave in the Appalachians, the place is dark and damp, and the young women end up getting lost. And above all, they quickly realize that they are not alone in the cave… A low-budget horror film which succeeds in making spectators tremble, claustrophobic or not, thanks to its heavy atmosphere and its monsters.
- Cube (Vincenzo Natali, 1997)
Several people, who do not know each other and who obviously have no connection between them, find themselves trapped in juxtaposed cubic rooms, and filled with deadly traps. What is this cube? How did these people get there? And above all, how to get out of this Hell without losing your skin? A slightly gory thriller with inventive deaths that keeps the viewer in suspense.
- That (Andres Muschietti, 2017)
New adaptation, for the cinema this time, of the novel That by Stephen King, this first part focuses on a group of somewhat excluded children who face a terrifying clown who returns to town every 27 years to feed on children’s fear. The film doesn’t pull any punches, the kids have to face their worst nightmares and the direction never falls into the easy way of jump scareunlike It: Chapter 2.
Bestselling author of the novel saga Misery, Paul Sheldon has a serious road accident. He is fortunately saved by Annie, a big fan, who helps her get back on her feet, and the latter even has the chance to read the latest Misery book in advance. But, disappointed by the writing style and the turn of the scenario, she decides to sequester Paul for him to change his novel. Another adaptation of a work by Stephen King, Misery is still terrifying today thanks to the acting of Kathy Bates, Oscar for Best Actress in 1991 for his role. Still want more King? The Mist (Frank Darabont, 2007) is also on Prime Videofollowing residents of a small American town stuck in a supermarket as a fog harboring monsters invades the surroundings.
Create horror while denouncing the excesses of racism? It’s possible, and that’s what Jordan Peele managed to do, even though she’s used to comedy. We follow Chris, a young African-American who meets his white in-laws for the first time, and the weekend takes a terrifying turn, to say the least. Psychological horror with a captivating storyline and a serious subject, the recipe works.
How to talk about horror without mentioning Jaws, the cult film by Steven Spielberg? The story is simple, a great white shark attacks a small seaside town in the middle of the summer season, and rather than close the beaches, the mayor lets people swim, resulting in more bloody deaths. Three men (the new police chief, a scientist and a gruff fisherman) are still responsible for finding the shark to eliminate it, a breathtaking and stressful hunt in the open sea.
A Puritan family is banished from its colony by the governor of Salem, and decides to settle not far from the village, on the edge of the forest. Life is even harder in these conditions, and strange phenomena occur. A modern horror film, very sober, on the theme of witchcraft, with strong sequences and an excellent Anya Taylor-Joy, for whom this was her first real role.
Fired from filming The Island of Doctor Moreau in 1996, director Richard Stanley waited many years before returning behind the camera to The Color of Spaceadaptation of The Color that fell from the sky by HP Lovecraft. The story follows the family Gardner, whose father is played by Nicolas Cage, who faces supernatural phenomena after a meteorite crashes into their town. The work is difficult to adapt to the cinema, but the film achieves the feat of being rather pleasant to watch, a good pick for Lovecraft fans. If you want more, The Void (Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski, 2016) is also on Prime Video. Without being an adaptation of a short story or novel by Lovecraft, the film is inspired by the author’s horrific and cosmic universe. An unknown and bloodied man is brought to the emergency room, attracting strange individuals around the hospital, while a police officer on scene makes a mysterious discovery in the basement.
The title of the film sums it all up. A small American town hosts a funfair, and at the same time, a shooting star crashes in the distance. It was in fact an alien ship, these look like clowns but are above all merciless killers determined to eliminate humans. A horror science fiction comedy with an improbable scenario, which makes you laugh as much as it disgusts. Well, if you are coulrophobic, this is a complete horror film!
A young executive is sent in search of the director of his company, staying in a thermal spa in the Alps. Stuck against his will in this not-so-hospitable place, he will try to escape as best he can, while making terrifying discoveries about the center. A rather slow film, and above all very well made, which takes its time to establish its suspense and its few horror scenes, even if the anguish here is above all psychological and carried by the casting (Dane DeHaan, Mia Goth and Jason Isaacs).
Author Clive Barker adapts his novel himself The Hellbound Heart in the cinema, and in the process gives birth to a now cult monster: Pinhead. A horror film that mixes genres, tackling themes of unbridled sexuality, with a cube in the form of a puzzle capable of summoning Cenobites, infernal creatures promising pleasure and pain. Blood, flesh, leather and hooks, a terrifying recipe perfected in its sequel, Hellraiser II: The Flayed (Tony Randel, 1988), with even more blood, flesh, leather and hooks, but also Cenobites terrifying and the development of an entire lore.
Yes, how can we talk about Halloween without mentioning the eponymous film by John Carpenter? Popularizing the subgenre of slasher movie, Halloween stages Michael Myers, a child who murders his own sister at the age of six, and who escapes from detention 15 years later, to carry out a massacre in his town. A slasher cult with an essential monster of horror cinema, and a young Jamie Lee Curtis in great shape. October 31 is the perfect evening to see or rediscover Halloween !
As a reminder, you can subscribe to Amazon Prime against €6.99 per month or €69.99 for a whole year.
| Clint008 Editor – Tester |
