In just a few weeks, streets will be bustling with children and adults dressed as the usual ghosts, zombies and witches as well as this year's crop of trendy costumes.
To get into the spooky spirit of Halloween, many of us watch Disney Channel favorites like “Halloweentown” or “Twitches,” while others watch classic horror films like “A Nightmare on Elm Street” or “Halloween.” As much as I love these timeless films, it is time to expand the portfolio and add some new flicks to the list. These movies are guaranteed to get your blood pumping and your adrenaline going next time you decide to have a scary movie marathon.
- "The Strangers" is the story of a couple, Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman), who are tortured and harassed by three masked strangers in their remotely located home. Kristen and James test the boundaries of what is morally correct in order to survive. The eerie setting and the anonymity of these “Strangers” is bone-chilling, but even more frightening is the fact that these circumstances are entirely plausible and could happen to anyone at any time.
- "Hide and Seek," starring Robert De Niro as David Callaway and a young Dakota Fanning as Emily Callaway, follows the father-daughter duo as they move deep into the country to recuperate from the recent loss of Emily’s mother. Emily forms a strong attachment to Charlie, her imaginary friend. When strange events start to haunt the Callaway household, Emily claims that Charlie is to blame. However, Charlie’s actions become increasingly more dangerous, and soon the family begins to wonder just who they need to protect themselves from.
- "The Others," available on Netflix, is for the more supernaturally-inclined viewer. This film takes us to England during World War II, where Grace (Nicole Kidman) and her children Anne and Nicholas await word on their missing father as they settle into their new home. The children's strange behavior causes Grace to believe that they are not adjusting well, but soon she questions whether or not something more paranormal is at the root of these events.
- "Sorority Row," available on Netflix, brings a terrible spin to Greek life. Take this movie for what it is — a sometimes cliché yet frightening slasher film — and you will enjoy it. Blood, guts and gore aplenty, this film shows what happens when a mysterious killer tortures the girls responsible for covering up the death of a fellow Theta Pi sister.
- "Devil’s Pass," released in 2013 to the U.S. and available on Netflix, is a grotesque thriller shot in the popular “documentary” style. The film follows five college students as they hike through the Ural Mountains in Russia to investigate the true story of nine hikers who died strangely and mysteriously in 1959. When they reach the Dyatlov Pass, they are engrossed in the same circumstances as the hikers who met their ends decades before. Their findings are controversial, disturbing and increasingly fatal.