It hardly seems necessary to celebrate Halloween in the most terrifying year on record, but 31 October is still going to happen, and you may as well gorge on fun-sized sweets and watch an excellent horror movie to make yourself feel alive (if you're Amazon-averse, then steer over to our round-up of the best horror movies on Netflix).
Whether you want pure terror or a dark social satire, a world that feels far away or terrifying for being so familiar, here's our pick of what you can watch on Amazon Prime UK.
The Cabin In The Woods
Joss Whedon is the screenwriter behind this subversive film which cleverly dismantles all of the clichés within the horror genre. What begins as a classic doomed tale, where teenagers take a trip into the woods, turns into a maze of different tropes, referencing specific authors, films and conventions of the genre so that the whole thing feels packed with Easter eggs for horror fans.
Hostel
Part of the 'torture porn' trend which boomed in the early Aughts via films like the Saw franchise, Hostel is a throwback to the gritty, uncomplicated horror of that era. How nostalgic! Coming from director Eli Roth and presented by Quentin Tarantino, this film follows two American backpackers who find themselves tricked by a murderous group they stumble upon.
Midsommar
Florence Pugh's breakout role comes in this story of a couple who attend a Swedish midsummer festival which turns truly horrifying at the hands of a pagan cult. From the twisted mind of Hereditary director Ari Aster, Midsommar is one of the best products of the horror boom of recent years, using the genre as a foil for weighty ideas about misogyny, grief and betrayal.
American Psycho
Can we call a serial killer stylish? Probably not, but this horrific take on the vanities of modern man sure does make for a preened murderer. Christian Bale plays the athletic, well-dressed, suave businessman Patrick Bateman in this chilling adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis' novel of the same name. A dive into the mind of a psychopath with jet black humour carried perfectly by Bale's maniacal grin, American Psycho is a classic that never gets old.
Nocturne
One of Jason Blum's most recent film series for Amazon, this horror is set within the walls of a prestigious music academy and untangles the dark jealousy this place breeds. Euphoria's Sydney Sweeney plays as a twin who, after the discovery of a notebook belonging to a dead former classmate, makes a dark deal in order to outshine her more talented sister.
Shaun Of The Dead
So you want something that's not too terrifying? Frankly, we don't blame you right now. A riff on Dawn of the Dead, this Edgar Wright film starring Simon Pegg is a piece of British cinema history with many iconic and hilarious moments. Just like its inspiration, the zombie-infested flick is concerned with a fight between the living and the not-quite-dead, with a final battle taking place in, naturally, the local pub.
Parasite
It is no understatement to say that Bong Joon Ho's satirical horror, and masterpiece of class warfare, is the best film of 2020. Winning the Korean auteur four Academy Awards, and in doing so becoming the first foreign-language film to win the 'Best Picture' Oscar. If you haven't yet seen it, it's best to go in uninformed, but the story follows two families living in South Korea – one rich, one poor – and slowly shows us the folks at the bottom invading the beautiful, sprawling home of their wealthy compatriots. Parasite is a film with such bite it leaves you feeling wounded for days.
The Shining
Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's seminal horror novel features a tour-de-force performance from Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, a crazed writer who spends a winter at the Overlook Hotel with his wife and son. King might have never warmed to the film but its motifs, from the winding maze to the spooky twin girls in the hallway, and even the geometric carpets, have gone on to influence horror ever since.
Black Box
This science-fiction horror deals with memory, grief and Black trauma through the metaphor of the scientific treatment used to treat the protagonist. The story follows a man who lost his wife in a car accident which left him with amnesia, and shows how his journey to heal himself digs up the roots of everything he knows.
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