What Halloween movies has 2012 brought us?
Halloween is upon us yet again, which can only mean parties galore! However, the actual date, October 31, falls annoyingly enough on a Wednesday this year; weekend parties or not, there’s always a little twinge of joy in our black hearts when we can actually celebrate Halloween on the day-of. With that, I present to you an alternative; see a movie this Halloween—monsters, scares, fucked-up scenarios, we got ‘em all!
Firstly though, maybe you’ve got a younger sibling, a niece or nephew, or maybe kids of your own; you obviously want to get them in the Halloween spirit without traumatizing them. The critical hit ParaNorman might be out of theatres now, but luckily we’ve got Hotel Transylvania and Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie for alternatives. Hotel Transylvania serves as a literal monster mash, with everyone from Dracula (Adam Sandler) to Frankenstein (Kevin James) to zombies playing a role in their wacky hotel setting. As for Frankenweenie, we’re very likely getting a somewhat more traditional Halloween movie, with less rubbery CGI and more black-and-white stop motion to look forward to as young Victor brings his dead dog Sparky back to life—Mary Shelley style!
But of course, maybe you want something a little more twisted; something with scares that make you jump perhaps? The latest scary movie to add to the found footage genre, Sinister, changes things up a bit by also actually having a story to follow—that and everyone’s nightmare fuel card: creepy children. And replacing Saw as the go-to horror franchise, we’ve received the fourth installment of the Paranormal Activity series, which other than an increased budget, we can assume will hold much of the same jump-out-of-you-seat scare tactics that the previous films have been recognized for.
As for something that tries to apply substance over scares to literally get under your skin, Canada’s contribution to Halloween this year is Antiviral. Something that should be able to attract both a more refined film crowd as well as people that just want to see something weird, Brandon Cronenberg’s debut film very much follows in his father’s early footsteps. Incorporating twisted psychology and many a gory moments, we watch as people obsess over celebrities on a far more extreme level.
Finally, if you want something with a little more action, Silent Hill: Revelation (yes, in 3-D) comes out this Friday, October 26. Very much like the game series Revelation is based on, there are bound to be a number of frights, as well as a number of horrifically violent moments. And regardless of whether the movie is faithful to the games or not (we all know it won’t be, so save your breath and stop pretending it will), we’ve at least got some very sexy Pyramid Head and Nurse moments to look forward to.
Just about everything in this list should speak to someone, and therefore will hopefully bring them a Halloween film to make sleeping just a tad more difficult on that faithful Wednesday night. Don’t forget though, if none of these options are appealing to you, there are about some 500-odd horror, or at least psychological if not violent, movies in existence you could watch instead. One I must suggest being the ridiculously underrated 1979 David Cronenberg classic (sorry junior) The Brood; find that shit and prepare to be mortified!
