Top Five Friday - Horror Films You Might Have Missed

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYBODY!

You lookin' at me?

It's that time of year again!  Ladies brave the cold weather to dress in skimpy costumes like Sexy Bert and Ernie, you feel obliged to bring orange-dyed sweets into your office to get gobbled up by your colleagues, and worse of all, you run the risk of getting your front door egged by disgruntled trick-or-treaters not happy with mini-toothpastes and snack size Bountys!

Almost makes you feel like staying in instead, right?  Well that's where I come in!  Last year I recommended five great horror films that focussed on different movie monsters (which you can check out here).  However this year, I'm here to recommend five horror films that you may not have seen, that will still scare the pants off you (hopefully) and leave you remembering why this night is supposed to be so terrifying.

Let's start with one of my favourite horror films of the past few years...

THE BAY

Set among a picturesque American waterfront town as they celebrate the 4th of July, you wouldn't imagine anything to go wrong.  Oh, but it does.  A water-born parasite begins to infect the local fishlife, and then the town's drinking water.  And then the townsfolk themselves.  And the results are gruuuuesome!

The Bay is made up of several live CCTV feeds and handheld personal cameras, which has become a bit stale since The Blair Witch Project, but The Bay manages to still feel fresh and original. Directed by the creepy creature-loving Barry Levinson, famous for the Men In Black films, and the producers of Insidious and Sinister, The Bay manages to create a eerie, disturbing and horrifying image of what damage a parasite like this could do in real life.

Similar to how Jaws made you not want to go in the ocean, The Bay will make you not want to go in the shower or drink a glass of water!

THEM (ILS)

Similar to The Bay, the French film Ils (Them in English) was released with the tagline "You'll Never Feel Safe In Your Home Again" and boy, does it unsettle you and make you lock the front door. Released before the similarly-themed The Strangers, You're Next and Eden Lake, this film is based on a true story of a French couple living in Romania that got terrorised and attacked one night for no reason.

The scares are relentless, the unknown terrorisers are creepy and malevolent with their torturing techniques and the senseless violence is non-stop.  Don't let the fact that the film is in French put you off; hardly any dialogue is spoken in this, as the main couple quickly learn that they must be silent to survive the night.  The final chase sequence definitely will leave a knot in your stomach, as it left a definite impression on me.

SESSION 9

I wasn't a huge fan of abandoned insane asylums before I watched Session 9, and I definitely am not since.  Session 9 tells the story of an asbestos removal crew who begin to experience growing tension whilst working in the aforementioned abandoned asylum.  Whilst working in a back room, one of the crew stumbles across the audio recordings of a former patient who seems to share a connection with one of the ever-decreasing crew members.

Using the method of creeping terror, atmosphere and tension instead of jump-scares and gore, Session 9 truly surprised me in how unsettled I felt without noticing it.  The film is filled with iconic images, like the sunlit wheelchair in the above poster and the magazine clipping-covered bedrooms of the asylum, which will affect you in a more psychological way than at a cheap jump-scare level.

Featuring a fantastic performance by the always-great Peter Mullan and an early role for Josh Lucas, the cast is what makes this film feel so real.  Their arguments and chemistry makes you care and feel for them, especially in such a creepy setting.  The incredible asylum begins to feel like a character in it's own right by the end, creating a definite slow-burning favourite.

WOLF CREEK

Now this film is one that also stays with you after the credits roll.  Starting like a normal backpacking adventure film, two female British tourists and their Australian friend are exploring the Australian outback, culminating at the titular Wolf Creek.  Whilst there, their car breaks down and the helpful and iconic Mick Taylor decides to help them out.  After drinking some of his water, they awake in his trailer park bound, gagged and being tortured.

From there the action really reaches it's peak and doesn't stop until the end of the film.  The film is truly raw and unforgiving in its depiction of violence, making for some truly hard-to-watch scenes. The villainous Mick Taylor has become a cult icon in his own right since the film's release and his psychopathic portrayal is truly worth noting.  The actor John Jarratt makes him initially likeable, before turning ultimately disgusting, all with a gleaming smile and seemingly having the time of his life.

Probably the most wince-inducing and hard-to-watch film on my Top Five Friday list, but the parts you can stand to watch are still a worthwhile thrill-ride.

TRICK 'R TREAT

In keeping with the holiday spirit, it's only fitting that I finish this list with a Halloween-themed film such as Trick 'R Treat.  The fact that Trick 'R Treat is an anthology film, comprised of four short stories centred on a single Halloween night, is what drew me originally towards it.  Anthology horror films such as V/H/S or The ABCs of Death can be handled very poorly and I was curious to see how it compared.  Thankfully, this is one of the best anthology films I've seen in a while.

Every story manages to intertwine with each other, and contains a fairly scary and impressive story in their own right.  Alongside a decent cast of Anna Paquin, Brian Cox and Dylan Baker, the film doesn't hold back in the gore or scares, whilst never taking itself too seriously.  With it's tongue firmly in it's cheek, there are serial killers, undead children, werewolves and sinister, pumpkin-headed 'trick-or-treaters' all out for blood in this blood-splattered romp.  A guaranteed favourite for those who love this macabre holiday.

Until next year folks, thanks for reading and Happy Halloween!

If you enjoyed what you read and you'd like to be kept more up to date with my posts, I can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mike-Dunn-Reviews and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeDunnReviews - if you want to help the site grow, give them a 'Like' or a 'Share'!

Don't have nightmares ;)