Movie mini-reviews: Halloween movies to watch in the dark

I’d be the first to admit that horror isn’t my genre. Ghosts and creepy crawlies and the supernatural are bound to send me screaming for mother before I get to half the film. But for those looking for a good scare, or just looking for something to do this long Halloween weekend, here are a couple of selections from those far braver than me.

Go ahead, rent that movie—just be sure no one’s watching behind you.

1. Recommended by: Charmaine Peralta, member, UP Cinema Arts Society

Psycho. I think this 1960 Hitchcock film is and will always be the gate pass to watching horror movies. Unlike its predecessor, Hitchcock dropped fangs and fur to create an all-too-human monster in the form of the awkwardly charming Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). It may not be as gruesome as the films today but there is no denying the pure creepiness of the crazy mothers (or sons), screeching violins, and eerie mansions. This film reminds us that horror is actually nearer than what we perceive (so make it a point to check what’s behind the shower curtain.)

Itim. People who are not impressed with Filipino horror films have probably never seen Mike de Leon’s debut film, Itim. The subtlety of the enigmatic atmosphere and the disturbing imagery moulded this de Leon film into a horror gem. The story strikes straight to the nerve of our culture, Catholicism, and the supernatural, which takes the scare into a whole new level. This haunting tale is definitely a good entry point to get to know the films of Mike de Leon or Philippine cinema, in general.



Ringu. The premise: Watch the cursed video tape and you will die in seven days. Brilliant! Now every horror fan will watch it. It was a defining moment for the horror genre and the natural Asian creepiness when this film was released in 1998. Directed by Hideo Nakata, Ringu was the one that started the wave of crawling pale girls all over the world. What made this film special was its viral quality is embedded in the narrative. Nakata mastered the looming atmosphere stimulating our imagination of the uncanny. And if that was not enough, try watching the last 30 minutes of the film.

2. Recommended by: Adrian Mendizabal, Cinephiles

Possession. Possession confronts the horror surfacing from a crumbling relationship of a couple living in West Germany. Zulawski not only taunts the genre's habitual take on violence, he also exposes the limbs, body, and face of the Ultimate Monster, the animal within the human, that pry on our fears, desires, and madness.

Inland Empire. Inland Empire opens up a blackhole of imperceptible horror. It is a 3-hour maddening experience of rabbits, eerie lamps by the bedside, and Hollywood culture. Within its inter-penetrating layers and collisions, a dark force of intangible form emanates subverting the very nature of time and space. What can be more horrifying than a journey to nowhere?



Videodrome. In Videodrome, the horror emerges from the penetrative connection of human flesh and the virtual machine: television. Bodily transformations in the film, rupturing from television-driven psychosis, prefigure the new type of mass hysteria and violence in 21st Century society as it gradually enters the Internet age. In Videodrome, the eye becomes the body—what one sees is what one becomes: an infernal monster, a slave to the new media.

3. Recommended by: Joey Cuayo, medical student and certified horror film buff

[Rec]. It's shot Blair Witch Project-style, with a handheld camera, and you really feel like it's actually happening as opposed to a movie that tries to simulate just some person off the street recording things as it happens. It really adds to how terrifying it can get. it gives you the feeling that it actually happened, or it can actually happen, which is really what makes a horror movie terrifying for me.

Session 9. This one is more subtle. It kinda builds slowly, but I like it because it doesn't spoon-feed you what's going on. There's only a number of characters in this movie, but all of them come in there with a story of their own. It's really a subtle movie. No cheap scares.

Grave Encounters. It's actually a movie based on all those shows that hunt ghosts. That's the basic premise, that they're this crew filming a reality show about ghosts and haunted places. It starts out with outtakes where they pay the janitor to say that the place is haunted, that the psychic they called in to help investigate is actually an actor. Stuff like that. It starts out with them being hokey. And then things get real, which is great fun. You really see how quickly they go from smug and confident to absolutely horrified.

It's great for watching with friends, especially if they're the type who get scared easily. It's one of those horror movies that don't require you to think about it. You just watch and get scared along with the cast.

4. Recommended by: Rae Red, author and playwright

Poltergeist. I don’t quite remember the whole story, but what I do know is that it imprinted on me so much as a child--especially with that one scene of a child eerily floating mid-air. Yikes.


The Shining. A classic. Watch out for the creepy twin girls who start speaking completely in sync. The Shining gets parodied a lot, too, so it’s good to actually see the film all the parodies are based on.

5. Recommended by: Anjilo Carigma, UP Civil Engineering and film enthusiast

Rosemary's Baby. For me, unquestionably the perfect horror film. Everything from the soundtrack to the storyline will give you goosebumps. The film really did great in sharing the solitude and desperation felt by the main character, Rosemary, to the audience. What really is striking in this film is the last scene: one can't easily forget that expression from Rosemary upon seeing her baby.

6. Editors' picks

Kairo. Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a master of weird horror (another favorite from him: "Karisuma"), but "Kairo" only uses the regular horror of predatory ghosts with unblinking eyes and forbidden rooms sealed shut with red tape to convey something even scarier: cosmic loneliness and utter, inescapable despair.



Lake Mungo. This Australian "documentary" delivers horror in the quietest manner possible. There are no screams, no over-the-top musical cues, and no monsters—just the measured, somewhat shell-shocked tones of a grieving family coming to terms with the death of one of its members. And it does indeed deliver.



Sinister. Now this is horror done right. Ethan Hawke plays a crime thriller writer obsessed with writing his next big book...and actually moves his lovely family into a house where some gruesome murders were committed. Things start to get downright disturbing when he finds a box full of snuff films in the attic and realizes that these are videos of the actual dying moments of murdered families. The question is, who is filming and what does he want? The answer and its depiction is far more complicated and will leave you a helpless, curled-up ball in your seat.


Shutter. Forget the American remake, watch the original Thai version instead. There are some truly unintentionally funny moments in Shutter, but you tend to forget them because of the stunning, heart-wrenching character development. A creepy story about taking pictures of what isn't there, of people who get what's coming to them, and a love that never dies.


Tesis. Spanish director Alejandro Amenabar, who went on to direct Nicole Kidman in "The Others," started out with this terrific, low-budget thriller about a film student who discovers that snuff films are being made on campus. High creep factor, and a lot of suspense.



It's also a lot of fun. And really, isn't that what horror movies should be about in the end? — BM/VC, GMA News