We’re halfway to Halloween and Shudder has released a collection of some of the best horror movies perfect for the occasion. Below are two horror movies ready to get you in the mood for All Hallows Eve, and they share a similar setting; while one is a slasher that comes from the ’80s, the other is a modern film set in the “Decade of Excess.”
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night 2
Thirty years after dying at her 1957 senior prom, the ghost of Mary Lou returns to wreak vengeful havoc. This was supposed to be a standalone movie with an entirely different name, but after a few tweaks, it became a quasi-sequel. No, you won’t find Leslie Nielsen or Jamie Lee Curtis performing here, but you do get a young Michael Ironside.
Some horror movies, like the next one listed, pay homage to past films with subtle winks or nuances. But not Mary Lou . Here you get unabashed sequences copying horror classics like Carrie and The Exorcist , and with all this silliness being set in the ’80s, this is a lot of fun to watch. The filmmakers even gave some of the characters iconic horror names, like Carpenter, Dante, Romero, and one character is even named Eddie Wood. This ’87 classic is cheesy horror schlock at its finest.
Watching???? Prom Night 2: Hello Mary Lou???????? pic.twitter.com/vF4kn3dPHH
— Jonathan Tripp (@JonathanTripp21) November 1, 2017
The House of the Devil
If schlocky horror movies aren’t your thing, and you want to be put on the edge of your seat, then check out The House of the Devil . Not only is this 2009 gem set in the ’80s, but Ti West actually used equipment from that decade to film it. This creates an authentic throwback look, and if you didn’t know better, you would swear this was made decades ago. Written and directed by West, with a score of 86 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the site describes one of the best horror movies on Shudder.
“Though its underlying themes are familiar, House of the Devil effectively sheds the loud and gory clichés of contemporary horror to deliver a tense, slowly building throwback to the fright flicks of decades past.”
The movie is about a young college girl, Samantha, who accepts a babysitting job at a creepy Victorian mansion to make some extra cash. Her friend drops her off at the house leaving Samantha with no way to leave. It doesn’t take long for Samantha to figure out that there is no child to look after, but there is a bunch of creepy people who have a plan for her.
This slow-burn film moves along at a nice pace at just a 90-minute runtime. Because the suspense is built slowly through the movie, the scares are even more intense during the third act. If you enjoy well-thought-out movies that take their time to deliver horror, then you will love this gem starring Jocelin Donahue and Tom Noonan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtXtSGRV0xc
If you’re in the mood to start Halloween early, Shudder has a nice selection of horror movies perfect for the occasion.