Scary Movies for the Scary Season

We’ve rounded up a list of horror films sure to terrify you in this most terrifying of seasons.

The Loved Ones: One of the best horror villains of all time turns out to be a girl who just wants a prom date. When a cute boy turns her down, she and her father won’t take no for an answer. They kidnap the kid, torture him and stage a prom of their own. Features an unforgettable performance by Robin McLeavy as Lola Stone.

May & Roman (double feature): Lucky McKee’s May tells the story of a disturbed young woman obsessed with hands. To say anymore about this psychological slow burn horror would give it away, so I’m just gonna tell you to watch it. Angela Bettis is incredible as May.

If you like it, watch the tables turn with Roman. This time, director Lucky McKee plays the creep and Angela Bettis directs. Together the films paint a portrait of loneliness from both the male and female point of view.

Martyrs & Inside (French double feature): The French, mostly known for pretentious art-house flicks happen to make the nastiest most extreme and brilliant horror films out there. Here’s two of the best…

Martyrs tells the story of two women, tortured and kidnapped, who seek their revenge only to uncover a bizarre cult with a particular philosophy.

Inside features the brilliant Béatrice Dalle as a disturbed woman convinced another woman is carrying her baby in her belly. Beatrice proceeds to try to cut it out of her, and what follows is an hour and half of horror that is not for the squeamish.

Love Object: Have you ever seen one of those super-realistic sex dolls and been utterly creeped out? Love Object is the movie for you. When Desmond Harrington takes a liking to his co-worker, he orders a Real Doll that looks just like her and then begins to think it’s talking to him. This is the Uncanny Valley in full effect. Another slow-burn creepshow.

Joshua: Featuring the brilliant Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga playing parents to a sociopath 9-year-old unhappy about his newborn baby brother, Joshua is an overlooked film with a brilliant shock of an ending that is impossible to see coming.

Eden Lake: This hyper-realistic film featuring Michael Fassbender tells the story of a tragic accident in the English countryside when a vacationing couple comes across a group of delinquent teenagers who go on a murderous rampage. What makes this movie so effective is that the events of the film are plausible and escalate in a completely realistic fashion. Warning: This one will make give you a phobia of white trash teenagers with English accents.

The Battery: This zombie apocalypse horror comedy was made with a low budget by Connecticut filmmakers. It follows two men stuck together in the zombie apaocalypse because there is no one else around. What if the only person left was someone you hated? Funny and brutal with a beautiful, intimate feel, The Battery breathes new life into the tired zombie genre.

The Signal: The Signal works like Pulp Fiction or Go, three intertwined stories that converge in the end. Each part has a different director and different genre — one is a love story, one is a black comedy and one is zombie apocalypse  — and it all make sense, because the signal makes anyone who sees it insane in a different way, giving each part a different feel and point of view. It’s a weird experiment in low budget horror, and it’s fun as hell.