The Midnight Movie Blog: Netflix Fix: 10/27/15

Hey everyone! As crazy as it may seem we only have four more days until Halloween, somehow this month has just flown off the calendar and we are just a few days away from one of the best days of the year. That's why I am bringing you one last 'Netflix Horror Fix' for this month, and as an added bonus it will be more than just five films as I have added a few "honorable mentions" to the list as well. It's nearly Halloween and you need good horror movies to watch so the more the better. Netflix hasn't been as stocked with horror as they have been in previous years but there is still plenty to dig your teeth into this week as you prepare to get scary. These are the best of the best currently streaming (minus the ones I've already talked about) so grab something pumpkin flavored and a bag full of candy, and turn out the lights and get cozy because it's movie time.

1. Scream (1996) Directed By: Wes Craven

It may seem like an obvious choice but this movie needs to be watched Halloween week. Wes Craven's late 90's masterpiece not only changed the way modern horror is made but it also hasn't been topped since. In one of the greatest slasher films of all-time Craven managed to blend terrific and bloody horror with a brilliant sense of comedy, using meta humor that is now common today but was brand new at the time. The film plays off of the classic slasher structure, pitting a group of idiotic teens against a seemingly unstoppable force but Craven adds his own twist to elevate it into something different than everything else that came before it. If you have yet to watch this classic this month I highly suggest doing so as Scream leaves instant streaming on November first. While you're at it you might as well watch Scream 2 & 3 as they are also streaming and leave Netflix on the first, all are quality slasher flicks that make for perfect October viewing.

2. The Babadook (2014) Directed By: Jennifer Kent

Released just last year, this little Aussie flick gained instant cult status among horror fans. When a recently widowed single mother finds a mysterious children's book in her house she decides to read it to her son one night. After reading the book however strange things begin happening all around her and her son. The son begins having intense fits of fear over the monster in the book, The Babadook and he is certain it is coming for them. The movie is absolutely terrifying and adds a clever twist on the paranormal horror film. This is one of the best horror films to be released last year and if you haven't seen it yet you are missing out on some truly creepy stuff.

3. The Omen (1976) Directed By: Richard Donner

Next to The Exorcist this is probably the most scared I have ever been watching a horror movie, and I have seen a lot of them. I am not religious and have no fear of "The Devil" but what occurs in this film is disturbing on many levels. The film follows a couple who suspect something strange surrounds their young son damien. Strange deaths have been happening around him and the only explanation that they can conjure is that their son may be the antichrist. There is nothing more terrifying than demonic children and little Damien is the scariest of the bunch, watch this movie with the lights out and experience it for yourself.

4. The Houses October Built (2014) Directed By: Bobby Roe

This little "found-footage" movie is made to watch in the thick of the Halloween season. Following a group of adults looking for the "ultimate" home haunt this film gets seriously twisted fast and is sure to get under your skin. Their search for the craziest haunted house leads them down a path of sketchy backwoods haunts and into the hands of some seriously twisted people. If you, like myself, are already one to avoid haunted houses I can almost guarantee you will never even think about going into one again after watching this film.

5. Saw (2004) Directed By: James Wan

I hate the phrase "torture porn", it's a cheap way to make fun of a bad movie that is trying to rip off good ones. Just because a film features excessive gore and violence does not make it "torture porn" and such is the case with James Wan's 2004 mega-hit Saw. Yes, this film is gory as hell and at times quite difficult to stomach but that it just a part of what makes this film so effective. The self-contained nature of the story keeps us fixed in one location for the majority of the movie, and in turn with the two leads as well. This is where we get into the psyche of each of these men who have been placed into these sinister traps. We watch as they devolve into something more primitive and are willing to go much further than we would think to escape this imprisonment and save their own life. The twist at the end is still incredible and if you have somehow never seen this film it, along with the first four sequels, are all currently streaming.

Honorable Mentions:

My honorable mentions are simple, these are all of the horror films I have watched and reviewed this year that are streaming on Netflix and that I haven't included on any of these lists because of it. I am not going to write up small synopsis for each movie but rather just include a link to my full review that I wrote earlier this year.

1. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010) Directed By: Eli Craig

My review for Tucker & Dale vs Evil