Films to watch before October ends

With October coming to an end, we only have a day to scare the sh*t out of ourselves with scary movies. There are thousands of horror movies, but there are a couple that can’t be missed before the last jack-o’-lantern goes out.

Halloween is the 1978 horror classic that has since helped birth the slasher genre. It’s the story of the criminally insane Michael Myers escaping a mental institution and beginning a killing spree on Halloween night. One of the new victims is Laurie Strode, played by a young Jamie Lee Curtis in her acting debut.

Halloween is a beautifully shot horror movie that is pretty much the O.G. of horror movies. Films like Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th may have not existed without Halloween, which paved the way for slasher films.

A new Halloween was released this month, and it completely ignores the terrible sequels that were made. It’s a great addition to the series and has the potential to top the original.

The slasher genre is incredibly fun to watch, but these films often become too far-fetched. The regular killers who can’t die and can also teleport behind victims are laughable and unbelievable.

Scream, released in 1996, is a slasher that is aware of the stereotypical behavior of films before it. It’s just as scary as the classics before it, but the killer isn’t Superman. He’s a man who throws jokes as well as he throws knives. Scream is a nice palate cleanser to watch in the middle of a horror movie marathon.

Edwin Gonzalez, education sophomore from Houma, said that Scream is a classic to watch during Halloween.

“The killer feels like a real person, not a ghost haunting the house or a demon possessing a little girl,” Gonzalez said.

It is a horror movie that has terrified both us students and our parents for the last 28 years. Both the 1990 and 2018 film adaptations follow a group of “loser kids as they try and fight a supernatural sewer clown that is capable of becoming all of their deepest fears.

Besides giving thousands of people a phobia of clowns, the movie is scariest when it delves into the abuse, relationship drama and hatred taking place in the small, fictional town of Derry, Maine. Both of them are terrifying and will make sure you never look at a clown the same way again.

Chris Tolar, history sophomore from Houma, said that It simply was a good movie to watch.

“It does what a movie should do in that I didn’t mind paying for a ticket, and it got me excited for the next one. It’s just a good horror movie,” Tolar said.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) is a “found footage” horror movie about three amateur filmmakers trying to discover the illusive Blair Witch near Burkittsville, Md. They mysteriously disappear, and the movie is watched through the three of them taking turns filming their experiences. The Blair Witch Project is absolutely nail-biting to watch because the first person filming style makes you feel like you’re now in the middle of Maryland, hunting for a supernatural demon. It popularized the found footage genre and is still one of the best to do it.

The Conjuring is the 2013 supernatural horror film that follows real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren as they move in with the Perron family in their possessed house. As more and more horror movies came out in the last 40 years, they seemingly only got worse. The Conjuring was a nice reminder that horror movies are still enjoyable and able to come up with another way to make audiences scream. It’s a dramatized account of the real experiences the Warren’s have gone through, which make it all the scarier.

If you’re looking to celebrate Halloween without a scary movie, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is the American, animated special that has been airing religiously every October since it’s release in 1966. It’s an original comic from The Peanuts that reminds us what Halloween is like as a kid. It’s funny, happy and sad, all wrapped into 25 beautiful minutes of animated pleasure. Watch it with your family or friends, and keep an eye out for the Great Pumpkin on Halloween.

Another easy-to-watch Halloween movie is Halloweentown, an easily recognizable Disney Channel Original Movie. Yes, it is a cheesy, but it is one of the best. This movie takes you back, and if it doesn’t have you wishing you lived in Halloweentown by the end of it, go back and watch it again. It’s a wonderful, little comedy about a girl learning the ways of being a witch while rescuing Halloweentown from an evil force. It’s easy to watch and a perfect way to experience Halloween.

Kaelyn Campbell, a pre-vet sophomore from Houma, said, “[Halloweentown] brings out your inner child when you watch. It’s a great movie to watch because it brings me back to a great time in my life.”

Halloween is a magical time of year that can be experienced in a multitude of different ways, however, watching movies in the dark and under a blanket is the most comfortable way to finish off the spooky month of October.