Spooky season is upon us! It’s my favorite time of year and so I’ve lovingly pulled together a list of movies that warrant a watch.
Gif: Giphy
(10) The Witches
Yes, it’s “about” witches, but I would argue this is just about Anjelica Huston as a femme.
Roald Dahl’s The Witches follows Luke and his grandma as they find themselves at the same hotel as a group of English witches attending their annual convention with the special appearance of the Grand High Witch. The main goal of the witches? Hatching a plan to eliminate all of England’s children.
(9) Carrie
Repressed women with inner power, the whisper of second-wave feminism, and pig’s blood: the trifecta.
Carrie is a shy teenager with an abusive mother and a difficult school life. She begins to suspect that she has supernatural abilities... then she goes to prom.
(8) Scream
You can try to kill Sidney Prescott but, virgin or not, she’s not going anywhere.
Years after her mother’s tragic murder, high schooler Sidney Prescott is targeted by a serial killer who has come to town, killing her teenage peers.
(7) Us
“It’s about class.”
Protagonist Adelaide Wilson and her family visit a summer, beach getaway from her childhood, reminding her of a dark secret from her past. The Wilsons soon realize that their lives are at stake when a group of four strangers targets them. Soon, they realize the strangers are their doppelgängers.
(6) Hocus Pocus
Secretly, aren’t we all rooting for the Sanderson Sisters?
On Halloween night in 1693, the Sanderson Sisters are hanged for being witches. 300 years later, they are back for one night only, trying to regain their forms and their youth by hunting children.
(5) GET OUT
Seriously, you have to finally watch this.
Jordan Peele’s iconic debut horror film features Chris, a young Black photographer in an interracial relationship, who takes a trip to meet his girlfriend’s family... where things get disturbing.
(4) Assassination Nation
White supremacist cisheteropatriarchy is the horror.
A small town in middle America becomes The Purge when the entire town’s personal information is hacked; affairs are revealed, kids are outed, and, all of a sudden, it’s open season on one high school friend group. Assassination Nation is concerned with how the mundane conditions of our society are a horror story for some of us.
(3) Promising Young Woman
“It's every man's worst nightmare, getting accused of something like that.”
“Can you guess what every woman's worst nightmare is?”
Emerald Fennell’s 2020 film “Promising Young Woman” follows Cassie, a woman who is haunted by the sexual assault of her best friend in medical school and seeks solace by entrapping predatory men when they try to take advantage of her.
(2) Jennifer’s Body
Feminism is horny women killing men, right?
The 2009 cult classic Jennifer’s Body follows two high school best friends -- Jennifer and Needy -- as their relationship changes after Jennifer is possessed by a demon that compels her to feed on high school boys.
(1) Bad Hair
Revenge begins at the root.
In Bad Hair, the protagonist Anna finds herself caught between the allure of a fast-tracked career and the cost: a possessed weave that murders people around her. The story references an African American slave lore tale called “The Moss Haired Girl.”
