For your Halloween watchparty, 6 horror movies that spooked us the most

On Halloween, we bring you our HT Entertainment Desk writers’ most hated (in a good way) horror movies of all time. Consider these for your watchparty tonight if you love a good spooky challenge. (Also read: Halloween: How Ramsay Brothers, India’s OG kings of horror, created a genre with Veerana, Saamri and Zee Horror Show)

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

There have been several better and more memorable horror films made around the world than The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The Exorcist was scarier, The Omen creepier, and A Nightmare on Elm Street more chilling. But Emily Rose had the perfect element for spooking one–realism. At its heart, Emily Rose was a courtroom drama based on a real incident. The attention to detail in presenting both the scientific and legal aspects of the story made the supernatural horror element all the more shocking. The film grounds the viewer in relatable things and then springs up one of the most gruesome and violent jump scares in cinema history. Jennifer Carpenter’s more than capable performance has meant that even 17 years on, the film continues to ‘haunt’ me (and 3 am has never been a safe space since the first watch).

Train to Busan (2016)

Train to Busan stands out from the other films in the zombie genre with its gripping and edge-of-the-seat story. The action horror film takes place in the confines of a train that is on its way from Seoul to Busan. Gong Yoo and Ma Dong-seok along with Choi Woo-shik face the army of zombies as they battle the undead to save their loved ones. With its nail-biting plot, the film manages to create terror as almost every scene brings in a new twist. Along with the tension in the film, the viewers also feel empathy for the characters. As I watched characters turn within a few seconds, after being infected, I was horrified and terrified.

The Conjuring 2 (2016)

Between the evil spirit roaming in the house, ready to prey on its next victim, and the paranormal investigators — Lorraine and Ed Warren (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) — trying to help a mother whose daughter is exhibiting signs of demonic possession, The Conjuring 2 will leave you speechless, and sleeping with one eye open. This part horror, part supernatural film is one of the most-talked about and gripping horror movies of the Conjuring franchise, which is loosely based on the stories of the real Lorraine and Ed Warren. The events of this movie play out similarly to the first, in that the couple attempts to rid the spirit haunting the home. However, along the way, Lorraine has visions of a demonic nun (Bonnie Aarons). Personally, the nun, Valak, was one of the scariest spirits in The Conjuring 2.

Hereditary (2018)

Often in the horror movie genre, one gets to travel the wide spectrum of horrible and exceptional acting performances. A24 and Ari Aster’s Hereditary sits very much in the greatest acting of all time category, horror or otherwise. Simply with their chilling performances, Toni Collette, Alex Wolff and Milly Shapiro create unprecedented feelings of terror, pain and paranoia.

Essentially, Hereditary is the story of a family of four, haunted by their own grandmother’s secrets. Of course, the severed heads, the satanic rituals, the ceiling crawlers and spontaneous combustions are enough to give one sleepless nights but what stays with you longer is the trauma that each generation of a family must carry, whether they are haunted by grannies or not. Some of the most scarring episodes are not stupid jumpscares but the shrieks of a grieving mother, a young boy spending an entire night in dread of the morning, and that dining table scene that Toni definitely deserved more than a few awards for.

Hereditary stayed with me for almost a month and not in a ‘I can’t walk to the loo at night’ way. But in a ‘I wonder what my grandmother was hiding from us’ kind of way. Hopefully she didn’t dabble in bringing back demon kings from hell.

The Ring (1998)

1998 Japanese film Ring was such a game changer in horror genre that it laid the ground for multiple instalments and western remakes of Japanese horror films, including 2002 American film of the same name starring Naomi Watts. It revolves around a reporter who races against time to investigate the mystery behind a cursed video tape, which if watched by a person would lead to his/her death after seven days.

More than two decades and a new generation of moviegoers later, a quick glimpse at the film may come across as funny for habitual lovers of horror genre who have seen memes based on the film for the longest time. A female ghost with damaged nails and long black hair covering her face, stepping out of the television is nothing new in today’s time but the film pierced through the hearts of the audience 25 years ago. Thanks to its black and white and hazy visuals which had an added impact, it was enough to make people, especially me, quit watching horror forever.

The Evil Dead (1981)

The American-horror series Evil Dead gave something fresh to the audience amid same-old possessed ghost stories, revolving around female protagonists. Out of all instalments, The Evil Dead (1981) was undeniably the best one to convince anyone that ghosts are real, and sadly none of its sequels could recreate the same magic. Millennials still might have a fresh memory of the Book Of Dead and how Ash and his group of friends experienced some gruesome paranormal activities during their trip to a cabin in the woods. The film paved the way for upcoming horror films for decades, which often included a trip to the woods, and a bunch of curious city friends trying to challenge a legion of demons and spirits. Its ahead-of-time visuals are one of the reasons why Evil Dead remains a cult choice for many horror-lovers, including mine. With a dose of subtle action mixed with eerie sequences like never before in the 80s, the film is one of the greatest horror films of all time.