Six horror movies you should be watching this Halloween

If you're not up to dressing up on Saturday (Oct 31) for Halloween, don't fret. There are still other ways to celebrate this American tradition.

No, you don't have to enter a haunted house.

But hey, who's stopping you from experiencing scares in your own home (and no, we don't mean uninvited house guests)?

Enjoy the weekend in bed in your pyjamas by enjoying a horror movie marathon.

Here are some movies that may make that popcorn bowl rattle. 

1. The Babadook

 

 

​While this brilliant Australian-Canadian film doesn't have that typical creepy long-haired ghost or the gory sequences, this is a movie that really plays with your head.

One of the better horror movies last year, The Babadook centres around the relationship between a widowed mother and son - and a (supposedly) imaginary monster.

This film shows perfectly that sometimes the best source of horror lies within the characters themselves - not the ghost or monster.

2. It Follows

Along with The Babadook, it was also one of the more critically acclaimed horror movies last year.

It has a simple premise. The film follows the girl who is cursed after a sexual encounter.

How does this curse work? If you have sex with a cursed person, the monster will begin walking in your direction.

The catch? The monster can be anyone - it can take on the form of a stranger or someone you know. 

And it's impossible to really run away from the monster because it knows where you are and it will always be walking towards you.

To break the curse, you need to have sex with another person. Then, that person will be the monster's next target.

But if that new target is killed, it will walk towards you.

I strongly advise you not to watch this movie alone. 

3. The Devil's Backbone

 

 

This 2001 film is directed by gothic horror maestro Guillermo Del Toro, who also directed the recent Crimson Peak starring Jessica Chastain and Tom Hiddleston.

The ghosts in this movie, which is set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, are not scary - in fact, the humans are the real evil here.

4. A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

 

 

The genre of this movie  - an Iranian-horror-vampire-western film - is enough to make you pay attention.

Again, this is not a typical ghost or vampire movie - and it's definitely (fortunately) not Twilight although it has a little bit of romance.

To be honest, this film has no real plot but that is not a criticism.

The black-and-white movie takes place in Bad City, a fictional Iranian city and centres around a seemingly lonely teenage vampire.

It has its moments of violence but there are lighthearted moments as well as a sweet romance with a boy, Arash.

5. I Saw the Devil

 

 

This Korean psychological-horror film from acclaimed horror director Kim Jee Hoon is not for the faint-hearted because it is startlingly violent.

The movie is essentially a murder and revenge plot starring Lee Byung Hun as a special agent whose pregnant fiancee was violently killed.

Lee's character then seeks him out to exact revenge - and it is not pretty.

6. Adam Sandler movies

 

 

Have you seen the trailer of the new Netflix movie The Ridiculous Six?

Okay, a better question would be: "Did you manage to get through the entire two-minute trailer without rolling your eyes furiously?"

Just like the other horror movies listed above, Adam Sandler movies are not typical.

After all, they don't have an explicit monster or ghost.

Yet, why is it that when I attempt to watch a movie (or even a trailer), all I want to do is to cover my ears and hide behind my pillow?

That is something only the scariest of horror movies can achieve.