5 spooky films and 5 scary shows to watch to ring in Halloween 2023

A still from horror film 'Talk To Me'.

Halloween means, among other things, curling up in front of your screen with your favourite horror movies playing, like a comforting fireplace doing its job unobtrusively in the background. And if you’re looking for a new favourite this spooky season, look no further — here are five recent horror films and five horror shows available to stream in India. They represent the best of the genre across the last year or so. There’s science fiction-flavoured horror here, horror with comedic elements, horror involving serial killers and homicidal dolls. There’s something in here for everyone.

FILMS

Talk to Me (Amazon Prime Video)

One of the best horror stories of the year, Aussie indie film Talk to Me was recently seen on the big screen in India. A group of friends learn how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand — but like a drug, they get hooked onto the séance rituals, with disastrous results. A thrill-a-minute horror story that also has a thoughtful, important subplot involving trauma and PTSD.

Infinity Pool (JioCinema)

Director Brandon Cronenberg brings an agreeable science fiction element to the old ‘married couple on a mysterious island’ trope, with brilliant results. Struggling novelist James Foster (Alexander Skarsgård) and his wife discover that their vacation venue is an island where rich hedonists can commit violent crimes, create clones of themselves and for a hefty fee, watch the clone being executed for their crimes. A deliciously twisted, wickedly fun genre piece with great performances across the board.

M3GAN (JioCinema, pronounced “Megan”)

No other horror film has been dissected and meme-d on social media these last couple of years. M3GAN is the story of the eponymous AI-powered doll, which can learn on its own and is designed to be a young girl’s companion. Of course, nothing is what it seems in an evil doll story, and soon enough M3GAN begins to turn on her creator Gemma (Alison Williams) and her foster daughter Cady. Bonus points for giving us the iconic ‘M3GAN x Taylor Swift’ dance.

No One Will Save You (Disney+Hotstar)

Perhaps, the most original script on the list, one that has only five words of dialogue through its 90-minute runtime. Traumatised, perennially anxious seamstress Brynn is stuck at home because she feels too afraid to go out on most days. One night, she realizes that aliens have taken over her small town — and moreover, that one of these aliens has invaded her own home. Think Predator crossed with Home Alone and you have a decent picture of the madcap frenzy unleashed by No One Will Save You.

Scream VI (Apple TV)

The only direct sequel on this list, and I am including this only because it works as a standalone — you don’t really need to know any backstory to follow it. Scream, of course, is one of the most respected slasher franchises of all time, focusing on a series of serial killers wearing the iconic ‘Ghostface’ mask. Scream VI revolves around a pair of New York-based sisters, Sam and Tara, who are being stalked by an obsessive pair of Ghostface killers — and seem to know a family secret that the sisters thought they had buried a long time ago.

STREAMING SHOWS

Goosebumps (Disney+Hotstar)

Based on RL Stine’s bestselling book series of the same name, this recently released show tries to recreate the Stranger Things formula — a group of plucky, resourceful high school students investigate the mysterious death of a boy 30 years ago, discovering their town’s many spooky secrets along the way. Seven episodes have been released so far (three more on the way) and they usually stick to the serialised, ‘monster-of-the-week’ format.

The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix)

Horror veteran Mike Flanagan returns with an elaborate tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, one of the pioneers of horror and weird fiction. The titular story has been modernised to fit contemporary themes and now follows the downfall of a corrupt, ruthless pharma billionaire’s family — along the way, almost every episode adapts a different Poe story (The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart and several other classics) and does so with élan.

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (Netflix)

This is an anthology-format show executive-produced by Guillermo del Toro, the Oscar-winning filmmaker of Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water and several other films with fantastical/supernatural elements. He assembled a talented lineup of horror veterans for Cabinet of Curiosities, each one directing a different tale. Standouts include ‘The Outside’, a story about a woman who enters a Faustian soul-bargain, directed by Ana Lily Amirpour.

Chucky Season 3 (JioCinema)

Based on the Child’s Play franchise of the 1990s, Chucky is the ultimate ‘evil doll’ show, with Brad Dourif reprising his role as the titular homicidal doll who loves wise-cracking and comically oversized knifes. The show is a rare example of a spinoff that’s vastly more fun than the original — the recent third season saw Chucky the doll wreaking havoc at The White House, no less.

Shining Vale Season 2 (Amazon Prime)

I am a recent convert to Shining Vale, but it really is a remarkable blend of two genres that don’t mix easily — comedy and horror. A bestselling novelist in the middle of a mid-life crisis moves into what may be a haunted house along with her husband and her teenaged kids. Courtney Cox does a remarkable job as the central character, novelist Patricia Phelps. The second season just wrapped up a couple of weeks ago and it did not disappoint.