Halloween is just around the corner and there are plenty of fun Halloween events in Singapore! For those of us who love horror movies, Halloween provides the perfect excuse to indulge in some spooky and scary cinema. Meanwhile, The Expat Living team share their favourite scary movie picks for those who like thrills and chills. For the faint of heart – feel free to use this as your cheatsheet of what flicks to avoid when someone invites you over for a Halloween movie night! And if you are hosting a kids’ movie night, here is a list of not-so-scary films. We’ve also got some places where you can create your own scary space and buy costumes for trick or treat night!
In the cinema now
- IT Chapter 2 – Twenty-seven years after the events of the summer of 1989, It returns.
- Joker – A failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and becomes a psychopathic murderer.
- Danur 3: Sunyaruri – Risa is growing up but her ability to see the ghost makes her difficult to get married. This led Risa to stay away from his five best friends, peter, William, Janshen, Hendrick and Hans. Unexpectedly, Risa’s decision brought misfortune.
- Parasite – Ki-taek’s family of four is close, but fully unemployed, with a bleak future ahead of them. Until their son get’s a job as a tutor with a new family. But following this first meeting between the two families, an unstoppable string of mishaps lies in wait.
- Metamorphosis – Exorcist Joong Su is living in a terrible guilt after a girl whom he tried to exorcise, killed herself. In addition, the demon that destroyed the girl’s family is upon Kang Gu’s family, disguising itself as the family members.
- Revenge Of The Pontianak – 1965, Malaysia. A small village helps Khalid and Siti prepare for their wedding day. Soon after, a great darkness falls upon the village as a string of horrific deaths and supernatural happenings create widespread fear and paranoia amongst the villagers.
- Midsommar – What begins as a carefree summer adventure in a land of eternal sunlight takes a sinister turn when the insular villagers invite their guests to partake in festivities that render the pastoral paradise increasingly unnerving and viscerally disturbing.
The Expat Living team’s top Halloween horror movies
The Shining was very clever and nobody did anything stupid – like leave everyone else and go in to a dark place on their own! I remember being really scared during Friday 13th, and Picnic at Hanging Rock is high up on the creepy meter. -Rebecca
The Shining always gets me. Red rum! -Melissa
I first saw Jaws at the age of 11 or 12, at the very start of a long summer spent in an Australian beach town. Needless to say I didn’t do a lot of swimming on that holiday. Ironically, the bit that scared me most didn’t involve the shark at all. (I’ll let you try to remember it!) -Shamus
Bird Box Is about an awful, mysterious force that has killed off most of the planet. If you see it, you die. A woman (Sandra Bullock) and her children set out on a blindfolded journey through the woods and down a river on a desperate search to find a rumoured place of sanctuary. – Melinda
Silence of the Lambs is top of my list. -Kate W
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle and Dead Calm are thrillers which had me on the edge of my seat. -Danielle
I don’t do horror movies at all. I saw The Shining as a 14-year-old, one dark Saturday night in my boarding school common room. Ten minutes into the screening, I knew it was a mistake, but I was too frightened to walk back to my dorm down the long, dark corridor. So, I had to watch the whole movie and it scarred me for life. -Verne
IT terrorised my entire childhood – and I can’t believe the remake is coming out soon!! -Veena
Nightmare on Elm Street … who would forget Freddy Krueger?! -Grace
Silence of the Lambs … that mask still scares me! -Jacqui
Shutter from 2004, this Thai film is still the best scary movie to me! -Siti
I absolutely love scary movies, always have! I started watching them when I was 10 (my parents didn’t know). My first was Jaws – and that stopped me wanting to swim for about five years. I think Halloween, with Jamie Lee Curtis, is terrifying – then of course there’s the classic Psycho, directed by Hitchcock. More recently The Conjuring is pretty terrifying, and I’m looking forward to seeing the re-made IT. -Amy B
Exorcist, Halloween, The Shining. I happen to love scary movies, but can’t think of anything recent that scares me more than these! -Melinda
Annabelle – some people think it’s funny but I’m yet to finish it as I’m so scared! -Susan
The Scream series, The Blair Witch Project and Labyrinth -Emi
I love scary films! It Follows was a recent one I watched that definitely gave me nightmares! -Leanda
I love the cult classic Scream – it still manages to spook me every time! I still can’t walk into a row of empty bathroom stalls without being a bit scared! I also love Get Out! – Amy G
All time scariest movies for me are “Poltergeist II” (when Kane walks up to the house in the rain – I can’t!), those “Phantasm” movies from the 80s (lead by yet another scary old man). More recently, I watched Jordan Peele’s latest movie “Us“, which was disastrously frightening too. I had to pause it and talk it through with my husband about 30 times, much to his dismay. And I hear Peele is remaking Candyman, another 80s whopper – who remembers him calling out “Helen, Heellleeen” to Virginia Madsen in the original? It’s the stuff of nightmares for decades. – Monica
Hands down The Orphan is my favourite horror/thriller, that movie’s twist still haunts me and now i’m permanently skeptical of children… – Michaela Bisset
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