10 Bone Tingling Films to Watch On Shudder This Halloween

Spooky films for Halloween

It’s spooky season every season with the best streaming service for horror films – Shudder. Shudder is the home to hundreds of titles that are updated with new releases, classics, exclusives, and originals each week.

Ranging from the supernatural to the psychological, with a hefty mix of creature features, sci-fi scares, and dark comedy – Shudder has something for everyone who’s looking to indulge in the genre for Halloween, Christmas, and every other holiday.

10/10 ‘Speak No Evil’ (2022)

One of Shudder’s most recent exclusive releases, Speak No Evil, has had the Twitter-verse abuzz with discussion. Christian Tafdrup’s disturbing thriller follows a Danish family – Bjorn, Louise, and their daughter Agnes, as they venture out to spend the weekend with a Dutch family they befriended whilst on vacation in Italy.

Though the invitation itself seems friendly enough, it soon becomes clear to the audience – and to an uncomfortable Louise – that something isn’t quite right. Bjorn, desperate for some excitement in his mundane family life, insists that they stay despite some alarming behavior from their hosts. By the time he realizes his mistake in ignoring the worries of his wife, it might be too late. What starts off as an adventure to a new place with welcoming new friends, ends as one of the bleakest and disturbing films of all time.

9/10 ‘Host’ (2020)

Rob Savage’s debut feature Host took the horror world by storm back in 2020 when it was released on Shudder – quickly becoming one of the best British horrors of the century by top outlets, as well as receiving 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film follows a group of British friends who join a Zoom call in the height of the Covid-19 lockdown and invite along a psychic medium to host an online séance. However, when one of the group mocks the idea, things quickly take a turn for the worse. Shot completely over zoom, with all practical effects, Host is absolutely terrifying and best watched on a laptop with headphones for the full experience.

8/10 ‘Anything for Jackson’ (2020)

Justin G. Dyck‘s dark horror-comedy follows an elderly religious couple – Audrey (Sheila McCarthy) and Henry(Julian Richings) – as they mourn the sudden death of their only grandchild. Believing that they can bring back his spirit in the body of another child, they scheme to abduct a young pregnant woman and perform a reverse exorcism.

Making a deal with the devil always comes at a cost though, and despite their attempt to bring forth their grandchild, they actually end up opening some sort of spiritual gateway that allows all manner of dark beings to come through. Anything for Jackson is an amusing and creepy exploration of how different people handle grief, and how far they would go to escape it.

7/10 ‘The Sadness’ (2021)

Canadian filmmaker Rob Jabbaz shocked audiences all over the world in 2021 with the release of his debut feature, The Sadness. The film follows Jim (Berant Zhu) and Kat (Regina Lei) – a young Taiwanese couple who are trying to make their way back to each other amidst the horrific violence of a viral outbreak.

Unlike normal viral outbreak/zombie films though, in The Sadness when people become infected, they don’t just kill people and eat their brains – they act out their most depraved and despicable fantasies including torture, murder, and sexual assault. This film comes with every trigger warning you could think of, and you may want a barf bag to watch it.

6 ‘Caveat’ (2020)

When Isaac (Jonathan French) is hired by his landlord to look after his niece Olga (Leila Sykes), he has no idea that he is stepping into a surreal nightmare. Olga, is at risk whilst living alone on a remote island due to sometimes going into states of catatonia. When Isaac arrives, she advises him that he will need to be chained into a harness to restrict his access to certain areas of the house. Despite the request coming off more than a little strange, he agrees.

As Isaac explores the parts of the house that he can, he begins to discover the secrets that led him there, as well as those that have caused Olga’s condition. Whilst Caveat is reasonably slow-burning, it cleverly builds a sense of dread and has some shocking scares that will make your blood go cold.

5 ‘Lovely Molly’ (2011)

Molly (Gretchen Lodge), a recently married ex-heroin addict moves into her childhood home with her new husband Tim (Johnny Lewis). When Tim goes away for work for a few days, Molly is left home alone where she starts to experience strange occurrences – including hearing crying from her bedroom closet. When Tim returns, Molly is catatonic.

Throughout the film, using segments of footage appearing from her home-video recordings as well as CCTV footage, we see Molly’s behavior become increasingly creepy and aggressive. As things escalate, the tension only rises, and we begin to wonder what really happened to Molly in that house.

4 ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’ (2003)

When Soo-mi (Lim-Soo Jung) returns home after a stay in a mental institution she is pleased to be reunited with her father and sister Su-yeon (Moon Geun-young). However, she is less pleased to be reunited with their stepmother Eun-joo (Jung-ah Yum) who gives her an icy reception.

This legendary South Korean horror movie holds many secrets, and as haunting apparitions haunt Soo-mi and Su-yeon wakes up with mysterious bruises, a terrifying mystery starts to unravel.

3 ‘The Medium’ (2021)

A film crew travels to Thailand to meet Shaman Nim (Sawanee Utoomma) and her niece Mink (Narilya Gulmongkolpech) who has begun to act strangely. The family believes that Mink has been possessed by the spirit of a mysterious goddess named Ba Yan, which is causing her to become increasingly aggressive.

Mixing religious and folk horror with found footage, The Medium explores what happens when the lines between the human and spiritual worlds blur.

2 ‘The Stylist’ (2020)

This slick horror follows Claire (Najarra Townsend) – a hairstylist who lives a reasonably lonely and isolated life. It’s quickly revealed that Claire is amazing at her job, but often becomes obsessed with her clients and their lives – that obsession then turns to murder.

When she meets Olivia (Brea Grant), a woman who is planning her wedding and wants Claire to do her hair for the big day, the obsession begins. With an undeniable nod to ’80s classic Maniac, The Stylist is the darkest of horror comedies.

1 ‘Pulse’ (2001)

Told across two parallel timelines, Pulse is the story of Michi (Kumiko Aso) – a young woman who has recently moved to Tokyo and works at a plant nursery, and Ryosuke (Haruhiko Kato)– an Econ student. Simultaneously, Michi has a traumatic experience with her colleague who hangs himself in her presence, and Ryosuke discovers a strange website that has disturbing images of people alone in dark rooms.

In a time when the internet was a reasonably new phenomenon, Pulse tackles themes of loneliness, overpopulation. It looks at what becomes of people in the afterlife by making devices that are meant to keep them connected and informed into the very thing that threatens them.