With Halloween falling on a weekend this year it's the perfect time to settle in and soak up some scares via streaming.
While 2020 has been terrifying enough on its own, if you've got space for just a little more fear in your soul, Newshub is here to help.
Here are our best six picks, with a mix of newer releases and vintage classics.
Host
Available on: Shudder
Six friends decide to perform a seance over Zoom while stuck in lockdown and mistakenly invite a demonic presence. From a perfectly 2020 premise, this Shudder original showcases some incredible cinematic creativity on a shoestring budget. At a brisk 57 minutes, Host is not a second longer than it needs to be and puts every second to work. Currently sitting pretty at 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, this is the best, most original horror of the year so far. Would highly recommend watching on a laptop to complete the experience.
Sputnik
Available on: Apple/Amazon Prime/Google TV
During the Cold War, a Russian space shuttle crashes with only one survivor who is brought to a secure facility where he recovers remarkably quickly. A doctor brought to examine him discovers something terrifying may have hitched a ride inside him. A Soviet twist on Alien, Sputnik features a parasitic monster realised through exceptional effects and clever camera work. Featuring plenty of bloody horror, Sputnik is not one for the squeamish. While the film stumbles in its final act, it's great to see innovation in a genre first pioneered by Ridley Scott way back in 1979.
The Endless
Available on: Google/Amazon prime
Two brothers escape from a doomsday cult in the desert as children and return years later to find everyone welcomes them back, and seemingly haven't aged a day. A mind-bending plot inspired by H.P Lovecraft ensues, full of creeping fear but virtually no jump scares - perfect for those who prefer their horror eerie rather than heart-stopping. The script balances warmth, earnestness and even occasional laughs with a looming sense of danger. This one is for fans of 'cosmic horror' - the idea there are things beyond our world so ancient and unknowable that to even glimpse them would drive you mad.
The Exorcist
Available on: Google/Apple
A mother becomes convinced something is deeply wrong with her daughter and after exhausting every medical avenue is forced to accept the sickness might be supernatural. Arguably the scariest film of all time holds up in 2020. The Exorcist continues to spawn a thousand imitators but barely any have ever approached its excellence. Anchored by astonishing performances from Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair, this film remains the greatest occult horror, defining a subgenre that it established almost 50 years ago.
Midsommar
Available on: Apple/Microsoft
A nightmare in broad daylight, this follow-up to the exceptional Hereditary by Director Ari Aster cemented his place as a master of modern horror. Midsommar unflinchingly portrays not only skin-crawling terror, but real human grief which combine to make a movie that's not just scary, but viscerally upsetting. Aster's camera never cuts away, even when you wish it would, drenching his movies in inescapable dread. This is one for the pure horror junkies who've grown numb to jump scare-filled slashers. But a warning: this is not an easy watch by any measure.
Event Horizon
Available on: Netflix/Amazon Prime
A hyper-advanced spaceship mysteriously vanishes then returns years later, empty and adrift near Neptune. An intrepid crew, which includes Kiwi screen royalty Sam Neil, investigates to find the ship has been to a place of pure evil - and brought some if it back. Taking 'cosmic horror' quite literally, this perfectly pulpy slice of scifi leans into the silliness without sacrificing some truly unsettling scares. I've always loved films about wrong places, when the monster isn't an individual thing but an entire environment. While Event Horizon has some rough edges which haven't aged particularly well, it remains a cult classic for good reason.
