Halloween is the perfect time to stick on a scary movie, but between psychological thrillers, gory bloodbaths, and vicious monsters and zombies, choosing which horror film to watch can be a head-scratcher.
While there is a handful of horror movies filmed in Vancouver and the forgotten horror movie starring Ryan Reynolds that Vancouverites may want to watch, a local horror movie expert has offered up a few of her own top picks.
Dr. Kelly Doyle, an English instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) teaches courses that include contemporary horror and the evolution of the zombie in film. She's also a researcher in the gothic and horror genres, and a judge and horror expert with the Vancouver Horror Show Film Festival.
These are Doyle's top five horror movies:
28 Days Later (2002)
After a group of misguided animal activists free a caged chimp infected with the "Rage" virus from a medical research lab, the virus infects all of London, turning people into zombies. This zombie is Doyle's all-time favourite for its "haunting, relentless, and incredible" soundtrack, and that this movie also paved the way for the "fast" zombie. She adds that 28 Days has made her aware that zombie films are always scathing commentaries on sociopolitical issues.
Midsommar (2019)
This scary movie follows a couple that travels to Sweden to visit their friend's rural hometown for its midsummer festival, but the idyllic retreat quickly devolves into a violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult. "It's the juxtaposition of the beautiful with the profane that makes this one powerful," says Doyle.
The Descent (2005)
Six women venture below on a caving expedition that goes wrong as they struggle to survive against humanoid creatures dwelling inside. Doyle notes that this movie is "refreshing because it's a horror film about all women that manages not to sexualize them even once."
Let the Right One In (2008)
This movie is a unique take on the classic vampire. It follows 12-year-old Oskar who is relentlessly bullied to the point of assault and is deeply unhappy, until he meets the new girl named Eli who starts to give him the will to fight back. Eli is a child vampire. While the movie does show a love story, it also "explores the isolation, dashed dreams, and darkness in the lives of the adults in Oskar's periphery as well as his own deep desire for a real friend while inviting us to question what is monstrous in everyday society," explains Doyle.
REC (2008)
A reporter and her cameraman go into a local fire station during the night-shift and accompany them into an apartment building where they are quarantined with the residents and a highly contagious virus. The movie offers commentary on attitudes in the country towards immigrants and questions our fascination with reality TV, notes the horror expert.
