Halloween
MA15+
USA, 1978
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Charles Cyphers
What's it about?If you've never watched John Carpenter's cult horror classic, now is the time to see for yourself what the fuss is about. The iconic villain Michael Myers is the convicted killer who escapes from the psychiatric hospital that's been his home since he murdered his sister (on - guess what? - Halloween night). Fifteen years on, he's back, and he's not happy. It will take our heroin Laurie Strode, played by scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, all the perseverance and strength she can muster if she wants to survive Myers' murderous urges.
Read: Maika Monroe on It Follows and Her 5 Favourite Scream Queens
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
MA15+
USA, 1974
Director: Tobe Hooper
Starring: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger
What's it about?
Originally banned in 1974, Tobe Hooper's low-fi slasher is now a cult classic, considered a game changer in the genre. When five young students decide to visit their grandfather's house in the country, they're hunted and terrorised by a chainsaw-wielding killer – the mask-wearing maniac Leatherface – and his family of grave-robbing cannibals.
Read article: Why 'The Texas Chain Saw Massacre' Is the Best Horror Movie Ever Made
Cold Prey
MA15+
Norway, 2006
Director: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Viktoria Winge, Hallvard Holmen, Rolf Kristian Larsen
What's it about?
This Norwegian film follows five carefree youths on a snowboarding trip. When they come up against overcrowded slopes and queues for the ski lifts, they escape the crush and head for an untouched peak. Excited to be setting out on their own away from the masses, they’re surprised to come across another person – it happens to be the most frightening serial killer in the country’s history.
Cold Prey 2 is also streaming at SBS On Demand, but don’t read the synopsis to avoid spoilers for the first film!
The Horde
MA15+
France, 2009
Director: Yannick Dahan, Benjamin Rocher
Starring: Claude Perron, Jean-Pierre Martins, Eriq Ebouaney
What's it about?When a notorious drug dealer kills one of their colleagues, a group of policemen put vengeance on the top of their agenda. Taking reinforcements with them, they end up in a Parisian neighbourhood you don't see on the brochures. As they venture into the high-rise building that’s the target of their investigations, they soon realise some of the tenants aren’t quite human. There is blood and guts aplenty in The Horde as gangsters and cops go head-to-head with zombies.
Scanners
MA15+
Canada, 1981
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Jennifer O'Neill, Stephen Lack, Patrick McGoohan, Lawrence Dane
What's it about?
In the mindblowing Scanners, David Cronenberg (Videodrome, The Fly) explores his theme of choice: body modification. Scanners are people with extraordinary telepathic powers, who can read people's minds, make them mad or even explode. Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside), a rebellious scanner, is the leader of an underground movement and decides to wage a war against a weapons manufacturer who uses people of his ilk for their dastardly purposes.
