Cape Town - Monday 31 October is a special day. Not only is it the start of the week (if you get excited about things like that,) but it’s also Halloween - the one day of the year when we can celebrate all things creepy. And guess what? ShowMax is bringing scary back with a selection of blood-curdling horror movies.
PSYCHO (2008)
Return to the Bates motel and its horrors in this frame-for-frame remake of the Alfred Hitchcock classic. Receptionist Marion Crane is on the run from the law and ends up at the Bates Motel run by weirdo Norman Bates and his mom. The best part (and one of the most legendary movie scenes ever), is the iconic shower scene in which Marion is stabbed to death in the shower. The screeching high violin sound combined with the blood running down the shower drain is a masterpiece.
FUN FACT: In the original Psycho, the producers used chocolate sauce as blood as the movie was shot in black-and-white.
WES CRAVEN’S DRACULA
It’s the year 2000 and a group of thieves steals a silver coffin and take it to New Orleans only to find it holds uber-vampire Dracula (Gerard Butler). Now on the loose in New Orleans, it’s up to vampire hunter Matthew van Helsing (Christopher Plummer) to travel from London to stop the bloodsucker. It’s a great vampire story: expect blood, guts, mind control and fangs. The best part is the end when Dracula reveals who he really is.
THE OTHERS
If you’re into ghost stories, then get ready to be freaked out. Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) lives in a gothic mansion surrounded by fog with her two kids Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley). But things are not right in the mansion and soon Grace realises there is someone - or something - else living with them. Can she stop the terror before it catches them? Few ghost stories have managed to be as scary and spellbinding as this film. It will keep you guessing until the end.
EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING
The demonic 2004 prequel movie sees Father Lancaster Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) more interested in archaeology than the church. He’s asked to help look for a relic of the demon Pazuzu, who would later go on to make Regan MacNeil’s (Linda Blair) head spin in The Exorcist (1973). Some of the scariest and grossest scenes are soldiers crucified upside-down, boys ripped to pieces by wild animals and a woman giving birth to a stillborn born covered in maggots. Best not to watch while having dinner!
THE LOVELY BONES
Not so much scary, The Lovely Bones (2009) is a crime drama with a supernatural twist. The 14-year-old Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is murdered by her serial killer neighbour George Harvey (Stanley Tucci) and she ends up in the In-Between, a place somewhere between heaven and hell. She watches over her family and tries to keep them safe. Don’t miss the scene where George finally gets what he deserves.
More scary movies!
ShowMax has a wide selection of delicious creepy movies including The Blair Witch Project (1999), the Saw movies (2004-current), The Grudge (2004), Resident Evil (2002), Underworld (2003) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). And for the kids, check out the Trick and Treat collection for some light-hearted Halloween fun.
*This article is sponsored. Channel24 is part of Media24, a subsidiary of Naspers.