Halloween is a time to give yourself a fright. One of the best ways to do that is with a scary movie. We reached out to Hocking College's Film and Video Production Program Manager Carrie Love to get her recommendations for the best horror movies to watch this fall.
Get Out (2017)
Interracial couple Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the point in their relationship where it's time to meet her parents. After they arrive at Rose's rural upstate New York home, her mother, Missy (Catherine Keener), and father and Dean (Bradley Whitford) introduce Chris to their eerie assortment of eccentric white friends.
Meanwhile, all the African-American locals are zombified, domestics who don't question their submissive role in the community. When Chris tries to leave, he makes a horrifying discovery that indicates he's in grave danger.
The film was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and writer/director Jordan Peele won Best Original Screenplay.
The Babadook (2014)
Amelia Vanek (Essie Davis) is a grieving widow who lost her husband in a tragic car crash on their way to give birth to their son Samuel (Noah Wiseman). The older Samuel gets, the more withdrawn and fearful he becomes. Driven by his fear of unseen monsters, the boy starts to act out in ways that put Amelia's parenting skills into question.
Amelia soon discovers that her son's bad behavior has coincided with the arrival of a mysterious pop-up book. The children's book warns readers to beware of a creature named "Mr. Babadook," a monster who lives in the shadows and torments children. Unlike other movie monsters, the more the person he's terrorizing doesn't believe in him, the more dangerously real the Babadook becomes.
Cabin in the Wood (2012)
When five college friends (Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams) decide to take a vacation, their destination turns out to be a deserted cabin in a seemingly serene forest. Then, one-by-one, the friends are ambushed by a horrifying tribe of backwoods zombies. While searching the cabin basement, they find a diary that gives them some clues as to why they are being terrorized. But, as the body count rises, so does the remaining friends' suspicions that their ordeal could turn out to be anything but accidental.
Psycho (1960)
Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is a disenchanted secretary who has a married boyfriend with serious debt issues that prevent them from getting married. However, when her boss hands her $40,000 to deposit on her lunch break, Marion sees an opportunity to skip town with the cash and make a fresh start with her man.
After packing her things and taking off, Marion starts frantically planning her next move. Though the more of the stolen money she spends, the guiltier Marion becomes. When a rainstorm forces her to stop at a rundown roadside motel, Marion meets the tightly wound manager, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). When Norman starts showering Marion with attention, this triggers his possessive mother's deadly jealous streak.
This classic was nominated for four Academy Awards including, Best Director for Alfred Hitchcock and Best Supporting Actress for Leigh.
Scream (1996)
What starts as a series of flirtatious phone calls between popular high student Casey (Drew Barrymore) and a stranger quickly morphs into a creepy question and answer session about horror film trivia. Unbeknownst to Casey, the game leads to a gruesome murder that sends shockwaves through the town of Woodsboro, California.
Meanwhile, Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is coming to terms with her mother's brutal murder that occurred only one year ago. Suddenly, she begins getting threatening phone calls from the same caller who terrorized Casey.
As the masked killer — known only as Ghostface — continues their killing spree, the murders peak the attention of reporter Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), who is determined to use this case to boost her career.
Are you a horror film fan who dreams of one day bringing your own tale of terror to the silver screen? If so, then you should check out Hocking College's Film and Video Production program!
Since Autumn 2018, Hocking College has offered a Film and Video Production associate degree program. This program is designed to provide students with the skills, knowledge and experience they need to pursue employment opportunities in this thriving industry.
In keeping with Hocking College's reputation for providing students with hands-on job experience, students will explore the art of filmmaking under the guidance of a program manager who has worked on more than 250 film projects.
Hocking College's smaller class sizes allow students to get more one-on-one time with their instructor. This will benefit them as they become more familiar with the following film-oriented jobs and discover how each of these positions interacts with one another:
- Film Producer
- Film Director
- Screenwriter
- Film Editor
- Cinematographer
- Film Composer
- Production Designer
- Art Direction/Set Decoration
- Wardrobe Department
- Makeup Department
- Sound Effects Department
- Special Effects Department
- Props Department
For more information on Hocking College's Film and Video Production program, contact Program Manager Carrie Love at lovec37922@hocking.edu.