Halloween is creeping up on us, and that means one thing: blood, guts and jumpscares galore! It also means the same unoriginal, overdrawn plot of a masked killer slicing open the stomachs of some pesky dramatic teenager — and I’ve been yearning for something a little more off-beat. If you’re tired of the basic murders from “The Shining”, “Poltergeist” or “Nightmare on Elm Street”, try out these intense and unusual movies to cure your slasher-movie slump.

I picked three of some of the cult-iest, wackiest and terror-inducing horror films to switch up your horror selection this All Hallows Eve. 

THE BROOD

In this “multi-genre” body-horror-flick, the audience treks through the plot lines of a messy divorce with a detached Frank Carveth and his mentally disturbed wife Nora, the shady psychological practices at the fictional Sommafree Institute and (my personal favorite) the murderous child-like monster. Now, don’t be thrown off by all of these seemingly clashing plot lines, they all tie together in the end making a disgustingly perfect yet cohesive story

This movie is an outsider to the 70/80’s movie bubble. The movie deals with themes of psychosis, the effects of divorce and a slight reversal of the damsel-in-distress situations – definitely not just a stale revenge-killing plot.  

The director also decided to only show extremely grotesque parts of the movie, so when the horrific, wrinkled and pale visages of the creatures were presented to me in full light the noise that left my mouth was like something from one of the movie’s horrifying creatures. The special effects weren’t cutting-edge but still managed to scare me more than some of the questionable CGI animation we see today. 

There is also a horror aspect to most of the supporting characters. They all have their own traumatic backstory, making me sympathetic for them even in their most questionable moments.  Even though Nora is violent and borderline psychotic you can’t help but pity her because her of her abusive past. The sentimental component given to the horror movie’s characters conflicted the grotesque actions, making for a shocking, thought-provoking and sleepless end to my night

ANTIBIRTH

Set in a cold, snow-bound, mid-western town, this sci-fi horror flick chronicles anti-heroine Lou and her mysterious rapidly approaching pregnancy. After floating around another drug-oozing party, she wakes up pregnant and the search is to find out what is actually growing inside of her.

She becomes quite manic as her pregnancy becomes terminal and we as the audience watch her fall from indifferent Heroin addict to crazed zombie woman.

Stylistically, this film reflects its characters love of a quick high, with nauseating editing and a color palette that uses colors Crayola hasn’t even thought of making. The style choices set the mood for a disgusting, slimy and all-around perfectly atrocious watching experience. 

The director made it his top priority to deter any common horror cliches that could be predictable to audiences. As Lou is spiraling further and further into the terrifying trips of her infected brain, the audience witnesses estranged quasi-religious people emerging out of the moon or reluctantly watching Lou receive an ultrasound by what I can only describe as neon gorilla clowns. With all of these occurring my brain felt as if it was being oversaturated in LSD.

The first third of the movie gave me a false pretense of a somewhat laidback horror film about the struggles of people addicted to illegal substances. And boy, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Towards the end of the plot gears are shifted into OVER overdrive, and it’s all a fever dream I wish I could wake up from but subconsciously want to stay in. Even though the near vomit inducing scene made me take a break from viewing this movie, the hallucinatory cinematography and twisting plot will impress those who can get past its outlandish nature.

CARNIVAL OF SOULS

Picture this: you ask for the next ticket out of town, but no one can hear you. time’s not frozen, but the world is silent. You are isolated! Isolation is one of my biggest fears and its effects come in full force when it comes to the protagonist Mary Henry, and her recent hauntings by cadaver-like figures.

Since the movie was made in the 60’s, the special effects were, minimal however, I found myself becoming more scared than being in a neutral state, and I loved it. The carefully crafted jump scares loomed over my petrified conscious, but I appreciate the director making each terrifying jolt different from the next — something hard to come by in the average Halloween flick.

This movie focuses on how a traumatic past can come back to haunt you and consume your life. As every scene passes the next becomes increasingly threatening, as though every single character, even the extra’s, want her dead.The feeling I got as she becomes controlled by her past was foreign to me — it was isolation, a horror characteristic I’m not used to.Yes, my family was all occupying my house, but I could have had my mom be parallel to me and would still feel like I am the only one living on my street.