It’s haunting season and people of all ages across the country are venturing to the “horror” tab of Netflix and Hulu for the first time since last year only to be utterly disappointed at the quality of horror on the steaming services. Sometimes, it feels like you could find better horror at the bottom of the Walmart $5 bin, but don’t worry. Not all horror has to be bad. Below is a list of the absolute essentials from New England author Stephen King. Turns out there are many horrifying things in New England: killer clowns, undead cats and Massachusetts. It’s enough to give you the shivers all October long.
Pet Sematary (1989-2019)
Available on Sling (1989), Hulu (2019)
Everyone takes it hard when a pet dies, but the residents of the town of Ludlow never seemed to get over it. By using an ancient native burying ground, they have found a way to bring their fur babies back to life. I know what you’re thinking, “Not another zombie movie,” but what comes out of the “Pet Sematary” is worse than any zombie. Things take a turn for the worst when one man finds out what happens when you bury a human in the haunted ground. The following is just another chapter in the long and dark history of Ludlow. Although the original movie adaptation is more in line with the events of the book, the 2019 version is more visually appealing and the actors who appear as the major characters, in my opinion, give a better and more believable performance. However, the 1989 film has that off-putting 80’s flair to it and is not reliant on CGI as many movies today are.
It (1990-2019)
Available for purchase on Youtube, various streaming platforms
The movie that has probably put hundreds of clowns out of work, “It” follows the story of the Loser’s Club, a group of outcasts and oddballs in the town of Derry, Maine and their encounters with the entity known as It. It takes many forms throughout the story: a werewolf, a mummy, a giant spider, dead children and most famously, Pennywise, the dancing clown. Packed to the brim with symbolism, this story is actually a metaphor of the evils that plague society. The two new adaptations of King’s classic, “It” (2017) and “It: Chapter Two” (2019), give an exciting new take on Pennywise and set the story in a new decade, even including elements from the book not mentioned in the previous movie. They also have the benefit of being more accessible, being on every major streaming platform, except Netflix. The 1990’s miniseries is where it’s at — no pun intended. Tim Curry as Pennywise is not only haunting and sinister, but surprisingly hilarious.
The Shining (1980-1997)
Available on Prime Video and Philo
Jack Torrance and his family are the winter caretakers at the Overlook Hotel, keeping the lights on and making sure the facility does not burn down or freeze over. Sounds easy enough, except the job description forgot to mention that the hotel wants Jack to murder his family. Jack descends into madness — or a very bad case of cabin fever — in this Stanley Kubrick classic. Stephen King, unsatisfied with the film’s betrayal of the original story, decided to oversee his own version of the story for the screen in 1997. Although it follows the original story much better, that is all that it has going for it. Please just stick to the Kubrick version.
Carrie (1976-2013)
Available on Hulu, Sling, and Starz
The first of Stephen King’s novels tells of a teenage girl named Carrie who grew up with a zealous mother and is not particularly well liked at school. Well, that’s an understatement — she is the most hated girl in school with absolutely no friends. A group of particularly nasty kids decide to pull a very mean-spirited and gory prank on her, but unbeknownst to them, Carrie has been honing her telekinetic powers, strengthening them to kill. The original 70s adaptation is by far the best, but it’s production quality is severely outdated and loses a bit of it’s charm for that, and there are some very dated scenes which may be uncomfortable to some. The 2013 version featuring Chloë Grace-Moretz has some bends in the story and can get very dry, but overall, it sticks to it very well and with much less cheese.
Now that you’ve got a rough guide of where to find your horror, save the stumbling around Netflix to the newbies. You know what to watch when it’s movie night. For more horror know-how, be sure to read Freaky Features every week in October, and for things you might have missed, check out last week’s article. Happy Halloween.
