There are different ways to celebrate Halloween, even in South Africa. Sure, you can raise your heart rate with high-end horror, of varying intensities, but there’s also the option to kick back, relax, and have a little fun. That’s the whole point of dressing up and asking strangers for candy, the only time you’re allowed to do that as an child.
With that in mind, as well as the limitations of the South African version of Prime Video, we’ve selected ten enormously entertaining titles from Amazon’s streaming platform to tide you over until All Hallow’s Eve. These range from seriously scary to cunningly chilling but they’ve all got one thing in common — each will keep you engaged (for its own reasons) until the credits roll.
Totally Killer (2023)
The only modern horror title on this list is also an Amazon Original. Totally Killer is nonetheless a throwback, combining the conceit of Zemeckis’ Back to the Future with a 1980s slasher film. Kiernan Shipka plays Jamie, a teenager sent back in time to the first appearance in her hometown of the Sweet Sixteen Killer.
Armed with the knowledge of what’s about to go down (as well as having seen at least one Scream and Scary Movie, we’d assume), the young woman must prevent the killing spree, while also navigating hanging out with her parents in their teenage years. The horror…
Suspiria (1977)
There’s always been something creepy about ballet. Maybe it’s the requirement of great pain to produce graceful and artistic movement or maybe it’s the tendency for dancers to practise in dark corners. Susperia takes advantage of this to place an American dancer in a German ballet academy where… something… lurks. The 1977 version of the film has its own appeal, even if the trailer (above) is a product of its time. If it’s all a little twentieth-century for you, there’s also a 2018 Amazon-made remake on offer.
Hellraiser (1987)
Hellraiser is based on author Clive Barker’s novella The Hellbound Heart, which appears in his Books of Blood. The written story is plenty scary on its own but there’s something about seeing Cenobites, lead by the iconic Pinhead (played by Doug Bradley), in the flesh, as it were. The first film revolves around the puzzle box that allowed these entities into our reality.
The effect it has on the man that purchases the box in Morrocco, solves it, and is immediately killed in as brutal a fashion as you could imagine. From there, the film is a creepingly dreadful disassembly of the folks that live in the Cotton family home. There are eleven films in the horror canon, if this one isn’t enough for your appetites.
Constantine (2005)
Some might say that the major horror here is that American Keanu Reeves plays a very American John Constantine instead of the British bastard he’s portrayed as in the original Vertigo and DC comics. But this horror picture, featuring Rachael Weisz, Tilda Swinton, and Peter Stormare as one of the best Lucifers portrayed in film (right behind Elizabeth Hurley), is a wild ride that encompasses the potential downfall of humanity as brought about by the blood of Jesus. It also sees Keanu travel to Hell and, very nearly, Heaven. There’s talk of a sequel in the works, featuring Reeves and Stomare, so you should probably add this to your horror ‘Watched’ list.
Army of Darkness (1993)
If you’ve seen any of the original Evil Dead movies, you owe it to yourself to experience Army of Darkness. It sees Ash Williams, the chainsaw-handed protagonist of Sam Raimi’s trilogy, time-travel to the Middle Ages with a shotgun (‘boomstick’) and wind up on a search for the Necronomicon. The cursed tome is the only way to return home to America. As with the other films (and the excellent series) featuring Bruce Campbell, Army of Darkness is constructed almost entirely of cheese. There’s masses of gore, exploding Deadites, and quips galore. Seriously, watch the horror series after this one.
The Amityville Horror (1979)
The Amityville Horror started life as a novel by author Jay Anson and went on to start an entire genre of films, including the sub-par 2005 remake. It’s indirectly responsible for the Paranormal Activity series of films and similar titles but this horror title was controversial in its time. It is heavily based on a 1974 American mass murder and the subsequent supernatural reports from the Luts family who move into the house where six people were viciously murdered. The Amityville Horror is responsible for many of the iconic horror tropes seen in media in modern films.
Leprechaun (1993)
When you think of classic horror, you probably aren’t thinking about Leprechaun. There are three reasons why you’re wrong — Jennifer Aniston, Warwick Davis, and Leprechaun: Back 2 the Hood. The plot involves a demonic leprechaun who was imprisoned following the theft of its pot of gold. Years later, it’s released and heads out to seek its revenge. And gold. The ensuing antics are massively gorey but are also infused with enough humour to make you bark with laughter even as you’re cringing away from the brains flying across the room.
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The zombie genre didn’t exist before George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead burst onto the scene and creeped viewers out with its depiction of the returned dead shuffling around a graveyard in the darkness. The word ‘zombie’ isn’t used in the film because it wasn’t in common usage yet but the farmhouse siege of a motley handful by the walking dead set the stage for many sequels. It also leads right up to The Walking Dead, and a vast number of other games, series, and related films. If you haven’t seen this film, it’s required viewing. Yes, it’s in black-and-white. No, it isn’t any less of a horror movie.
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
When Guillermo del Toro wasn’t writing about giant robots or slowly morphing into George R.R. Martin, he was writing the best Hellboy movies in existence. The Golden Army is a suitably spooky sequel for the horror-minded. It’s a fantastical take on reality that pitches viewers into a parallel underworld that could turn Hellboy into the catalyst that ends the world. But there’s a literal Golden army, goblins, elves a fish-man, and a very German psychic to look forward to, along with Ron Perlman’s Hellboy. Also, tooth fairies.
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Technically, any of the Cornetto Trilogy starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost could be considered horror movies. Shaun of the Dead, the most British zombie film ever made, is just the most overtly horrific. You might not think so, what with the quotable lines and comedic emphasis but you’ve forgotten the movement that the titular Shaun’s newly-turned mother lunges at him in the Winchester. There are others, including the post-film sequence, that neatly fit the bill of ‘horror’. There’s a surprising amount of gore for such an understated film and there’s also tons of reference to zombie media prior to this film’s 2004 debut. Damn, Shaun of the Dead is twenty years old now. The horror…