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2025 Horror Anniversaries: Part Two

The Descent (Directed by Neil Marshall, 2005) 

Very rarely does a film like The Descent come around, with the horror being comparable to one hundred minutes of pure fright. This British film comes from the mind of horror auteur Neil Marshall, who delivers an experience that is known for managing to scare the wits out of even the most hardened of viewers. The Descent follows six lifelong friends who have made a habit of going on adrenaline-fuelled trips. For their latest excursion, they embark on a caving adventure, however, once inside the uncharted cave they discover an army of humanoid creatures who they must battle against to survive.

Every box is ticked: gnarly creatures, the dark, twisted group dynamics, betrayals, heights and injuries all make an appearance. Yet, there is one element that surpasses the rest, the claustrophobic caves. The film showcases tight caves, where the women have to squeeze themselves through the tiniest of gaps just to get to another narrow tunnel. It’s a seemingly neverending cycle of torture that still daunts, intimidates, wrecks, shocks and scares stiff twenty years on. 

Final Destination (Directed by James Wong, 2000) 

The franchise responsible for making people terrified of log trucks, alongside pretty much every potentially dangerous concept such as bridges, planes, race tracks and so forth is soon to have six films to its name, but it all began twenty-five years ago with the original Final Destination. The premise follows a group of teens who cheat death after experiencing a catastrophic premonition before they are due to take off on a plane. However, rather than remaining unscathed from the incident, death begins coming after them one by one.

Prior to writing the script with fellow writer Glen Morgan and eventual director James Wong, Jeffrey Reddick conceived the premise as an unsolicited idea for an episode of the TV series ‘The X-Files‘. However, rather than being submitted to the network, Reddick was convinced to develop the forty-five minute episode into a feature-length film. The result of the script is extremely theatrical, very seriously toned, and alert to its own sternness of a subject matter, yet at the same time, its melodramatic flair makes it somewhat of a comfort watch, where the predictable, formulaic nature of death chasing down each character makes for great repeat viewing. 

Ginger Snaps (Directed by John Fawcett, 2000) 

The matter of lycanthropy has never been so angsty in John Fawcett’s Ginger Snaps. This werewolf tale follows Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and her sister Bridgette (Emily Perkins), who together have a strange obsession with death, often photographing themselves as they stage various methods of killing. Their curiosity about the macabre soon becomes a reality after Ginger is bitten by a werewolf on the night of a full moon. Soon, Ginger becomes more than a hormonal teenager as she sports a growing tail, sprouts hair and develops a ferocious appetite for violence.

Ginger Snaps possesses the capacity to be analytically torn apart and devoured as a piece of metaphorical heavy cinema, with the film often being written about by many academics, namely Barbara Creed in her Monstrous Feminine theory. Creed posits that Ginger Snaps can be read as a recreation of the adolescent woman as an animal, akin to a feral beast equipped with all the bodily changes for a monstrous affair. Whether you absorb the film as an interpretive experience, or as pure entertainment, Ginger Snaps is a killer horror through and through. 

Scary Movie (Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, 2000) 

Although the iconic satirical slasher Scary Movie is due to turn twenty-five years old this summer, the Wayans brother production is largely, minus a few dated moments, still as hilarious today as it was at the start of the millennium. The two decades before Scary Movie was inundated with slasher films, to the point where metafictional cinema and media had pulled reign and both celebrated and parodied the influx, with Scary Movie being a key example of such cinema. Just a few pieces that are spoofed throughout the film include ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’, ‘Scream’, ‘The Shining’, ‘Friday the 13th’, ‘Halloween‘, ‘The Matrix’ and ‘The Blair Witch Project’.

Unlike many horror films, Scary Movie solely thrives on its humour rather than the scares, with every scene brimming with raunchy, vulgar moments of shockingly daring, slapstick-like and at times crude laughs. This bold take was seen as a bit too tasteless for some of the bigger news outlets reviewing the film upon its release, yet for many, the obscenity is what makes the film excel. The film ended up spawning five sequels, the latter of which was only recently announced, but the anticipation is already making waves, particularly as the Wayans are set to return and write the screenplay. 

Misery (Directed by Rob Reiner, 1990) 

Misery, an adaption of Stephen King’s novel of the same name (1987), is said to be one of King’s favourite cinematic recreations of his many books. The reasons as to why this is the case are countless, as Misery well and truly flourishes in every category. Firstly, the acting is excellent, with Kathy Bates winning the Academy Award for Best Actress, which is a feat in itself when one considers that the Oscars is renowned for commonly overlooking the horror genre in its selection. One of the many other reasons for its golden reputation is that the film is genuinely suspenseful, with Reiner actively creating scenes awash with nail-bitingly tense moments of sheer fright, terror and blinding anticipation.

A pivotal example of Misery’s brilliance is when Bates’ character, Annie Wilkes, who has been holding novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) restrained and hostage, takes a sledgehammer to her captive’s ankles, smashing them to smithereens. The snapshot of Sheldon’s ankles making a ninety-degree angle is shown, but the moment is deliberately and incredibly brief, with Reiner focusing on showing the raw reactions of both the characters instead of the gore. Ultimately, it is Misery’s adept ability to convey strong emotional tension that makes it still a supreme classic horror film thirty-five years on. 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (Jack Sholder, 1985) 

Wes Craven’s original A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) is an obvious, undefeated champ, and commonly agreed upon as the best entry in the lengthy franchise, yet its sequel ‘Freddy’s Revenge’ does have its gleaming moments that have led to its contemporary cult status forty years on. The second telling of Freddy Kreuger (Robert Englund) follows teenager Jesse Walsh (Mark Patton), who has recently moved into the former property of Nancy Thompson, who years prior suffered a disastrous fate at the hands of the ‘Springwood Slasher’ himself. Soon, Jesse begins to experience horrific nightmares of Krueger, leading to a deadly fight for survival.

Upon its release, reviews were in the grey, with the film being continuously compared to its predecessor. Despite the initial murky critical reception, Freddy’s Revenge has become a glorified entry in the Elm Street series, with the film’s surrounding dialogue revolving around matters such as homoeroticism, sexuality and repressed desires. 

The Changeling (Directed by Peter Medak, 1980) 

The Changeling follows John Russell (George C. Scott), a New York composer whose car becomes stuck in the snow whilst travelling in the mountains. Whilst calling for help in a nearby phone booth, he witnesses a truck collide with his wife and daughter, brutally killing them both. Grieving from the loss of his family, he moves to Seattle, renting a grand mansion that has been supposedly vacant for over a decade. Although John is all alone, he begins to experience strange phenomena as the house reveals itself to be haunted.

The Changeling is known to be quite the terrifying feature, with the film being the quintessential ghost story. Creaky doors, loud sudden noises and supernatural apparitions all make themselves known throughout, with each act becoming embroiled with layers of haunting lore. Yet, the archetypal spooky elements are far from being monotonous, as The Changeling is filmed in such an atmospherically captivating way, with some truly mystifying cinematography, detailed sound design and a commendable, believable performance from Scott. 

Peeping Tom (Directed by Michael Powell, 1960) 

Carol Boehm plays Mark Lewis, a serial killer whose modus operandi is unsuspecting women who he murders using a concealed blade hidden in his camera equipment, filming his victims as he murders them. In Peeping Tom, the camera that Lewis uses becomes a weapon, capturing the look of pure fear in a person’s eye as they realise that the man before them is actually a savage and a sadistic killer.

It is incidents such as these that led to the film becoming harshly received upon its release sixty-five years ago. Various countries sought for the film to be censored and reprimanded due to the shocking nature of the film. One of these restrictions lasted for twenty-one years, with Finland outright banning the film. Peeping Tom’s historical legacy is rich with explorations surrounding the film’s portrayal of voyeurism, which is used as a lens, traversing issues such as the human psyche, alongside the voyeuristic gaze that cinema itself withholds. 

Psycho (Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) 


One of the most iconic horror films of all time turns sixty-five years old this Autumn. Psycho is a lesson in suspense, particularly in thanks to the filmmaker behind the camera, the one and only Sir Alfred Hitchcock. The film’s direction, unnerving legendary score, unsettling set design, stark lighting and tremendous performances have helped propel Psycho to its acclaimed position and cement the tropes that still linger in the genre to this day.

The film’s uncanny ability to startle does not simply lie in its technical elements, with Psycho additionally taking heed of its dark atmospheric aura and tone to draw viewers in only to cruelly punish them at the hands of its anxiety-inducing plot. For instance, the film makes use of its psychological motives, both through the narrative itself, and through the way Hitchcock pulls off some of the greatest plot twists of all time.

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Oujia boards, planchette’s and the dead: Top seance horror movies

1- Witchboard (Directed by Kevin Tenney, 1986)

At a party a group of friends use an Oujia board in the hopes of harmless fun, but the connection between the afterlife and reality becomes blurred when an evil spirit unleashes a world of chaos. 

Witchboard was notably shunned by many audience goers and critics after its 1986 release, leaving a sour reputation in its wake. Many years after, as with most 1980s cinema, the film received a cult status, with devotees rewarding the over-the-top storyline alongside the flamboyant characters. Witchboard dares to stand out from the rest of seance-based films, partly due to the lack of sterness regarding contacting the dead, but also in how it tiptoes the fine line between being a horror comedy without becoming a mocking parody. 

Movies that delve into supernatural territory, particularly those who use an Ouija board as the tool to talk to spirits, don’t gel well with touches of comedy. Yet, director Kevin Tenney has this unique ability to fuse outrageous plot points with sizable spooky visuals. Speaking of Tenney, it can be said that the brazenly wild dynamics of Witchboard created a stylistic backbone for his future work, especially Night of the Demons (1988), everyone’s favourite Halloween popcorn movie.  

2- The Haunting in Connecticut (Directed by Peter Cornwell, 2009)

In hopes of relieving the journey travelling to and from hospital for their son Matt’s (Kyle Gallner) cancer treatments, the Campbell’s move into a nearby rental where the family begin to experience terrifying hauntings and violent outbursts from the ghosts occupying the house. 

Before everyone knew The Conjuring’s (2013) Ed and Lorraine Warren’s names, there was The Haunting in Connecticut, which is based on a “supposed” true story (the word supposed being used operatively) that the Warren’s investigated in the 1980s. From the outset, the film’s reliance on tropes that horror habitually uses is noticeable, the whole idea of a family moving to a haunted house is not unfamiliar, nor is the notion of the apparition affecting the young in the house, but the execution of such familiarities pushes the film into refreshing depths that creep up slowly on the viewer.

Through a magnifying glass, deeper themes such as the fragility of morality is abundantly clear, mostly owing to Matt’s condition, but also in relation to the house’s history that is unearthed from a terrifying on-screen seance. The seance scene reveals that the previous occupant had some truly sinister intentions up his sleeves. What allows all of these dense threads to disperse is the ultra ominous vibe that is composed by the classic supernatural elements, that no matter how many times they’ve been done can still be a good’un. 

3- Host (Directed by Rob Savage, 2020) 

A group of six friends host an online seance to relieve some boredom, little do they know that they accidentally lured in a deadly demonic presence. 

Though 2020 was a quieter year for cinema, independent filmmaker Rob Savage took the entire world by storm with his spine tingling feature debut, Host. Co written by Gemma Hurley, Jed Shepherd, and Savage is this regenerative effort in injecting an adrenaline boost into found footage and the rising trend of desktop horror. The premise was sparked from a viral prank that Savage pulled on his friends during a zoom meet-up, in which he claimed that strange occurrences were happening in his attic, leading him to ‘inspect’ the site and find a demon. Of course, the unknowing zoom attendees freaked out, and screamed in terror over the charade. With all the viral attention studios quickly became interested in this entirely unique and timely story, leading to the streaming giant Shudder picking up one of the 21st century’s most raved about films.

What’s so special about Host is the personable impression that it holds. The cast and crew were already acquainted, infusing the film with a creepy level of realness. Those brave enough to watch Host actually feel like they’re in the call, taking part in the terrifying action. Across the entire film the seance plays out rather realistically in terms of character reactions. There are those who take the medium seriously, appreciating the threat that the dead can hold, and then there are the others who can’t make it more than two minutes without laughing. Belief isn’t necessary to feel a part of something ‘higher’, and Host uses this sceptical notion to guide and control what the viewer feels. Yes, we may laugh along at the beginning over the *very* precise jargon used within this seance, but by the end it is impossible not to feel provoked by the mysterious art of spiritual channeling. 

4- The Changeling (Directed by Peter Medak, 1980)

After a tragedy, composer John Russell (George C. Scott) begins to experience strange phenomena at his stately home. To confirm his suspicions he holds a seance with sinister consequences. 

Although The Changeling has long garnered gleaming praise, it isn’t held up alongside the genre’s heavyweights such as The Shining (1980) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968), despite the film’s creative and nerve-jangling execution. Driving The Changeling is the sense of existential dread that ceases to remain contained in one space. This terror stems from the emotive connotations of trauma, which we are led to believe is solely confined within the house and its history, but in reality director Peter Medak thematically implies that the hell being unleashed within the building has the potential to grow and grow until it becomes so enriched in evil that nothing will stop the torment.

With such an elaborate backstory it could be easy to become muddled in its own eccentricity, yet any disarray is diffused as a result of the eerie seance scene where the presence of the ‘other’ becomes so heightened and serious that even seasoned horror fans will experience an eerie level of fear. 

5- The Exorcist (Directed by William Friedman, 1973)

When 12-year-old Regan (Linda Blair) becomes possessed by an evil entity, her mother enlists the help of two priests to perform an exorcist. 

It would certainly not be appropriate for a seance movie list to exist without the presence of William Friedkin 1970s showstopper The Exorcist. Many have said that the film is overrated, and maybe they’re right (questionable, I know), yet there is simply no denying the cultural phenomenon that is associated with The Exorcist. To have people fainting in the audience during screenings is extreme enough, let alone the outcry it caused amongst media censoring offices across multiple countries, which is the consequence of the harrowing depiction of Regan’s monstrous descent.

The idea that an innocent little girl could wreak havoc upon religion and humanity all thanks to an ouija board is beyond unsettling, especially considering the depths of hellish behaviour she experiences as a result. The medium of spiritual connection has always been alluring, society is naturally drawn to the idea of a spiritual realm. Regardless of general attitudes towards seances, they are not necessarily meant to provoke evil, nor are they meant to prompt devilish behaviour. Quite refreshingly The Exorcist is aware of this, and instead focuses on creating a narrative that rehashes cinema’s treatment of catholicism; generating a whole new interest and inspiration for audiences and filmmakers to explore. 

6- Verónica (Directed by Paco Plaza, 2017)

In 1991 Madrid, teenager Verónica (Sandra Escacena) begins experiencing the presence of a sinister being after playing with an Oujia board. 

Verónica is a first class extravaganza of nightmarish scares that ignites a surge of panic amongst those who are fearless enough to sit through the entire film. The slow beginning takes its time in building up the world around Verónica. By the time the action starts we have become so well connected with her situation, forcing the stakes to be raised. Rather than sitting back and watching the torment go down, we fear for the characters well being and the consequences of such events.

With this bond that Paco Plaza forms a running surge of originality is created, refusing any scene to slip into normality, instead the trepidation always arrives when it is unexpected. Joining the fierce narrative is the evocative ‘true story’ that inspired the events. Verónica is based upon the real case of Estefanía Gutiérrez Lázaro, who engaged in a seance at her strict catholic school using an Oujia board to contact a spirit. However, a nun interrupted the session by breaking the board, supposedly triggering an ancient anger which led to the death of Lázaro. The story may not be the first one of its kind, but where the case of Lázaro stands out is from the presence of the law. Spanish police ended up becoming involved due to the mysterious circumstances of the situation, leading even them to report of unexplained activity. 

7- Seance (Simon Barrett, 2021)

At an elite boarding school a group of friends play a prank on a fellow student pretending to summon a ghost through a fake seance. But when they find her dead shortly after they suspect that they have awoken something evil. To make matters worse, when new girl Camille (Suki Waterhouse) arrives, a string of mysterious deaths occur. 

Seance melds together two components of a great horror movie, an isolated setting and threat of the supernatural. Simon Barrett, who has written some stellar films such as You’re Next (2011) and The Guest (2014), tiptoes around the concerns of the supernatural through making the audience second guess the harrowing occurrences at the school. Not once do we know what direction we’re heading in, one moment the film is a whodunit puzzle and then the next he grapples with the idea of the occult. However, not once does the buffet of themes become messy, alternatively, it’s refreshing and totally absorbing to witness the complex enigma that is Seance

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