Staff pick

Gateway drugs for horror normies

8 films · August 2026

For the friend who liked Hereditary and thinks that is the deep end. Nothing here will make them leave the room.

Halloween
1978 · USA · 92m
Obscurity: canon
$325,000 into $70 million, and every slasher after it is a photocopy.
Suspiria
1977 · Italy · 94m
Obscurity: canon
Barely a giallo and barely a plot. Possibly the most beautiful horror film ever shot.
Black Christmas
1974 · Canada · 98m
Obscurity: canon
Predates Halloween and is scarier. The phone calls still work.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
1974 · USA · 83m
Obscurity: canon
Almost bloodless, and still the most upsetting film here. The heat is the horror.
Deep Red
1975 · Italy · 126m
Obscurity: known
Argento's best. Goblin's score does half the work and knows it.
Carnival of Souls
1962 · USA · 84m
Obscurity: known
Made by an industrial-film director for $33,000. Genuinely haunted.
The Wicker Man
1973 · UK · 88m
Obscurity: canon
Not exploitation, filed here by shelf-adjacency. One of Britain's best films.
Long Weekend
1978 · Australia · 92m
Obscurity: cult
A couple litter, and Australia decides to kill them. Excellent.

Halloween