All 2020s Halloween-related movies, from least to most trashy – British GQ

Octobers a bumper month. Not only are film studios emerging into the chilly sunlight after a long summer lockdown, tentatively releasing smaller films into cinemas to tempt the public back into screenings, but theyre doing so in the month that traditionally promises the most raucous type of holiday films: Halloween movies. And not only the most raucous, but often the most trashy, too (PSA: trashy isnt necessarily a bad term to attach to a film, though it can be. Think of it in a similar vein to kitsch, camp or silly).

With a raft of films due to be released throughout October, GQ has taken the time to sift through the zombies, the vampires, the witches and the demons to separate the merely tasteless from the truly cursed, on a scale of trashiness where one is dialling in to a Zoom call in boxers, shirt and tie, and ten is breaking into your exs house post-breakup and letting rip in his chilli con carne in revenge. Without further ado: here they are. Someone call the dustbin men.

After a great supporting role in Us and the lead in The Invisible Man, it will be more than welcome to see Elisabeth Moss back in something nice and perverse. In Shirley, shes a horror novelist with writers block, who conspires with her husband to surreptitiously and psychologically ruin their lodgers, a young couple, in order to give her inspiration for her book. The life-imitating-art angle is sophisticated, and calls to mind Stephen Kings masterful Misery, in reverse: rather than the obsessive fan taking her favourite author prisoner, this author wants to manipulate her own subjects for inspiration. This is probably going to clean up come awards season.

Trashiness: 0/10 (In cinemas from 30 October)

Shrugging off the fact that Maud is the dowdiest name in the English language, Saint Maudmight turn out to be the best film on this list. Here, the unfortunate Maud is a devout Catholic nurse who, after meeting and becoming obsessed with saving the soul of a patient, begins to embrace her faith in a very Old Testament way. Its an A24 joint, meaning its distributed by the same company that did Midsommar, Hereditaryand The Witch. Expect a top-quality psychological horror.

Trashiness: 1/10 (In cinemas from 9 October)

With a predominantly South Asian cast, Amazon Primes Evil Eye the first of four Amazon Halloween specials produced by the horror veterans at production company Blumhouse, with four more planned for next year is a little different to the other rote horrors you find on streaming platforms these days (traditionally, we see a blonde girl either get chopped into bits or heroically survive to defeat the monster, right?). Fans who watched Indian Matchmakingand wished death on some of its more annoying cast members might enjoy Evil Eye, but it is also worth watching on its own merit, with an intriguing central dynamic between a young woman and her worried mother, who wont stop telling her she is in a cursed relationship and she needs to end it. Hey weve all been there.

Trashiness: 2/10 (Amazon Prime, 13 October)

Anne Hathaways generically Eastern European accent, which sounds something like the infernal product of elocution lessons from Count Von Count, earns The Witches an extra two points of trashiness on its own, as Warner Bros continues to pillage the 1990s for remake-worthy material. It looks like it has all the ingredients for an excellent childrens film: a steely-but-caring Octavia Spencer as the main characters grandmother; Stanley Tucci with a silly moustache; and, basically, a sense of fun true to the spirit of Roald Dahl. Were here for it.

Trashiness: 3/10 (On VOD from 26 October)

Another dose of the scary medical subgenre of horror from Amazon Prime, Black Boxsees a bereaved man attempt to regain his memories after he and his wife are in a car accident that takes her life. Another of the Amazon Halloween specials served up by Blumhouse, the concept is a sort of Mementomeets Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind meets Black Mirror. Except it is vastly less excuse the pun memorable than any of those.

Trashiness: 3/10 (Amazon Prime, 6 October)

You guessed it: another Amazon Halloween special. If you, like us, find classical music arcane and terrifying, then the cleverly titled Nocturne is the horror film for you this month. When a high schooler steals a music theory book from its previously deceased owner, a virtuoso musician, she begins to outshine her otherwise far more impressive twin sister. A fresh take on the cursed book trope, Nocturne looks pretty accomplished, even if its trailer does feature the odd trashy line like Music is a bloodsport.

Trashiness: 4/10 (Amazon Prime, 13 October)

Being a teenager and being a witch have always been perfect analogies for one another you feel different somehow, in denial about entering an adulthood whose boring responsibilities will eventually shave the corners off your personality till youre like everyone else. Broadly, The Craft: Legacy(a sequel to 1996s The Craft)doesnt stray from this message, following a sensitive young girl who discovers shes a witch and joins a coven of three other practitioners of the Craft at her new high school. Its not trash per se, but they have really stinted on the special effects here, and thematically, it might be one to avoid unless you have a daughter, or are 15 years old.

Trashiness: 4/10 (On VOD and in cinemas from 28 October)

In Relic, Emily Mortimer plays an Australian woman whose aged mother goes missing from her (obviously) remote, backwoods clapboard house, leading to her and her daughter moving in, just in case the old lady comes back. Spoiler alert: she does, and not in a happy way. Is it trashy to exploit peoples fear of the elderly in the way Relicdoes? Maybe a bit, but its also damn effective.

Trashiness: 4/10 (In cinemas from 30 October)

The original zombie film Train to Busan was a hit when it came out back in 2016, becoming one of the most popular films ever in its native South Korea, and so it was only natural that the filmmakers would come back for another bite of the undead cherry. Said sequel takes the form of Peninsula, which rather than following civilians fleeing an infection on a train, instead focuses on the standalone story of a soldier sent out from the safe zone at Busan to salvage a stash of cash from the now-abandoned Korean Peninsula. Sequels are trashy by definition, and this one which is one of the first post-pandemic zombie films has none of the fast-paced public transport heroism of the original.

Trashiness: 5/10 (In cinemas from 6 November)

Every time Adam Sandler releases a movie, God flips a coin. If it comes up heads, you get a brilliant film like The Meyerowitz Stories, a Punch-Drunk Loveor an Uncut Gems. Tails, and its Mr Deeds, Grown Ups, Jack and Jill. In Hubie Halloween, the coin has somehow landed on its edge. Sandler plays a Salem man, Hubie, with an unbridled passion for Halloween, who has to save his town from an escaped convict whos running around on the loose on 31 October. The list of cameos in this film is filthy everyone from Steve Buscemi to Ben Stiller to Shaquille ONeal turns up and it boasts the appropriately high production value youd expect from Netflix. Is it otherwise hugely memorable? Perhaps not. Should you still watch it? Sure.

Trashiness: 5/10 (Netflix, 7 October)

Think Charlie and the Chocolate Factorymeets a much less violent, more young adult-oriented Saw (and actually, putting that in writing immediately brings to mind a lot of similarities between those two films but we digress). In Max Winslow, five high schoolers are invited to the home of a reclusive Elon Musk-type billionaire who challenges them to play an ominous game in his huge, AI-controlled mansion, with the house itself as the prize. Not a bad concept, except that the five teens perfectly correspond to The Breakfast Club clichs of jock, nerd, bully, popular girl and quiet girl (the Max, aka Maxine, of the title). And clichs are a little trashy.

Trashiness: 6/10 (In cinemas from 23 October)

Buoyed by the acting chops of Peter Sarsgaard, The Lie the final Blumhouse/Amazon production follows the apparent killing of a teenage girl by her close friend, and the attempts of said friend and her parents (she brings them in on it) to keep it a secret. Arguably more of a straight drama than a horror film per se, theres still melodrama galore, as youd expect from something like this. Its also supposedly based on the murder of Meredith Kercher, which is frankly trashy as hell.

Trashiness: 7/10 (Amazon Prime, 6 October)

Cmon. You really expect a synopsis for Vampires vs the Bronx? Fine: This one pits, uh, a load of vampires against, uh, kids who live in the Bronx, not unlike an American Attack the Block. Its directed and produced by Saturday Night Live alumni Oz Rodriguez and Lorne Michaels, and leans into the trashiness deliberately, with cameos from Method Man and Mero from Desus And Mero. Plus, it has a subtext: the vampires represent gentrification, geddit?

Trashiness: 9/10 (in a good way) (Netflix, 2 October)

Surely a film with a title like Are We Dead Yet?couldnt be a huge pile of fabulous trash, could it? Shot with all the quality of a Blazin Squad video, this rare British B-movie follows five petty criminals on one final job, which goes wrong, forcing them to hide out in a haunted castle. Like all the best trash, its happily self-aware Im the black guy and Ive seen how this movie ends, falters one of the crew and doesnt aspire to anything more than perfect silliness. This is definitely a group watch, and probably one best paired with quite a lot of drinks.

Trashiness: 9/10 (Available for digital download from 26 October)

Heres a recipe for a future cult classic: look at a recent, successful horror film (It, perhaps?), take its central concept (killer clown) and throw the rest away, then write a script so hackneyed its almost funny and drench it in as much fake blood as your tiny budget allows (be sure to give your evil clown such Shakespearean couplets as: This ways a no-no. Which way do you go-go? and The names Boo. How do you do?). Now go out and shoot your film in a way that makes it look like it was done on a 2008-era Nokia. Congratulations: youve just made On Halloween. Trashier than an under-10 beauty pageant in rural Alabama. Trashier than Katie Hopkins attempts to stay relevant. Trashier, perhaps, than the collected works of the schlockmeister himself, Uwe Boll. You know you love it.

Trashiness: 10/10 (On VOD from 6 October)

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All 2020s Halloween-related movies, from least to most trashy - British GQ

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero