As the Hindi film industry busies itself with horror comedies and Hollywood wonders what new franchise to crank out, this Halloween calls for a look into the past. Before mechanical jump scares and corny humour, horror movies actually used to have a personality. And to prove that, we’ve compiled a list of our favourite scary movies from over the years, from Hollywood, Bollywood, the Tamil industry and South Korea.
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Bollywood
Raat (1992)
Hindi cinema admittedly doesn’t have many gems when it comes to the horror genre. And by horror, we mean the kind without the added spice of Ramsay brothers erotica, or the comedy of, say, a Go Goa Gone. When we limit ourselves to pure horror, the Hindi-speaking audience isn’t left with a plethora of choices. Raat is one example of desi horror done right. The film was helmed by Ram Gopal Varma when he was in his ‘brilliant’ phase. Released in Hindi and Telugu simultaneously, Raat is an underrated horror flick which saw Revathy playing the unhinged Mimi, who gets possessed by a spirit after a cat dies in her seemingly haunted house. Nothing is over the top; not the jump scares, neither the background score. Everyone involved (from Revathy and Akash Khurana to Rohini Hattangadi) deliver the goods, and with conviction, an ingredient you strictly need when dabbling in genres like these.
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Raat is available to stream on ZEE5.
Bhoot (2003)
RGV’s other horror film, Bhoot, also makes it to the list. This one is not your run-of-the-mill Hindi feature: no songs for one, and Urmila Matondkar brings that conviction ingredient mentioned earlier to the table, and how. You buy her as the ailing, disturbed Swati, who is haunted by a revenge-seeking spirit. Fardeen Khan and Ajay Devgn also star, and Rekha makes for an absolutely arresting exorcist.
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Bhoot can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video and YouTube.
Tumbbad (2018)
Rahi Anil Barve, Anand Gandhi and Adesh Prasad’s horror fantasy drama Tumbbad, besides being chilling and effective, is just a stunning movie to look at. All credit to cinematographer Pankaj Kumar, who also worked on Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider and Anand Gandhi’s Ship of Theseus. Kumar plays with natural lighting and tight spaces to create breathtaking frames, as the compelling mix of horror and folk continuously intrigues.
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Tumbbad can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.
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Tamil cinema
Yavarum Nalam (2009)
Director Vikram Kumar and cinematographer PC Sreeram teamed up for a horror film that was unlike anything that audiences had seen before in Tamil cinema. Though the film uses familiar tropes, there was an interesting idea at its centre. A family moves into a new apartment, where milk always curdles, the dog refuses to enter the house, and the walls are impenetrable. On top of it all, the TV in the house plays a serial family drama that is not seen anywhere else. Things take a sinister turn when the protagonist Manohar (Madhavan) finds that the events shown in the serial end up happening to his family in real life. Despite not resorting to easy jump scares or gore, Yaavarum Nalam spooks you, and deserves a spot on almost every list of the best Tamil horror film.
Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
Pisasu
Director Mysskin went against the grain by humanising a ghost in Pisasu. The protagonist Naga (Siddharth Soundaarajan) realises that the ghost of an unknown girl that stalks him is actually his guardian angel. But when he tries to find the person behind the girl’s death, the ghost turns hostile and tries to stop him at all costs. Pisasu might not deliver the expected thrills and adrenaline rush of a typical horror film, but if you are game for a slow-burner backed by a great emotional story, this fits the bill.
Streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
Ammoru (Amman in Tamil)
It is an irony that this Hindu mythological fantasy film about a female deity finds itself on a list of horror films. However, when you watch this Telugu film and the haunting images of Ramya Krishnan as the furious Amman, you will agree that the film belongs here. Ammoru tells the story of a naïve and poor orphan named Bhavani (Soundarya), who gets killed by her in-laws. The goddess herself comes down to rescue her ardent devotee. The film continues to be part of the Tamil and Telugu pop culture even after all these years. Ammoru was one of the first films in India to extensively use CGI. The success of the film led to a trend of similar films featuring extensive visual effects.
Streaming on YouTube.
Korean industry
All of Us Are Dead (2022)
Nothing like Korean zombie horror to set the spirit for Halloween. All of Us Are dead follows an experiment that goes profoundly wrong, leading to a zombie outbreak in a high school. A bunch of students fight for their lives, as they navigate their way through buildings infested with flesh-eating monsters that once used to be their classmates. While the kids struggle for survival, the government tries to make sense of the ever-worsening situation and unfortunately, add to the ensuing chaos.
All of Us Are Dead is available on Netflix.
Sweet Home (2020)
The apocalypse is here, and residents hide inside a building, trying to protect themselves from monsters. Cha Hyun-soo (Song Kang) is a the lead protagonist, a suicidal teen who somehow manifests the power of the infected and controls the monster within him. Sweet Home is a deeply symbolic horror show, with the real underlying message, that monsters are all buried within us, and how can one tame them.
Sweet Home is available on Netflix.
Train to Busan (2016)
It wouldn’t be a Halloween list without a special mention of Gong Yoo’s film, Train to Busan. A father and his daughter have to put away their differences after a zombie outbreak in a train. They unite with the fellow survivors as they look for ways to defeat the monsters, who were once co-passengers.
Train to Busan is available on Amazon Prime Video.
Hollywood
The Shining (1980)
Possibly the most acclaimed Stephen King adaptation, The Shining became a touchstone project not only because of director Stanley Kubrick’s innovative techniques, but also for how vastly it deviated from King’s source novel. To the extent that King put together a TV adaptation of his own novel in the 90s. The film is remembered for its ambiguous themes, its visual symbolism, and the frenzied speculation that it has fuelled among fans.
The Shining is available to rent on Google Play, Apple iTunes, YouTube and Amazon.
The Exorcist (1973)
Director William Friedkin’s iconic film, about the demonic possession of a young girl and the Catholic priest called to exorcise her, set the template for dozens, if not hundreds of horror films that followed. It is responsible for some of the most memorable images in not just the history of horror movies, but movies in general. It also became the first horror film to earn a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, and until 2017’s It, was the highest-grossing R-rated horror movie of all time.
The Exorcist is available to rent on Google Play, Apple iTunes, YouTube and Amazon.
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Even though it’s probably not politically correct to heap such high praise on a Roman Polanski film in this day and age, no list of the best-ever horror films would be complete without his classic adaptation of Ira Levin’s novel. A domestic drama about a newlywed couple who move into a New York apartment that just happens to be across the hallway from a coven of Satanists, Rosemary’s Baby works as a psychological thriller, a shriek-out-loud horror, and even has a couple of classic jump scares for the modern crowd.
Rosemary’s Baby is available to rent on Amazon and iTunes.
