October’s Netflix Fix: Part 2

By Rachel Hulshult

 

It’s time for more Netflix recommendations.  Halloween is getting closer, so we’re ramping up the scares a bit.  I’m sure you’re still busy with homework, regular work, and life stuff, but everyone needs some time to forget about the stuff they should be doing, and what better way to do that than by scaring the heck out of yourself?

 

But maybe horror’s not really your thing?  

 

The X-Files.  So, you may have missed much of this one as it aired throughout the nineties, when most of us were in elementary school.  Okay, I’ll admit this one isn’t super scary (though occasionally it goes there), but if you’re going to watch Supernatural, you should also watch its most obvious predecessor.  This show follows two FBI agents, Mulder and Scully, as they investigate unexplained and unsolved cases.  The dynamic of Mulder as the believer and Scully as the sceptic lasts through most of the seasons, and their relationship is one of the best things about the show. The show delves into mass government conspiracies and all kinds of creepy creatures and people.  And I’ll bet you’ll recognize several of the recurring and one-off actors.  Like Supernatural after it, it also takes cues from many different genres and has several terrifying episodes as well as several hilarious ones.  I dare you to watch the episode entitled Home when you’re alone in the dark. [TV-14] All nine seasons on Netflix

 

So, horror is totally your thing? 

 

American Horror Story.  Okay, now we’re ramping it up.  This show’s currently in its fourth season called Freak Show.  It’s very different than most of what’s currently on TV in that it’s an anthology show.  So instead of a story arc that develops over the course of several seasons, each season is its own individual story, with many of the same actors playing different roles.  As for the stories, well, this show is basically insane.  Each season takes different elements of horror and mashes them all together, and they keep stacking twists and turns on top of each other.  The first season takes place in a haunted house and follows the ghosts that haunt it, the second takes place in a mental asylum in the sixties, the third centers on a coven of witches, and the current season follows a struggling freak show in the fifties.  There aren’t many shows out there that are willing to go as completely crazy as this show does on a weekly basis. [TV-MA] Two seasons on Netflix, third hopefully coming soon, fourth currently airing on FX Wednesdays at 10:00pm 

 

Some horror movies you should check out, if you’re into that sort of thing…

(Warning: Not all of these are on Netflix, but here’s a few of my favorite scary movies):

• The Conjuring.  The fact that it’s rated R purely for terror is enough to recommend it.  It has hardly any violence, gore, language, or sex; it’s just that scary.  It’s a fairly classic tale of a haunted house, but it also has an interesting story and characters that the viewer cares about. Currently available for rent at Redbox or purchase at Target for $10 (2013) [R]

• Insidious and Insidious: Chapter 2.  Directed by James Wan of The Conjuring, both movies have a fair amount of jump scares as well as interesting story lines. Insidious available at Target for $5, Insidious: Chapter 2 on Netflix  (2011, 2013) [PG-13]

• The Exorcist.  If you really want to be disturbed, this is one you need to see.  Telling the story of a young girl who gets possessed by a powerful demon, it’s a classic horror movie that every film or horror buff should see.  It’s not necessarily the scariest movie I’ve seen, but it’s definitely the most disturbing, but in a fascinating, can’t-look-away kind of way.  This one is in the Milligan Library and at Walmart and Target for $5. (1973) [R]

• Psycho. Another one every horror aficionado should see, this one follows Norman Bates and his isolated life with his mother at a small motel.  It’s a classic in every right and one of Hitchcock’s best.  It’s in the Milligan Library. (1960) [R]

 

Some Horror Movies Currently on Netflix:

Carrie (1976 & 2013), Children of the Corn (1984), Evil Dead 2 (1987), Fright Night (1985), Hellraiser (1987), Night of the Living Dead (1968), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Scream (1996), Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Coming to Netflix in the last couple weeks of October:

 

TV Shows:

The 100 – season one
The Carrie Diaries – season two

Sons of Anarchy – season six

 

Movies:

Before I Go to Sleep (2014)

Django Unchained (2012)

Rain Man (1988)

 

Also of note, if you don’t know yet, all ten seasons of Friends are coming to Netflix in January!

Keep watching Netflix, and have a Happy Halloween!

 

*Note: Not all opinions expessed in reviews, features, etc. necessarily represent the views and opinions of The Stampede.