It’s almost Halloween, which means all things horror come creeping out of the shadows like these 5 sharp chillers streaming on Showmax.
INVISIBLE MAN
When Cecilia’s abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her his fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turns lethal, Cecilia works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.
Emmy winner Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) stars in The Invisible Man, which was named Rotten Tomatoes’ best-reviewed movie of 2020 in three categories: wide-release film, horror movie, and Australian film. The nail-biting horror is the eighth best-reviewed horror movie of all time on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 91% critics’ rating.
Inspired by HG Wells’ novel, The Invisible Man is adapted and directed by award-winning horror aficionado Leigh Whannell, who co-created the Saw franchise. The cast includes Oliver Jackson-Cohen (The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor); Black Reel award nominee Aldis Hodge (Underground, Hidden Figures); and BET and Teen Choice nominee Storm Reid (Euphoria, A Wrinkle in Time).
The 15th highest-grossing box office film of 2020 globally, The Invisible Man has won 40 international awards, including Best Horror Movie and Best Actress: Horror at the 2021 Critics’ Choice Super Awards, and was a 2020 People’s Choice nominee for Favourite Movie. As Rolling Stone says, “Alive with fresh thinking from Whannell and a dynamite Elisabeth Moss, this socially conscious horrorshow tips the old monster mash into way scarier sh*t about toxic masculinity that’s as timely as #MeToo and Harvey Weinstein in handcuffs.”
MIDSOMMAR
In Midsommar, a troubled couple travels to a rural Swedish town’s fabled midsummer festival, but what begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.
Oscar nominee Florence Pugh (Little Women, Black Widow) stars alongside the likes of Sundance Special Jury Prize winner Jack Reynor (Strange Angel) and Emmy nominee William Jackson Harper (The Underground Railroad, The Good Place).
Written and directed by multi-award-winning director Ari Aster (Hereditary), Midsommar won five 2020 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, including Best Wide-Release Film, and 23 other accolades around the world. Earlier this year, Midsommar was also nominated for Best Horror Film by the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy and Horror Films. “If you’re looking for the scariest movie ever shot in blinding sunlight, the raw and riveting Midsommar is it,” says Rolling Stone.
Midsommar is the 44th best-reviewed horror of all time on Rotten Tomatoes, with an 83% critics’ rating. As the critics’ consensus there says, “Ambitious, impressively crafted, and above all unsettling, Midsommar further proves writer-director Ari Aster is a horror auteur to be reckoned with.”
FREAKY
Slasher comedy Freaky takes Freaky Friday to a whole new level when less-than-popular teenager Millie unintentionally switches bodies with the middle-aged serial killer terrorising her town. As the body count rises and the clock ticks down, Millie and her friends have less than 24 hours to stop Murder Barbie before the change becomes permanent…
Starring Young Artist Award winner Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies, The Society) and MTV Movie Award, People’s Choice and Teen Choice winner Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers, The Break-Up), Freaky’s cast also includes Alan Ruck (Succession, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off).
Vaughn won Best Actor in a Horror Movie at the 2021 Critics’ Choice Super Awards, where Freaky was also up for Best Horror Movie and Newton was nominated for both Best Actress in a Horror Movie and Best Villain. Freaky also picked up nominations from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for Best Horror Film, the Fright Meter Awards for Best Actress (Newton) and the MTV Movie Awards for Most Frightened Performance (Vaughn).
Produced by triple-Oscar nominee Jason Blum (Get Out, BlacKkKlansman) and directed by Christopher Landon (who directed Happy Death Day and wrote four of the Paranormal Activity films), Freaky has an 83% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with AV Club saying there’s “something oddly satisfying about unmasking a slasher movie to reveal the ’80s comedy lurking underneath.” As Slate says, “As strange as it may sound, Freaky is one of the 2020 movies that comes closest to being truly feel-good.”
DOCTOR SLEEP
Stephen King’s horror classic Doctor Sleep picks up years after the events of The Shining, as a now-adult, alcoholic Dan Torrance finds himself protecting a young girl with similar powers from a cult known as The True Knot, who prey on children with powers to remain immortal.
Doctor Sleep was nominated for Best Film, Best Actor (Emmy winner Ewan McGregor from Fargo and Star Wars), and Best Director (Mike Flanagan of Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Bly Manor and The Haunting of Hill House fame) at both the Fright Meter and the Fangoria Chainsaw awards, with Golden Globe nominee Rebecca Ferguson (The White Queen and the Mission: Impossible movies) winning Best Supporting Actress at both.
Doctor Sleep has a 78% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics consensus says the horror “balances poignant themes against spine-tingling chills.”
HEREDITARY
When Ellen passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel increasingly terrifying secrets about her life. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited.
Winner of 46 awards, including Best-Wide Release Film and Best Kill at the 2019 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards, Hereditary stars Oscar nominee Toni Collette (Unbelievable) and Alex Wolff (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle), who both won Chainsaw Awards for their roles. Golden Globe winner Gabriel Byrne (Vikings), Golden Globe nominee Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale), and Broadway child star Milly Shapiro (Matilda) co-star.
Hereditary is the fourteenth best reviewed horror movie of all time on Rotten Tomatoes, where the film has an 89% score. As the critics’ consensus there says, “Hereditary uses its classic setup as the framework for a harrowing, uncommonly unsettling horror film whose cold touch lingers long beyond the closing credits.”