HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Halloween is the time of year when all of the ghouls, goblins and gremlins come out to play. For lovers of horror, it's the perfect time of year to take in a scary movie or two.

If you're looking for something spooky to watch, SWITCH has compiled our best horror film reviews from throughout 2020, so wander through our collection and see if something surprises you!

VIVARIUM

What makes a house a (horrific) home?

The film explores the perils of suburbia by satirising typical issues and offering up grotesque caricatures of real-life parenting discomforts.

COLOR OUT OF SPACE

A messy fusion of sci-fi, horror and comedy

Combining the unholy trio of Nicolas Cage, H.P. Lovecraft and Richard Stanley seems like insane brilliance on paper, which is why it's so disappointing that this film is a bit of a slog.

DANIEL ISN'T REAL

Smart and sinister psychological horror

A slickly directed, spooky and surprisingly empathetic film about the monsters that dwell in the human mind.

THE INVISIBLE MAN

Paranoia, gaslighting and spookiness

While it isn't perfect, this is a thoughtful entry in the horror / science fiction genre, anchored by a hard-working performance from Elizabeth Moss.

SWEETHEART

A lean, mean survival thriller

Cleverly directed on a low-budget, this is a streamlined, satisfying mix of old-school monster action and island survival thrills.

UNDERWATER

A solid subaquatic monster mash

Tense and fun, with cool creatures and jump scares that aren't too obnoxious, the film is a disposable yet entertaining and unpretentious true Hollywood B-movie that is worth a visit to the cinema.

THE LIGHTHOUSE

Robert Eggers delivers another staggering American classic

After delivering arguably the greatest horror film so far this century, Robert Eggers has created another insane American masterpiece. It was worth every single second of the wait.

HORROR NOIRE: A HISTORY OF BLACK HORROR

Essential for genre fans and film buffs

There's been a growing interest in black-led horror films since 'Get Out' shattered minds and expectations. If you're a fan of horror or film history, you'll get a lot from this documentary.

THE GOLDEN GLOVE

Repellent and pointless

The film's settings, the events that occur and the way that everything plays out will fill you with the urge to bleach your eyeballs.

ZOMBI CHILD

A subtle riff on the zombie genre

An absorbing, often perplexing story in which a religion with a healthy respect for death crosses paths with a lovesick French schoolgirl.

A SERIAL KILLER'S GUIDE TO LIFE

A gory and funny road trip of self-discovery

Contrary to its small budget, the gore and violence are at the forefront, and the quirky characters we meet along the way are fun.

AIYAI: WRATHFUL SOUL

Ambitious but unfocused Aussie horror

An ambitious entry into Australian horror that could have used more of a focus on its ghostly shenanigans, and less on the crime drama. Instead, it hovers uncertainly in limbo between the two.

SAINT MAUD

Religious fervour and psychological horror

An insight into a lonely and very modern existence that is sadly recognisable. Rose Glass delivers on so many levels as a writer/director that it's hard to believe that this is her debut feature.

THE HUNT

Blunt, lazy and undeserving of controversy

Liberal snooty types lashing out at conservative cronies should have made for some enjoyably edgy satire, but this is a by-the-numbers comedy-horror-suspense thriller that has a few punchy moments.

FANTASY ISLAND

A suprisingly fun horror-tinged adventure

A surprisingly fun, undemanding, slickly-filmed diversion that will keep its target audience entertained.

THE GRUDGE

The movie reboot curse claims another victim

Although handsomely shot, with several good actors doing their best and a small handful of unsettling visuals, this is ultimately a dull, disjointed mess that is riddled with cheap "boo!" moments.

A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND

Hard-boiled crime and punishment in Belfast

With some striking shots of Belfast, stylish neon-coloured lighting and a chilling score from Matthew Pusti, this is a moody addition to the crime revenge film genre.

THE LODGE

An insult to the horror movie genre

It wants so badly to be considered a highbrow horror film, but it forgets completely to try and be compelling, riding on flimsy attempts at a creepy tone and calling it a day.

SEA FEVER

Paranoia, parasitic plagues and pandemic horror

The film manages a few striking sequences - most notably, a slow-motion underwater first contact with a big glowing jellyfish and its impossibly long tendrils. It's hard to discount that kind of "ick" factor.

IN THE SHADOW IT WAITS

The terror of self-isolation

Researchers are talking up an epidemic of loneliness linked to COVID-19 lockdowns, and this is filmmaking reacting to the trauma the entire world is experiencing.

THE GANGS, THE OSCARS, AND THE WALKING DEAD

A screwball crime caper

Maybe it's just pure luck that its breathless messiness doesn't cancel out the charm of Kao Pin-Chuan's quick-cut filmmaking, which syncretises slick techniques and goofy old-school fun.

THE VIGIL

A rare excursion into Yiddish horror

Although it explores a dark part of history via some fascinating mythology, this supernatural thriller falls victim to the influence of lazy modern horror filmmaking tropes.

BLACK WATER: ABYSS

Abyss-mally shoddy

This should have been a shrewd, scary situational suspense film, but pacing issues and a lack of ideas sinks this one to the bottom of the swamp.

BLOOD VESSEL

Disappointingly anaemic

Despite some decent work from the makeup, prosthetics, and special effects teams, the lethargic pacing and lack of substantive innovation means the end result is disappointingly lifeless.

RELIC

The curse of old age

This isn't just an impressively eerie horror movie debut from a first-time director, it's a test of devotion and love that lurks in the unforeseen distance for parents and their children.

DEERSKIN

Hilarious and horrific

If you only have time to watch one bizarre French horror-comedy about a guy and the jacket that seems to hold an extreme power over his mind, 'Deerskin' is it.

PENINSULA

An action-packed but brainless follow-up to a horror classic

'Peninsula' has flat characters, the plot is beyond stupid, the action and the gore are plentiful, and the movie borrows from so many other movies it may as well come with a homage checklist.

THE WRETCHED

Uneven but satisfyingly disgusting

The Pierce Brothers suck viewers in with pulpy wet sounds of flesh popping open and bones splintering. The scares aren't just competent - they're consummately disgusting, too.

THE TURNING

Henry James' haunting masterpiece gets 'The Conjuring' treatment

The film gets its scares on the cheap, relying on tricks like haggard faces popping out of the unfilled spaces behind characters. It's a shame the script wasn't written by someone with a defter touch.

THE NEW MUTANTS

An enjoyably small-scale superheroic character piece

Josh Boone's relic from the defunct 'X-Men' franchise, unceremoniously dumped in cinemas in the middle of a pandemic, takes a step in a potentially interesting new direction.

SPIRAL

Paranoid horror in the 'burbs

This atmospheric thriller touches on some current themes, but leans too heavily on both its cinematic influences and cheap "boo" scares.

ANTEBELLUM

Socially conscious horror without any finesse or cleverness

The filmmakers took one of the most horrific periods of American history and, via exceedingly clumsy execution, unintentionally made it into a joke.

SPUTNIK

A familiar, lethal, movie monster

Although it doesn't reinvent the wheel, this is an effective monster flick that touches upon human nature and the moral choices people have to make when it comes to life and death.

POSSESSOR

Engrossingly gross Cronenbergian body horror

A fever dream, delivering unsettling violence, thought-provoking creativity and remorseless direction. Its revelations about the monsters within have a lasting resonance.