Edited by Matthew Smolenski

Having now successfully operated for almost a year, what could be scarier for the Reel Talk team than living up to the 2019/2020 academic year? For the new recruits on the editorial team this year, the answer to that question might involve introducing themselves by writing about their favourite horror films, just in time for Halloween. With Halloween parties cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, what better way to spend the season than making your way through the diverse selection curated by both old and new members of our passionate team? 

Emily Page, First Year Film Studies 

The Skin I Live In (dir. Pedro Almodovar, 2011) 

Pedro Almodóvar’s masterpiece The Skin I Live In is as disturbing as it is fascinating. The film follows Ledgard, a plastic surgeon who has manged to create a synthetic skin that can withstand any type of damage. Ledgard tests his creation on Vera, who unbeknownst to the outside world is being held prisoner against her will in his mansion. This spine-chilling horror will leave you captivated from start to finish with its unnerving score and its beautiful, at times hypnotic visuals, not to mention spectacular performances from Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya.  

What makes this film so blood-curdling is that it gets more and more uncomfortable as it progresses; it doesn’t go in with the jump scares and the screams. A perfect slow burner. The story sneaks up on you, it shocks you as you slowly place all the puzzle pieces together and realise the nightmare that is being unfolded in front of you. Its shocking twist is arguably one of the best in film history.  

It is hard to forget this film, and it will most likely linger in your mind for weeks. A definite must-watch if you are a fan of slow-burn psychological horror!   

Issy Smith, Second Year Film Studies 

A Tale of Two Sisters (dir. Kim Jee-woon, 2003) 

The film, inspired by a classic Korean folktale, follows Sumi as she returns home from a mental hospital to her father, her sister, Suyeon, and her cold stepmother, Eunjoo. Upon Sumi’s return, the two sisters begin to experience increasingly inexplicable things, seeing what appears to be an apparition of their deceased mother. From there, the story only twists deeper and darker with themes of mental illness, adultery, incest and abuse.   

While not an easy watch at times, the film is visually striking, often appearing like a decaying oil painting with low lighting and intense colours. The director, Kim Jee-woon, is a master of psychological thrillers, so watching the film unfold, as his projects often do, like a horrifying puzzle box you just can’t look away from, is exhilarating. Moreover, the film weaves an inherently female story which, while often painful, actively negotiates the roles of its female characters and the way women are expected to experience trauma. Add exceptional performances across the board and some keep-you-up-at-night scares and what’s not to love?

Bethan Keefe-Hammond, Third Year Film Studies 

The Blood on Satan’s Claw (dir. Piers Haggard, 1971) 

What kind of horrors could the English landscape hold? This is the question posed by Piers Haggard’s The Blood On Satan’s Claw, in which a 17th century farmhand accidentally discovers a misshapen skull whilst ploughing the fields. The skull in fact belongs to an ancient demon, whose unearthed spirit causes a barrage of evil to unleash itself on the nearby village. The children become violent and possessed, stopping at nothing to aid “Behemoth” in his rebirth. Can the demon’s power be quelled before it’s too late?

Blood On Satan’s Claw is perhaps better known as one of the ‘Unholy Trinity’ of folk horror, including Michael Reeves’ Witchfinder General (1968) and Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man (1973); all of which focus on an isolated landscape skewing the morality of its inhabitants, and the horrific consequences of this. What sets Blood On Satan’s Claw apart from its contemporaries, however, is its importance in the genesis of folk horror as a genre. Director Piers Haggard was the first to state that he “was trying to make a folk horror film,” something that no filmmaker had intended before, and there can be no doubt he executes this perfectly.

Tijen Mustafa – First Year Film Studies 

Shaun of the Dead (dir. Edgar Wright, 2004) 

“You’ve got red on you.” 

Shaun of the Dead has everything you want in a comedy horror. The film offers British humour at its finest (” – I’m quite alright, Barbara, I ran it under a cold tap”), as well as evoking the classic George A. Romero fear with some truly horrific gore. Edgar Wright borrows the best parts of Romero’s zombie movies (that is to say, the zombies themselves) and plunges his audience into what we could call the Wright Realm: a cosy, well-known backdrop (the London suburbs) meets a ridiculous and unprecedented amount of violence (the apocalypse). 

Wright’s fantastic array of techniques range from parallelism and mise-en-scene to in-and-out of frame and diagonal motifs, not to mention an upbeat and energetic soundtrack (that even samples Romero’s Dawn of the Dead!). It all acts to push a very sobering fact: the suburbs of London and a Zombieland? Not all that different!  

And so, as we find ourselves during what can feel like a Zombieland today, I encourage you to watch this film (even if it’s not your first time) – live vicariously through Shaun, and see him embark on his bloody, hilarious adventure to “the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for this all to blow over.” 

Keep an eye out for Part 2 of our editorial team’s horror recommendations, coming soon!