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Adrenaline junkie? Nosy ghoul? Scaredy cat? Our critics break down some old and new classics in the horror genre, and recommend what you should watch tonight. plus:
• Susan B. Glaser on Trump’s most important atrocities
• What makes Graham Blatner so popular in Maine?
• How monsters turned from scary to affectionate
A scene from the movie “Weapons”Image courtesy of Warner Bros./Everett
Alex Barash
Culture editor and horror movie fan.
Horror movies They reach the peak of their powers on Halloween. Brave viewers embark on ritual re-watching of classic films like “Rosemary’s Baby” or “The Silence of the Lambs.” This year, there are also big new hits worthy of attention, from the post-apocalyptic (and clearly post-Brexit) zombie thriller “28 Years Later” to director Ryan Coogler’s Southern vampire epic “Sinners.” In fact, in 2025, the genre’s box office revenues exceed those of comedies and dramas combined.
On this week’s episode of Critics at Large, I join staff writers Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alex Schwartz to chat about the phenomenon and make sense of the current landscape. None of the hosts are horror fans, so I also gave them some homework: to share a recent film that resonates with their sensibilities and viewing intensity. During the recording, Vinson argued that “horror films should be graded like hot sauce”, proposing a four-hundred scale for measuring horror. Below you’ll find some of their initial reactions to their quests, none of which exceed three – plus some additional recommendations, from me, for people who can relate to the Four Ghosts experience.
“The Babadook” (2014)
Streaming on Mubi or available to rent
Jennifer Kent’s debut film focuses on a young widow, Amelia, who lives her life with her six-year-old son, Samuel, tense but survivable until the fateful night when he pulls an unfamiliar children’s book from the shelf. Amelia realizes that something is up as soon as she begins a bedtime story called “The Babadook.” Immediately, there are signs that the monster from the tale is in their house. I gave Alex this film partly because it represents a breakthrough in the rich tradition of maternal horror, and partly because she has a young son. During our conversation, she noted, “Domestic horror films offer a lens into the mundane experience of being trapped in your everyday life, in a much larger system that you can’t resist… When the system starts to break down — and there isn’t much of an order to begin with — it becomes a nightmare.”
“Saint Maud” (2021)
Streaming on MGM+ or available for rent
I chose this for Vinson because he expressed an interest in religious horror, but also because of his stated status as a scaredy-cat. Morfydd Clarke in Rose Glass’s “Saint Maud” stars as Maud, a devout Catholic caregiver determined to save the soul of her latest assignment, a promiscuous former dancer. Although well intentioned, it soon becomes clear that what Maud interprets as the voice of God is something far more sinister. “One of my biggest fears is that one day my senses will fail me, and that I will experience things that will completely isolate me and lead me away from the community of others,” Vinson said. But fortunately he was able to endure it: “I thought it was a really clever film, and I would watch it again, but I also felt like I would be able to sleep – which I always worry about when I watch a horror film.”
“Weapons” (2025)
Streaming on HBO Max
Naomi, who is well versed in classic horror films of the 70s and 80s, has been slated for one of the biggest entries of the year: Zack Krieger’s Weapons. The film revolves around the mysterious disappearance in the middle of the night of all but one child in the third grade; A group of adults, including their teacher and grieving parents, struggle to figure out where they went and why. While other examples we discussed focused more on individual stories, with characters suffering from pre-existing traumas, Naomi noted that Weapons is essentially “a character study of a city…what appears to be a quiet community that has been infected, to some degree, from the outside.”
Finally, if you’re like me, Enjoy Being really afraid, “hereditary” (HBO Max) and “Getting down” (Prime Video) always delivers. The former is a beautifully shot, chilling drama that is as much about the warping effects of grief and traumatic family dynamics as it is about the diabolical. The latter, a claustrophobic film that follows a group of women on a spelunking trip gone horribly awry, reliably exploits primal fears — and boasts an ending that has stayed with me for more than a decade. Just be sure to watch the unedited UK version, and be careful if you’re afraid of the dark.
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Note: Does Stephen King believe in ghosts? In this classic story, Mark Singer visits the author at home to find out. 👻
Ian Crouch contributed to today’s edition.
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