With Halloween weekend two days away, the fastest way to settle a watchlist argument is by temperament: whether you want a protagonist who sees the red flags twenty minutes in and packs a bag, or one who stays for the flower crown.
On the survival-instinct end of the spectrum sit Jordan Peele's Get Out and Ridley Scott's Alien. Daniel Kaluuya's Chris Washington and Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley remain two of the sharpest pragmatists in the genre, surrounded by characters determined to make the worst possible decision while they try to keep the door shut.
If your Halloween mood leans more theatrical, Ti West's Pearl and Ari Aster's Midsommar trade survival thriller mechanics for technicolor meltdowns, with Mia Goth and Florence Pugh carrying every frame in broad daylight.
And for a pure paranoia classic, John Carpenter's The Thing and Wes Craven's Scream turn the entire ensemble into suspects. Queue up your Halloween weekend picks and save what is next on Plot.
