35 Cult Horror Movies To Watch This Halloween
As we creep closer to October, All Hallow’s Eve is looming, and while there’s a place for gore-filled slashers of the Freddy vs Jason variety on cold autumn nights, there are plenty of cult horror movies that hold their own sartorially. Dario Argento’s Suspiria has inspired everyone from Nicolas Ghesquière to the Rodarte sisters; Yves Saint Laurent designed Catherine Deneuve’s costumes for blood-soaked romance The Hunger; and Eiko Ishioka’s Japanese-influenced creations for Bram Stoker’s Dracula are just as striking now as in the ’90s. Below, Vogue rounds up 35 of the most terrifying horror films with true fashion credentials to stream this Halloween.
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Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection1/35Longlegs (2024)
This icy police-procedural-turned-demonic-chiller from Osgood Perkins (coincidentally the son of horror legend Anthony Perkins, better known as Psycho’s Norman Bates) is as meticulously shot and slickly produced as it is thrillingly deranged. It tracks Maika Monroe as a disturbed FBI agent who is being stalked by the demented serial killer (an unrecognisable, shrieking Nicolas Cage) she has been assigned to track down, one with whom she’s had a mysterious connection since childhood. The story takes a surreal and increasingly far-fetched turn in the final act, but with its jump scares, heart-stopping set pieces and that hair-raising opening sequence, it’s also an absolute riot.
Christine Tamalet2/35The Substance (2024)
Demi Moore gives an Oscar-worthy performance in this stylish, gory and ultimately batshit body horror from Coralie Fargeat – a gleeful and biting interrogation of ridiculous modern beauty standards and what happens when we’re pushed to our limits. As a washed-up actor who injects her body with a strange substance which promises to unleash a more perfect version of her (a peppy Margaret Qualley, who literally crawls out of her flesh), her gonzo turn is, unquestionably, the reason to watch, though there are also countless pleasures to be found in the film’s eye-popping visual style, pitch-black humour and sharp, ’80s aesthetic – all sleek leather bodysuits, power shoulders, crop tops, clashing block colours, frothy prom dresses and shiny, day-glo athletic gear.
Photo Credit: Geoffrey Short/Universal Pictures3/35M3gan (2022)
This gloriously campy horror directed by Gerard Johnstone and penned by Akela Cooper became an instant classic thanks to Amie Donald’s eerie embodiment of the titular robot doll hellbent on protecting her human owner (Violet McGraw) at all costs; a hair-raising dance scene that went viral on TikTok; and Allison Williams’s committed performance as the engineer who constructs her. The sequel can’t come soon enough.
A244/35Talk to Me (2022)
In the opening minutes of Danny and Michael Philippou’s intensely creepy supernatural chiller, we see one character search for another at a crowded house party, before the latter stabs the former and then promptly stabs himself in the face. It sets the tone for what follows: a horrifying ride that keeps you on the edge of your seat. At its heart is Sophie Wilde’s Mia, a troubled teen still mourning the death of her mother who encounters a severed, embalmed hand at a house party – one that is said to be cursed and, when you hold it, allows you to commune with the dead. What begins as a harmless bit of fun, a tool with which to create hilarious viral videos, quickly turns sinister, and Mia loses her grip on reality.
Courtesy of Sundance Institute5/35Fresh (2022)
Mimi Cave’s stomach-turning thriller will make you seriously consider vegetarianism: the tale of Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones), a disillusioned singleton who meets and falls for the charismatic Steve (Sebastian Stan). Soon, they’re off on a weekend break – except, Steve drugs and imprisons her, revealing that he is in fact a cannibal who also sells fresh human meat to wealthy clients on the side. As Noa befriends her fellow captives and plots her escape, Cave keeps you guessing with her penchant for jump scares and shocking twists.
Getty Images6/35The Craft (1996)
Andrew Fleming’s supernatural ’90s drama features a teenage coven, a memorable game of Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board, and some of the best school uniforms in Hollywood history.
Photo Credit: Eric Chakeen7/35Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
With its acerbic script, hallucinatory cinematography and a cast that includes Industry’s Myha’la Herrold, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’s Maria Bakalova, Generation’s Chase Sui Wonders and Shiva Baby’s Rachel Sennott – not to mention Amandla Stenberg and Pete Davidson – Halina Reijn’s pitch-black comedy horror has all the ingredients of a future cult classic. Just remember to watch it with the lights on.
Album / Alamy Stock Photo8/35X (2022)
A supremely stylish slasher movie which upends our expectations of the genre, Ti West’s crowdpleaser is a love letter to the horror heyday of the ’70s. Taking centre stage is Mia Goth as an aspiring actor who is tormented on the set of her latest film, aided by Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow and Kid Cudi, as well as a killer soundtrack.
