13 Screaming Movie Night Recommendations For Halloween

We went back through our

Movie Review archives

and compiled a list of 13 Horror Movies

we love here at Streaming Movie Night.

In no particular order,

here are 13 recommendations for your

Screaming Movie Night!

Nosferatu

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Dangerous Animals

Sinners

Heretic

Pearl

Companion

Day Shift

Ready Or Not

Strange Darling

28 Years Later

The Pope’s Exorcist

Walden

Elevation

2024   Vertical Entertainment

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  31min

Action ~ Sci-Fi ~ Suspense

Directed by:   George Nolfi

Starring:   Anthony MackieMorena Baccarin, and Maddie Hasson.

“Don’t go down without a fight.”

The Synopsis from The Official Movie Website:

The world has changed. The only habitable place left for humanity is in the high mountains, above 8000 feet. Below 8000 feet dwell the creatures that killed 95% of the human population less than three years ago. To save the life of his young son, a father (Anthony Mackie) is forced to venture below “The Line” with a scientist (Morena Baccarin) he despises, but who just might hold the key to defeating the monsters, and a young woman (Maddie Hasson) determined to keep them both alive long enough to save the human race.

Thoughts and Questions:

It is very similar to the A Quiet Place Movies. In Elevation the creatures came up from below the ground. In A Quiet Place they came from the sky.

In A Quiet Place the creatures destroy anything that makes a sound and humans make all the noise. In Elevation the creatures destroy humans who seem to make all the noise. Later in the movie we see wild horses everywhere, why aren’t they destroyed by the creatures?

Nina (Morena Baccarin) the scientist explains, “The creatures have CO2 sensors and track humans. They never sleep, they never eat, it seems their sole purpose is to track humans and kill them. I think it is divine retribution for man’s evil ways.” Don’t the animals give off CO2 as well?  Yes, but it seems again that this is Divine Retribution for Man’s Evil Ways and only Humans are targeted for extermination.

In A Quiet Place The Abbott family quietly venture into town for supplies and medicines they need and in Elevation Will, Nina and Katie venture down from the mountain for supplies and the medicine Will needs to keep his son alive.

In A Quiet Place the creatures were called Death Angels, in Elevation they are referred to as Reapers. Both sound like Divine Retribution names.

  • Why 8000 feet?

What happens between 7999 feet and 8000 feet that the creatures can’t cross the white rocks that were placed at the 8000 feet mark to mark the line the creatures can’t cross? As we see later in the movie the creatures are machines and not living creatures. Again, according to Nina the Scientist, “It is in their programming, they can’t cross into any altitude above 8000 feet. They were programmed to wipe out humanity. Divine Retribution for Man’s wicked ways.”

  • The Creature’s Weakness:

In the A Quiet Place Movies, the creatures weakness is found. Death by a high frequency that blows their eardrums and head apart. In Elevation Nina discovers that bullets coated with Cobalt trigger an electric charge that causes the Reapers to implode rather violently.

I couldn’t find any information that alludes to Elevation being a prequel to A Quiet Place: Day One. But at the end of the movie right after the credits start rolling there is a scene where Will and Nina are looking up at the sky through a telescope and see something coming down from the sky, very similar to the beginning of A Quiet Place: Day One.

My Recommendation:

I liked it, although I don’t think I would watch it again. Just not that memorable. It was good enough to hold my interest, although at times it seemed a bit slow or forced. At an hour and a half it went really quick though. So yes it’s worth a watch, just a one-off though. More like a B Sci-Fi movie than the Blockbuster The A Quiet Place Movies were.

A QUIET PLACE: DAY 1-477: STORY AND TIMELINE

DAY ONE: June 18, 2020

Numerous meteor showers of asteroid fragments enter Earth’s atmosphere all around the globe without warning. Initially landing in China, Mexico, New York City, and Millbrook, New York. Shortly afterwards an aggressive Alien species starts attacking anything and anyone making noise, quickly decimating whole populations caught by surprise and completely unprepared.

Sam is a terminally ill hospice care patient who went to New York City with her cat Frodo and her Hospice group to watch a show. She is caught alone outside the theater as the aliens attack. Henri, who Sam met during the show, comes out of the theater and motions for her to be quiet and come back inside. She reunites with members of her Hospice group and her cat and everyone settles in quietly for the night.

Evelyn and Lee Abbott live in a farmhouse on the outskirts of Millbrook, New York with their children, deaf daughter Regan, and two sons Marcus and Beau. They are in town attending Marcus’ baseball game when they see the meteor showers enter the atmosphere. It is quickly decided to call the game and everybody heads home. Before they can get very far the aliens attack the little town and start decimating everyone and everything in sight.

DAY TWO: June 19, 2020

Sam decides that she is going to leave the theater by herself and go home to Harlem. As she makes her way with her cat, she gets separated from Frodo. Frodo runs into Eric who follows Frodo to where Sam is. Eric, being from out of the country and going to school, is terrified and wants to tag along with Sam and Frodo. They make it to Harlem and Sam’s apartment where they rest for the night.

Day Three: June 20,2020

Sam and Eric head for the waterfront where the military has been staging boats to evacuate those stranded in the city. The military learned very quickly that the aliens can’t swim so they blew up all the bridges leading out of Manhattan. Now catching one of the boats is the only chance of survival. When they get there Sam tells Eric to take her cat and get to the boat. She will stay behind and distract the aliens so Eric and Frodo can make it. Henri, who is on one of the boats sees Eric running towards the water and yells for the boat to stop for Eric, who makes it. Sam heads back to Harlem where she plays Nina Simone real loud so the aliens can kill her.

Day 89: September 15, 2020

The Abbott family, having survived so far, are in town getting supplies. They leave things that make noise such as chips, toys, etc., but get essential supplies they need. They wear backpacks and walk barefoot on sand paths they made to keep things from crunching under their feet and making noise. They all converse in sign language and gestures they had learned previously because Regan is deaf. As they are leaving town and about to cross the bridge towards their farm, little Beau turns on the noisy space shuttle toy that he snuck out of the store. Lee runs to try and save him before the aliens come but he doesn’t make it.

Day 472: October 3, 2021

The Abbott’s are going about their daily routine on the farm. Evelyn is pregnant and Regan assists her with the chores, laundry, food prep, etc. Lee uses his engineering talents to try to make an earpiece for Regan out of old transistor parts. He does maintenance around the farm and tries to figure out what he can about the aliens. Marcus plays very quietly around the farm after his home schooling sessions with Evelyn. They eat dinner down in the basement being very quiet and then settle in for the night.

Day 473: October 4, 2021

The next day Lee and Marcus go to the river to catch fish, while Evelyn and Regan stay and do chores around the farm. Evelyn’s water breaks and in her panic, steps on a nail and draws the attention of a nearby alien. She turns on the red emergency lighting that is draped around the farm and makes it upstairs to the cast iron tub. The alien is not far behind and she struggles to keep quiet as the baby tries to be born. Lee and Marcus return from the river and see the red lighting and realize there is trouble. Marcus goes to the emergency fireworks rocket and lights it, and the alien takes off after the noise leaving Evelyn to give birth in the tub.

Lee makes sure Evelyn is ok and then tries to find Regan and Marcus. He finds them by the silo but an alien has heard them and they are trapped. Lee sees no choice but to distract the alien so that his children can escape to safety. Lee perishes as Regan and Marcus make it back to the farmhouse. There they discover Evelyn is trapped by an alien. Remembering the high pitched noise the earpiece Lee made her makes, she decides to use the loudspeaker mike to broadcast it. It hurts the alien and Evelyn shoots it while it is defenseless.

Day 474: October 5, 2021

Lee gone and the farm destroyed, Evelyn, Regan, Marcus and the baby decide to head to the nearest bonfire light Lee had marked on a map. They find it is tended by their old friend Emmett. Regan hears a song on Emmett’s radio “Beyond The Sea” that plays over and over again. She figures out that it is coming from a radio station on an island just off the coast. She thinks she can reach it in a day and a half, and plans to head out alone the next morning with her earpiece with the intention of using the radio transmitter to kill any aliens within hearing range.

Day 475: October 6, 2021

The next morning Marcus realizes Regan has left and tells Evelyn. She convinces Emmett he has to go bring her back. Emmett catches up with Regan but she refuses to go back. She convinces Emmett that they need to get the earpiece to the transmitter on the island. It is their only hope of defeating the aliens. They hold up in a train station for the night to rest for the journey.

Day 476: October 7, 2021

Evelyn leaves Marcus alone with the baby and heads into town to get medical supplies and oxygen. Marcus tends to the baby and accidently makes noise and draws the aliens attention. Regan and Emmett head to the coast to get to the island. They make it to a dock and get hijacked by local bad guys. Emmett manages to get loose and dives into the water and tells Regan to do the same. They manage to get on a boat and make it to the island, where they meet Henry and the rest of the people that went there on the boats from the city on DAY ONE. Evelyn fights off the alien and is reunited with Marcus and the baby for the night in Emmett’s bunker.

Day 477: October 8, 2021

Having told Henri about the earpiece and Regan’s plan they decide to head to the radio station but quickly realize an alien hitched a ride on the boat and is on the island. They race to get to the radio station before the alien can stop them. An alien kills Henri but Regan and Emmett make it into the radio station and use the earpiece to transmit over the air the high pitched noise that kills the aliens. Just as Evelyn and Marcus are battling an alien in the bunker, the signal comes on, disables the alien and Marcus kills it.

Some final notes about the Aliens.

It is surmised they came from a hostile planet that blew up and they managed to ride out the journey on the asteroid fragments. When they got to earth the noises were seen as threats so they killed and destroyed whatever made noise. They seemed to be herbivores and not carnivores. They never ate any humans but did eat plants that came with them on the asteroid fragments. The hostile environment they came from made them blind because of it’s lack of light. That’s why they developed extraordinary hearing abilities, which turned out to be their Achilles’ heel. Earth’s atmosphere was lighter than where they came from so they were much stronger here. They could not swim being way too dense, so they would sink when they went in water.

You might also like:

A Quiet Place: Day One

A Quiet Place

A Quiet Place: Day One

2024   Paramount Pictures

Rated: PG-13

Length:  1 hr  39min

Drama ~ Horror ~ Sci-Fi ~ Thriller

Directed by:  Michael Sarnoski

Starring:  Lupita Nyong’o, Joseph QuinnAlex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou and Schnitzel.

“New York City gives off an average of 90 decibels, that is the volume of a constant scream.”

Lupita Nyong’o stars as Samira (Sam), a terminally ill cancer patient living in a hospice facility outside of New York City with her cat Frodo (Schnitzel). She is a Poet/Writer who grew up in Harlem and is dealing with the last stages of cancer. Her Nurse Reuben (Alex Wolff) convinces her to go into the city with the Hospice group who are going to see a show. She agrees to go but only if they can get real pizza in the city while they are there. Just as they are about to leave the theater and go get Pizza, Reuben gets a phone call from the facility telling him there is something going on in the city and they want the group to leave immediately.

As they are all boarding the bus they notice something in the sky falling down, like an asteroid has blown apart and headed for the city. Seconds later all hell breaks loose and Sam is standing alone in a cloud of dust similar to what 9/11 looked like. Before she can catch her breath people around her are snatched by things she cannot see. She makes her way back into the theater where she is told to be very quiet and rejoins some of her group and is reunited with her cat Frodo. She eventually makes her way out to head to Harlem for pizza along with Frodo and meets Eric (Joseph Quinn), who has no idea where he is and what is going on.

The three head out into the city together to survive and make sense of what happened.  A Quiet Place: Day One comes in hard, fast and loud before it gets quiet interspersed with moments of very noisy terror. It is an Alien invasion and they quickly learn that the aliens are blind, can’t swim and have extra-ordinary hearing they use to destroy anything that makes noise. Lupita Nyong’o does an excellent job of portraying Sam dealing with Cancer, dying, pain, loss and terrifying Alien creatures who seem to be at every turn. All while trying to be quiet and keep her cat Frodo by her side.

Joseph Quinn as Eric reminded me of Robert Downey Jr. I thought he was excellent in this and will have to keep an eye out for him in future roles. BUT…….The Oscar goes to……DRUMROLL PLEASE!…….Schnitzel as Frodo The Cat. Seriously this creature needs some recognition for this performance. The three of them together make this movie. I’ve watched it twice and the chemistry of the three is incredible. Awesome work! I found myself on the edge of my seat, jumping numerous times, gripping the chair, biting my nails…ok, a little over the top. But seriously there is drama and horror as they make their way through the city. There are moments when it is absolutely terrifying.

This is a great movie! It’s everything you want in a movie. It is a perfect prequel to A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place II. I debated about whether I should go back and watch I and II before this one but decided, since it is a prequel to watch this first. I am glad I did, it gives a greater insight into the story of the other two movies. Which I will be watching tonight and tomorrow.

So to wrap it up:

  • This is a GREAT Movie
  • Highly Recommended!!
  • Watch this first, then I and II
  • and THE CAT DESERVES AN OSCAR!

TWO THUMBS UP!

You might also like:

A QUIET PLACE

A QUIET PLACE PART II

A QUIET PLACE SERIES STORY AND TIMELINE