When you think of Disney+, the first images that come to mind are animated classics, family-friendly series, and superheroes. Not always! Get ready for Disney+’s fourth annual “Hallowstream” — the first in the Philippines — since launching in November 2017.
Disney+ has a library of spine-tingling, hair-raising, and blood-curdling horror and scary movies that’ll satisfy your horror genre craving this Halloween. Whether you’re a fan of the supernatural, psychological thrillers, or classic monsters, Disney+ has something to offer every horror aficionado.
Sure, lists are contentious—especially movie lists. What is one man’s best film ever may be a rotten tomato for another. Horror films, however, have a universal goal: to scare the wits out of you — and they often succeed in doing that with jump scares and memorable, horrifying characters.
Here’s our list of the 5 scariest scenes from recent films in the horror genre:
- The introduction of The Mother in Barbarian
Barbarian is about Tess who arrives at a rental house and finds it has been double-booked and already occupied by a man named Keith. Tess decides to stay the (rainy) night while he sleeps on the sofa. The next day, she accidentally locks herself in the basement and stumbles across a hidden corridor, leading to a room with a camcorder, a stained mattress, and a bloody handprint. She and Keith later find a subterranean tunnel attached to the hidden corridor.
Out comes The Mother who attacks them. She is deformed and contorted with an eerie childlike vibe. She is obsessed with being a mother, and takes anyone she can find and forces them to be her “children,” brutally murdering them if they resist.
- Beth explores the haunted house in The Night House
The supernatural horror film revolves around Beth who has just lost her husband to suicide. She finds a strange reversed floor plan for their house and has visions of her husband Owen killing women in the woods.
One of the scariest scenes is Beth descending into the dimly lit basement, where you can feel her own tension and fear building in this unsettling scene. The labyrinthine space and disorienting shadows are accompanied by a creepy sound design. Beth finds a hidden chamber where she encounters a terrifying, supernatural presence called Nothing. The dread and shocking revelation will send shivers down your spine.
- Sawyer sees The Boogeyman during therapy
The 2023 film based on a Stephen King short story from 1973 is about two sisters still grieving the death of their mother. They are haunted by a presence in the house and struggle to convince their father that it exists before it’s too late. Director Rob Savage plots horror and trauma intersecting with a fantastical boogeyman character.
The younger sister, Sawyer, is afraid of the dark and first encounters the Boogeyman under her bed. Her therapist tries to convince her that there’s nothing hiding in the shadows. To prove it, she dims a red light. But then Sawyer sees the Boogeyman perched in the upper corner of the room. The reveal is unnerving especially since the therapist and her sister Sadie don’t believe her.
- Lucas reveals his drawings in Antlers
Adapted from the short story “The Quiet Boy,” Antlers follows Frank and his two sons Lucas and Aiden. The boys’ schoolteacher suspects that Lucas is being abused but she doesn’t know of the supernatural happenings around the family. Elsewhere, the town they live in is also about to reopen a mine that’s actually being used by shady characters, including Frank, as a meth lab.
A supernatural animal with antlers begins attacking the townsfolk and leaving their body parts in the forest and the mine. Frank, too, has been turned and antlered. The teacher finds Lucas’ drawings of blood and gore and the animal, and is asked to explain them. The scene is set in a classroom and it’s daylight but the way Lucas looks up from his desk at his teacher is so quietly horrifying it’ll make your skin crawl.
- Russel’s gory spree in Werewolf by Night (In Color)
Michael Giacchino’s adaptation of the Marvel Comics Werewolf by Night is the first MCU exploration into the horror genre. The newly released color version tells the story of the infamous monster killer Ulysses Bloodstone who has died, and his widow Verusa gathers the world’s most infamous hunters to succeed him.
One scene that stands out for its gore is the reveal of Russel who is transformed into a werewolf by the power of the Bloodstone. In a hallway fight scene that’s been compared to Daredevil, Russel tears at his foes with their blood splashing onto the camera.
- Hercule Poirot gets attacked in A Haunting in Venice (streaming on October 31)
Based on Agatha Christie’s novel Hallowe’en Party, A Haunting in Venice is a sequel to Death on the Nile, and follows protagonist detective Hercule Poirot in another murder mystery. Living in retirement in Venice, Poirot suddenly gets invited by old friend Ariadne Oliver to witness a seance by a medium named Joyce Reynolds. However, the night goes awry after a murder occurs, and it’s up to Poirot to solve the mystery.
One of the more striking scenes of the film happens early on. After Poirot tries to debunk Joyce Reynolds’ abilities as a medium, he decides to “lighten up” by playing a game of apple bobbing. While playing, he gets attacked by an unknown assailant who tries to drown him. What makes it scary is that Poirot was moments away from becoming a victim himself, all while playing an innocent game.
Check out all these horror movies and more, and get into the thrilling scares this Halloween season, exclusively on Disney+.
