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Top five horror films for couples to enjoy this Valentine’s Day
Valentine's Day is traditionally a time to settle down and watch a romantic film with your partner.
But perhaps couples would be better suited thinking about what horror films they could watch whilst curled up on the sofa together.
Of course, a back-and-forth discussion can inevitably ensue, but fear not.
Dr Steven Gerrard, a Reader in Film at Northern Film School at Leeds Beckett University, has recommended his top five horror films for couples to enjoy.
From Christian Bale’s portrayal of a serial killer in American Psycho to a mining community being brought to its knees by a murder spree in My Bloody Valentine 3D, there is a movie for everyone.
- My Bloody Valentine 3D – A mining community is brought to its knees when a murder spree happens in the local mine. Ten years later, the mine re-opens. And the murders begin again… If you like blood, gore, mayhem, people getting both stalked and slashed… in 3D!!!... then this one is for you. Great atmosphere, a good cast, fantastic use of 3D, and a really good murder mystery – all set in and around a clapped out town, where all the parents have guilty secrets hidden just below the surface – make this a treat…. Did I say it was in 3D?
- A Nightmare on Elm Street – When the kids of suburban Elm Street fall asleep, the spirit of notorious murderer Freddie Krueger kills them in their dreams… before spilling out into the real world. The original dreamscape nightmare, with a terrific lead performance by Heather Langenkamp is given extra jolts by the idea that your dreams can kill you. Freddie is an out-and-out horror icon, and when Johnny Depp appears and gets killed in a blood-soaked sequence, you know you are in for a treat…
- US – An American family go on holiday to a beautiful seaside community. Once there, they find their exact doubles staring at them from the end of their drive… A terrifically scary, brutal and frankly mind-bending horror film. The idea that you have a double, and that double is coming to kill you, is so bonkers and yet so perfectly done in a film full of underlying dread about today’s loss of identity, that it becomes utterly compelling. A terrific lead performance and an end sequence that is genuinely unsettling, makes this an unforgettable horror outing for today’s audiences.
- American Psycho – Patrick Bateman…by day a banking executive, driven, motivated and successful… by night, a raving madman who may or may not be a psycho-killer… We love a Welsh Batman, and Christian Bale excelled as Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego. Here, in this terrific adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis’ satirical novel, his performance as Bateman ranks as one of the very best modern horror has to offer. When your killer is charming, confident, ruthless and violent – where mergers and acquisitions change to murder and aggression - then you know you’ll be changing bank no matter what hidden charges there are…
- The Bride of Frankenstein – Henry Frankenstein returns to his ancestral seat and creates a Bride for his Monster. An oldie, but a goldie. Despite its age, this film is the perfect horror movie. It looks brilliant, the dialogue is terrifically funny, the characters are totally bonkers, the monsters sympathetic, and the sets have to be seen to be believed… This is the template for horror. You’ll love it.
To find out more information, follow @NFSFilmTV or visit the Northern Film School.