Top five: Films to see at HOME’s Film Fear Halloween season

Bring the whole family along for this one! This adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel of the same name is lauded for its dark humour, convincingly and seemingly effortlessly capturing the essence of Dahl’s writing. Featuring an acclaimed performance from Anjelica Huston as the terrifying Grand High Witch, kids and adults alike will be delighted by this film, whether revisiting an old favourite or experiencing it for the first time.

Fans of period horror, this one is for you – see Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as lighthouse keepers in this eerie black-and-white tale of isolation and fear, set in the 1890s. Directed by Robert Eggers (The Witch), this movie promises to be brimming with atmospheric dread, with standout performances from both actors. And this event really is unmissable – The Lighthouse isn’t on general release in the UK until January 2020, so you could be one of the very first people in the UK to see it.

This debut from German director Tilman Singer promises demonic possession like you’ve never seen it before. Surreal, atmospheric, mysterious, and a real homage to the 1980s, this is one for the cinephiles – fans of genre-bending suspense and skilfully done temporal ambiguity absolutely shouldn’t miss the chance to see this in the cinema for a fully immersive experience, aided by the impressive retro-synth score.

What better way to spend Halloween than at a special preview screening of the latest Stephen King adaptation? Anything with the ‘King of Horror’ involved is certain to scare, and Doctor Sleep is no different. A follow up to The Shining, it stars Ewan McGregor as a grown up Danny Torrance – now Dan – who is forced to confront the demons from his past experiences at the Overlook Hotel, and act as a mentor to a young girl who also has ‘the shine’. Helmed by horror veteran Mike Flanagan – who most recently created, directed and wrote the acclaimed Netflix horror series The Haunting of Hill House – fans of Kubrick’s The Shining will be pleased to know that the film promises to acknowledge this legacy, and should do so in safe hands.

Rounding off the FilmFear season is the 1979 German classic, based both on Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Murnau’s early German silent film Nosferatu. Nosferatu the Vampyre is an absolute classic of the genre, featuring a deeply compelling performance from Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula himself. There’s plenty of the usual horror movie fare – a sinister atmosphere pervades and grisly deaths abound – but this film is particularly noteworthy for its depiction of Dracula as a fully rounded character in his own right, rather than simply a figure of fear (not that he isn’t still terrifying, of course). Don’t miss the chance to see this one in cinemas to really immerse yourself in the atmosphere and performances.