Nothing sets the mood for Halloween like a seasonal movie in the dark. And this year, there is no shortage of new releases for you to indulge your film cravings. From long- awaited horror films to laugh-out-loud comedies, this season has a movie for everyone.

It 

It, released Sept. 4, has been one of the most talked about films of the past month, prompting praise from celebrities and film critics and boasting an impressive 85% on rotten tomatoes. Even though It is not necessarily a Halloween movie, it is the perfect movie to watch if you are looking for a scare. Based on a Stephen King novel, It tells the story of a demon who poses as a clown named Pennywise and returns to a town every 27 years, murdering children in the form of their worst fear. For some moviegoers, they fear clowns more than anything. Take Lydia Nguyen (’20): “I don’t think I would ever go see the movie It. I have always had a fear of clowns and seeing the movie would just scare me even more,” Nguyen said. “Clowns just creep me out and are super scary.”

Jigsaw

Jigsaw, the long-awaited 8th movie of the Saw franchise, is released on Oct. 27 and is aimed to impress not only devoted fans but new ones too. In Jigsaw, dead bodies begin to show up around the city with all the trademark signs of being victims of the infamous jigsaw killer- each is brutally and uniquely murdered, with his signature puzzle piece cut out of their flesh- but he has been thought to be dead for over 10 years. “Jigsaw seems like the perfect Halloween scare fest for teenagers willing to jump out of their seats once or twice during the movie,” Monish Vijayaraghavan (’20) said.

Happy Death Day 

It’s unlikely that you haven’t heard of Happy Death Day– it seems trailers for this movie preface every Youtube video and play just about every TV commercial break. The well-publicized movie is set to release on Friday the 13th of October, and has already created a buzz with potential moviegoers. Happy Death Day is a horror-mystery movie that follows the story of a teenage girl repeatedly being killed on her birthday and reliving the day indefinitely until she can figure out who her murderer is. Emily Kemp (’20)  shares her honest review. “Happy Death Day puts kind of a horror twist on Groundhog Day- it kind makes it seem like 13 going on 30 rather than a quote on quote ‘scary movie’.”

Boo! Two: A Madea Halloween 

For those who aren’t fans of the horror genre, there is Tyler Perry’s Boo! Two: A Madea Halloween. Released on Oct. 20, Boo! Two is sure to capture the hearts of loyal fans of the other nine Madea movies. The comedy follows Madea, an unapologetic and tough yet lovable grandmother as she and her two partners in crime, Bam and Hattie, venture to a haunted campground where monsters such as the boogeyman and goblins are released and hilarity ensues.