Music and Movie Reviews | October 26th, 2020
5 Netflix Horror Flicks For This Spooky Season
By: Alexys Sutton
Journey with us into the depths of darkness, hellscape houses and sinister survival schemes as we venture into some of Netflix’s most bloodcurdling and grotesque thriller and slasher movies. While Netflix isn’t known for its assortment of horror flicks, due to its inability to provide fans with classics such as “Halloween” or “Friday the 13th,” it does have a few hidden gems in its arsenal that are sure to give you a fright to remember.
The Platform
Photo courtesy netflix.com
This Spanish sci-fi horror flick takes place in a dystopian world where hundreds of people are placed in pairs either voluntarily or involuntarily in a multi-leveled prison. The object of the game is survival of the fittest. Each level is greeted daily by a platform of food that is only available for a limited amount of time and cannot be stored.
While there is a large array of delicacies and delectable finger foods, it’s first come first serve as it slowly descends downward leaving less and less for the levels below. Basic human greed puts everyone in a constant state of paranoia and survival. In the spirit of fairness, everyone is moved to a different level monthly while they are asleep. Although someone may prosper at the top one month, the next month may lead to starvation, suicide and often cannibalism.
Many believe this gory and thought-provoking film to be in perfect correlation with the ideas behind quarantine and our own governing system. Brian Tallerico, a writer for The Roger Ebert movie review site, also admits to seeing the parallels between the movie and the current state of our government within his review.
“As we see how society functions (or fails to do so) in the face of one of history’s most devastating crises, take some time out and watch ‘The Platform,’ a funhouse mirror reflection of our world,” said Tallerico.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Photo courtesy Netflix
From the moment a father and son coroner duo begin examining a mysterious unidentified body, they begin to notice and experience unexplainable things. While they assume her life has ended, the time they spend with her begins to threaten their own as they try to piece together the cause of her death. Even The New York Times’ critic Jeannette Catsoulis perceives the movie’s subtle approach to the horror genre very effective in her 2018 article.
“Gruesome without being gory, ‘The Autopsy of Jane Doe’ achieves real scares with a minimum of special effects,” Catsoulis said.
The rising tension and overall eeriness of this seemingly straightforward supernatural thriller are sure to hold the attention of viewers.
The Girl on the 3rd Floor
Photo courtesy Netflix
The flawed protagonist depicted by WWE wrestler C.M. Punks, also known as Phil Brooks, begins his role in this gothic horror by trying to renovate a house for him and his pregnant wife. Amidst the explanation of the house’s dark past, his home improvement project soon leads him to strange colored fluids, random creepy objects and hazardous structural instabilities. While there, he also meets a younger woman, who he originally found attractive, that begins to show evidence of strange and psychotic character traits that lead him to life-threatening and relationship altering problems.
This movie also shows psychological thriller traits through its explicit symbolism originally shown through their neighbors’ allusion to the house’s ability to judge character. Chicago Tribune writer Michael Phillips finds the movie’s continuous theme of cause and effect to be very satisfying in the way that its miscreant main character gets everything he deserves in the end.
“‘Girl on the Third Floor’ tells the story of a belligerent weasel begging for his comeuppance, which makes him ideal fodder for a scenario designed for transgression punishment,” Phillips said.
Await Further Instructions
Photo courtesy Netflix
Beginning in what looks like a standard British home on Christmas Eve, we are immediately introduced to a young man who brings his girlfriend along to visit his family after being away for many years. Within less than 15 minutes, we are exposed to the toxic family energy that surely prompted his long absence. His relatives show evidence of xenophobia and racism that is very unsettling to his girlfriend. He suggests that they leave in the morning but the family soon awakes to a strange seemingly indestructible black substance covering the house. When they approach the living room, the TV displays the words “Await Further Instructions.”
From here the screen continues to display morally compromising messages and the father’s blind obedience to authority leads the family on a violent and dark path as they try to piece together who could be behind the mysterious messages and what could have prompted this drastic change. While its haunted house theme seems outplayed, their mysterious circumstances add a unique twist to this sci-fi thriller. In critic Jeannette Catsoulis’ 2018 review, she describes how their commitment to the story’s overall purpose is intriguing.
“(And) while most movies of this type simply peter out, ‘Instructions’ maintains such an unswerving commitment to its dark purpose that its final, gorgeously tenebrous images will leave you wobbly for days,” Catsoulis said.
What Keeps You Alive
Photo courtesy Netflix
A lesbian couple celebrating their anniversary visits an expansive cabin in the woods and while it seems like any other classic horror movie, its original tone of loving newlyweds quickly takes a dark turn. The couple finds themselves questioning everything they thought they knew about each other and begin to prepare for a brutal and bloody battle of the hunter versus the hunted as they navigate their way through their own muddled. Throughout the film, we are given insight into the characters’ minds in hopes of allowing us to better understand the motives behind their actions. Critic Monica Castillo, of Roger Eberts’ movie review site, stated in her 2018 review that the videography also gives added insight into how the characters think.
“These scenes depart from the main tension of the story to add more depth to the characters’ mindset. This violent Canadian thriller provides an interesting twist while doting on the themes of trust, betrayal and selflessness,” Castillo said.
