Eons ago, back in 1979, Ridley Scott’s Alien landed to amaze and thrill us to bits. One can have an Alien Halloween on Disney as the original is joined by Alien Resurrection, Alien vs. Predator, Alien 3, Alien Covenant, Aliens and Aliens vs. Predator Requiem. Hours of alien viewing. From the beginning, in the distant future, the commercial spaceship “Nostromo” crew is on its way home when the crew picks up a distress call from a distant moon. The crew must investigate, and the spaceship descends on the small planetoid afterwards. Three crew members leave the spaceship to explore the area. At the same time, the ship’s computer deciphers the message. When the crew realises it is not alone on the spaceship, they must deal with the consequences. Grab the snacks and drinks and settle in for a wild ride.

This is a strange thriller, coming in at over two hours. It does take a while to get where it’s going, but it is compelling viewing. The setting for the sanitorium is spectacular. Apparently during WWII it was a hospital for injured soldiers, and Hitler is rumoured to have stayed there. The story follows an ambitious young executive who is sent to retrieve his company’s CEO from an idyllic but mysterious “wellness centre” at a remote location in the Swiss Alps. He soon suspects that the spa’s miraculous treatments are not what they seem. When he begins to unravel its terrifying secrets, his sanity is tested, as he finds himself diagnosed with the same curious illness that keeps all the guests here longing for the cure.

This is a strange one, I must say. It is more mysterious than scary. It depends on where your horror threshold lies. When a young girl mysteriously disappears, a former police officer sets out to investigate and comes across a secretive group attempting to summon a terrifying supernatural entity. But I’m not sure what actually was going on half the time, which keeps one guessing I suppose. It held my attention, but I’m still somewhat puzzled.

I am not a horror fan as a rule, but this film had me on the edge of my seat with fingers over the eyes at times. Rebecca Hall stars as grief-stricken high-school teacher Beth who, having buried her husband, returns to the spacious, eerily vacant lake house he built for her in the heart of a gloomy forest. But as the grieving Beth tries to pick up the pieces, mysterious shadows and blood-curdling reflections on the windows start to taunt her, and suddenly, she finds herself opening boxes, rummaging through the deceased’s belongings. And little by little, Beth’s intense late-night nightmares become increasingly vivid, taking a toll on her already fragile sanity. This one held my attention.

“Once it was human, even as you and I!” That quote is from the poster of the 1958 version of The Fly with Vincent Price. I have never forgotten the fly stuck in the spider web screaming “help me, help me” in this squeaky voice. But I’m going for the David Cronenberg’s 1986 version for this list, with Jeff Goldblum as the eccentric scientist who transforms into a man/fly hybrid after an experiment goes awry. The film is based on the short story by French-British writer George Langelaan, which was first published in1957 in Playboy. Even though I’ve viewed The Fly many times, I always enjoy watching Jeff do his thing.

There’s nothing like an excellent degustation dining experience, but Chef Julian takes it to a whole new level, albeit an unsettling one. The genre is horror, so it may not be to everyone’s taste – ha, ha, although I think it leans towards the disturbing, rather than horror. Expecting nothing less than the best of everything haute cuisine has to offer, a group of ultra-wealthy gastronomes with a demanding palate arrive at the Hawthorn: an exclusive culinary temple run by highly regarded gourmet chef Julian Slowik. However, no one knows that the cryptic genius in the kitchen has big plans for tonight. Now, the host can finally unveil his magnum opus. But is the blasé clientele ready for Julian’s creative madness? The story is based upon the writers’ visit to Cornelius Sjømatrestaurant in Norway, which is also on an island. Three Michelin star chef Dominique Crenn, the owner and head chef at Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, created the dishes, together with her executive pastry chef, Juan Contreras. Highly entertaining.

This horror thriller is certainly minimalistic when it comes to dialogue. There is very little. An exiled anxiety-ridden homebody must battle an alien who’s found its way into her home. Kaitlyn Dever is excellent as a young woman whose home is invaded by aliens. There’s no cute little ET phoning home in this one. These guys are very nasty. Stephen King is said to have written that the film is “brilliant, daring, involving, scary.” It’s certainly the latter.

Back in 1977 worked at the London Hospital, which is in Whitechapel. It has been portrayed as a location with a sinister history, but this wasn’t evident in the middle of the day. I must say, I didn’t venture into the area at night. I think we’re all familiar with the incidents that took place. From Hell has an excellent ensemble cast led by Johnny Depp, so many talented actors in one place. It’s 1888, and the poor lead horrifying lives in the city’s deadliest slum, Whitechapel. Harassed by gangs and forced to walk the streets for a living, Mary Kelly and her group of ladies trudge on through this daily misery. When their friend Ann is kidnapped, they are drawn into a conspiracy with links higher than they could imagine. This is soon followed by the gruesome murder of another woman, Polly. Inspector Fred Abberline, a brilliant, troubled man whose police work is often aided by his psychic abilities, becomes deeply involved with the case, which takes on a personal meaning to him. There’s a fair bit of goriness in evidence with this one, if you’re a bit squeamish.

Back in 1959, this one would have been deemed very scary, but we’ve now moved on to films far more horrific. The plot is thin, the acting often stilted and unimaginative, but I love it for the special effects, which had to have a considerable amount of thought allotted to them. There was no whiz-bank CGI to rely on. When a newly wedded husband receives a frantic telegram whilst on a train with his bride, he gets off at a station to make a phone call. The train pulls away without him on it, and that’s the last his wife sees of him. Years later after a long search she tracks him down on his family’s southern estate where she discovers that a failed medical treatment has turned him into an alligator mutant. Yes, that’s right, he becomes as one with the alligators in the swamp. There’s nothing like a good failed medical experiment to shake things up in the family.

Let’s do the time warp again! It has “horror” in the title, but there’s nothing horrific about The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Well, maybe one scene is a little disturbing. Originally, it was not well-received but has gone on to be one of the most popular films of all time. At anytime, anywhere in the world, one can always find this classic playing in a cinema nearby. The story follows Brad and Janet who seek shelter at the bizarre residence of the charismatic Dr. Frank-n-Furter, where they encounter the unconventional conventionists and so it begins. It was a family favourite in our house and has been viewed multiple times. But my first encounter was in Johannesburg when we would regularly go at midnight to see this heavily censored film, even if we had to sit in the front row. So, give yourself over to absolute pleasure… don’t dream it, be it.