Three Slow Burn Horror Movies to Kick Off the Halloween Season

It’s that time of year again, the air is getting crisper, the leaves start falling, and our Netflix queues start getting full of spooky movies. Here are three horror movies that have an atmospheric slow burn to them. Yes, we could list Hereditary, the Witch, and other great movies, but I was just looking to highlight a few that seem a little more under the radar.

At the Devil’s Door
If you are looking for something stylistic and low key to kick off your first September weekend, the 2014 movie, At the Devil’s Door, is a great pic that fits the bill.  This movie is a little bit off the beaten path as it’s not part of a horror franchise. But its strength lies in its ability to quietly and realistically portray a demonic possession. The cinematography and atmosphere is gorgeous.  This movie will definitely teach you that materialism and wanting a hot red pair of sneaks, can have dire consequences.

The Wind
The Wind is a 2018 film based in the early 19th century American frontier. Oppressive isolation, relentless wolves, and demons all come together to make moving out West even more frighting than dying of dysentery in the Oregon Trail game! This is one of those movies that you watch, and at the end, you are wondering what you just saw, what happened, and why can you not stop thinking about it? The demons are one of the creepiest monsters I have seen in a horror movie in a long time. Definitely worth a watch! If you like, There Will Be Blood, and The Witch, you might be into this one!

Pyewacket
Pyewacket was a random watch on Hulu that turned out to be so much better than I expected. The steady build up of tension, the witch, the dark shadows rising up, the teen angst, -this film did a lot of stuff right. With the Blair Witch game coming out this weekend, witches are having a MOMENT. So if you are done making twig sculptures in the woods and playing the new the Blair Witch game, and you just want to see some more witchy business, check out Pyewacket!

Well, those are a few of my slower but satisfying horror movies. What are some of your favorite horror movies to get you in the Halloween mood? Let us know in the comments below!

-Mel