It’s the spookiest time of the year and with it comes a desire to do scary stuff, dress up like monsters and be entertained by terrifying movies! Today, I’ve found some deliciously creepy, disturbing and downright frightening films to delight your senses and give you some bad dreams.
Geared toward the traits of your own sign, these were chosen based on what you might like, but also what you’re the most likely to be scared by. Get ready to curl up with a bowl of popcorn, a couple of friends and a few hours of messed up movies to get you in the mood for All Hallow’s Eve.
For those of you who want to know how these movies rate on the scale of scariness, I used the trusty Reel Scary website, where users can rate a movie based on three factors: Gore, Disturbing and Suspenseful.
I’ll be including the rating for each in case you want to watch ‘em (Total out of ten), and including the overall “Scariness” rating, one being pretty tame and ten being an “I’m not sleeping ever again” pure terrorfest, meant only for the bravest of all of us.
Aries – The Descent
(Reel Scary Rating 8.6)
Claustrophobia anyone? Six adventurous friends decide to go on a caving expedition, but things start to go wrong after they become trapped and are forced to descend further and further into the earth. While the close quarters would frighten anyone, this should be a particularly scary thought for freedom loving Aries, who hates to feel trapped by anything.
The group soon realizes they are being hunted by something unspeakable as they continue into the dark, but what’s even worse is the way in which some of their relationships start to deteriorate as tensions mount and hope diminishes. I have heard from many of my horror loving friends that this is the scariest movie they’ve ever seen. Fair warning!
(Gore 5.6 Disturb 6.2 Suspense 7.6)
Taurus – The Strangers
(Reel Scary Rating 8.0)
Hopefully, we all love the homes we live in – after all, home is a safe place we can come to for comfort, and to shut out the harsh world we live in. For security focused Taurus, this is especially true, as they cherish their quiet time and likely take a lot of care in everything they bring into it, from furniture to people. Their home is their refuge.
For bulls then, the scariest kind of movie would be about home invasion. In The Strangers, a couple heads to a vacation home to relax and unwind for a spell. Weirdness starts happening when a strange woman comes knocking at their door at 4 a.m., and later, three masked sociopaths take over the home and do horrible things to them. I’m honestly scared even writing this.
(Gore 3.7 Disturb 6.1 Suspense 7.6)
Gemini – Jacob’s Ladder
(Reel Scary Rating 6.7)
Intellectual Gemini, always eager to learn and excited by all of the marvelous things you can fit into that wonderful brain of yours. Ruled by Mercury, you are the masters of communication, and rely on your vast knowledge to help you adapt to any situation. To lose your own mind would be pretty terrifying, which is where Jacob’s Ladder makes an entrance.
Vietnam vet Jacob struggles with hallucinations and paranoia after returning home from the war. He knows something is wrong, but can’t quite tell the difference between reality and dreams, and suffers from repeated flashbacks. His friends and family try to help, but he continues to descend into madness.
Horrifying to anyone, but especially one who depends so much on their sharp wits.
(Gore 2.5 Disturb 6.8 Suspense 6.8)
Cancer – Rosemary’s Baby
(Reel Scary Rating 6.9)
This classic movie is the ultimate nightmare for any Mom or Mom-to-be. While there’s no gore whatsoever in this deviously disturbing film, we can’t think of anything worse for a woman who very much wants to start a family.
Betrayed by her husband, her neighbors and almost everyone left in her life who doesn’t already think she’s crazy, she has to make the ultimate decision – to accept or deny her child? For a nurturer such as Cancer, you might understand Rosemary’s plight, struggle with sanity and final, creepy but heartbreaking choice.
(Gore 1.6 Disturb 6.8 Suspense 7.2)
Leo – Carrie
(Reel Scary Rating 4.9)
Leos love to be noticed, paid attention to and to receive the accolades they feel they deserve. You are the golden child of the Sun, after all, and you gain a lot of confidence when you are recognized by others, which is what leads a lot of lions to be performers, dancers and actors – anything where you can be on stage and in the limelight.
What happens when Leo is at the peak of their moment and someone decides to play a cruel joke on them? If you have the temerity to humiliate a Leo, expect vengeance to be wreaked upon you. Classic horror movie Carrie is a mostly sad story of an outcast who gets relentlessly bullied for being different.
When she is tricked in a very public way and made to look foolish, she surprises everyone in a spectacular scene of the ultimate, horrifying revenge. This is less of a scarefest for you Leo, and more of a fun nod to why no one should mess with you!
(Gore 3.6 Disturb 5.6 Suspense 5.7)
Virgo – One Hour Photo
(Reel Scary Rating – Not enough to rate. I’d give it a 6.2 – it’s a pretty messed up idea.)
You, the perfect Virgo live a clean and happy life, with fully ironed shirts and a perpetually freshly washed car. Your beautiful spouse is as attractive as you are, and together with your cherubic child, adorable dog, sassy fish, etc. you could all be on the front of an “Everybody Wants to Be Us” magazine.
Then the dude who prints your photos (Maybe the reason they went digital is because of this movie?!) at Walgreens starts stalking you. You also find out he’s been saving pictures of your family every time you come in and has made a giant collage of your life that he stares at for hours. Then he starts coming to your house. A lot.
For Virgo, what’s at the scary end of your occasional anxiety and mild OCD tendencies? Full-blown Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder? Watch this movie.
(Gore 0.5 Disturb 7.0 Suspense 7.0)
Libra – The Cell
(Reel Scary Rating – Not enough to rate. Personally, I remember feeling physically uncomfortable and emotionally disturbed when I saw this in the theater. 7.2)
Libras will respond to the dazzling beauty of this 2000 horror/sci-fi/thriller. The cinematography is absolutely stunning, rich and inspiring – and sure to capture the attention of those who adore anything lovely and gorgeous. Oh and then there’s the freakiness of the movie at the same time. It’s a beautiful nightmare!
Jennifer Lopez plays a social worker who is skilled in a new, experimental technology, where she can enter someone’s mind and see their thoughts. So Vince Vaughan asks her to dig into the brain of a truly weird and devious serial killer, in order to figure out what he’s done with his latest victim. He’s in a coma, but he’s alive in his mind. Gasp!
(Gore 4.5 Disturb 5.5 Suspense 5.5)
Scorpio – Manhunter
(Reel Scary Rating – Not enough to rate. Personally, I give this an 8.6 – I’ve never finished it and I don’t even want to watch the trailer.)
The original Hannibal Lecter movie, from 1986. They remade it in 2002 as “Red Dragon,” but that was a cartoon compared to the first version. The movie focuses on Will Graham, an FBI agent tasked with solving a series of murders by the serial killer known only as “The Tooth Fairy.” (Not going to give that part away.)
This is a lesser known psychological thriller, but absolutely disturbing and worth time traveling back to the 80s. The story should appeal to Scorpio, the natural detective of the zodiac, for a few reasons. Solving the case is the most obvious, but the mind games played with both Hannibal Lecter and the Tooth Fairy should intrigue the manipulative and dark side of the scorpion.
Scorps can have a fascination with death and transformation as well, which are the only other clues I’ll give you. (Gore 1.0 Disturb 4.0 Suspense 6.5)
Sagittarius – Misery
(Reel Scary Rating 7.6)
An oldie, but a goodie. I can’t think of anything much worse for freedom loving, independent Sagittarius than to be basically kidnapped and held ransom by a truly frightening creature such as Annie Wilkes. Based on a Stephen King novel, this terrifying tale takes place almost entirely in one room – where writer Paul Sheldon is kept prisoner, bedridden due to a horrible car accident.
Completely dependent on and at the mercy of one messed up ex-nurse and full time psychotic, this is probably one of the most horrifying things imaginable for Sags. Saved and then tortured by his “Number one fan,” this is too close for comfort if you’ve ever had to deal with an extremely clingy and besotted lover/stalker. Yikes.
(Gore 3.1 Disturb 6.5 Suspense 7.6)
Capricorn – In the Mouth of Madness
(Reel Scary Rating 7.5)
Capricorns love order, structure and routine – it’s something that gives them a sense of control in a world full of chaos. Being self-sufficient is critical to Caps, often they feel like they can only depend on themselves, which can be why some Caps suffer from loneliness. The ultimate horror for you then, would be to lose control and live in full chaos.
With many references to horror master HP Lovecraft, this creepy film has a lot going on, and you’ll have to pay attention to get all of the clues together. Basically, a famous horror writer goes missing just before his much anticipated new book comes out.
Sam Neill decides to investigate and gets drawn into a really weird plot where readers of the books start to go insane. There’s some apocalyptic, end of the world chaos here, and some interesting questions about ‘the bridge between fiction and reality,’ which should really freak out anyone with control issues.
(Gore 5.4 Disturb 6.5 Suspense 6.7)
Aquarius – 10 Cloverfield Lane
(Reel Scary Rating 6.9)
Aquarians pride themselves on their independence and their ability to make their own decisions, forging ahead through life with their own, hard fought ideas and the freedom to be as weird and rebellious as they choose. One of the worst things for Aquarius is to be trapped in a situation where they are forced into doing something they hate.
Enter this film about a woman who wakes up after a car accident in a sparse and dank basement – with a locked door and a sinister John Goodman checking in on her. Weirdness abounds when she discovers she’s locked in a bomb shelter because there may or may not be an apocalyptic event outside that Goodman is ‘protecting’ them from.
Does he have another motive altogether? Properly freaky for anyone who considers themselves self-sufficient.
(Gore 3.5 Disturb 5.1 Suspense 7.9)
Pisces – Poltergeist
(Reel Scary Rating 5.6)
Pisces have an amazing ability to understand and absorb the emotions of those around them. Imagine then, how horrifying it would be to have a malevolent non-corporeal being in your home – and they find a way to take your beloved little girl into their realm. Also, your son is being stalked by a murderous tree and the closet in your kid’s room might be a portal to a sinister dimension.
For empathic Pisces, this should really hit home – the one place you feel safe is the one place that can do the most harm – with no real escape! To be picking up on the nasty energy of these angry spirits, feeling the confusion and fright of your child as they navigate another dimension and your own terror as you figure out how to get them back…should be a proper scarefest!
(Gore 2.3 Disturb 5.1 Suspense 6.4)
Conclusion
We are all scared by different things, and what’s often not recognized is that the horror genre carries many sub-genres below that title. For some of us, we like the slasher flicks and psychological thrillers, for some it’s the creepy suspense, for others it’s the thoughtful and disturbing. No matter what your taste, there’s a Halloween horror flick out there for you.
Did we hit the nail on the head? What horror flicks do you like?
Related Article: Curses & Hauntings: How to Fight the Halloween Spirits
