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Ah, summertime. Nothing like jumping into the clear blue water of a swimming pool, licking a popsicle and letting the juice roll down your fingers, and going away to camp and getting chased around by a guy in a hockey mask. The horror genre possesses an extensive history of films set in the brightest months of the year. Nothing says summertime quite like a bloody horror movie that adds some tension and scares to an otherwise relaxing season. After all, summer has always been a prime season for a movie marathon. Wanting to watch a good horror movie is the easy part. Choosing which one, however, is where it gets difficult. If you want to start your summer off with a scary good time, these horror movies have got you covered.
Friday The 13th: Part Two
Camp Crystal Lake is more than just a setting, it’s nearly a character in the Friday the 13th franchise. The pine trees that surround a glistening blue lake, the cabins that have seen dozens of campers come and go, and the thicket of the woods that are home to many chase scenes all serve as one of the most iconic settings in horror history. When it comes to this beloved ’80s series, some Friday films are much more re-watchable and, well, better than others (Jason? In space? C’mon.) It isn’t the original film that earned a spot on this list. The Friday the 13th franchise proved that sequels can be better than the original.
While Jason might not have his iconic hockey mask just yet, Part II (Miner 1981) is his debut as the central villain of the franchise. The sequel’s plot to the original is nearly identical, with a group of teen camp counselors getting followed around before being killed in some unique way. Compared to the first film, the characters in Part II have more personality and traits to latch onto, especially the final girl Ginny. This crew of counselors, while still not the ones with the most depth in horror history, do have enough to make you care when Jason finally collides with them.
And yes, these films aren’t the most incredible things to ever grace a movie screen. But the summer camp setting that’s pertinent in almost every scene, the tighter pacing, and the greater amount of action scenes help cement Part II as one of the strongest, and most enjoyable, movies in the franchise. It is an easy watch that is a perfect way to help you remember your own fun summer camp days or just get you in the mood for summertime.
Midsommar
Ari Aster’s sophomore feature Midsommar (Aster 2019) couldn’t be a more perfect summertime watch even if it wanted to. The film follows college student Dani Ardor, who’s stuck in a plateaued relationship with her boyfriend Christian and who just lost her entire family in a tragic murder-suicide. When her boyfriend’s pal Pelle invites her and the rest of Christian’s friends to his commune back in Sweden for a nine-day midsummer festival, they make the trip and quickly find themselves trapped in the clutches of a pagan cult.
What truly sets Midsommar apart from other horror movies is the dread and tension the film manages to create, even though the overwhelming runtime is set in broad daylight. The cinematography is as bright as the summer solstice, with whites, yellows, and soft blues and greens dominating the color palette. Once Dani is crowned May Queen and receives a massive crown and dress covered in pink, purple, and yellow flowers, even more jovial colors get added, serving as a beautiful juxtaposition to the darkness and sinister acts of the cult. Even at the film’s chilling climax, sunlight and overwhelming brightness permeate every shot. Midsommar didn’t invent daylight horror, but it sure executed it extremely well.
The psychological horror of the film also pairs nicely with the overt scenes of gore. Yes, the mangled bodies are horrifying, but watching a depressed, emotionally vulnerable young woman get groomed and brainwashed into joining a cult is far more terrifying than any jump scare or broken bone. What else is scary to even think about is that this does happen; cults prey upon lonely, isolated people and often exploit and abuse them. We may never have to face a vengeful demon or haunted house, but the threat of us or someone we love falling into the hands of a cult is entirely possible, and that’s one of the most frightening things of all.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The saying goes that you can’t beat the classics, and in the case of Tobe Hooper’s 1974 bloody, bonafide nightmare, it rings true. The original film that kicked off multiple sequels and instantly cemented its place in horror history has aged as gracefully as a bottle of fine wine. Nostalgia isn’t the only reason horror fans continue to praise this 48-year-old film. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper 1974) follows Sally Hardesty who goes to check on her grandpa’s grave after a series of grave robbings flood the news. But soon, she and her friends find themselves in the middle of nowhere with no gas and no idea of the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface right next door.
You can feel the stifling heat of Texas in July in every shot. You can practically smell the roadkill baking inside the Sawyer house, the blood covering Sally as she screams and laughs in the back of her getaway truck, and the sweat dripping down the characters’ foreheads. The cinematography is as raw as the script, capturing the haze of a southwest summer day and, even in broad daylight and under a wide blue sky, terror and dread creep into every corner of the film and the audience’s mind, and the movie is all better for it.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remains a staple of the genre, and it did so with surprisingly little gore. Sure, we see Leatherface wield his chainsaw multiple times, but, thankfully, we aren’t subjected to seeing him tear through flesh and bone. Hooper leaves the carnage up to the viewer’s imagination, cutting the camera away from the victim as though what’s happening to them is too horrific for our eyes to even see. The true horror of the film lies in the fact that anyone could’ve fallen into the clutches of the Sawyer family. Anyone could’ve found their house and asked for help, only to descend into a macabre nightmare that doesn’t end until dawn the next morning.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Besides the obvious giveaway in the title, this ’90s teen slasher captures the summer season and all the drama and horror that can sometimes come with it. After graduating from high school, four teens accidentally crash into someone while driving late at night, and instead of calling for help, they dispose of the body and swear each other to secrecy. But one year later, threats begin coming to the four teens. Someone definitely knows what happened last summer, but who? And what do they want with this fractured group of friends?
A seaside North Carolina town, two back-to-back summers of secrets and scares, and 4th of July festivities perfectly display a story grounded in summertime. Kevin Williamson, the writer of three out of five Scream films, penned this screenplay, and while it’s not as sharp as Scream (Craven 1996) or any of its sequels, it’s got an aura of mystery that keeps pulling you in. Even if you don’t grow attached to the cast of characters, the hunger to find out what’s going to happen next and what really happened that summer night quickly becomes insatiable.
This film also serves well as a gateway into the horror genre for newer fans. It’s incredibly light on the blood, and there’s no guts or gore to be found. It’s more of a mystery than anything else, but there are still a few moments that may leave you jumping in your seat. You may find more teen drama than actual scares in I Know What You Did Last Summer (Gillespie 1997), but it is nevertheless a fun, entertaining film that may help ease you into horror movies set in any season.
Us
Jordan Peele’s second film Us (Peele 2019) helped cement him as not only one of the best writers and directors working in the horror genre today but of all time. After the critical and commercial success of his knockout, Academy Award-winning debut Get Out (Peele 2017), horror fans eagerly awaited Peele’s next film-and he more than delivered. Much like Midsommar and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a large portion of the runtime takes place in daylight, showing how even a warm, sunny day can quickly turn into something more terrifying than a dark room.
A family’s ideal beach vacation quickly unravels into a nightmare as the ‘tethered,’ an entire community living underground of people identical-looking to those above the surface. Not only do Adelaide and her family have to fight for their lives, but they have to fight against twisted versions of themselves. Imagine trying to have a nice family getaway only to have to battle against someone who looks exactly like you. Not exactly the most fun way to spend your time at the shore. Peele once again delivers a tense, well-paced horror movie full of symbolism and, unlike Get Out, an open ending that leaves the audience with more questions than answers. Us can be a great getaway for you and your friends to carry on the conversation long after the credits have stopped rolling.
Lupita Nyong’o delivers a powerhouse performance as not just Adelaide, but as her ‘tethered,’ Red, as well. From her garbled vocals to her chilling physical movements, Nyong’o not only played two characters in the same film but did so immaculately. When the Academy Awards failed to nominate her for Best Actress, it sparked outrage all across social media, reigniting the conversation about how horror films rarely get recognized by major award shows time and time again. Peele’s third feature film Nope (Peele 2022) comes to theaters in July, which could see the cast of a horror movie finally get some well-deserved acting awards. If you’ve ever wanted to do a Jordan Peele triple feature, this summer is the best time to do it.
X
The newest film to grace this list, X (West 2022) hit theaters in March 2022, and it made a huge splash in the horror world. Following a group attempting to make an adult film in rural Texas in 1979, X finds this group in the hands of a very old, very sex-deprived couple who want nothing more than these younger patrons of their guesthouse dead.
X plays much homage to the original Texas Chainsaw, from the palpable southwest heat to a few mimicked shots, but it still feels fresh and entirely it’s own. For one, having the main characters be working on an adult film isn’t something seen too often in Hollywood, especially when those characters are so fleshed out and treated with respect. Sure, the scenes they shot in the film for their production are over-the-top, but it’s almost intentionally so. Mia Goth, Brittany Snow, Kid Cudi, Martin Henderson, and Jenna Ortega all give strong performances and help bring their characters to life, especially Goth, who plays both the lead and the villain.
Much like Nyong’o in Us, Goth brings it with both performances. X does a wonderful job of doing something not many slashers can; it makes you genuinely root for the cast. You don’t want these characters to die, especially after hearing about their hopes and dreams and seeing how kind and painfully human they really are.
The film also features one of the best uses of the iconic Fleetwood Mac song “Landslide” in recent memory. At its core, X is more than its adult film and bloody kills. It’s about aging and the way youth slips through your fingers before you’ve even had the time to properly savor it. No matter what happens, life goes on, and many age and become too old to do things they once loved. It’s a horror movie that really settles in your head and heart, making you think of your own future and the life you want to live. If you do fall in love with X, a prequel had been confirmed by West, with Mia Goth once again starring as the lead, so you shouldn’t have to wait too long to return to this hot, heinous world West has created.
The Best Summertime Horror Movie?
Any of these films would make the long, humid hours of summer go by but it can be daunting to select just one movie to begin a binge-watch with. For the best possible viewing experience, you can first look at subgenera. Us and Midsommar are both psychological horror packed with layers and rich storytelling, while Friday the 13th: Part II and I Know What You Did Last Summer definitely fall into the cheesy teen slasher category. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and X, both slashers with subtle commentary on society, would make a very frightening, very entertaining double feature that will leave you never wanting to go to Texas ever again. No matter which flick you press play on, you’re bound to have a scary good time.