Halfway to Halloween: EPL's Jacob and MVLD's Terry Recommend Horror Movies on Kanopy

Published Monday, May 3, 2021

I was thrilled to have a very special guest join me in a conversation about horror movies: Terry from Mississippi Valley Library District. He is their Marketing Coordinator and resident horror buff. In celebration of the halfway point to Halloween, we jumped on Zoom to talk about horror movies available on Kanopy. Edwardsville Public Library cardholders and MVLD cardholders can stream 5 movies a month on Kanopy. Check out our picks and an archive of our video call below.

Jacob D, EPL's Head Librarian of Adult Services
Let the Right One In

Lonely, 12-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates. A new friendship develops when Eli, a pale, serious young girl who only comes out at night, moves in next door. Coinciding with her arrival is a series of inexplicable disappearances and murders. As Oskar becomes more aware of Eli's tragic plight, he cannot forsake her. However, Eli knows that to continue living, she must keep relocating. But when Oskar faces his darkest hour, Eli returns to defend him the only way she can.

Jury Award Winner for Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival. Winner of the Saturn Award for Best International Film. Nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language at the BAFTA Awards.

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The Lighthouse

Two lighthouse keepers (Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe) fight each other for survival and sanity on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s. From Robert Eggers, the visionary filmmaker behind horror masterpiece The Witch.

Nominated for an Academy Award. Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival.

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Hereditary

When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter Annie (Toni Collette) begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more she discovers, the more he family finds themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited.

Making his feature debut, writer-director Ari Aster unleashes a nightmare vision of a domestic breakdown that exhibits the craft and precision of a nascent auteur, transforming a familial tragedy into something ominous and deeply disquieting, and pushing the horror movie into chilling new terrain with its shattering portrait of heritage gone to hell.

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Midsommar

Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.

Independent Spirit Awards nominee, Best Cinematography.

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Suspiria

A newcomer to a fancy ballet academy gradually comes to realize that the school is a front for something far more sinister and supernatural amidst a series of grisly murders. SUSPIRIA is Italian Horror-master Dario Argento's best-known and most acclaimed film.

"It's always fascinating to watch; the thrills and spills are so classy and fast that the movie becomes in effect what horror movies seemed like when you were too young to get in to see them." - Scott Meek, Time Out

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Day of the Dead

In the third film in the saga of the undead from writer/director George A. Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, Survival of the Dead), a small group of scientists and soldiers have taken refuge in an underground missile silo where they struggle to control the flesh-eating horror that walks the earth above. But will the final battle for the future of the human race be fought among the living or have they forever unleashed the hunger of the dead?

Lori Cardille, Joe Pilato and Richard Liberty star in this controversial classic with groundbreaking gore effects by Tom Savini.

"The zombies in DAY OF THE DEAD are marvels of special effects..." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times


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Carnival of Souls

In this surrealist cult-classic, Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) mysteriously survives a car wreck. In an effort to put this traumatizing incident behind her, Mary moves to Utah where she takes on a job as a church organist.

However, her fresh new start is interrupted by the haunting, relentless presence of a strange man (Herk Harvey) who seems to follow where ever she goes. As her sightings of the man increase, she finds herself drawn to the dilapidated carnival on the outskirts of town. It isn't long before she discovers the terrifying secrets it holds...

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Green Room

After witnessing a shocking crime, a young rock band is unexpectedly thrust into a life-or-death battle to escape the clutches of a diabolical club owner and his ruthless henchmen in this white-knuckle thriller.

Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival.

"An exquisitely crafted love letter to John Carpenter, and the rare horror ensemble that gives as much care to the villains as to the victims." - Jeffrey Bloomer, Slate

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The Devil Bat

Dr. Carruthers feels bitter at being betrayed by his employers, Heath and Morton, when they became rich as a result of a product he devised. He gains revenge by electrically enlarging bats and sending them out to kill his employers' family members by instilling in the bats a hatred for a particular perfume he has discovered, which he gets his victims to apply before going outdoors.

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What We Do In The Shadows

Housemates Viago, Deacon, and Vladislav (Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, & Jonathan Brugh) are three vampires who are trying to get by in modern society; from paying rent and doing housework to trying to get invited into nightclubs. They are just like anyone else - except they're immortal and must feast on human blood. When their 8000 year-old roommate Petyr, turns 20-something human hipster Nick, into a vampire, the guys must guide him through his newfound eternal life.

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About the Author

Jacob enjoys literary fiction, general non-fiction, and dabbles in sci-fi.