Going to college and university can be overwhelming at first, with a completely new environment to get used to, on top of academic pressures and a new schedule to adjust to. But whether you’re stressed, feeling homesick, missing your friends, or you simply need to take your mind off school, movies can help! Watching a film is a great way to forget about your worries for a few hours, and doing it with others makes this a shared experience, which will be even more rewarding and relaxing.
Horror movies can be even more satisfying than your average film, especially as a collective experience, since they provide plenty of thrills and frights, the kind of heightened sensations that can make you feel really energetic. But there are different kinds of horror films – from slashers to psychological horror and more – and for a student movie night, what you need is a gripping and fun watch that will have your eyes glued to the screen the entire time. So whether you’re anticipating a movie night with your friends, looking for an adrenaline-filled experience, or simply trying to escape the stress of assignments – in which case students sometimes look for essay writers like WritePaperForMe – we have you covered! Take a look at the list below, in alphabetical order, and enjoy!
1. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Let’s start with a classic from a master of the genre. John Landis, who directed classics like The Blues Brothers, Animal House, and Twilight Zone: The Movie, also made a horror film that holds up so well that it might as well have been made today. An American Werewolf in London is the rare horror film that has it all: a clever, subversive screenplay with twists you won’t see coming, plenty of witty jokes that are actually funny, and a couple of genuinely scary moments.
The film is about two American college students, David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne), who are backpacking through the U.K. One night, they arrive at a small village’s pub, hilariously named The Slaughtered Lamb, where they are attacked by a werewolf. Only David survives, but he is badly injured, and when he wakes up after the accident, he’s been taken to a hospital in (you guessed it) London. But his troubles don’t end there: as he’s healing, visited by strange (and hysterically funny) apparitions of his dead friend, David realizes that something supernatural is happening to him, and he might not be able to stop it.
Whether you’re watching this all-time classic for the first time or seeing it again, you’re guaranteed to have a fantastic student movie night. An American Werewolf in London is just as clever, funny, frightening, and unpredictable as it needs to be to make for an incredibly engaging watch, and its groundbreaking special effects for the werewolf transformation haven’t aged a day.
2. Barbarian (2022)
Can you think of another horror movie that’s as creepy, disquieting and legitimately scary, yet at the same time wonderfully bizarre and hilariously improbable, as Zach Cregger’s Barbarian? This recently released gem starts from a simple premise: a young woman (Georgina Campbell) books a rental home in Detroit only to find out, when she gets there, that the house was double booked. Not only does our protagonist find herself living every single viewer’s worst travel-related nightmare, but the other occupant, Keith (Bill Skarsgård), is, well, a little strange.
This is all we’ll say about Barbarian, as if you’ve never seen it before, going in blind will make for a fantastic experience. This is exactly the kind of movie that’s meant to be watched with a crowd, and the fact that its protagonist is not your usual naive lead but a clever, resourceful woman will get you even more invested in this eerie and atmospheric, yet also surprisingly fun, story. Think jump scares, true evil, combined with just the right silliness, with two fantastic central performances from Campbell and Skarsgård.
3. Late Night with the Devil (2024)
What if you were a struggling talk show host who, in order to boost your viewership, literally invited the devil as a host? That is the premise of a movie that has had everyone talking ever since its successful festival run in 2023? Released on digital platforms in 2024, Colin and Cameron Cairnes’s Late Night with the Devil start from that very same premise. Night-time talk show “Night Owls” Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian) hasn’t been doing well ever since his wife died, who was also involved in the show. On Halloween 1977, knowing that he might be about to lose his job, he decides to go all out and bring in a special guest. What he doesn’t know, however, is that that very same guest, whom he thought ultimately harmless, would unleash actual evil into both the studio and his viewer’s home.
Nowadays, it’s hard to find a film in any genre that doesn’t feel like something you’ve seen before, and horror in particular sees so many movies use recycled tropes and storylines. Late Night with the Devil is a welcome exception that combines an original, unpredictable script with an inventive narrative structure, the look and feel of an old classic, and a fantastically unhinged performance from David Dastmalchian. It’s a subversively entertaining – yet also disquieting – movie you absolutely need to see with a crowd, and it will make for a perfect student movie night watch.
4. Scream (1996)
This cult movie from director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson gave birth modern slashers as we know them, combining self-aware humor with gory and violent kills and characters we love to root for. It all starts with a phone call from its serial killer, Ghostface, who has a habit of asking his victims a seemingly harmless question before brutally murdering them: “What’s your favorite scary movie?”. But who is this stalkerish murderer, and how will the residents of Woodsboro not only survive, but also put an end to the nightmare?
If you’re a gorehound, you simply can’t miss Scream (1996), and the first few sequels, particularly Scream 2, are just as good as the original too. With a fantastic cameo from Drew Barrymore, committed performances from Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, and the right dose of self-awareness, Scream is a slasher for cinephiles, and a hugely entertaining film for any movie night. Be warned: after you’ve seen it, you’ll want to re-watch not only the remaining movies in the saga, but also more films in the Halloween, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street franchises.
5. Wolf Creek 2
Here’s a movie you’ve probably never heard of, but that you absolutely need to check out. The official synopsis describes Wolf Creek 2 as the story of a British young man (Ryan Corr) who is visiting Australia as a tourist and who happens to become the target of a sadistic serial killer (John Jarratt) who targets foreigners. What it doesn’t tell you is that this film is hilarious, and no, you don’t need to have seen the first one – and you shouldn’t, as it’s definitely not as good as the sequel.
Think chase scenes featuring kangaroos jumping on cars to the sound of The Tokens’ “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” and a psychopath who’s just so clever and charismatic that you’ll be ultimately rooting for both characters, and having fun with them even when things get dark. Despite its successful premiere at the Venice Film Festival back in 2013, Greg McLean’s Wolf Creek 2 is not nearly as well-known as it should be, and will make for a great hidden gem to discover on your student movie night.
The 5 movies listed above will all be perfect for a student movie night, as they combine genuine scares with fun narratives that will have you hooked for their entire duration. Happy watching!
