Cinematic hauntings and the otherworldly: 5 chilling films to watch this Halloween

5 chilling films to watch this Halloween

Looking for some scary movie recommendations to set the mood this Halloween? Contact has enlisted the help of UQ alum and co-curator of GOMA’s Australian Cinémathèque Robert Hughes to take us through some of the most chilling classic films being shown free of charge at the Cinémathèque this summer.

Hughes graduated from UQ with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in 2012 – majoring in film and television studies and English – and a Bachelor of Laws (2015). He officially began working at the Cinémathèque during the final year of his studies, after volunteering there for several months.

"The Australian Cinémathèque was a place of great cultural education to me during my years as a UQ student," Hughes said.

"I started as a volunteer intern, and I have now had the opportunity to curate hundreds of screenings."

Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) is the only Australian art gallery with purpose-built facilities dedicated to film and the moving image.

"The Australian Cinémathèque engages with the history of cinema through curated thematic programs, filmmaker retrospectives and deep dives into different film genres and movements," Hughes said.

"As one of the last cinemas in Australia to still house a permanent set-up for 35-millimetre print projection, we take great pride in our ability to exhibit films in the format originally intended by their filmmakers."

GOMA will be spellbound this summer by the blockbuster exhibition, Fairy Tales (2 December 2023 – 28 April 2024). The exhibition explores centuries of beloved folk stories through art, design and the extensive cinema program Fairy Tales: Truth, Power and Enchantment, which will be presented at the Cinémathèque.

From Picnic at Hanging Rock to The Night of the Hunter, check out Hughes's top 5 haunting cinematic experiences from the Fairy Tales cinema program below. Plus, keep scrolling to win a double pass to the Fairy Tales exhibition.

Production still of Robert Mitchum from 'The Night of the Hunter'.

The Night of the Hunter 1955 M

1pm Saturday 9 December 2023
6pm Friday 9 February 2024

In Charles Laughton’s iconic gothic thriller The Night of the Hunter, Robert Mitchum plays a sinister faux-preacher who marries the widow of a criminal, hoping to obtain the riches her late husband buried before his death. When he can’t locate the loot through her, his deadly gaze turns towards her 2 children in a tale that drips with atmosphere and simmers in the southern heat.

A scene from Picnic at Hanging Rock. Image: FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images

Picnic at Hanging Rock 1975 M

10:30am Friday 26 January
3:15pm Sunday 17 March 2024

Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock approaches its 50th anniversary having lost none of its power as an enigmatic masterpiece of Australian cinema. Set in 1900, the film follows the disappearance of 3 girls on a school trip to Victoria’s Hanging Rock. The film plays with the fairy tale trope of lost children, mapped onto specific colonial anxieties around the unknowability of the Australian landscape.

Production still from Dreams 1990 / Director Akira Kurosawa / Image courtesy: Roadshow Films

Dreams 1990 PG

8pm Friday 16 February
12:45pm Sunday 17 March 2024

Directed by master of Japanese cinema Akira Kurosawa, Dreams is a series of 8 loosely related magical stories, based on the director’s own dreams. In each vignette, a Kurosawa surrogate (played by various actors) passively engages with surreal and archetypal situations – including a fox’s wedding, a weeping demon and a village forgotten by time. This mesmerising film highlights the close relationship between Japanese folklore, fairy tales and our unconscious fears and desires.

Production still of a girl sitting in a field from 'The Juniper Tree'.

Production still from The Juniper Tree 1990 / Director Nietzchka Keene / Image courtesy: Arbelos Films

The Juniper Tree 1990 ages 15+

7:45pm Friday 2 February
7:45pm Friday 26 April 2024

Transposing the Brothers Grimm’s dark fairy tale to medieval Iceland, writer-director Nietzchka Keene tells the story of Margit (Björk) and her older sister Katla (Bryndis Petra Bragadóttir), who flee their hometown after their mother is killed for practising witchcraft. Casting a love spell over a farmer in the hope he will protect them, Katla draws the suspicions of her new stepson and village community. Imbued with stark imagery, this evocative film explores the extraordinary and the macabre with poetic majesty.

Production still of a creature from 'Häxan' 1922.

Production still from Häxan 1922 / Director: Benjamin Christensen / Image courtesy: Janus Films

Häxan 1922 Ages 15+

6:30pm Friday 5 April 2024

Benjamin Christensen’s wickedly humorous 1922 docufiction, tracing the history of witches from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, is a tour de force of the weird, chilling and supernatural. Blending an episodic account of the occult with lurid hallucinatory horror, Häxan holds a well-deserved place as one of the preeminent works of silent cinema. This screening will feature a live soundtrack – performed in the cinema alongside the film – by post-classical composer Madeleine Cocolas.

Win a double pass to GOMA’s Fairy Tales exhibition

Contact has one double pass to GOMA's blockbuster exhibition Fairy Tales (2 Dec 2023 – 28 Apr 2024) to give away to one lucky reader. Click on the link below to enter the draw to win. Terms and conditions apply.

Enter the draw now