Mike Flanagan’s 90s Horror Picks Include the One Movie He Says You Should Know Nothing About
October has become prime territory for filmmaker-curated watchlists, and this year Tumblr handed the keys to one of the genre’s most reliable tastemakers. Mike Flanagan’s horror movie picks have been rolling out across the month as part of the platform’s hallowatchlist, a 31-film run of his all-time favorites.
The format is simple but generous. Each title arrives with a few lines of commentary from Flanagan and a piece of commissioned fan art, with the films released in batches organized by decade. Tumblr kicked things off on October 5 with 7 selections from the 1960s and 1970s.
The 1990s installment landed on October 19, and it brought 6 films that lean heavily toward the strange and the self-aware. The lineup is ‘The Exorcist III’, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, ‘Candyman’, ‘Ghostwatch’, ‘Wes Craven’s New Nightmare’ and ‘In the Mouth of Madness’.
The most unusual entry is ‘Ghostwatch’, the 1992 BBC Halloween special staged as a live investigation of a haunted house in suburban London. Flanagan’s note on it is essentially a warning against doing any homework first.
He urges anyone who hasn’t seen it to read nothing about it, calling it a once-in-a-lifetime experience that has proven far more influential on modern horror than people realize. That assessment tracks with the mockumentary and found-footage wave the genre has leaned on ever since.
Two picks come from the decade’s first year, and both are films that reward patience. Flanagan describes ‘The Exorcist III’ as a wildly underrated sequel that features incredible performances and one of the best scares in horror history.
Jacob’s Ladder – 1990 trailer https://t.co/iZrrPW90Xw
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His affection for the film has a particular resonance right now, given that he is directing ‘The Exorcist: Martyrs’ for the franchise. ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ gets similar praise, with Flanagan calling it mind-bending existential horror full of unforgettable imagery and a final act that has fueled decades of discussion.
From 1992, he takes ‘Candyman’ alongside ‘Ghostwatch’, describing it as haunting and enduring and one of the greatest examples of urban folklore he has ever seen. It’s a pick that fits neatly with his broader interest in stories that take on a life of their own.
The Exorcist III: Legion – Rare Teaser Trailer (1990) https://t.co/i8Jo5kwx1y
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The two 1994 selections share a theme: horror examining itself. Of ‘Wes Craven’s New Nightmare’, Flanagan notes that Craven deconstructed the franchise he created to incredible effect before ‘Scream’ ever arrived.
The final pick is John Carpenter’s ‘In the Mouth of Madness’, which Flanagan labels an apocalyptic masterpiece and one of the most underrated films of the 1990s. Carpenter himself has been reflecting on his back catalogue this month, telling the Academy Museum gala that the ending of ‘The Thing’ hides a clue nobody has worked out.
What ties the selection together is thematic rather than stylistic. 4 of the 6 are films about stories that get loose from the people telling them, which is a thread running through much of Flanagan’s own output.
That includes his 8-episode ‘Carrie’ for Prime Video, part of a packed slate that also features ‘The Exorcist: Martyrs’ and his DC work. For a director whose Letterboxd lists have become a genre resource in their own right, this curated run functions as a tidy portrait of his influences. The hallowatchlist continues through the rest of the month, with more decades still to come. Given the 90s batch, the remaining picks are worth keeping an eye on.
Which of Mike Flanagan’s ’90s horror picks are you most excited to watch this Halloween?
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