Movie of the Week
Modern horror films to stream this Halloween
In preparation for Halloween on Thursday, BRYAN TURNER has selected four modern horror films to stream for a terrifying Halloween night.
Siembamba (2017, now on Showmax)
Features themes of evil supernatural forces and psychological deterioration. It’s “proudly South African” horror.
Expect to be disturbed by the harrowing story by Darrell Roodt, Samuel Frauenstein, and Tarryn-Tanille Prinsloo. Siembamba, which means Lullaby in Afrikaans, follows Chloe van Heerden (Reine Swart) as she returns to her home town after the birth of her first child. She struggles to come to terms with being a mother and the non-stop crying of her baby.
These factors send Chloe into a deep depression and she becomes extremely vulnerable, which causes her to see her child in danger in every situation. She then begins to hear someone (or something) humming a childhood lullaby around her child. When she sees a supernatural entity near her child, she begins to wonder: is it the depression playing tricks on her mind or is she being haunted?
The film was shot in Pretoria and won Best Cinematography at the Milan International Filmmaker Festival in 2018.
Click here to read about Hush.
