If you’re looking for movies to watch this upcoming Halloween, Jordan Peele may fulfill your wish. We all know Jordan Peele made this spooky movie. Us, he was inspired by his own fear of doppelgängers. But, Oscar-winning filmmaker had other inspirations. Contact Us star Lupita Nyong’o shared what movies she was asked by Peele to watch to prepare for her role, and now our Halloween watchlist is complete.
The inspiration for horror movie directors is essential. Why not let yourself be inspired by horror movie classics? Lupita Nyong’o, who played a woman named Adelaide on vacation with her family, only to be confronted by doppelgängers, shared on InstagramTo prepare for her role, Jordan Peele showed her a video of 10 films.
The first movie Nyong’o mentioned was Alfred Hitchcock’s The BirdsThis is a story about a woman, who after purchasing a pair for her lawyer, sets terror in motion by having a bunch of crows in a pleasant town go berserk. Interview with E! NewsPeele claimed that he was inspired to create the film by The Birds because of the idea of terror happening in an ordinary area, just like how Adelaide and her family didn’t expect trouble to happen while vacationing at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.
The second film Nyong’o shared was ShiningThe story of an author who becomes the Overlook Hotel’s caretaker and plunges into madness. As Adelaide’s doppelgänger looks directly at the camera as we see how far her insanity has risen, Jack Nicholson’s character does the same thing to make audiences uncomfortable. You might have missed a brilliant detail in Contact Us was that the twin daughters of Adelaide’s friend are positioned together the same way that the creepy Grady sisters were in the Stephen King adaptation, as well as Adelaide’s husband Gabe using a baseball bat as a weapon the way Shelley Duvall’s character did in Shining.
Another film: Black PantherThe actress was The Dead AgainThe story is about a private detective who tries to solve the mystery surrounding an amnesia-stricken girl who appears at the door of an orphanage. You can find traces of this mystery thriller in Contact Us, in that Adelaide has a mysterious past that ends up having to do with the appearance of the doppelgängers. A fourth horror film mentioned that was once nominated for Best Picture like Jordan Peele’s Get outThis was The Sixth Sense. While The Sixth Sense Contact Us give us an eerie vibe in scenes when a little boy sees disturbing spirits, I’m sure that movie helped inspire Peele to come up with Contact Us’s twisted ending.
Also, the actress from Kenya-Mexico was seen Tale of Two SistersThis has a disturbing ending with a series ghoulish occurrences. Funny GamesIt’s a simple fact that it would encourage. Contact Us, especially the scene when the family is taken hostage by the doppelgängers in their home, just like in Funny Games when two golfers broke into a family’s vacation home to make them play a series of sadistic games for no apparent reason. We can now see where this came from. Contact UsThis is where it got its terror. Lupita Nyong’o’s raspy voice in the scene was the icing on the cake of that terror.
Let the Right One InMakes TwilightIt looks like a child’s movie, with its story about a vampire who is always looking for blood. This Swedish film was also known as Contact UsBoth have something in common: how far people will go for a genuine connection, just like Adelaide and her frightening lookalike.
Pascal Laugier MartyrsThis was done to provoke intense reactions, just like Contact Us did. No wonder it was scarier than Peele’s Get out. It follows allowed writer/director David Robert Mitchell’s imagination to run wild of a woman followed by a dark entity after a sexual encounter, just like how Adelaide was followed by her doppelgänger at every turn. Last but not least The Babadook offered audiences a relatable experience in a horror-stricken world about a woman’s grief taking the form of a nightmarish figure in its attempts to consume her. Jordan Peele wanted to make it relatable for viewers. Contact UsYou can see the evil in you and not point fingers at someone else.
It’s no wonder that Lupita Nyong’o was freaked out filming Contact UsShe also freaks out audiences. These movies will likely stop you from falling asleep. Her performance playing both Adelaide and her doppelgänger would be on my list of Oscar snubs of that year. We all now have a Halloween watchlist that will keep us busy this month. Feel free to watch Jordan Peele’s movies and TV shows on your streaming platforms as well to find those classic horror movie Easter eggs.