Every year, I watch ceremonies throughout the awards season with a degree of scepticism. I mean, it’s not that I don’t enjoy Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters and heartstring tugging epics…it’s just that I don’t care. Daniel Day Lewis is a brilliant actor, yes, but I genuinely feel that a child could film him, with a grainy black and white camcorder, sitting on a chair, eating cake slice after slice after slice, call it “There Will Be Diabetes” and he would still win Best Actor, just because the Academy hold him on such a high pedestal.

All Hallows’ Eve approaches, and as usual we’ve been scouring the web for the very best of this year’s spooky film events. From screenings in a church to journeys into the history of horror, read on for our top five film-based Hallowe’en nights out.

One of the most distinctive horror directors working today, Ti West made his mainstream breakthrough with 2011’s critical smash The Innkeepers and his work on the headline-grabbing anthology films V/H/S and The ABCs of Death. He’s got a frankly alarming number of projects due to hit the big screen within the next couple of years, so we’ve put together this guide to his key works. Y’know, so you don’t look like a square at parties.

Psychoanalysis has been tormenting society with its uncomfortable conclusions about your mum for the last century. It has had a huge influence on film, giving filmmakers the opportunity to explore the dark dank recesses of the human psyche while still entertaining with vague references to “penis envy” and “momma’s boy”. We here at Best For Film have dedicated our lives to reducing entire film genres, movements and occasionally random objects (like glasses, or zoos) into easy-to-read lists, and as such we have launched a new blog series, starting with this one: Psychoanalysis in 10 Easy Films.

It’s like Alien, but in space

Halloween is just round the corner, and as supporters of the fine arts of horror, Best for Film attended a sneak preview of Hop Farm Fright Night’s Freak Week, courtesy of the lovely folks over at blinkbox. Spoiler: We shat ourselves

But not a justification.

If asked to name successful film franchises, you could more than likely rattle off a few that have held audience interests long enough to exceed the standard trilogy. James Bond. Harry Potter. Star Wars. Heck, even Resident Evil is still putting bums on seats after four instalments. But not all film franchises continue to pull in the crowds, instead defaulting to DVD as they continue to explore their characters, story and that crack in the floor in HMV. We’ve found seven of the saddest…

The witching hour approaches and the fire is burning low, dear friends. So gather close and listen we list some of the greatest Halloween classics to… what? Made them up? Of course not! All of these are one hundred percent genuine films. If by genuine you mean that they came to us in a dream and we wrote them down and crudely edited some images. In that case they totally are.

Are you bored of the usual vampires and witches and ghosts of the spooky season? Tired of the Scream mask people don when trying to make a movie reference in their Halloween costume? Us too. And that’s why we have lovingly compiled a how-to costume guide for your perusal. Dress up as any of these and your awesomeness points will, literally, hit the roof, so approach with caution…