It's that time of year again. The leaves are shifting from bright green to sombre orange, the nights are drawing in, and coats are once more making their way out of the back of the wardrobe.
But that also means that it's officially spooky season, giving you a great excuse to switch on the scariest movies you can get your hands on.
We are big champions of physical media here at What Hi-Fi?, so will always encourage you to seek out the 4K Blu-ray edition of your favourite movie in order to get the best audio and picture performance.
See, 4K Blu-ray discs run at up to 128Mbps. This is the amount of data sent to your screen every second. By contrast, streaming services tend to top out at around 17Mbps which results in a less detailed and compressed overall performance.
Luckily, there are plenty of 4K Blu-rays on the market that are ideal for the Halloween season.
We've rounded up some of the best discs to shock your home cinema system into life. Got a favourite? Let us know in the comments. Without further ado, let's get into it!
A Quiet Place
This is truly one of those films where you can hear a pin drop. That's because the whole premise is centred around a dystopian world where murderous creatures hunt humans using sound alone.
Where most people have perished, we follow a family who are clinging to survival. They are led by Emily Blunt's Evelyn and her husband Lee played by John Krasinski, both delivering an electrifying performance as each creak of a floorboard could mean the end of everything for them and their children.
You might be wondering how such a hushed watch can put your home cinema system to the test, especially when it comes to audio. Well, A Quiet Place's Dolby Atmos mix delivers an impressive display of carefully controlled suspense, with each sound heightening its tension.
This all comes to a head when the pregnant Evelyn must attempt to deliver her baby without making a peep. If you're looking for a nail-biting watch this Halloween, A Quiet Place is a great way to go.
Buy A Quiet Place on 4K Blu-ray at HMV
Sinners
We've gushed enough before about why we love to use Sinners as a test disc for both sound and picture, but you can't say it too much!
Ryan Coogler's genre-bending vampire thriller follows twin brothers, Smoke and Stack, who have returned to the 1930s Jim Crow South to have a fresh start. When they open their own juke joint, though, they are followed by malevolent creatures.
One scene that encapsulates why this film is the perfect test disc for the spooky season comes at the end of the first half, as the twins’ cousin Sammy (portrayed excellently by Miles Caton) discovers an ability to summon spirits from different generations via his music.
Past, present and future lives dance together in a mass of gloriously colourful visuals that gives you goosebumps. The score captures Caton’s ethereal vocals as well as different styles of music to match the mix of time periods and styles.
It's got plenty of gory scenes to satisfy the more hardcore horror lovers as well.
Buy Sinners on 4K Blu-ray at HMV
Edward Scissorhands
Is it a Christmas film, a Halloween classic or something in-between? That is still up for debate (even 35 years after its release), but for the purpose of this list, let's put that to one side.
Tim Burton's gothic 1990 release follows Edward (played by Johnny Depp), created by a scientist who died before he could give him hands, leaving him with blades for fingers. After finding his way to civilisation, he is taken in a kind family. But things take a turn for the worse when he is blamed for a crime he did not commit.
It's not going to have you hiding behind your hands in fear by any means, but it's a charming family-friendly watch that has something for everyone.
Now, full disclosure, the 4K Blu-ray edition of Edward Scissorhands is yet to be released. But all is not lost – it will finally get a limited release on the 3 November to celebrate its anniversary.
That should give the disc a much sharper and more detailed picture, making it ideal for a Halloween home cinema pick.
Pre-order Edward Scissorhands on 4K Blu-ray at Amazon
MORE:
The 36 best Dolby Atmos movie scenes to test your home cinema surround sound system
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