Top image: Martyrs (2009) dir. Pascal Laugier

Above all else, Halloween is about digging out those ultimate frighteners and getting a bit jumpy. The hardest part of it all? Deciding which horror flicks to make up your hair-raising movie marathon. No fear, we’ve heard your howls and asked some of Hollywood’s most exciting young names for their horror film recommendations. Welcome to The Collective Scream of Young Hollywood: an insider’s guide to crapping your pants. Fill your boots. Or underwear.

Alexandra Shipp loves to see you squirm. Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, the 27 year-old actor, who has most recently played Storm in X-Men: Apocalypse and appeared in Straight Outta Compton before that, cites her art school days learning about agitprop theatre as a defining influence. Whether it was hurling vicious insults or bumping someone on the shoulder, Shipp found herself drawn towards that confrontational ethos of making audiences feel uncomfortable enough to the point where they might actually start a conversation with each other. Discovering the power of performance at an early age, Alexandra has been giving people something to talk about ever since.

For her Halloween film suggestion, Shipp selects Pascal Laugier’s controversial French-language film Martyrs. Made for just under three million euros, here, confrontation comes in the form of gruesome hallucinations and scenes of torture that bleed to an infamously grim conclusion. Warning: not for the faint hearted.

Alexandra Shipp selects Martyrs (2009) dir. Pascal Laugier:

“My favourite scary movie changes depending on the day to be honest! I’m a BIG fan of gore. Martyrs by Pascal Laugier is my favourite of all time though.

I saw it when it came out and remember being so grossed out by the visuals and yet so curious about the story. They leave you on this cliffhanger and you’re dying to know what happens next! It’s a great conversation amongst scary movie lovers, the theories are brilliant! “