Think horror’s all slash no substance? Think again, with a drink in hand.

Be afraid. Be very afraid. For this edition of Watchlist, we’re bringing you five of the most chilling horror stories committed to film in recent history and their ultimate drink pairings. But this isn’t your average slapstick slasher cinema. We’re looking at the films that wooed the critics as much as they spooked the audience. Intelligent, witty, thought-provoking films that get the blood pumping and the brain ticking. Some might call it ‘highbrow horror’, but, whatever the case, these pairings are frightfully fantastic for a night in on the edge of your sofa.

Enjoy vodka and iced tea while watching a thriller movie Don’t Worry Darling

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1. Spill the tea: Don’t Worry Darling

Olivia Wilde’s psychological thriller shocked audiences and gossip tabloids in equal measure when it premiered. It’s about as clever and beautifully shot as a horror flick can get, but its story of a Stepford-esque commune of sinister charming men gaslighting their wives into a life of white-picket-fence servitude played second fiddle to the film’s on-set dramas in the press. Florence Pugh and Olivia Wilde’s alleged beef culminated in that poolside spritz Instagram post; Harry Styles spat on Chris Pine at the Venice Film Festival (or did he?); persistent rumours of “unprofessional behaviour” on the set – every outlet was eager to spill the tea on this one, so strap yourself in with Brookvale Union Vodka & Peach Iced Tea (obviously), press play and prepare to be thrilled.

2. Greasy fingers are on The Menu

Ralph Fiennes is by all accounts a very lovely bloke. But his knack for inhabiting the cruellest, most twisted of villains is perhaps at its most salient in Mark Mylod’s The Menu. An ultra-luxe destination restaurant, a cast of wealthy and entitled diners, pompous food critics and a top chef with a crinkle-cut chip on his shoulder… what could go wrong? Without giving too much away, The Menu is a terrifyingly gripping rebuke of class warfare and service industry grudges. Anya Taylor-Joy is brilliant as the film’s protagonist; a good old-fashioned cheeseburger its unlikely hero. Skip the thousand-dollar Burgundy and take your seat with the greasiest burger you can get your hands on and a bottle of Greasy Fingers Shiraz from South Australia, designed precisely to be enjoyed alongside your favourite patty. Tasting notes: bloody delicious.

Grab a glass of Greasy Fingers Shiraz while enjoying The Menu, a thriller movie.

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Watch Bones and All while sipping on a glass of Blood and Sand cocktail.

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3. Blood, sand, Bones and All

There are love bites, and then there are love bites. Expect the latter from Bones and All. No stranger to body horror (Susperia, anybody?), Luca Guadagnino leans into arguably his most grisly, gruesome and gory genius in this, at times, touching romance epic. Starring Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet as two lustful cannibals on the run, the film coaxes moments of love, intimacy and wry humour from the blood-soaked carnage. So good it might evoke your own thirst for blood, we can’t think of anything better than a Blood and Sand cocktail made with Martini Rosso Vermouth and Starward Twofold whiskey – a pairing which makes for one of life’s greatest love stories. If love really is fatal, put a fork in us because we’re done.

4. Nope and IPA? Yep and yep

We’ll come right out and say it: there simply aren’t enough alien movies out there today. So, who better to deliver one of the best in recent memory than funny-man turned highbrow horror master Jordan Peele. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer star as rural horse-wrangler siblings who are forced to contend with the loss of their father amid a battle with a close encounter of the third kind. The cinematography is sweeping, the performances are superb, and the orchid-esque rendering of their colossal UFO foe is beautiful and terrifying all at once. A big, out-of-this-world UFO needs a big, out-of-this-world IPA, and Colossal Brewing has just the thing for it. Their Hopmosphere IPA is up to the task with its bold, hoppy, tropical fruit flavours. Beer and Nope? Yes, please.

A Perfect pairing of Hopmosphere IPA and Nope, the horror movie.

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Underground Spirits Caramel Vodka is your perfect partner while wathcing Barbarian.

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5. A sweet salve for subterranean Barbarian

Things that go bump in the night are creepy enough to terrify the bravest among us, and Barbarian (directed by Zach Cregger) exploits that paranoia to maximum effect. Starring Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård and Justin Long, Barbarian looks under that creaky floorboard to reveal a subterranean lair where a dark and disturbing history haunts two fortuitous housemates. It’s violent. It’s gory. It’s tragic and it’s heartbreaking. But never fear, not everything that lurks beneath the surface is as dark and twisted as Barbarian. Take Underground Spirits Caramel Vodka, for example. This award-winning Aussie vodka is soft and sweet. The perfect antidote to the spine-tingling horror on the screen.