“The woods around Halloween-time is a scary enough phenomenon…” – Heather Donahue
How many scary movies can you watch in a day? Depending how easy you scare, it may not be the brightest challenge to take. This, however, is the day where it just feels wrong to ignore the horror movie trend.
Everyone, of course, has their taste when it comes to horror films. This is mine.
No matter how bad some of these movies have scared me over the years, I can’t deny their superior quality. As October comes to a close, I conclude this series with a countdown of my 10 favorite horror films.
Happy Halloween.
(Caution: Some of the following videos and text contain major spoilers)
10. The Omen (1976)
Robert and Katherine Thorn go about their lives unaware their adopted son, Damien, is the Antichrist and son of the devil. When Robert learns Damien’s true identity, he refuses to believe a 5-year-old child could be something so evil. Can Robert accept the truth and prevent Armageddon? Of course, to do that there’s only thing he can do: Kill Damien.
This film is one example of how 70’s horror got it right. Next to #3 on this list, The Omen is without a doubt the scariest movie I have ever seen. Every element from the story to the chilling Latin-chanting score makes The Omen a movie you don’t watch at night. It’s because this movie scares me so much that I put it as #10. I recognize how good a movie this is…I just don’t like to watch it.
Fun fact: People are typically scared of Rottweilers because they think they’re mean. I’m scared of them because of this movie.
9. The Shining (1980)
Based on Stephen King’s terrifying novel, the Torrance family spends the winter in the mountains while husband and father Jack Torrance works as caretaker for the Overlook Hotel. However, Jack and Wendy’s son Danny, a telepath, begins seeing haunting images from the hotel ‘s dark past, making this winter anything but pleasant. Eventually, these wandering spirits and isolation drive Jack insane, causing him to go after his wife and son with an ax, following in the footsteps of the Overlook’s former caretaker. Can Wendy and Danny escape? Or will they become part of the hotel’s history like the previous family?
I’m not a particular fan of Stanley Kubrick’s work, but this is one of his I can watch because his non-conventional style fits horror perfectly. Oddly enough, I was first introduced to this film through the drive-in scene in Twister (1996). The excerpt Twister showed scared me even then.
And even now there are scenes I can’t look at it when I watch this film, namely the twins in the hall and room 237 scenes. Forget both of those if you want to sleep at night.
8. The Strangers (2008)
All James and Kristen wanted was a quiet night to themselves. Instead, they get a night of torment as three masked strangers terrorize their remote vacation home.
Home invasion scares just about everyone. The horrifying thing about this film is its events are disturbingly realistic. Incidents like those in The Strangers have occurred many times in decades past and still do today. As far as the film’s concerned, I don’t know what’s scarier: what the strangers do, or the masks they wear.
Piece of advice though, if someone unexpectedly comes knocking around 4 a.m., DON’T ANSWER THE DAMN DOOR.
7. The Thing (1982)
A John Carpenter remake of 1951’s The Thing from Another World, The Thing tells the story of 12 scientists stationed at an American Antarctic research outpost who come into contact with a parasitic extraterrestrial organism. The organism survives and multiplies by imitating who and whatever it absorbs. Eventually, paranoia ensues the group as they try to figure out who’s human.
As a science-fiction fan, I shamefully have to admit I didn’t see this film until earlier this month. It obviously made an impression, as I’m including it on this list. This is where I would normally put Alien (1979), but despite similarity in the films’ plots, The Thing features a far creepier element to its story. Unlike Alien, the viewer can’t readily identify The Thing. It could be anyone and everyone without the viewer knowing.
6. Halloween (1978)
The citizens of Haddonfield, Illinois are horrified when 6-year-old Michael Myers murders his older sister on Halloween night. After escaping from a psychiatric institution 15 years later, Myers returns home where he stalks Laurie Strode and her friends. Dr. Sam Loomis, Myers’ psychiatrist, follows him back to Haddonfield, desperately hoping to stop Myers from killing again.
Halloween is one of the most iconic horror films of all time, not to mention another of Carpenter’s.
I don’t recall this film ever actually scaring me. Perhaps it did when I was younger, but if it did, it was nothing compared to some of the previous films I’ve mentioned here. It’s simply a classic seasonal film to me. What I love most about it is how it’s become so iconic in the horror genre, yet uses little to no gore. This goes to show that gore does not equal horror.
5. The Fly (1986)
A remake of the 1958 film of the same name, Seth Brundle’s self-teleportation experiment first appears successful, but he soon discovers his invention spliced his DNA with that of a lone housefly that wandered into the telepod. As time progresses, Brundle begins to transform, his humanity disappearing piece by piece. Eventually, he becomes something else entirely.
I believe I first saw this film when I was 6, and strangely enough, it didn’t terrify me at all. I remember it being disgusting, but not scary. It was movies like this that fascinated me with science-fiction as a child. Now, as an adult, I’m able to recognize other aspects of this film and understand just how terrifying The Fly is.
4. Scream (1996)
In the town of Woodsboro, one year after the brutal murder of wife and mother Maureen Prescott, a masked killer begins calling, terrorizing and murdering various Woodsboro teens. The townspeople become paranoid as no one knows the identity of the killer, and the year-anniversary of Prescott’s death sends the media in a frenzy as her daughter Sidney is one of the killer’s targets. The film ends with a startling climax when the killer is revealed to be someone the viewer never suspected.
Next to Halloween and Friday the 13th, this is one of the best slasher films out there. There are two reasons for this. One is the originality of the story, which provided relief after a decade of terrible, repetitive horror sequels. The other is the play on horror pop culture and the characters’ awareness of classic horror films and their trends. Slasher films since Scream have never been of this quality or originality.
3. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The film’s opening title card says it all. “In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.”
This is one of only two found-footage films I like, the other being Cloverfield (2008). I’m typically turned off from this genre, especially with horror, because it tends to be cliché and dull while the acting is nil. There were only seven found-footage film pre-dating Blair Witch, going back to 1980. Blair Witch was the film that popularized the genre because of its realism, primarily due to the performances of the film’s three principal actors.
I was 9 when this film came out and at least 10 when I first saw it. As much as it terrified me of camping, Blair Witch played a role in my desiring my own video camera when I was 11. So, oddly, there’s a sentimental factor to my liking of this film, hence its high placement on this list.
I also just find Blair Witch to be a well-made and unique film. The frustration Heather, Josh and Mike improvise at their inability to escape the woods is so convincing, you believe these people are genuinely scared for their lives, despite it being fiction.
No found-footage film has impacted pop culture to the point Blair Witch did. A lot of found-footage horror fans may consider the Paranormal Activity franchise scarier than Blair Witch. I strongly disagree because Blair Witch plays heavily on the fear of the unknown, the greatest fear of all.
The basis for Paranormal Activity is paranormal involvement, hence the title. With Blair Witch, we aren’t given any visual hint as to who or what torments the filmmakers in the woods. Sound is the only clue we have, and whenever you hear something without seeing or knowing what it is for three straight nights, that’s about the time your sanity collapses in on itself.
2. Jaws (1975)
Set in the beach resort community of Amity Island, a great white shark puts a damper on summer festivities when a young girl’s remains wash ashore. Fearing for the safety of the island’s citizens, Police Chief Martin Brody fights the town’s mayor to close the beaches, but the mayor’s stubbornness prevails, resulting in several more deaths. Teamed with marine biologist Matt Hooper and shark hunter Quint, the three venture out to sea to take on the predator and put an end to the summer terror, but little do they know this shark will give them more than they bargained for.
This and the #1 film on this list are two of my all-time favorite films. Coincidentally, they’re both 70’s horror films, but while Jaws set the standard for cinematic tension, it also heavily impacted American culture. When a film scares generations of people into avoiding the ocean for fear of being eaten, that film becomes the most effective horror film of all time.
Some dispute Jaws’ status as a horror film, and my argument on the subject can be viewed here.
I’m not a fan of swimming in natural bodies of water, particularly the ocean, because of the unknowns that come with a foreign environment. There’s no telling what may be in the water with you, and that’s what scares me. Jaws illustrates this fear perfectly.
1. Carrie (1976)
Invited to the senior prom by the most popular boy in school, 17-year-old Carrie White reluctantly accepts under the assurance no one’s out to hurt her. It was the best night of her life until a joke went too far. Drenched in pig’s blood, she hears the discouraging words of her mother in her head as she senses the false laughter of everyone around her. Tired of the anguish, and through her recently discovered telekinesis, her emotions come to life and transform a night of magic into one of horror and death.
This is one of only three films where I have to actually look away at certain moments. Despite these creepy elements, there’s no question in my mind the tragic story of Carrie White is my favorite of the horror genre. This is all because of my relation to Sissy Spacek in the film.
My emotional connection to Spacek as Carrie is one of the strongest I’ve ever had with any fictional character. Because I, too, was a skinny, red-headed, socially awkward kid in my pre- and early-teen years, I saw a bit of myself in Spacek’s Carrie, despite being a guy and actually having a stable home environment.
Frame by Frame 