(My apologies, readers. I’d meant to post this before October 31, first as a video and then as a blog. Neither happened, but I hope you’ll enjoy reading it anyway, because I thought I owed it to you). đ Itâs that time of the year again. The air gets nippy. The leaves burst into fiery colors and tumble to the ground. The days are shorter. Itâs a bit…spooky. Sing it with me now! âThis is Halloween! This is Halloween!â The holiday isnât complete with scary movies. Admittedly, Iâm not the biggest consumer of fright flicks, but thatâs most because most of the new ones are stupid (as I discuss in this GigaGeek Magazine article and this episode of âBut I Digress…â). However, there are some that I truly love. If youâre looking for a few films to marathon through after the kids are done trick-or-treating, I highly recommend these.
#5: John Carpenterâs The Thing
This terrifying remake of a â50s B-movie is one of the smartest horror films Iâve ever seen. It has none of the stereotypical idiot characters. While it does have gross gore and freakish creatures, the real terror comes from the isolated Antarctic location and the paranoia that rips a tightly-knit science team apart as a shapeshifting alien organism takes over each of them.
#4: Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Wes Cravenâs classic is a variation of the then popular (and overused) slasher movie: a killer who attacks victims in their dreams. Freddy Krueger became an icon with his trademark sweater, hat, claws, and dark wit. The film has an otherworldly quality to it thanks to the dream sequences. Plus, in a rare treat, it features a strong heroine who refuses to become Freddyâs next victim. Interesting bit of trivia: this is Johnny Deppâs first movie. He plays the heroineâs boyfriend.
#3: Fright Night (1985)
A horror/comedy that is both genuinely funny and scary, it is a film with a perfectly simple concept: a teenage boy thinks his new next-door neighbor is a vampire, but no one believes him, so he desperately seeks help from a washed-up horror movie actor. The best characters aren’t the teenage hero, but the old actor–played by Roddy McDowall of Planet of the Apes fameâand the vampire (played by Chris Sarandon). The former is a cynical yet likable fellow with sharp, sarcastic wit (who’s not afraid to take jabs at the current horror movie trends), while the latter is a man whose often mesmerizing charm masks a powerful evil. Add in a cat-and-mouse game being played by the desperate teenage boy and his undead nemesis, and you have a fun (and frightening) night out.
#2: Jaws
The movie that launched director Steven Spielberg’s career, created the summer blockbuster, and arguably inspired Sharknado. While based on the novel by Peter Benchley, it’s one of the rare times, I’d say, that the movie is better than the book (the novel was padded with an unnecessary subplot where Brody’s wife has an affair with Hooper). My favorite character is Quint, played by the scene-stealing Robert Shaw, a grizzled sailor with a Captain Ahab complex. He might be mad, but you can’t help but like his gruff attitude. Spielberg famously kept the anomatronic shark’s screen time to a minimum because he thought it looked fake. By doing so, he increased the film’s tension and gave the monster a stronger presence. Throw in classic lines like, âWe need a bigger boat!â and you have an instant classic.
#1: Alien
“In space, no one can hear you scream.” (One of the best taglines ever!)
If I had to choose a film that would be the blueprint for crafting the perfect horror movie, it would be Ridley Scott’s classic tale of gothic science fiction. It has powerful atmosphere, a terrifying and unique monster, and strong characters (including a countercultural heroine). The set design is incredible. The Nostromo feels both safe and claustrophobic. It plays upon multiple types and levels of fear, including, shadows, the unknown, and even rape. And it includes only one truly gory scene, but it both shocks the audience and adds to the story. It’s too bad that only one of its sequels, James Cameron’s Aliens, even comes close to equaling it.
Honorable Mentions (or, Films I’d Include on my Top 10) -28 Days Later -Dracula (1931) -Dawn of the Dead (original)
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