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Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Horror Flicks

I am a big fan of horror movies.  I don't favor the blood and guts slasher variety, but the Alfred Hitchcock suspense/mystery kind. Psycho is playing on the TCM channel as I write this, and it got me to thinking about which movies I would like to rent this weekend for the Halloween leadup.  I would like to compile a list of some of the best horror films.  Please share your favorites in the comments section, along with a short description of any films that are not well known, and the reason they are great films.

I will update this post periodically this week with some of my favorites.  Here is a start:

Silver Bullet -- This movie is based on a Stephen King short story and it has it all -- humor, suspense, mystery and horror.  Gary Busey is great as the alchoholic uncle of the hero of the story, a wheelchair bound boy (Corey Haim) who figures out what has been killing people in his small town.

The Lost Boys -- Another Corey Haim film, with the other Corey (Feldman), as well as Kiefer Sutherland, thrown in for good measure.  The hippie grandfather is my favorite character, and the last line of the movie is the best.  This is similar to Silver Bullet in that it is a mixture of humor and horror and was also made in the 80's.

The Birds -- One of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock movies. I watched this movie on television when I was a child and it really freaked me out.  I have seen it many times since.  It doesn't really freak me out anymore, but it is a great movie.

Jaws -- I have seen this movie many times and everytime I see it while channel surfing, I find myself watching it until the end.  The book is great, too.

Rosemary's Baby -- I wouldn't call this one of my favorites, but it is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen.  It gives me the creeps and if I see it while channel surfing I will usually avoid it like the plague so that I don't have nightmares.

The Omen -- Scary, scary, scary. 

Update:  Here is a good list with great commentary and this Yahoo list of top 100 horror movies is good, too, but does not include commentary.

Update 10/26:  REALLY SCARY (link via Kitty).

Update 10/27:  A really good kid movie is The Little Vampire.  Another is Casper.  We liked both of these enough that we bought the videos.  Now I guess I need to get the DVD's.

Posted at 12:41 AM in Film |

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Comments

The Exorcist and The Shining. They both still scare me to death!

Posted by: scmommy | Tuesday, October 25, 2005 at 08:41 AM

I linked to this Lorie, but I can't get the trackback to ping!

Posted by: Kitty | Tuesday, October 25, 2005 at 07:44 PM

Thanks, Kitty. I wonder if it is a problem on my end. I am so techologically challenged that I don't have a clue what could be causing it.

Posted by: Lorie Byrd | Tuesday, October 25, 2005 at 08:03 PM

I'm apt to have problems when I trackback to a typepad blog. If nothing else, the process takes longer. I'll try again.

Posted by: Kitty | Wednesday, October 26, 2005 at 07:41 AM

WOO-HOO! The trackback finally worked.

Posted by: Kitty | Wednesday, October 26, 2005 at 09:18 AM

The Sixth Sense =:O

Posted by: Kitty | Wednesday, October 26, 2005 at 09:22 AM

I agree with Kitty. The Sixth Sense freaked me out.

Posted by: Dana | Wednesday, October 26, 2005 at 10:59 AM

The classic Karloff as Frankenstein, Lugosi as Dracula, and Chaney as the Wolfman.
The avoided Kerry as Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Posted by: Bruce Kesler | Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 12:20 AM

I loved the black and white originals Bruce listed. I used to watch them late at night as a kid when my parents were asleep. I also watched probably every episode of The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

The Kerry as Nightmare on Pennsylvania Avenue is about as scary as it gets.

Posted by: Lorie Byrd | Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 01:09 AM

I just remembered a great line from one of the Scream movies. When asked about scariest movie, the reply: Showgirls. Now that is a scary movie.

Posted by: Lorie Byrd | Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 01:31 AM

Shaun of the Dead (funny, scary, and features the luminous Lucy Davis)

Posted by: TIMMY!!!! | Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 02:28 AM

My adult children still hold it against me that I wouldn't let them go see "The Birds" when they were in elementary school! (Guess that really dates me.) It was a classic at building suspense until it was almost unbearable. Also "Psycho." That shower scene was so scary! I wish you younger people could have seen them in the theatre. I never did care about the slasher-type movies.

Posted by: pjaykc | Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 06:41 AM

I'm actually more of a SciFi fan. But I do have some favorite horror flicks. On your other site, I listed Ed Wood's Plan Nine From Outer Space as the most entertaining and unintentionally bad Scifi/horror film ever made.

But I do like the House Of Wax genre. The 1953 Vincent Price classic was an improvement on the more primitive 1933 Mystery Of The Wax Museum. But some younger folks may like the 2005 Paris Hilton version, which has little to do with the storyline of the first two films, but "House Of Paris Hilton" is an entertaining film. There are even a couple of funny references to her other "film" career some viewers may even notice. But the Vincent Price film is a real classic, and one of the best horror films ever made.

Some of the best horror films ever made. Psycho 1960. House Of Wax 1953. Frankenstein 1931. Dracula 1931. Dracula(Spanish version, shot at evening on the English Dracula set)1931. Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein 1948. The Fly 1958(The "help me" scene is enough for a lifetime of nightmares and waking up screaming in cold sweats for the rest of your lifetime!).The Fly 1999(One of the greatest remakes ever. Jeff Goldblum is prefect in this deeply unsettling tale. The end scene where the fly is fused to part of the teleporter machinery is very unsettling and a special effects masterpiece). The Thing 1951. The Thing 1982(A very great John Carpenter remake, with some very disturbing images).

If only I could the funding to realize my dream of producing Bathrobey: Bathrobe Monster From The Planet Argon, then I could die a happy man.

Posted by: Paul Hooson | Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 07:50 AM

I forgot one: The Reanimators.
I literally had to stop the tap several times and catch my breath, then press Play. It's irresistable, original, and even funny in ways only some who are bent can appreciate. -- The sequel was just OK.

Posted by: Bruce Kesler | Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 04:27 PM

I forgot one: The Reanimators.
I literally had to stop the tape several times and catch my breath, then press Play. It's irresistable, original, and even funny in ways only some who are bent can appreciate. -- The sequel was just OK.

Posted by: Bruce Kesler | Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 04:28 PM

Silver Bulletin and Lost Boys were too silly to be taken as serious horror films.
My wife likes the original "The Fog" - creepy as can be.
I like the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" - nothing like black & white and shadows to scare the heck out of you, and no blood fest. Not needed.
Also "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and "Beast from 40,000 Fathoms". Never did like rollercoasters.
Good space sci-fi: "Forbidden Planet" and "This Island Earth"
For fun - "Spaced Invaders".

Re "Pyscho". I got a personalized autographed photo from Janet Leigh in her famous shower scene, only a few months before she passed away. A classy lady.

Posted by: Max Friedman | Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 08:29 PM

The films that really got to me the most were probably...

"The Omen": I would say that it is easily the creepiest movie I have ever seen. The creepiest part? The shadows that appear in the photographs!

"The Shining": Stephen King, Stanley Kubrick and Jack Nicholson. Wow! What a combo! Even though King never liked Kubrick's version, it is truly disturbing. Whose skin doesn't crawl when Shelley Duvall creeps up slowly on the typewriter desk and begins to read what Jack Nicholson has been spending all those endless hours sitting there typing.

"Jaws": Not so much horror as suspense. Spielberg did a masterful job of toying with his audience. If you have only seen this film on commercial television, you have not seen it, rent it! The commercials destroy the tension to the point of ruining the picture! The climactic sequence when they go after the shark in the boat only truly works uninterrupted - but you better not have a heart condition!

"Halloween": The ONLY slasher picture I ever cared for (it was the first of its kind, the rest are all just bad copies anyway). The music sets the tone perfectly, and things jump at you at just the right time.

"Alien": The first movie is the suspense thriller of the group, the sequel "Aliens" is a terrific film, but is more of an action movie than a horror flick, and the others aren't worthwhile. If you don't jump at the key moment of the egg sequence, you likely don't have a pulse!

For Halloween fun of a lighter nature:

"The Nightmare Before Christmas": A terrific animated musical - fun for the whole family (except very young children).

"Young Frankenstein": One of the funniest films ever made!

Any of the classic original b&w Universal Studios monster movies of the 30's & 40's: "Dracula" (Bela Lugosi), "Frankenstein" (Boris Karloff), or "The Wolf Man" (Lon Chaney, Jr.).

Posted by: Mr. Right | Sunday, October 30, 2005 at 03:20 AM

Good heavens, what horror/scary movie is is complete omitting Wait Until Dark? Audrey Hepburn is the blind lady, Efrem Zimblast Jr. is her clueless husband, and Alan Arkin is the bad guy. Great performances by all the minor actors as well.

Posted by: Steve White | Saturday, November 12, 2005 at 02:36 PM

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