by Brian Kesler
It's almost time for
Halloween! I thought I'd give you a list of my favorite horror movies
to get you prepared and in the mood for the big day. 31 Horror movies
for October 31st.
Among the first zombie flicks. George A. Romero made a name for himself with this black-and-white classic.
One
of the few remakes that manages to be better than the original, David
Cronenberg’s ‘The Fly,’ starring Geena Davis and Jeff Goldbloom, is a
fascinating monster transformation movie. If Goldbloom pulling off his
own fingernails doesn’t give you the shivers, I don’t know what will.
The
only notable work from horror director Dario Argento, in which a
ballerina comes to realize that the staff of her dance company are
actually a coven of witches. The film gets right down to it in an
opening scene that includes stabbings, hangings, and impalement by
stained glass.
Sam
Raimi gained success with the ‘Spiderman’ movies, but let’s not forget
his origins. 'The Evil Dead' and its counterparts are one and the same,
with plenty of hilarious and violent decapitations, impalements, and
over-the-top blood gushing. And who can forget when Bruce Campbell's
hand becomes possessed by evil spirits, forcing him to slice it off and
surgically attach a chainsaw in its place?
Vampires
have been on a downward slide into fantasyland and people have all but
forgotten their roots as horrific monsters. ‘Let the Right One In’
brings that to the table, while at the same time providing a unique
character study on the life of a young vampire.
David
Lynch launched a career with this black-and-white gem, about a husband
and wife who welcome a newborn mutant child into their home.
Kids,
when the culprit and not the victim, can be effectively eerie.
Especially when they’re the spawn of Satan. Many films try to recreate
the creepy child plot, but none are quite as effective as this Gregory
Peck propelled 70s hit.
Although
not quite as good as The Archers’ ‘Black Narcissist,’ ‘Peeping Tom’ is
an effective film about voyeurism and fetishism. Michael Powell directs
without Emerick Pressburger, and Moira Shearer stars.
Imagine
being blind and knowing there’s somebody in the house. Audrey Hepburn
must outwit a drug lord by manipulating her environment and using her
uniquely powerful sense of surroundings. Only, things don’t go as
planned.
A
television network finds popularity and success in its newest hit show,
in which real people are raped, tortured, and brutalized before being
murdered in grotesque fashion in front of an audience. Not only that,
but the broadcasting signal used for the show has technology designed to
give those who watch it malignant brain tumors, violent sexual desires,
and horrific hallucinations. A scene in which the main character’s
torso becomes a bloody vaginal VCR player is only one of the gruesome
and over-the-top sequences this David Cronenberg film has to offer,
along with the haunting image of an armed hand trying to pull itself
free from the television screen.
Tobe
Hooper would eventually direct the hit ‘Poltergeist,’ but it began with
this 1974 slasher in which a family of skin-wearing socially-awkward
cannibals terrorizes a group of teenagers. Leatherface has become an
iconic serial killer, sharing the same true story inspiration as Norman
Bates from ‘Psycho,’ and Hannibal Lecter from ‘Silence of the Lambs.’
This
film starts out with an idiotic, but necessary plot point. Turns out,
Dr. Frankenstein and his monster are alive. Yup. Even though you saw
them die in the first film, here they are. It quickly gets better as Dr.
Frankenstein’s wife is held captive by a mad scientist, Dr. Pretorius,
whose ransom is for Frankenstein to create a horrific mate for the
monster. Boris Karloff and Elsa Lanchester propel the film as the
monsters. Often funny, always gruesome, and undeniably creepy, ‘Bride of
Frankenstein’ proves to be better than its predecessor.
Who
can forget the nightmare-inducing corpse with knives for fingers and
dialogue just as sharp? I speak, of course, of Freddy Kruger, that
child-molesting fiend who can only attack you in your dreams. Wes
Craven’s classic horror film is the spawn of many pitiful sequels, but
this remains the only one of the lot which manages to make one afraid of
closing their eyes at night. Of course, Johnny Depp as a teenager is a
fun addition as well.
Dracula
has penetrated popular culture, and it’s this film we have to thank for
that. The tragic vampire hero was originally a monstrous, white, pale,
and warty old man whose form transformed into that of a luscious young
seducer in order to win the affections of Mina, whom Dracula believes to
be the reincarnation of his dead wife. Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, however,
is the image most people think of: A cape wearing, tux sporting,
slick-haired man with an oily voice and two razor-sharp fangs.
This
1932 black-and-white is about a group of circus sideshow freaks who are
tired and fed-up with the beautiful circus performers making fun of
them, particularly the gorgeous and conniving trapeze artist, Cleopatra.
Cleopatra plans on marrying the leader of the sideshow to gain his
inheritance, but the freaks have other plans for her.
I
love a good ghost story. A family notices strange and paranormal
activities, led on by their observant and perceptive little girl, and
discover that their house was built atop a graveyard and the ghosts of
the dead want them out. The special effects are of particular note here,
as this is primarily an effects movie, being Spielberg and all.
Lon
Chaney’s performance as The Phantom in the silent film version of
Gaston Leroux’s classic horror novel is one of the most unsettling movie
monsters of all time. He entraps a young Soprano in his underground
lair and wears a mask in hopes that she’ll succumb to him. She, however,
has fallen in love with the handsome Raoul. The Phantom is anything but
pleased. In a delicious climactic scene, the Phantom reveals to
Christine the entrapped Raoul, about to be burned to death in a chamber
of mirrors. He gives her an ultimatum: Marry me and save him, or go free
and watch him die. Does she choose a life of imprisonment to save her
love, or a life of freedom and loneliness?
Wes
Craven’s ‘Scream’ is hilarious. A violent satire in which the
characters of this horror movie actually know they’re in a horror movie.
They tell each other to beware of sex because only the virgin can
survive. They watch slasher films and scream at the screen, “Look behind
you!” when the villain is actually behind them.
The film is filled with clichés, all of which are discussed and noted
by the cast. The movie manages to be frightening as well, the Drew
Barrymore scene being the perfect example.
Kathy
Bates won an Oscar for her role as Annie Wilkes in Rob Reiner’s screen
adaptation of Stephen King’s horrifying book about a novelist who gets
into a terrible accident in a barren mountain town in the dead of winter
and is rescued by a woman who just happens to be a nurse, and his
biggest fan. When Wilkes finishes reading his latest book, however, she
is anything but pleased, and soon the author is struggling to free
himself from her grips.
Dennis
Hopper as Frank Booth in David Lynch’s masterpiece is a screen villain
to be remembered. His eerie addiction to laughing gas and the madness of
his gaze make him among the most vile and sadistic of any character.
Kyle MacLachlan stars as a young man who finds a rotting human ear in a
field and decides to investigate with his friend, played by the divine
Laura Dern. Isabella Rossellini is tragic and gorgeous as a nightclub
singer who must succumb to Hopper’s lust to keep him from murdering her
husband and child.
Stanley
Kubrick’s infamous film, based on the classic novel by Anthony Burgess –
with far more faithfulness than another Kubrick movie on this list – is
often called a science fiction film, and sometimes a black comedy.
However, I think if anyone were to watch this film and not be disturbed
by its relentlessness, they might want to check their pulse and see if
they have one. The story, which ends up being a clear political and
ethical statement, involves Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell), and his
drug-propelled actions of ‘Ultra-violence.’ Interestingly, the film
doesn’t contain any blood in relation to the violent crimes, and yet
manages to disturb us far more than any popular slasher. It becomes even
more surprising as we are then asked to watch Alex humiliated,
tortured, experimented on, beaten, waterboarded, and compelled to commit
suicide.
The
iconic scene of Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’ involves a man with a
stomachache starting to scream and writhe until his stomach bursts
gorily open and an alien creature protrudes from within his intestines.
The resulting suspense is paired nicely with the dark cinematography of
Derek Vanlint, the paced direction of Scott, and the breathtaking
performance of Sigourney Weaver.
Not
until three-fourths of the way into this film do we see the shark. It
is one of the greatest off-screen villains of all time. The haunting
John Williams score provides plenty of tension, and supplements the lack
of a physical shark. With the two note theme, we know the shark is on
the hunt, and we prepare ourselves for the bloody result.
The
very first ‘Dracula’ movie, and a product of German expressionism,
'Nosferatu' is visually creepy. The shadows crawl up the walls and over
characters’ faces, and the long fingers of Nosferatu seem to be pulling
at our souls. A classic horror film that is a must-see for any film
buff.
Rosemary
wants a baby. She doesn’t expect that Satanists will drug her and
perform a ritualistic ceremony, calling the Devil to earth to perform a
lustful act and impregnate her. Not realizing this has happened,
Rosemary is overjoyed at the news of her pregnancy. Soon, however, she
gets unusually sick and starts to get suspicious of everyone around her,
including her cold and distant husband. Mia Farrow gives her most
famous performance, including her unsettling haircut and pale skin. Ruth
Gordon’s Oscar-winning supporting role of a quirky old woman, and Roman
Polanski’s macabre direction makes the film a must-see.
This
film has many landmarks to its name. It is one of only three films to
win the top five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best
Actress, and Best Screenplay. It is also the one and only horror film
ever to win the award for Best Picture. Interestingly, this movie
unhinges its audience based on dialogue rather than violence. Hopkins,
who doubles as a villain and an ally as Hannibal Lecture, chills you to
the bone with his psychological observations and sophisticated (polite,
even!) mannerisms. Of course, he also manages to be downright horrific
when he’s eating his victims or slithering his tongue. Jodie Foster
gives one of her finest performances as the sad and determined Clarice,
and the skin-wearing Buffalo Bill is utterly grotesque in his capture
and torture of young girls.
The
clearest product of the German Expressionist era of filmmaking and a
sure inspiration for Tim Burton’s visual style, ‘Dr. Caligari,’ is also
one of the most haunting horror movies I can think of. The film, tinted
with blues and yellows and such, involves a somnambulist who awakens at
the bidding of the titled Doctor to commit murder. The somnambulist,
however, becomes lustful at the beauty of one of his victims and kidnaps
her instead. The young woman’s lover, Francis, chases the somnambulist
and finds himself being pulled into a strange world of horror and
madness.
In terms of horror trends in film and popular culture, most aficionados lump them into before ‘Halloween,’ and after ‘Halloween.’ John Carpenter’s sleeper-hit inspired many slashers to come, including the unbearable ‘Friday the 13th’
movies, ‘Black Christmas,’ and the ‘Halloween’ sequels. None compares
to this spine-tingling film. A group of teenage babysitters are stalked
and hacked off, one-by-one, by a soulless shape with no human qualities
whatsoever. The reasons for his crimes are unknown. The shape is really
only comparable to one other horror movie villain, and that is the shark
in Jaws. A lifeless, soulless, relentless creature, whose only purpose
is to stalk its prey and do away with it. Jamie Lee Curtis was launched
into stardom with this role. Carpenter, being a huge fan of Hitchcock’s
‘Psycho,’ noted her relation to Janet Leigh and was quick to cast her.
Most slasher movies disregard their characters as nothing but pawns for
graphic and nauseating murders, but the characters in ‘Halloween’ are
interesting and delightful to watch. The Shape doesn’t simply go from
one victim to the next; he draws the situation out to unbearable
tension. He watches from a distance, getting closer and closer, until he
finally attacks. I should also mention the controlled camera and
lighting and the lack of blood. Yup, I said it. The film that inspired
all those bloody, shaky-camera slashers had slow-panning photography and
bloodless deaths. The film doesn’t wish to observe the situation of the
death, but the characterization of the death. There is a chilling scene
in which the Shape, immediately after a slashing, tilts his head one
way and then the other, curiously. ‘Halloween’ feeds our deepest fears
and lets them loose. It will make you so paranoid, that you’ll have to
look behind you to see if anyone is following.
Although
‘The Shining’ remains Stephen King’s most popular book, it is the
unfaithful film version by director Stanley Kubrick that people remember
most. Kubrick’s film is really about a man, whose isolation and writing
block begin a psychological descent into madness. Propelled by ghosts
of hotel guests in the 1920s, Jack Torrence plots to murder his wife and
child who, he reasons, are keeping him from his work. The film, like
all Kubrick’s work, is visually striking. Images that conjure in the
mind are an axe hacking through the door while a hysterical Shelley
Duvall screams and gapes. The repeated typed words, “ All work and no
play makes Jack a dull boy.” A wave of blood gushing from an elevator
door. A naked woman rising from a tub. Two little girls in blue dresses
at the end of a hallway. A labyrinthine maze in which a little boy runs
for his life. And, of course, the iconic face in the doorway saying,
“Here’s Johnny!” These images, the atmosphere, the music, and the
over-the-top performances make this one of the most chilling movies I’ve
seen.
A
woman, convinced that her daughter has been possessed by the devil,
buys the services of an exorcist to set her free. Whether it’s the full
twist of the girl’s head, her crabwalk down the stairs, the vaginal
penetration of a priest’s cross, the green, slimy saliva, the yellow
eyes, or her hair-raising, demonic voice, this is one creepy movie.
Watch it midday, with the lights on and the windows open. Watch it with
someone else, if possible. Personally, I find the most unsettling
sequence to be a scene in which the young girl is having a perfectly
normal, medical, surgical procedure done. Nothing like the truth of
reality to make you squirm and cringe.
The mother of all horror films. Read my full review
here.
