It’s Halloween, and since they won’t let me go trick or treating any more, the kid in me can’t resist tossing out a Top 10 Horror Films list for you to accept, reject and add to! Remember, horror films are like clothes - everybody’s tastes are different. I tend toward older films and must confess I have not seen a lot of the new movies because I consider them, generally, to be gorefests unworthy of my time (yes, I know there are exceptions and I’m sure you will point them out).
It’s hard to rate one good horror film over another, so these rankings are very loose (i.e., 1 through 4 might as well be pulled out of a hat), and I could be argued out of a change in position very easily. That said, here are RickG’s Top 10 Horror Movies Ever:
1. Halloween (1978) - John Carpenter’s tribute to Hitchcock, it started the “modern” wave of horror films (most of them substandard, such as “Friday the 13th”). Lots of shadows, not too gory, but with plenty of nervous-giggly bumps in the night. (Besides, why did it take until 1976 for someone to use this title?)
2. Psycho (1960) - What can I say (besides “Hitchcock!”)? Obviously, a coin toss away from No. 1 on this list.
3. The Omen (1976) - Is there anything scarier than the anti-Christ?
4. The Exorcist (1973) - Is there anything scarier than demon possession (except the anti-Christ)?
5. Alien (1979) - I don’t know about in space, but in theaters they sure can hear you scream.
6. Night of the Living Dead (1968) - Low budget classic that kept me afraid of dead people for years.
7. The Thing (from Another World) (1951) - The aliens really are out to get us - and James Arness is the head carrot! (Carpenter’s 1982 remake with Kurt Russell is not bad either.)
8. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - One of only two post-70s flicks in my top ten, it has a really creepy premise. Wes Craven should have stopped at one, though.
9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) - Is there anything scarier than your Mom not being your Mom (except, well, you know. . .)? The 1978 Donald Sutherland/Jeff Goldblum remake was mediocre (though with a clever cameo appearance by Kevin McCarthy, star of the original), and I haven’t yet seen Nicole Kidman’s 2007 version, “The Invasion”.
10. The Shining (1980) - Insanity is very scary (see “Psycho”). And who plays crazy better than Jack Nicholson?
Honorable Mention (in reverse chronological order): Gothika (2003); The Others (2001); Phantasm (1979); When a Stranger Calls (1979); Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954); Dracula (1931); Nosferatu (1922).
You can find the rundown any of these movies (or their stars) by simply typing in the name at IMDB.
Okay, it’s your turn. What top films did I omit from my list, and which ones don’t belong there? And which are ranked too low or high?
And remember, there’s no such thing as the Boogeyman.
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You have to see The Ring. That is all I have to say.
monkey
I’ll put it on my list for when the wife’s out of town. Thanks.
You forgot “Scary 2008″ starring HELLary Clinton as the President where she turns the United States from a democratic to a socialistic nation. And takes the US from a “superpower” to a “has been” by selling and giving away all our military secrets and weapons. Her other programs include “Tax and Spend” and “Take from the rich to give to the poor” eventually making everyone poor (except her, of course). The movie co-stars Bill as the “Devil”.
Phantasm has a HEMI ‘Cuda in it!
Shakes The Clown is pretty scary!
If you are talking about out and out scary movies, I just don’t think you can beat The Grudge.
My list:
1. The Grudge - Minute for minute, not a scarier movie made.
2. Alien - It set the standard for SciFi terror and still looks great 28 years later.
3. A Nightmare On Elm Street - It’s the premier slasher horror flick.
4. The Shining - Best pyschologicl horror movie out there.
5. The Omen - Spawn of Satan in a scary little kid.
6. The Ring - It set the stage for The Grudge by being a succesful American remake of a Japanese film.
7. Halloween - The prototype for the teenage slasher film.
8. Scream - What Friday The Thirteenth wishes it was.
9. The Exorcist - Although I wish it was higher on my list, it just didn’t make it.
10. Phantasm - Just creepy.
5. Peter
Scream is a good choice. I don’t know why I left it off. I have to see The Grude and The Ring (second time it’s been mentioned).
Rick, I’d put The Shining way higher up on the list.
7. Matt
Look at it this way - if you stand on your head, it’s number 1!
Jackie and Dunlap have a horror film up on redstateupdate, but I put it in the “shorts” category so it didn’t make my list.
When I was a teenager the scariest movie was “The Haunting of Hill House”. Of course, with all the special effects now the kids don’t appreciate the tension part of a scary movie, just the blood part.
As for The Ring, I have a funny story about that. When my daughter and I were visiting her boyfriend in Dallas (they were both 16) his parents rented the movie and we all watched it, including his 13 year old brother. When the phone rings the first time, their phone rang. Wierd. Then every time the screen flashed “Day One” “Day Two”, etc. their phone would ring, but noone would be there. By the time we were to “Day Six” my daughter was in tears and the boys refused to answer the phone. Then it was discovered that his mother had her cell phone next to her leg on the couch and she was hitting ‘redial’ and hanging up as soon as one of the kids answered the phone. My daughter then did that to her best friend, only she went into another room and when her friend answered the phone she whispered “7 days”. The casualty was that the phone her friend answered ended up across the room smashed against the wall!
The ZOMBIE Movies:
Night of the Living Dead
Dawn of the Dead
Return of the Living Dead
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/13/Dawn_of_the_Dead_1978.jpg
…and anything from Michael Moore
Nothing creepier than being eaten by a Zombie! Ok, a Zombie Clown maybe but the odds of that are pretty slim.
Identity (2003) Stranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rainstorm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they’re being killed off one by one.
Poltergeist (1982), my daughter refused to watch any scary movies after watching that as a young child. The clown in the bedroom scene must of made her hate clowns after that point also.
dcgirl, Our school showed the Haunting of Hill House every halloween for 25 cents and no class!!. None of you mentioned ” Wait until Dark” with Audrey Hepburn……. I nearly jumped out of my skin with that movie.
How can we forget:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvQOgdMarB0
A boy and his chainsaw…..
If you live on the East side, you can head over to Crosby and visit the haunted street. Part of the neighborhood was built on top of a slave cemetary. Several families thought there was definitely a problem, and then (in Poltergeist - the movie - fashion) they hit bodies when installing a pool.
If anybody needs directions, I’ll be more than happy to post them.
Here is the street in Yahoo maps (Poppet’s Way):
http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=m&trf=0&lon=-95.088531&lat=29.910231&mag=1
And here is the book about it (The Black Hope Horror):
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Hope-Horror-Ben-Williams/dp/0425139107/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/105-2191276-9576412?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1193863097&sr=8-2
I remember when I saw The Exorcist. I am a combat veteran and was attending a skydiving competition in Beaumont. Since my mom lived in Port Arthur I stayed at her house, she was out of town.
Being bored that night I saw that it was playing at the Village Theater and since I had read the book I thought I’d see it.
That night I slept with all the lights on and my gun at hand. To say it was terrifying is a understatement.
18 Yep, me too.
Haven’t really watched one since… except the Shining….and that one is 27 years old now.
18,
I had the same experience with The Omen (sans the gun). Lights on, doors locked, covers tight. Like the anti-Christ couldn’t get through a locked door!
The Ring is damn scary. I don’t watch many horror films, but Lovely Daughter and I watched that one together.
When I was much, much younger, myself and about five of my siblings watched The Amityville Horror (there are twelve children in our family, then add Mom and Dad). Afterwards we went into our dining room to visit with other members of the family. Since our family is so big, we barely fit around the table, and my younger brother was in the wedge seat, between the table and the back of his chair touching the kitchen counter. I was to his right, and another sister to my right. To younger brother’s left were a few more kids and the glass patio door. Mom was standing behind the counter, and Dad was about three chairs to my right, his back to the wall, and he could see the patio door.
As we discussed horror movies, ghost, and other things that go bump in night, one of our cats - the one which was exceedingly orange and fluffly - for some still unknown reason hit our patio door about three feet above ground. All I saw out of the corner of my eye was some big blob flying at the patio door at the same time this loud screeching sound assailed my ears. By the time the sound of the THUD against the glass had died away, my brother had somehow transported himself from my left to the space behind my sister to my right. Normally this maneuver would have required a thoughtful and intensive effort to disengage himself from his chair and I would have had to get up and push my chair toward the table for him to get by. Also, my father was standing up at his place with his fists up. Normally, this would have required him to push the table away from his chair to find room to stand, since his back was so close to the wall.
The moral of this story: All you need to violate the laws of physics is one wacky cat near Halloween.
Just an FYI, I believe Halloween was released in 1978 not 1976.
The last two I saw were Alien (the first one) and AMityville Horror both of which permanently kept me away from horror until the Sixth Sense. I have again retired from all Horror films. Politics is frightening enough for me…
22. phil -
You are right. My typo. Thanks.