Halloween is just a couple of days away, and nothing screams “the witching season” like a great horror movie. So snuggle up next to someone you trust, turn out the lights, and let the following must-watch horror titles wash over you like a terrifying nightmare. Happy Halloween, everyone!
John Carpenter’s “The Thing”
“Halloween” is often considered John Carpenter’s masterpiece, but for my money, “The Thing” is where it’s at! Not only is this one of the best remakes I’ve ever seen (and I love Howard Hawks’ original), but it is quite simply my favorite horror picture of all time. It’s isolated terror at it’s very finest, and extra props to the effects department for creating otherworldly terror that is even more disturbing than anything I could possibly conjure up in my own mind. I love every inch of this movie, from the paranoia aspect right down to the perfectly open-book ending.
“The Shining”
I recently had an opportunity to see “The Shining” on the big screen again, and it was an absolute thrill! While it is true that Stanley Kubrick took Stephen King’s best-selling novel and made it his own, he bettered it in a handful of ways. Jack Nicholson is at his manic best as an author who descends into complete madness. The real star of the show, however, is the massive Overlook Hotel. Kubrick is a master of tone, and nearly every frame of this picture drips with an ominous sense of dread.
“Psycho”
Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece has far too many memorable moments to make mention of in a mere blurb, so I wont even try. I will say it is one of the best thrillers of all time and features a truly mesmerizing turn by Anthony Perkins as a momma’s boy so harmless that he wouldn’t even hurt a fly.
“The Exorcist”
William Friedkin’s classic tale of good vs. evil has one of the most shocking moments in horror film history (I won’t go into detail, but I will say it involves a cross), but what really makes this movie stand out is its epic scope and Friedkin’s meticulous eye to detail. And the cast, most notably Max Von Sydow as an aging priest, is positively stellar. “The Exorcist” is truly horrifying and sort of plays like “High Noon” in hell.
“Poltergeist”
Steven Spielberg and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” helmer Tobe Hooper collaborated (although it’s been widely speculated that Spielberg pretty much ran the show) on this fantastical ghost story featuring JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson as a married couple who desperately try to retrieve their daughter (played by cute Heather O’ Rourke) from the clutches of a nasty poltergeist. Great characters, great scares, and great special effects! And it still holds up!
“Halloween”
John Carpenter’s slasher flick lit up the box-office and made a scream queen out of Jamie Lee Curtis. It also set the standard for the slasher genre. Perhaps the strongest element of the picture is Carpenter’s unforgettable score. As great as the score is, there is plenty to admire about this picture perfect thriller, an amazing movie featuring one of cinema’s most iconic killers.
“Creepshow”
Horror titans Stephen King and George A. Romero collaborated on “Creepshow,” a brilliant horror anthology made up of five short tales that have you laughing one second and shrieking in terror the next. Zombies, cockroaches, monsters from crates, people turning into weeds, etc. This movie has it all! Simply put, “Creepshow” is a horror comic book brilliantly come to life.
“The Descent”
This thriller about a team of tough female spelunkers taking on a strange race of carnivorous creatures deep beneath the ground is one of the most effective monster movies to come out in years. It’s a genuinely scary, adrenaline-pumping horror show that you’ll definitely want to stay away from if you’re even the slightest bit claustrophobic. Neil Marshall directed the shit out of this one!
“Trick ‘R Treat”
For years, “Creepshow” has remained the horror anthology by which all other horror anthologies are measured. That King/Romero collaboration remains my favorite anthology flick to this very day, but Michael Dougherty’s “Trick ‘R Treat” is a pretty close second. What separates this one from traditional anthologies like “Creepshow” is the fashion in which the stories in this picture intersect (think of it as the horror equivalent of something like “Pulp Fiction”). In short, this movie drips of Halloween spirit. In fact, “Trick ‘R Treat” is to Halloween what “A Christmas Story” is to Christmas. This is perfect Halloween viewing!
“Jaws”
“Jaws” is more of an adventure story than a straight-up horror picture, but it delivers some of the greatest scares of all time, and that’s why I’m including it on this list. This tale of a great white shark terrorizing the peaceful, sleepy town of Amityville provides the goods both in terms of character and terror-inducing thrills. More importantly, though, beach attendance dropped significantly the year “Jaws” was released. That’s a testament to this film’s overall power.
“Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn”
Sam Raimi’s masterpiece is certainly more slapstick than horror, but that doesn’t stop this legendary (and crafty) filmmaker from getting a few grand shocks in along the way. While Raimi would go on to helm three highly profitable “Spider-Man” films, “Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn” remains my favorite of his movies.
“The Omen”
Richard Donner’s “The Omen” is an eloquent exercise in apocalyptic terror. When I use the term “apocalyptic,” I don’t mean in a “Mad Max” sense. This flick, about the birth of the Antichrist, has an eerie, unsettling tone from start to finish, and when it was over, I could feel the hair on my neck standing on end. Oh, and “The Omen” stars Gregory Peck, an honest-to-goodness old-school movie star! And he’s great in it!
“The Babadook”
Ten years from now, this Australian gem will be talked about just as much as the iconic horror efforts that inspired it. In Jennifer Kent’s creepy thriller, a fantastic Essie Davis plays a mother reeling from tragedy who must provide for her troubled son, effectively played by Noah Wiseman. When a strange pop-up book lands on their door step, things go south … fast! “The Babadook” trades in gore for old-school spook-alley-inspired scares, and the end result is one of the best horror films of the last decade.
Those are but 13 titles that are near and dear to this horror fanboy’s heart. The truth is that I just as easily could have named a hundred more! I hope you enjoy these titles half as much as I do. Happy Halloween, everyone!
