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Beau's ten best horror moviesMar 11 '05 (Updated Mar 14 '05) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Quality doesn't mean less scares. It means better scares. I would like to make a few things clear. I'm picky with horror. I enjoy a good scary movie, and I'm often disappointed. Dario Argento's Deep Red was equally boring and exciting to me. I don't like Halloween or Friday the 13th. Nightmare on Elm Street was never that great to me either. I like horror that can scare me mentally as much as it can set my nerves to jangling. I will list ten movies, and I will list some honorable mentions. This takes into account how much I enjoy these movies, how scared they made me, and how much I would want to watch them multiple times. They are NOT in any order, as my top ten lists are my top ten in toto, not my top ten in order of importance. STIR OF ECHOES A horribly underlooked horror movie, this came out the same summer as The Sixth Sense and was overshadowed by that insanely successful movie. Kevin Bacon stars as a man who is accidentally channeled into something evil in his neighborhood when he is hypnotized at a party. He proceeds to tear his house apart, and he and his son share a scary bond as he unravels a mystery surrounding their house and their neighborhood. Equally fascinating and scary, Stir of Echoes is written and directed by screenwriter extraordinare David Koepp, and has all the hallmarks of the works he writes for himself, as opposed to his blockbusters (Jurassic Park, Spider Man). A mystery and a ghost story, from a novel by horror master Richard Matheson, it is not to be missed. POLTERGEIST This movie scared the living poo out of me the first time I saw it, when I was sixteen. I saw it with a friend who was several years older than I, and he was scared to drive home alone that night. It uses the common objects of residential suburbia to wreak emotional havoc on the viewer, and the family on the screen. Pretty much flawless, and mostly bloodless, horror. ROSEMARY'S BABY I don't know if it's the ideas behind it, or the total package, but this movie is well written, excellently acted, and brilliantly directed by Roman Polanski. It's so good it's on my top ten list of all time. Disturbing, provocative, and scary as hell. THE THING Just about the only John Carpenter horror movie I've enjoyed from top to bottom. Chilling, freaky scary, and never predictable, if you haven't seen this timeless 80's sci-fi horror gem, you need to. Now. Remember when Kurt Russell was a badassmofo? Me too. It's nice to see a reminder once in a while. SE7EN Horror in the everyday wacko sense more than the slasher sense, this movie is acknowledged by the author as his love/hate letter to New York. Excellent acting, taut script and sure handed direction by 2nd time helmer David Fincher, this is as good as serial killer movies get. ANATOMIE A deadly german surprise package. Scary anatomy and biology, a secret nazi cult, freaky med students, torture, this movie has it all. Entertaining from beginning to end, graphic without being gruesome, nail-bitingly tense in places, this is a great example of how refreshing a little foreign spin on an American genre can be. Watch it if you haven't. The lead from Run Lola Run, Franke Potente, is fantastic in this film. ALIENS Call is sci-fi action horror if you want to, my brother couldn't sit down for the last half hour of this movie for darn good reason. If you want someone sitting in your lap for a movie, this would be my choice. James Cameron's sure hand at directing sends this movie careening through set piece after set piece to the gigantic conclusion fight. Claustrophoic and tense, with both jump scares and deep psychological antagonism, this is a primer for anyone who wants to know how to make a movie that scares. JAWS The movie that started blockbusters and revitalized the horror genre, it's become movie pitch jargon. You have Die Hard and you have Jaws. Speed? Die hard on a bus. Lake Placid? Die Hard with a crocodile. Mixing Shakespearean archetype characters courtesy of author Peter Benchley with a slow burn of terror, Jaws is pitch perfect from beginning to end, and a perfect example of talent triumphing over ridiculous adversity. THE EXORCIST (Final Cut) I've seen the exorcist twice, and let me tell you, the way to see it is on the big screen. The second time I saw it, in the extra-scary version, was on a Cinerama screen, and it was insane. Every little twitch was magnified to the point where I could barely stay in my seat. This movie is really, really, really scary, both in a spiritual and physical sense. It will make you jump, scream and sweat. And you can't ask for more than that, right? THE RING Nope, haven't seen the Japanese version, don't need to. My two friends ditched me and STOOD in the back of the theater for the last half hour, because they needed to be able to feel like they could run away. That really tells you all you need to know. A wonderful example of taking horror from everyday objects, the mystery is as good as the scares, and the story is surprisingly absorbing and compelling. A great example of using special effects minimally and very well. This is one of those scary movies, apparently, that just doesn't work for some people, and that's okay, but for my vote, it's damn scary. HONORABLE MENTIONS SCREAM TWO While the first movie is the most original, this movie takes every horror convention and spins it into a scary/funny mix that can't be beat. Admittedly single-handedly responsible for revitalizing and screwing the horror genre, Scream Two is the best of Williamson's trilogy, and a perfect example of his spinmeister sensibility. AUDITION I'll be really straight about this, I did not like this movie at all. I felt the ending wrecked it, but that doesn't mean it didn't get under my skin and stay with me for a long time. I'm honestly surprised it scared me at all, because I'd heard so many scary things about this movie, I was almost scared to see it. It didn't let me down in the scare department. Far move drive you to the edge of sanity and disturb you than make you jump scary, this movie is NOT for the weak of heart. And not for me either. PET SEMATARY I saw this movie alone in a basement. I wouldn't recommend it. While not as good as the book, it is an excellent presentation of Stephen King's core story. What happens when you open doors meant to be kept closed? Scary little kids with knives, that's what. THE EVIL DEAD TW0 Intentionally funny horror, indie as hell, unspeakably violent and original, but with 50% less tree rape than the first movie, this is a must see for horror fans. No one else gets it, but that's okay. GINGER SNAPS Touching, scary, funny and satirical, this surprising Canadian werewolf movie is more about family and growing up than it is about eating flesh. Violent, disturbing, sexy and frightening, this movie about what happens to the bond between two sisters when one becomes a werewolf is unforgettable. And that's all the scary movies I would ever recommend to anyone. Sure there are some other good ones, but the above cover the breadth of the genre quite well, I feel, and should give you plenty of nightmares.  |
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