Favorite horror movies

I know this is supposed to be part two of my three part review of the original Dark Shadows series. I will post it, but the second part has proven to be a little more difficult to write than I originally thought, but I will get it up eventually.

Nothing makes me happier than Halloween. The costumes, the scares, but most importantly, the horror movies. I'm a massive horror junkie and gore hound. I wanted to use this time to talk about a couple of my favorites and why.

We'll start at an earlier time. When horror wasn't about how much blood and gore a director could fit in to one movie. In this day and age of hostel's and Saw's, these movies would be considered thrillers more than horror, but they still play on human fears and emotions. Just because they are older doesn't make them any less frightening.

Here are a few of my favorites:


1. Freaks. The Tod Browning 1932 that gives us a glimpse in to the world of circus side shows, or "freak shows". The story centers around two midgets, Hans and Frida who are deeply in love with one another. But, as soon as the lovely trapeze artist Cleopatra joins the troupe Han's feelings begin to change. Knowing full well how much Hans likes her, Cleopatra is content stringing him along. Until Cleopatra and her boyfriend Hercules learn how rich Hans is. She seduces and marries our midget hero. A heartbroken Frida knows why Cleopatra has married him, but Frida can't talk any sense in to Hans. When Hans finally learns the truth about his wife the rest of the freaks rally around Hans and exact revenge on the woman who broke his heart. This leads to a most unforgettable ending.
Having been in the circus himself, Tod Browning used real "freaks" in his movie. He made freaks lovable and attempted to show the movie goers that they are people with feelings who just happen to have outward imperfections. The audiences of the 1930's didn't pick up on this message. The movie was banned from Europe for the next 30 years because it scared people of use of real "freaks".
There are monsters in this movie, but it wasn't the freaks.


2. House on Haunted Hill. Not to be confused with the shitty 1999 remake. The original 1959 movie was more of a thriller with atmosphere. Frederick Loren (Played by the fantastic Vincent Price), and his 4th wife Annabelle Loren, have invited five people to stay the night in a haunted house. They are promised $10,000 dollars if they survive the night. There is no means of escape and they are only given guns to protect themselves.
While this house has been the scene of 7 murders, it isn't actually haunted. The ghost that appear are of Frederick's doing in order to scare his guests. Which is effective with the ever nervous Nora Manning.
What this party is really about is Frederick and Annabelle playing each other like fiddles. They aren't the happiest of couples, but Annabelle wont give Frederick a divorce. She fakes her death, but Frederick knows better. The ending is where the horror comes in. I wont get in to it, but it's well worth sticking around for.

3. The Bad Seed. I believe there have been at least 4 remakes, but the original holds a special place in my heart. This little gem first began on the stage of Broadway in 1954. The original Broadway cast later stared in the feature film in 1959.
On the outside 8 year old Rhoda is a seemingly normal, but get to know her and you'll find something is seriously wrong. Quick to anger, lies, cheats, steals and isn't above plotting out a murder or two. Christine is aware something is wrong with her daughter, but why face the truth when denial is so much easier. But no one knows Rhoda's secrets better than her father Col. Kenneth Penmark. As his own mother was the very same way.
The end of this movie is actually rather shocking and if you stick around for the end of the cast intro's, funny as hell. I'm trying to make this as spoiler free as possible, so all I can really say is check it out and enjoy.


4. Night of the living dead. This is the rare occasion where I actually like both the original 1968 version and the 1990 remake. Of course I prefer the original. If you are already a horror movie fan then you already know what Night of the Living dead is about. For those of you who haven't seen this zombie classic please do so now. I will say if you're looking for a zombie movie with a happy ending, you might wanna pass this one over.

5.Psycho. What can I say about this classic. It's creepy and frankly scared me out of taking showers for a while. And wearing dresses.


6. The Omen. What can I say about the original1976  Omen that hasn't already been said. Damien is evil to it's core. After watching I knew I didn't want to have children. EVER. The Omen movies that follow are utter crap, but the first movie is a classic in it's own right.


7. I spit on your grave. This is a movie I really don't like actually admitting to liking, but yet I do.
The 1979 version is much like the 2010 remake in it's brutality.
Aspiring writer Jennifer Hills retreats a cabin in upstate New York in order to finish her novel. Little does she know the horror that awaits. Jennifer is brutally gang raped by four backwoods hicks. There is a time in the movie where she goes through the motions of coming to terms with what happened to her. In this time something in her snaps completely, leading to what makes this movie worth watching. Revenge. She plots out her revenge on these four men very carefully. She hunts them down and takes them out one by one. It's disturbing how gratifying each man's death really is. It is what it is.
This movie stirred up plenty of controversy in 79 and it's still shocking today. People believe Meir Zarchi (Director and writer of the movie) is glorifying rape and violence against women in this movie. Honestly, this isn't the feeling I got at all. Yes, the rape scene is long and unwatchable, but it really don't think it was glorifying. What I took from it was how brutal rape truly is. However, the problem I do have with the movie is Jennifer's acceptance of what happened to her. It's far to short. It is heartbreaking for sure, but no woman can come back from being raped and two days later plot revenge. I do realize it would be a rather long movie if we were to follow Jennifer through all the motions, but for a film that is trying to strive for realism, it's greatly lacking this in her recovery time. 


8. Black Christmas. This is my all time favorite horror movie. The 1974 version is so different from the remake. It's shameful how Hollywood completely butchered the story in the remake.
College students in a sorority house celebrate Christmas the only way they know how. Drinking of course. They are completely unaware there is a killer living in the girl's sorority house. It starts with perverted prank calls, but it quickly escalates to the killer picking them off one by one.
If you are looking for a horror movie that ends well then you might want to skip over this one. Personally this is the reason why I love this movie as much as I do.

Now on to my personal favorite year for horror movies, the 80's.

1. Nightmare on Elm street. This 1985 classic will forever hold a special place in my heart. It was my first horror movie and it scared the shit out of me when I was 5 years old. Yet I was oddly fascinated. I watched it again when I was older and I love Freddy. The dude is so damn quirky how can one not enjoy him.
One, two freddy's coming for you. Three, four better lock the door. Five, six grab your crucifix. Seven, eight better stay up late. Nine, ten never sleep again. That little rhyme from the movie should say tell you everything that you need to know about the movie. For those of you who haven't seen the movie, it stars Johnny Depp in his first actual movie role.


2. Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2. This is the movie that made Sam Rami and Bruce Cambell horror gods among us junkies.
Four teenagers travel out in to the middle of nowhere for a fun weekend.  Sounds like every slasher film you've ever seen? It's not. Spirits are the name of the game here. Evil, beyond pissed off spirits who want to be freed. Who better to do that than four dumb teenagers? I personally can't think of anyone better. After reading some magical words from the Book of the Dead, evil is released and free to do as it will. Because who wouldn't real the Book of the Dead out loud. It just seems like the thing to do.
There is much debate if Evil Dead 2 is a remake or a sequel. In my personal opinion it's a retelling with updated visual effects. It's still full of awesomeness and should also be seen.


3. Friday the 13th. Of course this has to be here. I really don't think I have to get in to the plot of the first movie. All I can say is if you haven't seen it, get ready for some campy awesomeness. Oh and Kevin Bacon dying horribly. Which I personally loved!

4. Sleepaway Camp. I found this little gem on IFC one night, and almost turned it off because the acting is AWFUL. God awful in fact. But something in my head told me to stick with this one and I'm so glad that I did.
This slasher is more of a Friday the 13th meets Carrie (Minus the supernatural part of Carrie). This movie begins like Friday the 13th, but instead of camp counselors, we get actual pre-teen campers. Angela is sent to camp with her cousin Ricky, who does his best to protect her from the constant teasing she gets from the other girls. These girls who tease her meet there end rather quickly. It's not that hard to figure out who the killer is here. What had my jaw hanging was the very end of this movie. It was so unexpected and out of left field that I could do little else. It's the end of this movie that Set's it apart from Friday the 13th.

5. Hellraiser. This little bundle of awesomeness comes from the mind of writer Clive Barker. A unhappily married couple move in to a creepy old house. The wife (Julia) is having an affair with her husband's half-brother (Frank). Long story short, Frank dies and when a drop of his blood hits the floor he brings us to Pinhead and his band of merry Cenobites. But Frank didn't completely die. He's a zombie of sorts and he wants Julia to perform a ceremony that would allow him to have it. This ceremony involves a human sacrifice, of course.
Oh Pinhead. He's so damn evil yet I find myself enjoying him more than any character in this movie. There have been far to many Hellraiser movies made. Each one sucks more than the last, but the first is a classic.

6. Lost Boys. What list of horror would be complete without this vampire classic. Vampires pretty much rule Santa Carla California. It's up to the awesome vampire hunters to save the day. Since I assume most people have seen this, I wont go in to very much detail.

7. The Dark Night of the Scarecrow. I recently discovered this 1981 made for tv horror movie. I must say I was pleasantly surprised  with this find. Bubba is a 35 year old man with the mentality of a 5 year old. No one in town likes him other than his 10 year old best friend Marylee. One day Marylee is attacked by a dog and Bubba saves her, but everyone in town believes Bubba is the one who caused her accident. He hides from four vigilante men (who have it out for poor Bubba on a daily basis anyways), in a scarecrow. The men find Bubba hiding and shoot him dead. Only after they shoot him are they made aware of what really caused Marylee's accident. Desperate to hide the crime, the "leader" places a pitch fork in Bubba's dead hands. They tell the town he came after them and they were only protecting themselves.
One by one these men start finding a scarecrow in fields. Deaths soon follow.

8.Fright Night. Who doesn't love a quirky vampire who enjoys terrorising his neighbor? I mean come on now. When your teenage neighbor goes around telling everyone that you're a vampire wouldn't you want to keep him quiet too? I know I would.


I'm stopping the 80's right here. There are MANY more, but there aren't enough hours in the day to list them all. The 90's will be very short since it was a sad decade for horror.

1.Dracula. Everyone knows the tale of Dracula. This version is very close to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Mina and Jonathan writing to each other is short hand, which is how most of the book is written (Mix with journal entries). Gary Oldman makes this movie. He gives Dracula a kind of depth, one almost feels sorry for him. This, of course, might just be me though.

2.Candyman. Don't look in to a mirror and say Candyman three times. You'll just be asking for trouble. This plays a bit off the Bloody Mary and the hook hand killer urban legends a bit, yet it's original enough to hold it's own. Plus Candyman has a mouth full of bee's at his disposal. The end was a nice touch, but sadly left things open for way to many sequels.

3.Army of Darkness. The third movie of the Evil Dead. Ash travels back in time to the 1300's. Which sounds silly. And it is, but he has a chainsaw for a hand. Thus the lameness is easy to forgive.

4. The Frightners. This is a dark comedy about a psychic investigator who can see ghosts. He rids them from the world and moves on to the next job. But things become a little more complicated when he has an out of body experience in order to fight death himself.
This movie isn't for everyone, but on occasion I enjoy a horror movie that can make me laugh.

5. Ravenous. A heartwarming tale about old western cannibalism. This description would be far to long as this is one of my favorite horror movies.

6. Cube. Seven strangers from different walks of life are trapped in cube rigged with deathly traps and puzzles. Each person has a talent which can help the group escape and find out why they have been placed in the cube. Escape isn't the groups only issue, keeping themselves sane is key.
This movie took my by complete surprise. It thrilled my inner gore hound and it kinda made my brain work as well.

7. The Craft. Cheesy. Over the top, but this movie is so much fun. Four out of place girls find each other and practice witchcraft. When the spells go a bit to far Sara wants out, but crazy Nancy is determined to have her three sisters.

8. Dead Alive. This movie will wet any blood and gore junkie's appetite. I have to admit I even gagged a little when I first saw this movie.


Before we get to the now, I'd like to cover total and utter camp. These are the movies that don't take themselves seriously, but are still filled with gore and blood.

1. Coons, Night of the bandit of the night. This little Troma Entertainment classic is by far my favorite. It's about killer Raccoons terrorizing campers. That's all it really is. The movie never takes itself very seriously and it has some pretty funny lines.

2.Toxic Avenger. This one of Troma's well known movies. A nerdy teenager is thrown out of a window by his classmates. He falls in to a truck load of toxic waste. Thus our super hero Toxic Avenger is born. Saving the world from assholes and those who would dare to be evil.
What can I say about Toxie. He's completely awesome and dating a blind woman so all that begins shitty ends well I suppose.

3. Dance of the dead. Zombies take over the prom. And it's up to a group of teenagers (and one bat shit crazy teacher) to save the day.
This is another movie that really doesn't take itself seriously. It's mainly here for laughs.

4. Class of Nuke 'em High. Yet another Troma movie. Nuke 'em high is right next to a toxic waste plant. Which makes for some interesting looking students, with attitudes to boot.

5. Children Beware. This is Troma's attempt at a slightly serious movie. But in Troma fashion it kinda fails. Yet nothing scares me more than evil children, so it makes the list.

6. Attack of the vegan Zombies. This B movie doesn't actually have a single vegan zombie in it. But it's still fun.

On to the now

1. Martyrs. This movie is rather hard to talk about without giving away the whole plot. But I'll try. We start through the eyes of a young girl being held captive. We don't know why, but she's obviously been tortured. She manages to escape and finds a new home at a orphanage. Here she meets her best friend. Skip ahead years later the girl who was captured is out for revenge against those who have captured her. With the help of her best friend of course. But there is more to these people than meet the eye.
I really can't give away anymore of the storyline. But there is more. A bit of a warning, there is no middle ground with this movie. Either you like it or you hate it. I hate admitting I like this movie. Actually, it's more respect than liking. I am always on the hunt for a movie that actually scary. I'm talking about sleeping with the lights on  kind of scary. This is that movie for me. It scared the piss out of me. It's realism scared me most of all. I think something like this movie could happen in real life. Another warning. It's sadly going to take more than one viewing to actually get and retain all of the plot line. As a wannabe horror writer this is the movie I watch when I want to go to a dark place in my stories.

2.Feed. This plays on the fears of anyone who has ever feared of gaining weight. Overweight people are paid to eat as much as they can for internet entertainment. The viewers of this web show place bets on which obese person will die first.
Because of this damn movie I refuse to eat nachos or hamburgers I haven't made myself.

3.Hostel. I assume if you've read this far that you know what Hostel is all about. It pleases the inner gore hound, yet disturbs one as a person.

4.The Collector. Arkin is a a handyman (and ex-con) down on his luck. His wife owes some loan sharks a massive amount of money. In order to pay off her debt, he agrees to rob the house of his rich employer. The problem is, someone has beat him to the punch. The family is being held captive, and worse the house is rigged with traps. Arkin tries his best to save everyone, but can he save the others as well as himself from the Collector.
This movie really is mix of Hostel and Saw. About half way through the movie the traps really do become the star. While I do like this movie it would have been great, but it does satisfy the inner gore hound. The sequel comes out near the end of November. Here's to hoping it answers all of the questions the first movie left with us.

5. Let the right one in. Not to be confused with the American remake "Let me in". This is the original Swedish version based on the book by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Let the right one in is about  lonely boy Oskar, who is picked on by his classmates. He has no real friends until he meets an equally lonely girl Eli. Much against Eli's wishes the two strike up a friendship, but Eli has a secret, she's a vampire.
This version isn't as bloody as it's American counter part, but for what it lacks in blood, it makes up for in story telling. At it's core it's two lonely beings coming together. It's hard not to connect with the main characters. Oskar is bullied for any reason his schoolmates can think of. It's a warm moment when he finally does fight back, but it just leads to an escalation in his bully problems. The pool scene is very much the same in "Let me in". Much is lead to the imagination when he's held underwater and Eli comes to save the day. Eli is a little more complicated. She doesn't actually want friendship until she meets Oskar. She doesn't realize how lonely she is. At it's core it's really a love story between these two. It's one of my all time favorite movies and should be seen by all.

6. Sinister. I know this is a new release, but I feel it needs to be mentioned. A writer who wants to relive his fifteen minutes of fame he experience with his first book moves his family in to a "murder house". Of course he's the only one who actually knows this house is where four people were murdered when they were hung from a tree. He discovers a box in the attic with old home movies inside. Once he starts watching he realizes that there are other connected murders. He takes it upon himself to solve these mystery killings, but quickly gets in over his head when he finds a ghostly image within each of the filmed killings.
This movie came as a surprise. I'll  be honest, I didn't expect much from the people who brought us the crapfest that is Paranormal Activity, but this movie had me on the edge of my seat. And a bit jumpy. Figuring out who actually killed these families is the easy part. The why, not so much.

7.The Crazies. There is a virus afoot and it's making the people of a small Iowa town crazy. Literally. It must be something in the water. It's up to the small town sheriff and his doctor wife to find the problem and stop it. But that might be a little easier said than done when the military is involved.
This is the remake of the 1973 lesser known George Romero movie. The one thing I will give the original is that it begins with a bang, but slowly tappers off after that. The remake beings a little slowly but picks up about an hour in. I'm usually  not in to remakes, but this is one of the better remakes out there.

8.House of 1000 corpses. The Firefly family is a little odd. But you know what they say. A family that kills together stays together. When four young people set out to search out the local legend of "Dr Satan.". When the car breaks down the Firefly family is more than happy to give them shelter and tell the young couples everything they want to know about Dr Satan. The local legend and a broken down car is the least of these young people's problems. They have to survive the Firefly's. Which is no easy task.
I suppose this movie is all about a matter of taste. It's gritty, over the top on gore and kinda makes you feel a little dirty. This movie wasn't well received by horror fans, but personally I enjoyed it. It's a massive throwback to 70's gritty horror. Which is why I like it so much.

9. Devil's Rejects. The sequel to Rob Zombies House of 1000 Corpses. Baby, Otis and Spaulding are on the run from the law. They leave a trail of bodies behind them. But the local sheriff (who's brother Mama Firefly killed in House of 1000 corpses) is hot on their tails and plotting his revenge.
Rob Zombie does something interesting in this film. He takes three horrible people and makes you feel sorry for them. It doesn't happen right away, but it does happen. I will say that Zombie is no master story teller, but what he lack's in story telling, he does make up for in gore.

10. The Hills Run Red. A film maker is on the search for the most horrific movie ever made. No one has been able to find it. But the young film maker as an advantage others don't, he's found the director's daughter. Hopefulness soon turns to terror when the young film maker soon finds himself in a real life horror movie of his own.
The film being searched for isn't actually the most horrific thing ever, but the journey is filled with gore and blood a plenty.


These are some of my favorites. I'd love to hear some of yours.

Some titles that didn't make the list for time reasons but are for sure favorites:

Trick r Treat
Phantasm
Wrong Turn
Texas Chainsaw (The remake)
Orphan
Popcorn
House on Sorority Row (The Original)
Ginger Snaps
The Howling (Best werewolf movie ever!)
The Prowler
My Bloody Valentine (The original)
Dawn of the dead
Day of the dead
Splinter
American Psycho
Children of the corn

omg! I can't believe I forgot Nosferatu. This would be my favorite vampire movie of all time. It's a silent era film and stays somewhat true to Bram Stoker's book. What makes this movie so special is Dracula himself. He's a thing of nightmares. Long fingernails, ugly and vicious to boot.