I am often asked, “What is your favorite horror movie?”
That is not an easy question for me to answer. I don’t have just one, all-time favorite. I have several very different movies that I love for several very different reasons. Here they are in no particular order.
THE EVIL DEAD
This movie is not for everyone.
I feel the need for this disclaimer because the last time I professed my love for this movie my mom watched it. Afterwards, she called and asked what in the hell was wrong with me. For the first time since high school, I think she wondered if I was on drugs.
The Evil Dead is like an oozing, puss-filled, festering wound being picked at by a dirty ragged fingernail. It’s beyond gross, but it is also genuinely scary and at the same time over-the-top campy and just a ton of fun. Sam Raimi (who would later go on to direct Spiderman) made this movie on a shoestring budget with a bunch of friends. In it, five friends travel to a remote cabin in the woods where they unwittingly release unspeakable evil lurking in the woods after playing a taped translation of an anchient text, The Necronomicon. One by one, the campers are possessed by the evil and it is up to Ash, played by Bruce Campbell and his chin, to dispatch them and return the evil where it belongs. That is a very sensible synopsis of a movie that gleefully makes little sense. I can’t help but love it.
TH
E EXORCIST
Where The Evil Dead is a bludgeon, The Exorcist is a scalpel. Yes there is some blood and buckets of regurgitated pea soup (not to mention the very unorthodox use of a crucifix), but the movie also relies heavily on pacing and tension.
We all know the basic story, right? The 12 year old daughter of an actress is possessed by a demon (Pazuzu was his name-o) and two priests (the younger one struggling with a crisis of faith) are called in to perform an exorcism. Curse-laden, head-spinning hi-jinks ensue.
I love The Exorcist because it was the first movie that actually frightened me. I’ve seen it at least a dozen times and the scene where possessed Regan does that upside down spider-crawl thing down the stairs never fails to run a shiver down my spine (this scene was cut from the original version and can only be seen on the re-release). There is a reason why The Exorcist has been called the most terrifying movie ever made. I don’t recommend this movie for everyone, either, but for very different reasons than The Evil Dead. If you don’t like being scared, do not watch this movie.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
The grandfather of the modern zombie movie.
Before 1968, zombies were corpses brought to life by a sorcerer to do his/her bidding. The zombie myth has roots in West African religions and Haitian voodoo culture. George Romero created a new type of zombie in Night of the Living Dead. They are still reanimated corpses, but they are not under anyone’s control. They are feral, roaming creatures with a hunger for human flesh.
The story is simple: A group of people barricade themselves inside a farmhouse while hordes of zombies, possibly created by radiation from a falling satellite, stumble about outside. The hero of the movie is a black man named Ben. He is the only one who seems to have his shit together while everyone else is either catatonic or freaking out. The only thing more chilling than the zombies is the social commentary that weaves it’s way through the movie and gets you like a shotgun blast to the gut at the end. Seriously, if the ending doesn’t knock the wind out of you then you are probably one of the undead and got bigger things to worry about than analyzing horror movies.
Unlike The Evil Dead and The Exorcist, I would recommend this movie to anyone.
So, those are my big three. What’s your favorite horror movie?
“The Ring”. For actually scaring the crap out of me. I have never looked at a television screen the same since. I would stare at my phone when it rang. I”m afraid to watch the movie again. Yeah, traumatized; and I’m fairly hard core when it comes to horror.
I think when it comes to horror we all have certain buttons that get pushed. We all react to what scares us and there are different strokes for different folks. Any humanesque thing that crawls on all fours in that crab like scuttling. Ewwwwww, that sends shivers up my spine.
Excellent choice Mom! My daughter does impersonations of that kid just to frighten me. In fact, I saw a funny TV gag show where a girl was dressed like that and made to stand in a business office elevator lobby. People getting off the lift or coming out of one of the offices would have fits. Very funny.
She’s getting you back for all the slave-labor you force her to do.
The Ring was pretty creepy. I did like that the end wasn’t quite what I was expecting. The Blair Witch Project actually scared me because it was all so real and plausible. I think that the more “real” the movie is, the more it frightens me. Even if there isn’t any blood or severed body parts.
I went to the theatre and saw Blair Witch Project -alone! It would have been much scarier, if I hadnt seen two of the “actors” talking about filming on the 2 nights preceding my viewing. That realy ruined it for me. After hearing the actress discuss the week in the woods making that, the shot of her snot dripping out and slurped right back up her nostril – was really just embarrassing.
Well written reviews. I’ll always be a sucka for Night of the Living Dead. It’s perfection.
Ew. Yeah, I think that would have ruined it for me as well! “Night” is one of the greats.
each person has his or her own opinions, but for me the ring was a funny movie. i watched it with my friends and we saw it as more of a comedy, we also watched the haunted video. but im also not easily scared, though ive been told that the japanese original version is scarier and better.
Good choices! The Exorcist spooked the bejesus out of me.
My own scariest horror film of all time (SHFOAT) is Alien. Not the sequel: they were too easy to kill in the sequel. The original had all the nightmarish qualities you hope for in a few hours of absolute terror. Being trapped, without help, with a marauding monster. The face that you couldn’t ever really see the damn thing made it far better. What the hell is that thing??! It also introduced me to the art direction of HR Giger, the phenomenal direction of Ridley Scott, the chest-burster, the face-grabber and Sigourney Weaver all in one epic film. I was 16 when I saw it and I couldn’t crack open an egg for weeks afterwards.
That’s what I call HORROR!
Alien is one of my all-time favorite movies! It really is the best. I never really considered it a horror movie, though. But, it does have all the elements of a monster/horror movie, but it is so well done that I always classified it as sci-fi. Plus, it had the best tag-line: IN SPACE. NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM. Doesn’t get much more awesome than that!
I’ve always loved that tagline too, which is why I always viewed it as horror. The setting is sci-fi, but the plot is akin to any horror film (Blair Witch Project, Jaws, REC etc etc) where you are trapped with some unmentionably horror and you have to either kill it or be killed.
Not to mention you named your dog “Ripley”.
Well, yes, there’s that.
Those Chuckie ones were really scary. Jason vs Freddy was battle of frightening titans.
I thought the very first Friday the 13th and the very first Nightmare on Elm Street were great. After that, it all kind of went downhill.
Completely off topic for a moment … did you ever watch “The Adventures of Brisco County Jr”? Bill Campbell was the star? Great show. Great, great show.
Fear has kept me from seeing two of the three you recommended. I think it is high time I give them a try … starting with Night of the Living Dead.
Halloween is one of my all time favorite movies, because I watched it with my older siblings. Though I tried to keep my hands over my eyes, my brother insisted one certain part was harmless and would not scare me. Low and behold, a body comes flying out of the closet. To say I screamed would be an understatement. Plus, the lack of music in that movie adds to the fear factor. No music in a horror movie is key to keep the suspense up.
I LOVED The Adventures of Bricso County Jr.! I was so sad when they cancelled it. I need to see if Netflix has it. I’d love to see it again. Thanks for reminding me!
Halloween is a classic. Jamie Lee Curtis had the best scream. The lack of music did add to the fear-factor, and then when there was music it was that creepy piano.
Please see “Night”. It’s actually not very scary. It’s tense more than anything.
My favorite horror movie? Toy Story 3.
Lotso and Cymbal banging monkey brought back the horrors of daycare…locked in a room with weird kids and teachers who’d scuttle off to the cloakroom to sniff silly putty just so they could get through the day. Nightmare.
Not to mention that creepy baby who’s head would turn completely around! I love all the Toy Story movies, but #3 went to a very dark place. While watchin it I kept asking, “this movie is for kids??”
Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…My post tomorrow…Evil Dead…so excited…can’t type….
Ooohh! Can’t wait!!
The original Night of the Living Dead still scares the crap out of me. But I don’t watch anything scarier than Casper the Friendly Ghost, because I’m just too, too susceptible.
“susceptible” is a great way to put it. I don’t think I’m susceptible at all. I tend to laugh at most horror movies. I was giggling last night while watching the season premier of The Walking Dead when two guys were wrist-deep in zombie guts. My husband thinks there’s something wrong with me.
I can’t really do scarry movies that could be real. Like paranormal activity or blair witch because I believe in stuff like that. I don’t wanna piss off anything that might be lurking just beyond the shadows. But thw movie I still can’t stand is the leprechaun my uncle made me watch it when I was about 8 and I’m literally terrified now! He’s just so gross an you can’t kill him plus he’s little so he can hide easy…ugh I’m making myself scared just typing this! Totally demonic!
I don’t think I’ve seen any of the Leprechaun movies. They looked like a “Child’s Play (Chuckie)” type movie and I wasn’t really into those. Yeah, the realer the movie is, the more they freak me out.
The Evil Dead is definitely one of my favorites. I remember when I first say that movie I had no idea it wasn’t a serious horror flick. At first I thought it was going to be your typical horror flick. I was stunned when he was picked up into the air. The I started laughing. It was awesome! Total cheese turned out to be hilarious. Still one I watch every once in a while. The sequel wasn’t bad either.
The first time I picked it up at the video store, I had no idea what to expect, either. The VHS box had that skull with the eyes and it looked like it would be a dark, truly scary horror movie. I was pleasantly surprised.
The sequel/remake was pretty good, too, but the original will always be my favorite because it was so cheesy and funny and just all-out ridiculous.
As you know, “favorite” and “horror” in the same phrase constitutes an oxymoron for me. That said, whenever Rosemary’s Baby is on, I allow myself to be freaked out by it.
Does that count?
Rosemary’s Baby is a classic! It totally counts.
Would you believe I started watching Night of the Living Dead and had to turn it off? When the lady got back in the car, I was screaming at the tv “Don’t hit the tree! Don’t hit the.. aw shit, you’re dead!” I couldn’t take it. Too much suspense. Even in black and white.
I have no favorites. I just have the ones I stay the hell away from.
It was filmed in b&w because they didn’t have enough money to film in color. But, I think it adds to the whole atmosphere of the movie. Just goes to show what you can do with a limited budget. Yeah, Barbara was a ditz. When they get to the farm house is when the tension really kicks in!
I’m gonna say my favorite non-comedy horror movie is “The Blair Witch Project,” simply because it’s creepy as hell, and there’s nothing in it that couldn’t happen in real life. Movie monsters don’t scare me, but it’s entirely possible some psycho could stalk and taunt and kill a bunch of foul-mouthed college students out in the woods somewhere.
Blair Witch is probably #4 on the list. It did creep me out precisely because it seemed so plausible.
One of the producers of that was a friend of a friend who lived in Orlando, so I’d been hearing about it for a couple years before they had a test screening. It was, like, 2 1/2 hours or something, and this kid in the office went and came in the next morning completely freaked out. He thought it was real (because it said so). He didn’t believe me when I told it was just make-believe.
I remember there were a lot of people that were convinced that movie was real. I wonder what it’s like to be that gullible.
Okay, I just watched the old Legend of Hell House with Roddy McDowell, and it was pretty creepy despite the occasional smudge of 70′s cheese. But my top 3 would be The Exorcist, The Shining, and Poltergeist. Bad things happening to little kids is my horror button for sure!
I think I saw that one years ago. From what I remember it was pretty creepy. Some of the older movies are the best. The Shining and Poltergeist are two more of my faves. Kids are always terrifying to me
If that’s the one where there is a painting you watch as the dead guyis coming out of the grave and moving toward the house, it still creeps me out when I think of it. Great scare, great after movie creeped out affect.
I vaguely remember a movie with a scene like that but I can’t remember what movie it was. This is going to bother me now . . .
On Fox Movie Channel this month, also Netflix instant play. They have Brisco County as well.
Picking a favorite movie (or book or album or whatever) is always difficult. I’d have to say the most horrifying movie I’ve ever seen was Hard Candy. I’m not sure it fits into the horror genre, but it sure scared me!
I can see how that movie would be horrifying for a man to watch!