Best scary movies ever
Okay, kids. Halloween is in two days. An article at X-Entertainment inspired me to wonder: what are the best scary movies ever? This Halloween, find someone you love [to scare] and sit down with them on a comfortable couch [and then when they're not looking, put on a creepy mask and scare the crap out of them!] and watch the Best Scary Movies Ever (in no particular order, that's for sure).
Wes Craven did it again, revitalizing the scary film genre with a twist. While Scream was a return to the old horror film formula, it was simultaneously self-aware, making fun of the conventions of scary movies at the same time it utilized those conventions. The killer in this movie is super-scary if only for the voice modulator he uses over the phone.
2. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Zombies! George A. Romero began the modern zombie film genre in 1968 with Night of the Living Dead. The plot? Some people in a farmhouse are beseiged by the undead. Zombies chasing people is pretty scary, and George Romero followed this up with a remake of the original in 1990 which was just as scary.
Here's where it all started: four friends go to a cabin for the weekend and unwittingly release ... the evil dead!. Filled with more gore than you can shake a severed arm at, The Evil Dead bombards you with blood and guts, including a spectacular head-melting scene at the end.
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Before the franchise went to hell (no pun intended), Freddy Krueger was creepy ... as hell. In the first film, he was a scarred, undead monster with a razor-fingered glove. Holy crap! He spoke very little, except when it was absolutely necessary to taunt the characters. Later flims had Freddy exploit his comic genius, making the character less scary and more hokey. The original, though, remains one of the scariest scary movies. It also launched the career of Johnny Depp, who ultimately explodes in a fantastic geyser of blood.
Sure, Jason may have been creepy, but Mike Myers was a real guy! Put into a mental institution after killing his sister's boyfriend, Myers escapes and tries to kill her again! Also stars the late Donald Pleasance, who really doesn't understand how to survive a scary movie (but he does, anyway).
6. Alien (1979)
Wait a minute, Mark: Alien? Yes, Rhetorical Device Speaker. Alien. The secret to the first Alien film was not overdoing it on the alien parts. Most of the time, the alien was suggested by sounds, and when it did appear, it was well worth it. The film contains more "jump" moments than that song "Jump On It" (or whatever it's called). It may be science fiction, but that doesn't mean it can't be a scary movie, too.
She gets closer and closer to the TV screen. She's almost touching it. But it's just a videotape, right? And then, holy crap, she's coming out of the TV! Sweet sassy crap, she's coming out of the TV! The Ring can be annoying in certain parts -- like when it's trying to develop an intricate parts -- but it can be really scary in others (like that last scene where she freakin' comes out of the TV!).
I have never seen this movie due to my morbid fear of walking, talking, homicidal toys. I put it in here only because it inspired such a long-running franchise and because I figure that if I'm scared of it, it must be pretty scary. The newest entry, Seed of Chucky, opens November 12. I will not be going to see it.
I've never seen this movie, either. Not out of fear, but just because it's never been on TV and I haven't gone out to buy it or rent it. Most of these movies I've seen on USA or The Sci-Fi Channel late at night, but the original Friday the 13th isn't a popular selection, for some reason. I include it because it is part of the canon of scary movies. I mean, could you make a list of Great American Novels and not include The Great Gatsby?
10. The Seven Doors of Death (1981)
I include this last, but certainly not least. It comes to us from Italy, at a time when the Italians were making horror films starring American and Italian actors. This one is English dubbed over ... well, English. Long story short, one of the seven doors to hell lies underneath an old hotel in Louisiana. Let's see: face melted by acid? Check. Eyes gouged out? Check. Flesh-eating spiders? Check! Zombies for no apparent reason? Oh, baby! This movie isn't as "scary" as it is "unbelievably gory." But if you're doing some sort of scary movie marathon, it's a nice way to end the evening. Just don't be eating at the same time.
Honorable Mention: The first half of Jeepers Creepers (2001)
This movie could have been so much more. I had such high hopes! This creepy truck starts trying to run the heroes down, like something out of Duel (which was pretty scary, too). Then, later, they pass a farmhouse where a creepy guy in a long coat is stuffing something down a pipe. And he sees them! Oh no! That was a really creepy scene, but writer/director Victor Salva couldn't decide whether this was a thriller, a serial killer movie, or a monster movie. He decided on "monster movie," and the second half of the film goes all to pot.