Seeing as how Halloween will soon be upon us, and I've been going through some of my collection of horror films, I was wondering if anyone here had any personal favorite movies for the holiday?
Not a complete list and in no particular order:
1) The original Halloween: One of the first slashers, and it does a far better job of building suspense than many of its sequels. I'd go so far as to call it the last of the classic horror films rather than the first of the new, given the near-supernatural nature of the Shape. Really, everything about this movie seems perfect for a horror film.
2) The Bad Seed: No blood, no onscreen violence, it's all done very quietly and subtly, but man does this movie ever scare the crap out of you. Okay the ending is goofy as all get out; but did you want little Rhoda Penmark to get away free as a bird? And speaking of Rhoda, brr. Her actress did an amazing job of making her seem utterly normal one moment, and then a total monster the next, while keeping her a believable kid.
3) Son of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, Abbott & Costello meet Frankenstein, really all the Universal classics: I loved these as kids and I still do. For people of a certain age these were our introductions to cinematic horror, typically on something like 'Shock Theater with Dr. Shock' or the like. Thing is people tend to forget just how inventive these films were with their formula. Heck, the monsters won sometimes! We also tend to forget just how serious the first few films were,, like Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man, which is an amazing film given it's 70-minute running time.
4) Nosferatu, A Symphony Of Horror: Dracula's first time on the big screen and still a classic. Orlock isn't a seductive or even darkly magnificent vampire, he's a human rodent, the spirit of plague incarnate. This film set the standard for vampire movies for decades afterwards for a reason.
5) Plan 9 From Outer Space: What's Halloween without this wonderful, awful film? Say what you will but this movie entertains people, if not in the way Ed Wood intended. Yes it's poorly shot. Yes the SFX look like they were done on a budget of ten cents. Yes there's poor old Bela Lugosi's last appearance. Even with all that Ed loved making movies and you can see that in this film.
6) The Legend of Boggy Creek: Another low-budget shocker from the drive-in circuit, and astoundingly well done considering the limits imposed by a near nonexistent budget. The last third to quarter of the film is especially chilling, when we see the monster terrorizing the families in their isolated house. I've been assured by old-school fans that the best way to watch this one is on a warm night, the top down on your convertible, and your car parked back against a swamp or wooded area with no idea what's going on behind you.
Any other suggestions for good scary flicks for Halloween?
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Pirates Of The Caribbean, The Curse Of The Black Pearl.
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The Addams Family.
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Jurassic Park.
Trick'r Treat
That movie has become my go to movie every Halloween. Just an amazing horror movie that captures the spirit of the holiday.
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As someone who probably watches, in a slow week, at least a couple of horror movies, boy do I have opinions.
Anyway, I've never even remotely tried to create a list of my favorites...way too many subgenres to get a handle on.
But, not limiting myself strictly to horror movies that take place around Halloween, and casting a wide net, Here are some personal favorites divided by topic, and sticking to things I have seen recently:
Splinter = great mostly practical creature effects and well-developed and acted characters make this creature feature a must see.
The Hallow = Neat twist of fairy lore and also some great monsters (The New Daughter also isn't too bad and plays in the same territory)
Your Next = Great subversion of the home invasion subgenre. Also the director Adam Wingard is just awesome: I also recommend The Guest and A Horrible Way to Die
The Pact = A ghost story and more; Probably the most "realistic" Haunted House I have seen as well
Absentia = slow-burning Cosmic Horror; Resolution is another movie with a similar vibe I would recommend
Lake Mungo = Another ghost story, this time in the form of a pseudodocumentary. both haunting and just sad, but effective
Creep = one of the few movies of late to legitimately deeply get under my skin.
Lovely Molly = Oh god those last few minutes...so disturbing. Great possession movie!
White = K-pop + a cursed song actually make a decent mix and a creepy movie
The Invitation = Another unsettling movie, that also feels all too real
House of the Devil = Slow-burner 70's style satanic horror. Ti West is another director that I can't recommend enough, and you can throw The Innkeepers and Sacrament onto this list as well
All of the above should work for folks who are not hardcore horror. MOST of the selections are also pretty light on gore, and many go for more atmosphere than
Jurassic Park.
Great movie but I have to say, I never thought of it as an especially "Halloween"-ish kind of movie.
Though if we go with that I can add Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, King Kong, and the original Godzilla to the list.
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yeah I wouldn't myself consider either Jurassic Park or the Pirates movies as Halloween movies either, but to each there own?
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Jurassic Park.Great movie but I have to say, I never thought of it as an especially "Halloween"-ish kind of movie.
Though if we go with that I can add Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, King Kong, and the original Godzilla to the list.
The first time I saw it was on Halloween.
The Crow.
yeah I wouldn't myself consider either Jurassic Park or the Pirates movies as Halloween movies either, but to each there own?
Just Curse Of The Black Pearl.
And ghost pirates yo!
Doesn't get more cliche Halloween then that.
10 Cloverfield Lane.
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Ernest Scared Stupid
Ernest Scared Stupid
And watch Stan Against Evil to see his daughter.
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Carpenter's The Thing for the classic (I grumble that I need to distinguish the fact I'm talking about the original version now)
The Cabin in the Woods for the lighter fare.
Technically speaking, Carpenter's The Thing is itself a remake...
still a remake, even if the name has been a bit rejiggered
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Monster House
Frankenweenie
ParanormanThe Orphanage
Crimson Peak
Sonehearst Assylum
Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Shaun of the Dead
As it is too late to correct the post: It is, of course 'Stonehearst Asylum' - I am not posting drunk, only tired and sick with a cold (and full of lame excuses, it seems),
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Thanks for the recommendation on 'Crimson Peak'. It can be rented for free at a local library along with The Conjuring, Sinister, The Bad Seed, and all the Sharknado movies. Hey, not everything can be a winner.
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'The Conjuring' and 'Sinister' okayish, but a bit trite. 'The bad seed (1956)' is quite good, but incredibly dated. The sharkado movies are...special...not in a good way (for me).
If a movie with an emotional punch is what you are looking for - 'The Babadook' delivers, especially if you ever dealt with depression.
Yeah the Sharknado films are bad, but (IMHO) not in a good way. They run with the idea that the idea is stupid and use that as justification for bad everything. This is contra to a lot of the bad but fun to watch movies that sometimes appeared on MST3K, which were unintentionally bad.
I actually really like the first Conjuring, but couldn't get into the sequel.
A Simpsons Treehouse Of Horrors marathon.
An American Horror Story marathon.
If were' going TV show marathons, than nothing beats the 80's Tales From the Darkside series. The Intro for that show used the scare the dickens out of little MMCJAWA. And some of eps still hold up today.
I've been rewatching the sequel series, Monsters, this month. That show also had some great episodes, even if not all the monster effects hold up to today's standards. But hey, they basically had an entire episode that was effectively about the DnD Mimic...what more appropriate horror anthology for discussion on the Pathfinder site?
Might as well ask this while I'm here: has anyone here ever seen the movie Jigoku, and if so, does the 'Welcome to Buddhist Hell' scene live up to all the grisly hype about it?
For that matter, what are the best Japanese horror films right now? I've seen the Criterion versions of Kuroneko, Onibaba, and Kwaidan and liked them. Any other recommendations?
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The Crypt Keeper strongly recommends some overlooked (or underrated) flicks...
Night of the Demon (1957)
The Fog (Original 1980)
The Changeling (1980)
Quatermass and the Pit (aka Five Million Years to Earth) (1967)(great movie for horror gamers - CoC, Chill).
On a bizzaro side note - there is a very odd interpretation of the story "Who goes there?" (influence for the Thing From Another World/The Thing (JC) called Horror Express.
A crappy/lovely film staring Peter Cushing & Christopher Lee on the Trans-Siberian Express circa 1906. On the train is a fossil of some ape-like humanoid that actually houses an ancient evil alien mind that awakens and causes havoc on the train. It can take over individuals and transfer body-to-body while reanimating the corpses of prior victims.
TCK: I've seen all those movies except for The Changeling and I love them. I also own most of them, so thanks for reminding me!
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Eric,
as a fan of J-horror and owner of Kuroneko, Onibaba, and Kwaidan, and someone who would love to see Jigoku, let me recommend:
Obayadhi Nobuhiko's House, Miike Takashi's Audition, Nakata Hideo's Dark Water, and Kurosawa Kyoshi's Pulse, which I'm re-watching now. The last three are on Arrow Blu-ray, the first on Criterion.
Also a film I learnt about here on paizo.com, Uzumaki, (Spiral), from a managa by Ito Junji, though the commonly available source form dsicotekmedia has a horrible green tinge.
Anything by Sono Sion, be it horror or not, though perhaps especially Suicide Club or Exite, the latter of which provided an bestiary monster.
Anything by Sono Sion, be it horror or not, though perhaps especially Suicide Club or Exite, the latter of which provided an bestiary monster.
What monster?
and yeah posts like this remind me how far behind I am on J horror. I have seen Spiral and Audition out of that list, but that is about it.
Exite monster
I rarely watch anything at all anymore, but the original "Nosferatu" is something I watch every Halloween season.
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I like the adaptation of Susan Hill's The Woman in Black, starring Daniel Radcliffe. If you prefer more subtle, atmospheric, old-fashioned ghost stories to monsters and gore, I recommend it highly. By all means read the book, too, since Susan Hill is one of the premiere contemporary purveyors of the English ghost story. Worthy heir to the literary tradition of MR James and co.
I rarely watch anything at all anymore, but the original "Nosferatu" is something I watch every Halloween season.
And again thanks for reminding me that I own a copy of it and need to rewatch it. The extended edition is such an improvement on the chopped-up one we had for so many years.
BTW, have you ever seen the very bizarre film Shadow of the Vampire? For those who haven't seen it, it's a film based on the idea that Nosferatu's Orlock was real, and made the film for Murnau in exchange for sinking his fangs into the actress. It's a very bizarre and trippy movie, but quite good.
Eric,
as a fan of J-horror and owner of Kuroneko, Onibaba, and Kwaidan, and someone who would love to see Jigoku, let me recommend:
Obayadhi Nobuhiko's House, Miike Takashi's Audition, Nakata Hideo's Dark Water, and Kurosawa Kyoshi's Pulse, which I'm re-watching now. The last three are on Arrow Blu-ray, the first on Criterion.
Also a film I learnt about here on paizo.com, Uzumaki, (Spiral), from a managa by Ito Junji, though the commonly available source form dsicotekmedia has a horrible green tinge.
Anything by Sono Sion, be it horror or not, though perhaps especially Suicide Club or Exite, the latter of which provided an bestiary monster.
Thanks for those recommendations. I've heard of House; the film sounds like an extended drug trip. If I remember right, the writer based everything on the games he saw his young son playing with his toys?
And while I can't say anything about the film for Uzumaki, I have read the manga and it is one of the weirdest tales of cosmic horror I've ever seen.
Eric,
Yea House is pretty trippy. I hadn't heard the story about the writer's son games, which considering how many female characters are in the film would be kinda strange, but looking at Wikipedia, its based on his daughter's play, which explains a lot.
Haven't read the manga of Uzumaki but my understanding is the film does a pretty good job of copying at least some of it. The biggest problem with the film is that it doesn't really know how to end (I believe the manga ends substantially differently), but there is still much to boggle at before it runs out of steam.