My Top 5 Favorite Horror Movies
Horror films have been the genre I admire the most, mainly because it is hard to nail. The combination of story, characterization, and of course genuine scares make the experience of seeing one all the more exciting. In honor of Halloween, I am going to share my top 5 favorite horror movies of all time. I'm not going to limit myself to strictly horror, so any combination with horror will work (i.e. horror/comedy, horror/family, etc.). I'm not going to fully review them here. These are just brief summaries and what I liked about them. Also, I understand that all 5 movies are subjective of my taste, but let me know some of your favorite horror movies because I'm very sure I won't get all of yours here.
#5 - The Blair Witch Project
"I'm afraid to close my eyes, I'm afraid to open them." -Heather Donahue
Number 5 is my first and favorite found footage film of all time. I can't stress enough how difficult it was for me to understand that this film wasn't real. The rawness of shooting The Blair Witch Project made me so intensely frightened of the woods and to this day I can't go out there. I'm just too afraid of witches (that reasoning doesn't make any sense, does it?).
^Well, if you stumble upon this, maybe you'll think it makes sense^
The 3 film students depicted in The Blair Witch Project may not have the best acting chops (average, I would say), but they make you feel as if you were with them, trapped, alone, and frightened. They go into the woods to search for answers to the mystery of The Blair Witch. Well answers come and it's at their expense.
^The most memorable moment is when Heather cries apologetically for bringing her 2 classmates^
The most daunting thing about this film is that you don't even see the witch terrorizing these 3 students! How crazy is that?!?! I was scared from something that I didn't even see. That is also the best thing about The Blair Witch Project: how something can scare you without actually having something there to physically scare you.
#4 - Jaws
"You're gonna need a bigger boat." -Brody
Jaws is my number 4 choice for 2 reasons: nostalgia and it made me scared to go in the water (just like everyone else who saw it). I saw Jaws on TV when I was about 5 or 6 years old, around the time when I was swimming at my peak on my swim team. Well suffice to say I became afraid of swimming, even stepping into shallow waters of 2 feet. I thought my feet would be nibbled on by a mini Jaws.
^C'mon. Tell me that if you saw this at the deep end of your pool, you wouldn't crap^
Even though you could argue that Jaws is Steven Spielberg's ultimate masterpiece, everyone should agree that the giant man-eating shark that terrorizes the beach of Amity Island is one the best film about a giant man-eating shark ever. How Spielberg did this as his directorial debut, I will never know. Creating a monster that made society change its way of going to the beach and even in the tub.
^Do what you do, buddy. Don't ever change^
Just make sure you don't do this...
^Ha! You couldn't pay me to do this!^
#3 - Shaun of the Dead
"As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no "I" in team, but there is an "I"
in pie. And there's an "I" in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team... I
don't know what he's talking about." -Shaun
A horror-comedy! I love Simon Pegg's and Nick Frost's comedic banter. Every time they are on screen, you see their chemistry right from the start. That especially is true in Shaun of the Dead. The dry and witty British sense of humor (or humour...) that is presented has to be the main reason I love this movie. The other is, of course, the zombies.
^Time to bash some skulls!^
Gore galore! The zombie apocalypse is upon us and Shaun and his best friend, Ed (Nick Frost), have to try and survive. Along the way, they meet up with Shaun's ex-girlfriend, Liz, and some other people. People die and people live (kind of). The kills in Shaun of the Dead are hilarious, which sounds weird to say but it is.
^Yup. A cricket bat. Not a gun or knife. A cricket bat.^
Shaun of the Dead is Simon Pegg's and Nick Frost's best film together (and best horror-comedy involving zombies).
#2 - The Thing (1982)
"I dunno what the hell's in there, but it's weird and pissed off, whatever it is." -Clark
^Oh God! That's gross!...But pretty cool^
Thinking whether someone is human or...well...not, is a big fear in my life. This may not resonate with everyone, but if you like aliens, gross body horror, and Kurt Russell at his prime, then you'll love John Carpenter's The Thing.
The Thing is pretty much about a "thing" that terrorizes the base of a group of scientists (including the bad ass known as Kurt Russell) at the Antarctic. It attacks and takes form of an organism making it seem like the original organism. Metamorphism is the short way to say it.
^Well it stays like the original until it feels threatened...or when it just wants to consume.^
I love the isolation of this film. Thousands of miles from Antarctica to the nearest people who can help them and a hostile alien is hiding among the scientists. The Thing made me paranoid for a couple of reasons: 1) I don't know who's real and who isn't. 2) I don't want to be eaten and taken over by a dangerous extra terrestrial. Good thing that won't ever happen, right Kurt?
^...Oh...I'm dead, aren't I?...^
John Carpenter is one of the masters of horror. He did it with the original Halloween and he did it with The Thing. The guy has a twisted mind.
#1 - The Babadook
"DON'T LET IT IN!" -Samuel
I had a tough time deciding whether to put The Thing or The Babadook at the number 1 spot. I'm going with The Babadook for 1 reason: it is a callback to classic horror films that was made during the modern era of horror films.
^...eeehhh...This is freaky as hell^
The Babadook is an Australian Indie Horror flick and Jennifer Kent's directorial debut. It's the story of single mother Amelia who deals with the death of her husband and her son's (Samuel) erratic behavior. Samuel asks Amelia to read her a story one night and she picks up a random pop-up picture book called Mister Babadook. The story is about an entity in which once you are aware of its existence, it torments and haunts that person. Samuel believes that the Babadook is stalking them and Amelia eventually finds a bunch of evidence that points to that truth.
^Why? Why would you read that disturbing and scary book?^
The elements of old school horror are scattered everywhere in the movie. The Babadook doesn't rely on cheap jump scares and eerie music (although both of those things sometimes helps freak us out). There is no intense big score for the majority of the film and the monster is barely in the movie. You only see glimpses of it, which to me, is even more frightening. It takes a lot of skill to keep that suspense instead of using small cheap jump scares that get the audience without even trying.
^There's that one glimpse. That's, once again, freaky as hell^
Well there are my top 5 favorite horror movies of all time. This was actually pretty difficult to set up. There were plenty that I left out that I love as well, but these are my definite top 5. If I missed any of your favorites (which I for sure did) comment and tell me yours.
Thanks and Happy Halloween!
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