Interesting peek behind the curtain, folks - in the notepad file that I always copy these from, I've had a modified version of this list in a little corner of the document for something like five years in the event of a true "in case of emergency, break glass" moment. And while that never came to pass, I always knew that if the blog ever started seeing its final days that I had to do some kind of ultimate favorite movies list. Now there's a wrestler name just waiting to happen. I actually had to tweak the rankings a little bit before writing it, because while a lot of my faves have stayed the same over the years there are some new arrivals to the list. And, spoiler alert, we have a new #1 from every other time I've done one of these. How's that for a teaser?
With that masturbatory introduction aside, welcome to My 10 Favorite Horror Flicks. Far from any kind of authoritative quality list, these are just the movies that I enjoy the most and have found myself loaning out to people the most over the years as an introduction to what horror is all about. There are a lot of big titles here, and also a decent amount of variety, so consider this the crash course if you're new to the genre. Plus, I've seen every flick here at least five times on the low end of the spectrum and more than 50 up top, so it's not like they don't have replay value. Enough waxing. On with the list!
10. Suspiria (1977, Directed by Dario Argento)
A few years back, I actually considered this to be the scariest movie of all time. The ending is truly chilling. While I can sleep like a baby immediately after watching it now, there is still no doubt that this is a bona-fide classic of the genre that remains Dario Argento's crowning achievement. Jessica Harper is infinitely likable and relatable as American ballet student Suzy Banyon who shows way more bravery than I would have upon arriving at a prestigious dance academy in the middle of nowhere. Surprise, surprise, this is no ordinary school. Within 20 minutes we're treated to a murder sequence that still ranks as one of the most vicious of its kind, and while there are some good gory moments to be had it's the way that this movie is SHOT that truly makes it immortal. Reds, greens, and kaleidoscopes of cinematography are all meant to make you feel unwelcome and jarred. This is one of those flicks that qualifies as a pure experience, which I just can't imagine the upcoming remake managing to replicate in the least bit.
9. Event Horizon (1997, Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson)
Back in my middle school days, this was a movie that I watched an untold amount of times. To this day, it's still my favorite hybrid of sci-fi and horror ever made, and I'm not alone as this is a movie with major "cult" status that nonetheless took a while to get there. The star power here is just off the charts, with Sam Neill turning in a tour-de-force performance as Dr. Weir, brilliant physicist who has invented a way for spaceships to travel through black holes and cut travel time to zero. Also present are Laurence Fishburne as Captain Miller along with Kathleen Quinlan, Sean Pertwee and Joely Richardson as his crewmates who have been recruited to accompany Weir on a salvage mission when the one ship that has ever used his technology mysteriously reappears from the nothing. This film can best be described as The Haunting or The Amityville Horror in space, and the script by Philip Eisner has a lot of fun with that concept as whatever the ship has brought back picks them off one-by-one. Here's hoping we get that director's cut someday.
8. Horror of Dracula (1958, Directed by Terence Fisher)
Ladies and gentlemen, the oldest film on the list. I didn't become a huge fan of the Hammer Studios offerings until I was well into adulthood, but once I discovered them I definitely made up for lost time. Of all the major characters that the British cinema factory churned out, though, my favorite is definitely their take on Dracula with Christopher Lee stepping into the title role as arguably the greatest iteration of the world's most famous vampire. The first film in the series (known simply as Dracula over the rest of the world and Horror of Dracula here in the States due to some sort of rights issue) still stands as the best. Director Terence Fisher shoots this thing with an ungodly Gothic atmosphere. By 1958 standards, this was also a movie that shocked audiences with its graphic gore, done live and in living color. Finally, every role here was cast and played to perfection with Peter Cushing dominating every scene he's in as Dr. Van Helsing and, of course, Christopher Lee himself despite having very few actual lines.
7. Sleepaway Camp (1983, Directed by Robert Hiltzik)
This is definitely a film that won't be appearing on any authoritative "Best Horror Movies" lists done by respected film critics. From a technical standpoint, this one ain't exactly a masterpiece. If you can look through all the flaws and appreciate it for its quirkiness, characters and sheer emotion, you'll have a lot of fun. From a plot standpoint, it's essentially every other early '80s slasher flick for 90% of its running time as teenage cousins Angela Baker (Felissa Rose) and her cousin Ricky (Jonathan Tiersten) arrive at picturesque Camp Arawak. We watch the mostly silent Angela deal with the local mean girls and her first romance, all while several of the campers get offed by an unseen killer. There are some downright dopey moments contained within, as some of the dialogue and acting is rather...suspect. But just trust me and stick with it until the final credits roll. No matter what hoity-toity complaints I can direct at this flick, I'll never forget it for as long as I live. Oh, and then there's the ending.
6. The Shining (1980, Directed by Stanley Kubrick)
Here's the movie that I NOW consider to be the scariest thing ever committed to celluloid. What we have here is essentially Suspiria on steroids, with a big budget and one of the best damn directors ever in Stanley Kubrick taking the Stephen King novel and amping up the sheer bizarre to previously unheard-of levels. From the first time we see Jack Nicholson as troubled writer Jack Torrance, you know that something isn't quite right with him. There are a lot of fans of the book who just absolutely DESPISE this part of the film, feeling that this wasn't in line with the "guy going slowly insane" story that King presented. In my mind, though, this makes what happens at the Overlook Hotel in this film that much more intense. The gauntlet that little Danny Torrance goes through here, both in the onslaught that he takes from the hotel's seemingly infinite supply of creepy ghosts and the final external threat in the form of his insane daddy is unthinkable. Add in tons of classic scenes and an all-time performance from Nicholson and you've got a win.
5. Psycho (1960, Directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
This was the first black-and-white film that I ever got really, really into. I discovered Psycho in sixth grade, right after I read the following line in an old Roger Ebert Movie Companion in his review of the original Halloween: "It's so violent and scary that, yes, I would compare it to Psycho)." Whoa. I had to see this movie. Not only did I watch it, I actively searched out every bit of information that there was on its production and themes, checking out a few thick books on Hitchcock from libraries and watching a documentary about its making on PBS. Folks, it warrants all of the attention that it gets. Is it scary in 2018? Not especially. But it's still one hell of a powerful suspense tale as we follow likable heroine Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) for the first trimester of the plot only for a major swerve to be introduced in the form of Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) and the leech-like relationship that his mother has with him. This is another film that you'll never forget after the credits roll, with absolutely classic dialogue and characters.
4. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984, Directed by Joseph Zito)
This is another film that you're definitely not gonna see on any "All-Time Greatest Horror Movie" lists that pop up on, say, AMC or Sight and Sound or IMG's Official Circle Jerk of Film Snobs. It IS, however, the absolute best of what the slasher movie subgenre has to offer, courtesy of the single greatest slasher movie franchise of all time. This one encapsulates the true spirit of what Friday the 13th is all about better than any other movie in the series, offering up heaping helpings of sex, nudity, quirky teen characters, questionable decision-making, and, of course, a whole lot of blood and gore. The three movies that preceded this one all had a bunch of stuff cut from them to avoid the dreaded X rating, but maybe they let this one slip due to relief that they thought the series was finally over? Who knows. All I know is that Jason Voorhees is simply a badass in his final foray as a human being before he went full Zombie Terminator, with Corey Feldman (!) getting the honors of being the guy to finally, unequivocally kill the bastard. But not really.
3. Jaws (1975, Directed by Steven Spielberg)
Now THIS flick, you will see on several of those officialized lists that I whined about in the previous paragraph. And with good reason. Jaws isn't just an awesome movie, it's a movie that changed the way that films are released. For better or worse. Before this baby came out, summer was when Hollywood would dump all of its crappy exploitation offerings. Not that there's anything WRONG with crappy exploitation offerings, but it is when it is. The big shark made summer movie season, well, summer movie season, and it's all courtesy of Mr. Spielberg and his dream that they could take a mechanical shark riding around on a track and make it scary and terrifying. Not only did they succeed, they succeeded with flying colors. They even took some of the stuff that didn't work so well in the original novel (unlikable characters and a side plot involving the Mayor being in bed with the Mafia come to mind) and improved them. When Scheider, Dreyfuss and Shaw take to the sea to fight the shark, it's an event that you're invested in like no other. Farewell and adieu.
2. Halloween (1978, Directed by John Carpenter)
This was the film that occupied the #1 spot on my personal favorite list for many years. The fact that it isn't anymore is definitely no slight to it, as you'll never find a better example of the phrase "less is more" anywhere else in the universe. It wouldn't surprise me if John Carpenter had those words imprinted on every page of the script. This was yet another movie that I first discovered at the end of my grade school career, and while I loved (and still love) the Friday the 13th series I noticed several things about this one that elevated it above that franchise. Carpenter has a technique here that remains effective to this day. The camera will remain static, then move, then come back, and something unexpected is in the background. Of course, all these years later the story of babysitter Laurie Strode, Dr. Sam Loomis and his Captain Ahab complex and the Night that Michael Myers came home retains pretty much all of its ability to hook you in and knock you right over. It's still essential viewing every October 31st along with its first sequel. Which brings me to...
1. Ju-On (2002, Directed by Takashi Shimizu)
Stop me if you've heard this one before. A short time after my brother's untimely passing I start to collect horror movies. It starts with all of the slasher movie franchises of my youth and some of "Best of the Best" recommendations that I gleam online. Eventually, that gets old and I start to look into some of the films from Japan that had been really big in the U.S. a few years prior to this. One wintery night in early 2008, I pop in a DVD that I spent $2.98 on and it's all history from there. All of the films in the original Japanese franchise are awesome, but this one - the third in the series and the first one released theatrically - is the best. Hell, it's my favorite horror movie of all time! The thing that stands out about croakin' Kayako Saeki (Takako Fuji) and her son Toshio is that no one escapes. It's a death sentence, and as each "Chapter" ticks by focusing on a single character and their run-in with with the vengeful ghosts it becomes clear that you're watching something special. And it all wraps up in an absolutely perfect bow.There you go, peeps. If somebody were to ask me what movies they should check out first if their goal was to get into horror movies, these would be the ones to start with. And now that this is out of the way, join me next week as we take a look back at the long, bloody history of the blog and put an exclamation point on this whole experience. Here's hoping it's more of a Final Chapter and not a Jason Goes to Hell.
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