Horrifying Horror Movies: My Top Ten (plus a bonus or two)
Mar 30 '04
The Bottom Line Really, is it horror if someone jumps out of the closet and screams "Boo!"? Make me afraid of a little girl and you have a forever fan!
I wrote this review almost 3 years, and a lot can happen in the movies in that time! Here is a newly updated list!
Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated by all things scary. I would beg my parents to let me see the horror movie du jour and promise them "it won't scare me!" Bedtime would inevitably roll around and my pleas for the light in the closet to be left on would begin. My parents never understood my appetite for horror movies, but there is just something irresistible about being scared.
I have compiled a list of the horror movies that were most enjoyable to me. Each one has a unique reason for being on the list, though I must say that I generally do not care for slasher movies such as Halloween or Friday the 13th, so you won't see any of those here. I haven't forgotten them, they just don't appeal to me.
*Bonus* Interview with the Vampire
How can you go wrong with a movie that includes both Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt? This movie is about the lives and ways of two vampires, Le Stat and Louie. I want to say they are a "couple" because they argue like married people and have a little vampire child together, but maybe they are just roommates. This movie is based on the book by best-selling author Anne Rice, which is a part of a series. This makes the movie seem to be perhaps incomplete, but it is wonderfully entertaining with excellent performances from the all-star cast and beautiful costumes. My favorite part: When Louie looks around for the first time with his Vampire eyes.
*Bonus* Stir of Echoes
This is a movie about a nonbeliever who is hypnotized and left with a posthypnotic suggestion to "be more open to psychic experiences." He is then privy to ghost sightings, voices, and spooky hunches to dig that nearly drive him crazy. Kevin Bacon gives a wonderful performance in this movie that explores haunting in a new way. My favorite part: When the ghost girl connects with Kevin to give him the story of her death.
10. Prince of Darkness
This movie tells of a group of theology students who believe that the devil is coming back to Earth. He is awaiting arrival in an ancient church where the students set up camp to study the tank where he is trapped. They must decipher dreams that foretell of this event which turn out to be radio images sent by them from the future. This movie is more than scary; it gives you something to figure out. My favorite part: Alice Cooper as a deranged homeless person doing the devil's will.
9. Sixth Sense
Who hasn't seen the commercial where Haley Joel Osmont says "I see dead people;" there's even been a parody on it in Scary Movie. All jokes aside, this movie is very subtle and in that subtlety the horror lies. The director relies on breath fogging up and shivering to let you know that an entity is about to make its presence known. That doesn't mean there aren't some powerful images, such as the little girl in the tent, but the beauty is really in the story and the surprise in the end. My favorite part: When they play the video tape of the little girl at her funeral.
8. The Shining
You can't go wrong with Stephen King in my book. His early stuff is unbeatable, and The Shining is no exception. This is the story of a caretaker and his family who go up to a huge resort in the winter to make sure all is well. The place is horribly haunted and the caretaker eventually turns on his family and tries to kill them. This movie is a classic for a reason. My favorite part: Where he makes out with the lady in the tub who turns out to be a gross old corpse.
7. The Bad Seed
Although not a new movie, I just rediscovered it on one of our premium channels. It is such a good movie, although the acting seems a little forced. Rhoda is the child in question. Seems like anyone who stands in her way, is not left standing for long. How on earth did she become this way? My favorite part: When she and LeRoy exchange niceties.
6. What Lies Beneath
In the past few years, we've enjoyed a spate of really good horror. What Lies Beneath is a fine example. With its lead stars, Michelle Pfieffer and Harrison Ford, it was a "can't miss," but it was creepy, too. And you know what? I like seeing Harrison as the bad guy! My favorite part: Seeing Madison in the water at the very end.
5. The Others
You know what I love? British accents on children. These children, with their creepy pale faces, and red-rimmed eyes look...well...dead. The story goes that these children suffer from some photosynthetic disease that leaves them unable to venture into any sunlight. They must stay in their monstrous mansion with only candlelight to light their way for them. Now, is this a creepy set up or what? Nicole Kidman does a superb job of acting in this movie, and made me a fan with it. My favorite part: The book of the dead.
4. Salem's Lot
If you see it today, for the first time, it may not seem too scary, but considering when it was made it is a wonderful horror flick. Another vampire story, this involves an aging writer and a young boy who have to save the town from these creatures. The main vampire here has the scariest looking teeth you'll ever see, and the pre-vampires have a glazed zombie look that I still see in the dark. My favorite part: When Danny Glick is outside of his friends window, floating and scratching at the window whispering "open the window."
3. Poltergeist
This movie is a horror on and off of the set. Two of the three children of the original movie have died, one was murdered by her boyfriend and one died from a gastric ailment. The movie is about spirits that whisk away a little girl for her life force and her parents subsequent struggle to reclaim her. Most terrifying is the thought that something can come and get your child and take her so close to the devil. My favorite part: The researcher who pulls his face off in the sink.
2. Pet Sematary
Like most Stephen King movies, I read the book first, so the movie was not nearly as good as the book. But it is better than most scary movies out there. The idea is interesting, burying animals and people in a Micmac burial ground so that they can come back to life. Only one hitch; they are usually possessed by another mean spirit and stink like they are still rotting. This guy is the master! My favorite part: Zelda in the back room.
1. The Exorcist
The greatest horror movie of all time; what is more terrifying than demonic possession of a young girl? This movie explores the possession from start to finish with frightening consequences. No words can describe this movie accurately, rent it Halloween night if you haven't seen it. My favorite part: Reagan's head spinning around, of course.
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