When I first had the idea for my favourite horror movies I knew this would be a list that would take careful consideration and thought. There are so many horror films out there and sub-genres that you don’t really know where to start – from torture porn, folk horror to slasher films there is plenty for the horror fan to enjoy. My list has to be the hardest I have ever deliberated over as I do own a fair few films (I haven’t properly counted yet!) and love being scared. When I was a child I can remember watching Jaws over and over again and loved being in my cousin’s room where the walls were covered in Pinhead and Halloween posters. Again this is my personal taste but please feel free to leave comments with your personal top 5 horror films!
Screen Gal’s top five horror movies for Halloween:
- Scream
- Halloween (1978)
- The Shining
- Battle Royale
- Final Destination
Scream
So here it is my favourite horror film of all time. This probably won’t be a number one choice for many people as it is not ‘scary’ however the modern 2.0 version of ‘scary’ is people being torn is half, faces ripped off and any other shit that the Saw franchise churns out. Unfortunately, I was too young to see Scream in theatres at the time of its release and instead settled to watch it a friend’s house a year later. From the moment the tape began playing right through to the credits rolling I was glued to the screen and it was at that moment it became one of my favourite films of all time.
The film opens with a young Drew Barrymore getting ready to watch a horror film and is waiting on her boyfriend to come over to join her. A mysterious phone call then takes place and it is not long until Drew’s character Casey finds herself being the target of some sick trivia game where her and her boyfriend’s lives hang with a masked lunatic who is harassing her. After the brutal killings and the best opening to a film I have EVER seen we are introduced to Sidney Prescott played by Neve Campbell. It is almost the first anniversary of her mother’s death and the killings of the two high school students couldn’t have come at a worse time for Sidney. With her supportive boyfriend Billy around her and her best friend Tatum she finds that she is the killer’s main target and one by one the citizens of Woodsboro, California are being victimised by the psycho killer. Soon Sidney is fighting for her life as the killer knows everything about her and it is not long before secrets start pouring out.
Two other characters who become heavily involved in Scream’s storyline are Gale Weathers played by Courtney Cox and Deputy ‘Dewey’ Riley played by David Arquette. Both of these characters are crucial to the storyline as Gale Weathers is writing a book based on Sidney’s mother’s death and is determined to get some recognition in the spotlight, while Deputy Dewey acts as a bodyguard to Sidney and he is also Tatum’s older brother. In a spectacular climax to the film, we assume that both Gale and Dewey are dead however, Gale returns and saves Sidney’s life. It is clear that with its young cast and endless horror references, Scream is still as modern today as it was fourteen years ago.
Scream is the first horror film that I have ever seen and it was the horror film of the 90’s and one which kick started the genre’s return. I think that the acting is fantastic, with everyone giving 110% into their roles. I think that Matthew Lillard as Stu Macher has to be my favourite character as I like his motive of ‘peer pressure’ (something which is not lost on today’s society), his goofiness and the fact that you never would have thought that he was a killer! I really did not see that coming! Also the fact that there is a back story to this film really adds depth and emotion to the character of Sidney and I like knowing that we have never met/seen her mother in previous scenes as it keeps the mystery alive. Ghostface is an icon in modern society and you can’t look anywhere at Halloween without seeing the mask, seeing the films being repeated on TV or hearing about someone getting a prank phone call about what their favourite scary movie is. Scream is a classic horror film and one that will live on in the hearts of millions.
Halloween (1978)
I am writing the date next to the title as many people may think that I am referring to Rob Zombie’s Halloween when I am actually referring to the original John Carpenter’s Halloween. As I have previously stated, I have seen the posters and DVD covers but I am actually ashamed to say that I did not see this film until a year ago. I did however see Halloween H20 a number of years ago with my family and thought it was not too bad but I was always intrigued to see the original. My boyfriend bought it last year having seen it previously and we decided to have a horror night and watch Halloween and Halloween II in one go. I absolutely loved it, so much so that it has firmly moved into second place in my list above other horrors which I know and loved for years.
Halloween’s opening sequence takes place on Halloween night in Haddonfield, Illinois, 1963 and a six year old boy named Michael Myers has just stabbed his teenage sister to death. Michael then spends the next 15 years institutionalised in Smith's Grove Warren County Sanitarium where he is placed under the care of Dr. Sam Loomis. On October 30th 1978 Michael breaks out of the sanitarium and begins to stalk three teenage girls; Laurie Strode and her two friends Annie and Lynda. As the film’s events unfold, Michael appears more frequently causing Laurie to become distressed and anxious and it is when babysitting that things turn nasty. With the town’s sheriff in tow, Dr Loomis tries to stop Michael on his grisly killing spree and put an end to Michael once and for all.
I loved the beginning of the film, where we see things from Michael’s POV and the parent’s coming home and we see what a young boy he is and that it was his sister that he murdered. I was gripped and didn’t move for the duration of the film, eager to know what caused this boy to act like this and what his motives where. My favourite scene is with Laurie’s friends Lynda and Bob who are having sex in the empty house across the street for where Laurie is babysitting. Michael enters the house and kills Bob and then continues to pretend to be Bob by covering himself with a sheet and Bob’s glasses. I was certainly not expecting a comedy element to this film but as with every horror film rule, you have sex and you die.
For me this is one of Jamie Lee Curtis’ stand out roles among her other many films but I think her acting is phenomenal and I really get how you completely empathise with her throughout the entire film. Halloween is one which I will continue to watch on Halloween for many years to come and it is a true horror classic.
The Shining
I also have early memories of this film where my sister would watch it and I wasn’t allowed in the room as I would be far too scared. It wasn’t until I was about 15 where I was allowed to watch it and even then I’d heard my friend saying about how she watched it and was petrified for weeks and had to sleep in her mum’s bed! This didn’t really give me a positive feeling about this film and will admit that before watching it I was very fearful and anxious that I would spend the rest of my teenage years in beside my mum every night. However, my blanket and sister in tow I took a deep breath and pressed play. I honestly can’t find this film petrifying, not to the extent of sleeping beside someone else anyway! I think that the film is scary, there is something disturbing about witnessing a man go slowly insane and have inner desires to kill his family.
The Shining is about an out of work writer Jack Torrance who applies for a job at the Overlook Hotel, Colorado as a caretaker over the winter months and if successful would have to move his wife Wendy and his child Danny to live with him. During their stay at the hotel, Danny soon starts to see gruesome images in his head known as having ‘the shining’ and Jack soon becomes affected by this. As the heavy snow and isolation set in, as well as writer’s block Jack starts to go insane and begins to have murderous thoughts in his head. Things turn very odd at the hotel as at night Wendy and Danny can hear other guests staying in the hotel and Jack attends a function in the grand ballroom where the barman’s ghost insists that Jack should ‘correct’ his family and that they deserve to be punished.
As I have said, this is a fantastic film and one which really stays with you for a few days after you watch it. I think Jack Nicolson was born for this role as I couldn’t imagine any other actor playing this part and I think he is genuinely terrifying in some scenes just by his facial expressions. I actually bought the book last year in a charity shop as I was eager to find out if it was different to the film and wow, it is completely different. If I am truly honest I do prefer the book as it has much more detail and sinister themes to it than the film but that is usually the case with a good novel. I have one gripe about this film concerning casting and I really wish they would have cast Wendy Torrance’s role to another actress as I did not like Shelley Duval at all. She was overly hysterical and I found her really hard to watch, at one point I found myself rooting for Jack just to get her to catch a grip! Overall, it is a fantastic film and one which I regularly enjoy.
Battle Royale
Number four on my list is Battle Royale, a Japanese horror film about a group of students who are taken to a deserted island where the rule is: kill or be killed. I heard about this film years ago and was really intrigued by it as I don’t often watch a lot of foreign language films but this one really appealed to me. I first seen this when I recorded it from channel 4 a couple of a years back and I loved every minute of it! The fact that it is subtitled does not put me off in the slightest and although it is quite gruesome at some points, the sheer cleverness of it makes up for it.
It is the beginning of the 21st century and the Japanese economy is on the brink of collapse, with high rates on unemployment and violence among the nation’s youth spiralling out of control. The school students are boycotting their classes and abusing their teachers, so as a response the Japanese government approves the Battle Royale Act, where a randomly chosen school class is selected and are sent to an island with a weapon for their possession and are forced to fight each other to the death. Only one pupil is allowed to survive the game to prove that the government will go to any lengths necessary to prevent violence among modern youth.
As I have stated for The Shining, this is a film that stays with you for days after watching it. It is a really clever idea for a film and I love the plot and general consistency of it. I don’t feel character wise that you get to know or sympathise with any one person in particular as students are being killed constantly, however I think that is one of the main points about this film. I think that some of the deaths are really quite inventive and often found myself covering my eyes as it could be quite jumpy at parts. I often think that this is what is needed in the modern society concerning some of the stories on the news about teenagers or young people harming others. It is a great film and one which will keep you hooked right to the end to find out who survives.
Final Destination
I actually had another film in mind for this last place but it was a last minute decision and I changed my mind. Again, this isn’t a typical ‘horror’ gut wrenching, eyeball gouging film but one which I enjoy regularly. I can’t honestly remember the first time that I seen this film as it was so long ago, however I have been to see every sequel in the cinema (some good, some not so good!) However, this is the horror film which brought me into the 21st century. It is one that I watch quite frequently and as my rule normally stands, original is best.
Final Destination follows Alex Browning, a high school student who is about to embark upon a trip with his fellow classmates to France on flight 180. As the plane is about to take off Alex has a premonition and sees the plane exploding upon take-off. Frightened by this, Alex and seven of his classmates are escorted off the plane and forced to stay behind while their fellow students take off for Paris. It is only when in the departure lounge that the students witness the plane exploding before their own eyes. The FBI thinks that Alex is really to blame for what happened and follow his every move. As time passes Alex and his friends are hunted down one by one by death, who is angry that they have cheated his design and so die in peculiar ways which look like ‘accidents’. After cheating death once before, can Alex find a way to cheat it once more before it’s too late?
I think that this film is so clever when it comes to horror and I absolutely love the way in which some of the characters get killed off. The bus moment has to go down in history as one of the best and least expected killers ever in horror movie history! I think that the acting is quite good, with Devon Sawa and Kerr Smith as the better characters out of the group. It is definitely a thrill ride which will keep you on the edge of your seat, thinking will it be a knife that kills Ms Luton, plastic from the computer, alcohol bottle or the fire? I never fail to have a smile on my face at the ending of this movie where the survivors are finally in Paris and they realise that the horror may not be over yet.
So there you have Screen Gal’s top 5 horror recommends for Halloween. There are so many other films which I could have placed in as it is a really hard decision! As I have said, please feel free to leave a comment with your top 5 horror films or any other top 5 ideas that you would like me to cover at some point. Thank you for taking the time to read through my blog and have a Happy Halloween!
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