So I haven't posted anything on this blog in some time, I figured it was time to return. The reason...my friend and former co-worker Bradley Hayward is currently composing a list of his favourite Halloween movies over at www.whippedscream.blogspot.com which has inspired me to make a list of the scariest movies I can remember seeing. Thank you, Bradley, for pulling me out of my funk. Your blog has reminded me of all those Octobers I spent at Blockbuster with young customers asking me for our scariest movie, and then going home with "Hostel"!!! The unfortunate thing is of all the stores I worked at only a couple had my all-time fave horror movie. So, in the best order I can manage, here are my top ten. Oh, and there WILL be spoilers!
10. The Others (2001) (
7.7 on IMDB)
It had been a long time since I had seen a movie in the theatre that had such a chilling effect on me. I can remember seeing the preview on TV and thinking I would like this movie. I had no idea how much I would! Nicole Kidman is living in an old house with her two young kids. Strange things start to happen. Doors opening and closing, odd sounds, ghost-like images. Spooky already. But what gave me the biggest chill was the twist in the plot that I never saw coming. I saw this movie with my wife and as soon as the twist was revealed we both looked at each other with our mouths agape. I said there would be spoilers, but if you haven't seen The Others I won't ruin it for you...just watch it!
Interesting Note: The script was written in Spanish by writer/director Alejandro Amenábar and then translated into English. It was the first film to win Best Picture at the Goyas (Spain's Academy Awards) without a single word of Spanish being uttered.
9. When A Stranger Calls (1979) (
6.4 on IMDB)
I can't remember the first time I saw this movie, but I know I was young and watching it on TV. I must say, the film is quite boring after the first 30 minutes, but the reason this movie is on my list is
because of the first 30 minutes. Carol Kane is the young babysitter, alone in a big house except for the sleeping children upstairs. The phone rings. She answers it. Playfully, she converses with the man on the other end of the phone. Soon, the man starts to describe certain things in the house. Horrifically, he asks "Have you checked the children??". If you've seen this scene you know why I have chills running down my back right now. This is the scene that "Scream" played upon at the beginning of that movie. Fantastically spooky!
Interesting Note: The character of Curt Duncan, the killer, was based on someone the director, Fred Walton, knew in college. Whenever this person entered a room, he seemed to make everybody uncomfortable.
8. Saw (2004) (
7.7 on IMDB)
It has spawned multiple sequels, each being worse than the last, but the original is really something to behold. A man wakes up in a dirty room, chained to the floor, not knowing why he's there or how he got there. What follows is a sadistic game dreamed up by Jigsaw, a killer we will become quite familiar with. The beauty of this movie is it continually asks the question "What would you do??". Would you cut your own foot off? Would you risk your life in order to save your life? Another movie where I never saw the end coming...and I absolutely LOVED it! The gore was handled appropriately as well, not too graphic or gratuitous, considering there were some really screwed up "games" being played.
Interesting Note: The entire film was shot in only 18 days. All of the bathroom scenes were completed in only 6 days.
7. The Thing (1982) (8.2 on IMDB)
As with most of the films on this list, I was quite young when I first saw this movie, perhaps 11 or 12, meaning I was impressionable. "The Thing" has always stuck with me. Kurt Russell leads a scientific research team in the Antarctic where strange things start to happen. Turns out they have unleashed this alien that takes the shape of the things it kills. Now this could have been a gory mess of a film. But John Carpenter keeps the tension going as he slows down the pace and makes the viewer always wonder whats around the next corner. The scene where they test everyone's blood to see if it's infected still makes me jump, and I've seen it a dozen times! Great tension-filled cinema.
Interesting Note: Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges both turned down the role that eventually went to Kurt Russell. Also, out of all the movies John Carpenter has directed, he claims this is his favourite.
6. The Haunting (1963) (7.7 on IMDB)
This is one of those classic ghost story horror films that just keeps getting under your skin. Robert Wise, the man who directed "West Side Story" and "The Sound Of Music", perfectly uses his camera and set to create a wonderfully scary thrill ride. The story is simple: several people who have various interests in the unexplained spend a few nights in a mansion that has been widely rumoured to be haunted. What the viewer gets to see, in glorious black and white, is the strange things first hand. Julie Harris is great as we experience the terror with her. This one MUST be watched in a totally dark, quite room, and we'll see how you sleep that night! Do not bother with the 1999 remake.
Interesting Note: Director Martin Scorsese has named "The Haunting" as his favourite horror movie.
5. Halloween (1978) (7.9 on IMDB)
Before there was Jason, before there was Freddy, there was Michael Myers. This is the story of a very troubled youngster who, on Halloween night, brutally killed his sister. Fifteen years later, the same boy escapes from the institution he'd been in to wreak havoc on his hometown. He finds a girl that reminds him of his sister, a girl played by Jamie Lee Curtis in one of her first film roles. All the while, Michael's doctor, Loomis, is trying to track him down and warn the residents of his small town. With most great horror films, the tension builds and builds, as we see the maniac stalking his victims, silent behind that white mask. I had many sleepless nights after watching this movie for the first time, and it still holds up thanks to John Carpenter's great direction. Many more Halloween films followed, but none hold a candle to the original.
Interesting Note: Most fans of the movie know this already, but the mask Michael Myers wears is actually that of the likeness of William Shatner - hair teased out and painted white. Shatner has said he is honoured to be the symbol of evil.
4. The Blair Witch Project (1999) (6.3 on IMDB)
Probably one of the best ad campaigns of any horror film and certainly any independent feature. I HAD to see this movie on opening night. Problem was, so did half the world. I arrived late and had to sit in the third row of the theatre. As you may know, the film is almost all done with hand-held camera, making the viewer feel a little nauseous. Try watching it in the third row of a theatre!!! Anyway, I digress. What I loved about this movie was the sheer simplicity of it. It's a good ghost story played out for the viewer to make up his/her own mind about the legend of the witch in question. Yes, some of the scenes were too long and annoying. Yes, I wanted the witch to get the girl half way through the film. But I can't see anybody denying the sheer terror of that final scene when the guy is facing the corner. I'm freaking myself out just thinking of it! I don't know why, and I'm sure some people will disagree with me, but, 12 years later, I believe that is the most scared I have ever been watching a movie.
Interesting Fact: The movie cost $22,000 to make and earned $240.5-million at the box office.
3. Psycho (1960) (8.7 on IMDB)
There are many reasons to love this movie, and most have been dissected over and over again. The reason this is number 3 on my list is simple. I would not take a shower for a long time after watching it! I was young, probably 12 or so, when I caught this on TV. If a movie can keep me from cleanliness because of one scene, it has to rank high on the list. Anthony Perkins was pure crazy, nice on the outside, but with a whole slew of problems on the inside. Janet Leigh was a perfect victim. A scene that doesn't get mentioned as much is when Martin Balsam buys it on the stairs...totally freaky! Alfred Hitchcock was the master of thrills and suspense and I love just about everything I've seen of his, but for sheer terror, I can't think of any of his scenes that can top "mama" pulling back that shower curtain.
Interesting Note: Oh, so many of them - how audiences were forbidden to enter the theatre after the movie began; the shower scene has over 70 shots for only 45 seconds of screen time; but my favourite is the amazing control of Janet Leigh after she falls to the floor. The blood is seen twirling down the drain, the shot switches to a close up of Janet Leigh's eye as the camera spins and slowly moves out, and we see a drop of water laying near her open eye. Leigh had to make sure not to blink as this was a "live" shot and not the easy static shot that many people think. Remarkable!
2. The Exorcist (1973) (8.1 on IMDB)
Many of our youth today don't find this to be a scary movie, and that's probably because us old folk have consistently claimed it to be one of the scariest ever made. Them kids don't know nothin'! Linda Blair, at the tender age of 13, made me believe in the devil. Her performance is one of the best in any horror movie ever filmed. The story is told in a way that makes everything seem like these event could actually take place. The conflict of Father Karras was gripping. Max Von Sydow was a hulking figure that had to challenge and beat Satan himself. Who can forget that image on the poster, the priest under a single lamppost in the dead of the night. Just the imagery is spooky. If all the great scenes inside the bedroom weren't enough, in the year 2000 a re-release of the film came out with the now famous "spider walk" scene that still freaks me out! For any true fan of horror, those who don't need blood and guts to scare, this is one of the greats.
Interesting Note: Those that were considered for the role that Ellen Burstyn eventually played included Jane Fonda, Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft. Also, if adjusted for inflation, "The Exorcist" would be the highest grossing R-rated film of all time.
1. The Changeling (1980) (7.3 on IMDB)
I don't always remember the first time I watch a movie. I remember E.T., Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Star Wars. I also recall the first time I saw "The Changeling". I don't know exactly how old I was, but it was a VHS copy borrowed from a friend, watched in a dark room late at night. Three quarters of the way through the film all the lights were on!! There were so many scenes that freaked me out watching this movie, but let me just say this - bouncing rubber ball and rocking wheelchair. That's it. If you have seen this film, you are now trying to shake the shivers away from your spine. "The Changeling" proved that a great, scary movie did not need blood and gore, things jumping out in front of the camera, crazy special effects. You needed a good ghost story, a seance, some believable acting and a FREAKIN' RUBBER BALL!! Crap, I've scared myself again. This is the movie that I always recommended to those who asked for a scary movie. And it's a Canadian feature, too!
Interesting Note: The movie is based on supposed actual events that took place in Denver in the 1960's.
I feel I have to make note of some films I left off my list for one reason or another but still had a profound effect on me:
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Leatherface...come on.
A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) - Freddy scarping his nails on the wall with extended arms.
Jaws (1975) - actually made me afraid of swimming pools!!!!
Carrie (1976) - final scene still gets me.
Rosemary's Baby (1968) - LOVED Ruth Gordon!
Session 9 (2001) - if it didn't star David Caruso it might have made my list.
The Exorcism Of Emily Rose (2005) - two really great, scary scenes.
Paranormal Activity (2007) - chilling, but hated the main characters.
Poltergeist (1982) - the clown in the boy's room - still having nightmares!
Well, that's that. Agree or disagree, that's what lists are for.
More to come....and more often....
