Top 20 Favorite Horror Movies

Keep in mind, this isn't the definitive list. These are just my personal favorites. Some you might agree with, and others you definitely won't. In all, it's Halloween, and this is just for fun.

Honorable Mentions:

These are movies I really like, but they just didn't quite make the cut, for whatever reason

The Exorcist, The Hills Have Eyes, The Conjuring, Night of the Living Dead, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Frankenstein, Evil Dead II

#20: Child's Play: The movie that introduced the world to Chucky, Child's Play manages to make a creepy flick out of a serial killer inhabiting a child's plaything, hunting down the people he blames for his death, and then trying to transfer his soul into that of a child.

#19: The Frighteners: Peter Jackson's movie, about a psychic medium and con artist who tries to solve a series of gruesome murders, is equal parts terrifying and hilarious. The movie makes for a good watch on Halloween, if you've never seen it before.

#18: It Follows: This is a movie I've talked about at length before. Basically, this is a horror movie that tackles why sex is a GOOD thing. The titular "it" is haunting, as it has no true form. It doesn't run for you. It just walks. The fact that you're never really sure if you're seeing "it" is where a lot of the movie's horror and tension comes from.

#17: Gremlins: This might seem like a weird pick for me, as it's more associated with the Christmas holiday. However, Gremlins is a dark, twisted family horror film from the 1980s. The gremlins themselves are disgusting, evil little monsters whose mischief gets more and more violent as the movie goes on.

#16: Shaun of the Dead: Now, I know what you're thinking. How could I put this movie on my list over Night of the Living Dead. To be honest, Shaun of the Dead just kind of engaged me more. I love the idea of a drunk, loser slacker like Shaun being forced to step up. The comedy is extremely clever, and the gore is pretty damn strong.

#15: Hellraiser: Hellraiser is still one of the most visceral horror movies to come out of the 1980s. Pinhead was a unique presence as a horror villain at the time. He wasn't the movie's outright villain. He was a neutral force. This is one of those movies that is recommended viewing for any horror fan.

#14: The Brood: To this day, The Brood is a movie that haunts me. Evil children are one of those things that really can get to me. A movie about evil children that have ties to a little girl and her father with a shocking reveal can only come from a master of horror like David Croenenberg.

#13: Silence of the Lambs: As far as I can remember, this is the first horror movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Hannibal Lecter is one of the all-time greatest movie villains for good reason. There's an unease to the back and forth between Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. I also want to mention Buffalo Bill, who I feel is underrated, and doesn't get talked about that much. If you've never seen Silence of the Lambs, do yourself a favor.

#12: The Thing: The Thing offers a fantastic isolated setting, with a bunch of gruff guys (led by the always awesome Kurt Russell and Keith David). The thing is able to duplicate and take over the bodies of living organisms. The tension really comes from the idea of never knowing exactly who the thing is.

#11: Poltergeist: What makes Poltergeist so unsettling is its setting. It doesn't take place in a creepy, obvious haunted house. It takes place in what appears to be a nice, normal suburban neighborhood. The acting is solid on all fronts. And, the clown scene.

#10: The Fly: If you were to ask, The Brood isn't my favorite Croenenberg movie. That would go to The Fly. This is a remake done right. It takes a cheesy 50s science fiction movie starring Vincent Price, and turns it into a terrfying look into body horror.

#9: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Showing little to no gore, Tobe Hooper's masterpiece relies heavily on what you don't see. Scenes like the hitchhiker scene and the dinner scene are just plain uncomfortable to watch, but in a good way.

#8: A Nightmare on Elm Street: Wes Craven's film takes and often blurs the lines between dreams and reality. Freddy Krueger is a sadistic force that takes great pleasure in the torture and murders of his victims. Creative kills and a unique killer help make this movie a horror classic, and I love it.

#7: The Shining: Yes, I'm aware that this is not a good adaptation. However, Stanley Kubrick's painstaking attention to detail, Jack Nicholson's performance, and the look of the Overlook hotel make me look past that. This is still a really damn good movie.

#6: Psycho: Alright, I've talked about Psycho and Norman Bates at length. So I'll just say this: this is a fantastic movie that makes you second-guess yourself.

#5: Re-Animator: I can't stress enough just how much fun Re-Animator is. Jeffrey Coombs plays a socially awkward man who finds a way to reanimate the dead, and things just get really out of hand. The violence and humor actually balance out really well together.

#4: Jaws: The shark from Jaws is a force of nature that operates solely based on its level of hunger. There's also a sort of haunting feel to that scene with Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw on the boat singing that song. And that's not including the chilling opening, and the other shark attacks, where you see very little of the shark itself.

#3: Trick 'r Treat: Trick 'r Treat is an anthology horror film with interweaving story lines that are all really damn good. It introduces a new, modern horror icon with Sam, and takes you through twists and turns that are even more fun on a second viewing. This movie is an underrated little gem that needs to be talked about more.

#2: The Cabin in the Woods: This is the type of movie that only come from the creative team that is Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard. The best I could describe it is as sort of a Scream-meets-Evil Dead, but I'm not sure that even completely covers it.                        

#1: Scream: For me, there was no other choice for number one. This clever take on the slasher genre is more than just my favorite horror movie, it's one of my top five favorite movies, period. I've seen this movie countless times, and it just still works for me. The mystery and the little hints and easter eggs throughout are awesome. 

God's Not Dead 2

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God’s Not Dead 2 is the sequel to 2014’s God’s Not Dead (obviously). It deals with a teacher (played by Melissa Joan Hart) who brings up God in her class. From there, she must prove in court that God exists. Amid the rest of the movie are a bunch of subplots that I really don’t care about. The sad thing about it is, there are some of these I should understand and care about. A teenage girl dealing with the death of her brother should be interesting (albeit a little cliched). The problem is: When the acting and writing really doesn’t feel that invested, why should I be invested? The only actor that I felt genuinely tried was Melissa Joan Hart. Everyone else either seemed like they were plucked off the street, having never acted before, or were just waiting for their checks to clear. Because the movie is Christian and with a Christian message. I don’t have a problem with this, necessarily. The problem is that so much of this movie hinges on the court case involving Melissa Joan Hart swaying the court, the ending is fairly predictable. The characters aren’t characters. Their development is paper-thin and surface-deep. The atheist characters that are meant to be the movie’s antagonists are cartoon levels of one-dimensional. As for the Christian characters that we are supposed to support, only two of them work for me to a degree. Melissa Joan Hart and the teenage girl feel the most developed to me, even if it is shallow. There are so many subplots in addition to the main plot, and they all feel like they are fighting for dominance. The biggest problem God’s Not Dead 2 suffers from is that it’s just incredibly dull. There are one or two decent performances, and some decent ideas. But, when the execution is lacking, the final recommendation I can make is just not to see it. 

2 / 10    

The Walking Dead - The Day Will Come When You Won't Be

The Day Will Come When You Won't Be is the title of the seventh season premiere. Overall, this was a pretty tense episode. And yes, I know the episode aired on Sunday night. Now, I am definitely going to be spoiling the hell out of this episode. If you haven't seen it yet, stop reading here. For everyone else, let's get going. The episode opens right after Negan has done the deed. He proceeds to drag Rick off into his trailer. They reveal the big moments through flashbacks. Negan proceeds to drive Rick towards a walker-infested area, tosses Rick's hatchet out of the trailer, and forces Rick to go get it. We also get to see the world's most terrifying game of "Eeny Meeny Miney Moe" ever. Some subtle hints and red herrings are thrown in that made wonder exactly who it was Negan killed. Ultimately, the person Negan designated as being "it" was Abraham. Abraham did have some of the best last words ever written for anything, ever. "Suck my nuts!" he mumbles before Negan finishes bashing his head in. Where things really get hard is when Daryl gets up and decks Negan out of anger. Negan feels as though he has to remind Rick and his group about the first one was free. But, if anyone were to try anything afterwards, he would "shut that shit down immediately." Before the audience really gets a moment to breathe, Negan proceeds to beat Glenn over the head. What we see of a barely still alive Glenn is pretty fucking gruesome as is. The sad moment is his gurgling out "Maggie, I'll find you" before being finished off by Negan. Back in real time, Negan brings Rick back to the group. Negan finally manages to break Rick when he tells him to cut off Carl's arm. Negan stops Rick just short, knowing he has broken Rick. We also see a little different side to Maggie. She has reached the point where, despite being sick, all she has left is her unborn baby. She has just lost Glenn, and is officially out for blood. So, this may just be about as perfect of a season premiere as it possibly could be. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is perfectly cast as Negan. The tension is the best in this episode as I think it's been in a while. I can't wait to see what's coming this season.

A+

     

Top 10 Halloween Guilty Pleasures - Part 2

#10: Planet Terror: Planet Terror is one of those movies that I think was kind of meant to be bad. It's glorious in all of its bloody, cheesy carnage. For example, the main character loses her leg, and replaces it with a machine gun. It kind of has to be seen to be believed.

#9: Killer Klowns From Outer Space: It's a little stupid, and it's clearly meant to be a B-Movie. Killer Klowns From Outer Space is pretty self-explanatory. It also gives what I believe to be a plausible answer for the existence of clowns, beings that are generally more frightening than entertaining. This is one of those movies where you know what you're getting into.

#8: Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies: So, last year I didn't put an Asylum movie on my list. This year, I'm fixing that. There's a lot of insane, stupid shit that unfolds throughout this movie, and Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies embraces all of it head-on. I mean it, if you're not familiar with this one, check it out. It's completely worth it.

#7: Final Destination: Now, I'm actually talking about the entire series here. Why? Because they're all enjoyably dumb. The series of movies follows different groups of people who manage to cheat death, and then all start dying in random freak accidents. It's the deaths that make these movies. They are all ridiculously complicated Rube-Goldberg inspired accidents.

#6: Leprechaun: Once again, I'm talking about the overall series, which somehow keeps managing to get dumber and dumber as the movies go on. Personally, I recommend anything pre-Hood, especially the first and fourth movies.

#5: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters: Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters follows a grown-up Hansel and Gretel as they become witch hunters, obviously. The movie is something of a hybrid between action, horror, and comedy. In short, it knows what it is, and doesn't really try to be anything else.

#4: Hocus Pocus: Weirdly enough, this is the least violent, and most kid-oriented movie on my list. It's somewhat nostalgic for me. I recognize that it is a little bit cheesy and stupid, but it seems like it understands that. Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker play the evil witches in this movie, and they're fun to watch because they're having fun.

#3: Freddy vs. Jason: Freddy vs. Jason promises one thing and one thing only. Freddy vs. Jason. It delivers on that. Granted, the story doesn't always make sense. But, nobody watches slasher flicks for their ingenious stories. We watched this because Freddy were going to fight each other and kill people. That's what we got.

#2: Thirteen Ghosts: In retrospect, a lot of the CGI in the movie doesn't hold up. But, the setting and story are kind of clever and creative. There's one reason this movie is even on the list: Matthew Lillard. This was when he was in everything. The man is so charismatic and entertaining to watch, he pretty much overshadows everything else.

#1: Idle Hands: This is a movie that essentially answered the question, what if Evil Dead 2 was a slacker, stoner comedy. Idle Hands know that it has a stupid story, and rolls with it.     

Top 10 Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? Episodes

It's still October, the month of Halloween. So, why not talk about my favorite episodes of one of the most famous horror/mystery cartoons of all time that still endures to this day, which is also a personal favorite of mine.

#10: Bedlam in the Big Top:  The story is the gang goes to the circus to investigate the mystery surrounding an alleged ghost clown who begins hypnotizing them. I have this episode on the list simply because I am terrified of clowns.

#9: A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts: The gang is trapped overnight in a castle, where they must outrun the Universal movie monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Wolfman). I love this episode because it sort of pays homage to the classics, but also gives a pretty damn cool crossover that makes complete sense, even though you probably wouldn't expect it otherwise.

#8: Haunted House Hang-Up: I won't lie, I don't remember a whole lot about this episode, so it's pretty low on the list. I remember liking it a lot, and really dug the use of a headless ghost.

#7: That's Snow Ghost: When Scooby and the gang head to a ski resort for a weekend of fun, they find themselves involved with solving another mystery when a snow monster shows up to wreak havoc on the vacationers. The setting and the monster go hand-in-hand. One of the things I love about this particular episode is that it's legitimately one of the few times where they don't start out actively trying to solve a mystery. They just sort of stumble into it.

#6: A Clue For Scooby-Doo: While the gang is having some fun, they accidentally stumble across a ghost in a glowing green scuba suit. So, they begin trying to solve the mystery of who he is and what he wants. I love the look of the Captain Cutler ghost. He feels very vacant and empty with a hint of menace.

#5: What a Night for a Knight: The very first episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? centers on the Black Knight Ghost and a counterfeit painting scheme. As I already said, this is the show's first episode. It sets you up for what the overall show is, and has a fairly engaging story. But, it still keeps it simple enough for younger viewers to follow and understand.

#4: Go Away Ghost Ship: I remember that this is one where Shaggy outwits the ghost of Redbeard with an eggbeater. This was the episode I first remember seeing that told me pirate ghosts could be a thing.

#3: Spooky Space Kook: Spooky Space Kook centers around the gang running out of gas in a ghost town. They then must solve a mystery around an alien that seems to be terrorizing the town. Now, the alien himself is actually pretty creepy and has damn cool look to him, which is why this episode is so high on the list.

#2: Jeepers, It's the Creeper The Creeper is probably the most famous of Scooby-Doo's monsters, and for good reason. His introduction is so out of nowhere that's kind of memorable and a touch eerie. I actually love the character of the creeper so much this episode has the number 2 spot on my list.

#1: A Night of Fright Is No Delight: This is quite possibly the episode of Scooby-Doo I've watched the most. Scooby-Doo receives an inheritance, and along with the gang goes and stays at a haunted mansion. The mansion, however, is haunted by a group of chained green ghosts. It also borrows tropes and inspiration from slasher flicks of the time period as well as Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. 

Nine Lives

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So, as I was watching Nine Lives, I honestly started asking myself why this piece of shit was even happening in 2016. This belongs squarely in 1995, when movies like this were always made. Within the first five minutes, I was baffled as to whether I was witnessing horrendous green screen or a shitty, obvious fake set. The predictable story is about a workaholic father who has no time for his family. He switches bodies with a cat, and must learn a valuable lesson about life. I know I’ve seen this story a thousand times already. But, here’s the thing. The writing does the protagonist zero favors. He’s thoroughly unlikable. Kevin Spacey is one of the greatest actors of all time. But, I have to ask. Is he really so desperate for work outside of House of Cards that he had to say yes to NINE LIVES!? Christopher Walken is normally an entertaining and charismatic presence in anything he’s in. Even he doesn’t seem to want to be here. He honestly seems like he’s half asleep through most of the movie. I can’t necessarily say that Jennifer Garner, Robbie Amell, and the actress who plays Spacey and Garner’s daughter give necessarily “good” performances, but at least I feel like they are trying to a degree. Did the writers actually know they were writing a children’s movie. The first thing our “hero” does when he gets home in disguise as a cat is literally get shit-faced on Scotch. The humor is awful. The writing is atrocious. The tone is nonexistent. The CGI is good… for the freaking 90s. Why? Why in the flying fuck was this even made? I mean it, this is bottom-of-the-barrel bullshit. Nine Lives is absolutely guaranteed a spot on my worst of the year list. As if I haven’t said it enough. Fuck this piece of garbage! Avoid Nine Lives any possible cost.

0 / 10  

Beetlejuice (1988)

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A couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) dies in a car wreck in their small, New England town. They don't realize that they are dead at first, and eventually must contend with a yuppie family. They manage to befriend the goth teenage daughter (Winona Ryder in what may just be her best role and performance). Desperate to get the family out their house, and save their pristine small-town life, the couple, ignoring warnings form others, seeks help from a sleazy, fast-talking poltergeist, brilliantly portrayed by Michael Keaton. Director Tim Burton really found his niche with Beetlejuice. Keaton as Betelgeuse is a star-making performance, and the man is truly unrecognizable. The set design is outstanding, especially when it comes to sights we are shown in the afterlife. It feels Burton-esque. It's mesmerizing, weird, haunting, and a little funny all at once. I also think the makeup work in this movie is some the best in any movie. Period. I'm not just talking about the dead people looking a different color, or the pale-white look of Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, or even Keaton himself. There's also a lot of little touches like the gash on Sylvia Sidney's neck that says her character had had her throat slit. Even some of the smaller characters that you only see once in the movie have such a unique look, you kind of wonder what their story is (a man with a shrunken head and a woman who has been cut in half, for example) The best to way describe Beetlejuice is as something of a demented Looney Tunes cartoon. Keaton's performance sort of seems to be a combination between Bugs Bunny and Freddy Krueger, which works way better than it probably should. This isn't just a good movie to watch around Halloween, it's a movie you can watch pretty much any time of the year. I absolutely love this movie, and highly recommend it if you've never seen it before.  

10 / 10        

The Girl on the Train

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The Girl on the Train is directed by Tate Taylor and stars Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, and Luke Evans. Blunt portrays Rachel Watson. She is divorced from her husband, and is an alcoholic. She rides the train every day, constantly watching the people she sees, even imagining fictional lives for them from time to time. One day, Megan Hipwell, (Haley Bennett) the woman she watches the most, goes missing. Rachel decides to take things into her own hands. She also has to deal with being one of the suspects because she had been seen in the area, and was blacked out in a drunken stupor. Now, this movie is something of a slow burn, and it’s going to turn a lot of people off. But, I really liked this movie. The mystery itself was intriguing, and I was invested the entire time. Emily Blunt is probably one of the best actresses working today, and this movie is no exception. The entire time, I was engrossed in this drunken, broken, borderline psychotic woman who may just be the best female antihero I’ve seen this year. This is almost entirely because of Blunt herself. The climax works mostly because the entire film to me felt like a powder keg waiting to blow, and this was when things finally blew up. Honestly, I didn’t see the twist coming at the end. On the other hand, this isn’t something I see being put on the same pedestal as Fight Club, The Sixth Sense, or The Empire Strikes Back. They kind of play with the idea of an unreliable narrator in a way I don’t normally see. There are certain characters I started to suspect, but I also wasn’t 100% percent sure if I was right or wrong in my personal suspicions. There are some character moments in the movie that didn’t gel with me all that well, and the slow pace can bog the movie down a touch at times, but it never really compromised the movie for me.

9 / 10  

Yoga Hosers

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Yoga Hosers is the newest movie from Kevin Smith. It is the second movie in his “True North” trilogy. The horror comedy follows two yoga-loving convenience store clerks (played by Harley Quinn Smith and Lily-Rose Depp) trying to get themselves to a party. But first, they have to deal with Bratzis (Nazi bratwursts played by Kevin Smith himself). They get themselves some help from man-hunter Guy LaPointe (Johnny Depp, in a performance that is practically begging to win a Razzie). I also wasn’t terribly impressed by Haley Joel Osment’s brief cameo either, finding his bad fake accent annoying. Fortunately, neither Osment nor Johnny Depp are in the movie for very long. On the other hand, I actually really liked Lily-Rose Depp and Harley Quinn Smith as the titular yoga hosers. The two girls look like they’re having fun, and they carry a really damn solid chemistry and charm and charisma through their performances. I hope better roles are around the corner for these young women. The GCI is awful. Never once did I believe I was actually seeing the effects in the movie. Honestly, I kinda liked this movie. Keep in mind, Yoga Hosers isn’t good by any stretch of the imagination. But, I feel like the movie kind of knows it. The premise is gloriously stupid, and never really takes itself too seriously. There are a lot of in-jokes in the movie. However, there are some scenes that start off being kind of funny, but go on a bit too long. Some of them work better than others. While I did kind of enjoy Yoga Hosers for being a stupid movie, I can’t quite bring myself to recommend this movie unless you are either a hardcore Kevin Smith fan, or a hardcore fan of terrible movies on the whole.

5 / 10      

Luke Cage: Season 1

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Luke Cage is the newest Marvel Netflix series leading up to The Defenders next year. Much like the previous two Marvel Netflix shows, Luke Cage is fantastic. Mike Colter owns the character of Luke Cage, playing a sort of black Superman, if you will. Luke Cage is just a good guy. He doesn't really want to be a hero, or hoisted on a mantle, but he has to be in order to deal with corruption in his Harlem neighborhood. Mahershala Ali as Cornell 'Cottonmouth' Stokes works spectacularly in the role of a nightclub owner / drug and weapons dealer who has a painting of crowned Biggie Smalls hanging in his office. Alfre Woodard portrays Stokes' cousin, Mariah "Black Mariah" Dillard. She is a Harlem councilwoman that genuinely wants to save Harlem, but also has her own monsters inside that she must contend with. Rosario Dawson reprises her role of Claire Temple. The character feels as though she has progressed, moved forward, and Dawson and Colter have spot-on chemistry. The fairly unknown Simone Missick shines as Misty Knight, giving a performance that could earn her well-deserved recognition. Theo Rossi likened his character of Hernan "Shades" Alvarez to that of Littlefinger from Game of Thrones, and it totally works, to the point that Shades was my favorite villain in the show. All of the main characters feel well-rounded, and are genuinely well-written. The soundtrack is phenomenal, whether it's recreating the sound and style of old-school 1970s shows, or Luke Cage beating bad guys down in hallway to the tune of Wu-Tang Clan. The music always fits the mood. If I have one flaw, there are roughly four or five main villains, and it does feel a touch overcrowded at times. But, that also works, too. I had an idea of where the show was going. Halfway through, something happened, and I had no idea what to expect from that point on. Overall, despite some overcrowding in the villain department, Luke Cage is a great show that I recommend checking out for yourself if you haven't already.

A  

Red Eye (2005)

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Red Eye was released in 2005. It is directed by Wes Craven and stars Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy. A hotel manager is going home, and must take the red eye flight. At the airport, she meets a charming, almost unassuming man, and they seem to hit it off. When they are seated together on the plane, he reveals his true intentions. He is a hit man contracted to kill a diplomat staying at the woman's hotel. She must do what he says, or he will have her father killed. This is one of those Wes Craven movies that I feel has kind of been lost in the shuffle. It never really reached the level of movies like Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Cillian Murphy excels in his role as a charming, but coldhearted killer. The chemistry between Murphy and McAdams makes me feel a little uneasy, and I mean that in the best way possible. There's a genuine feeling of possible romantic feelings, but I also am aware that, essentially, these two are predator and prey. Wes Craven is one of my favorite directors of all time, as he was the one who molded my love for the horror genre. He handles the material he's been given by building tension, and much of the film has something of slow burn style build to it. There's a battle of wits between our heroine and villain throughout much of the movie. The last few minutes, where it takes place in the house of McAdams' character is where the movie wavers a little bit. It's not bad, per se, it just isn't nearly as good as what came before. The stuff on the plane is tense, confined. I wasn't quite sure how the heroine was going to get the upper hand. Red Eye is a movie that I would recommend giving another chance.

9 / 10 

Top 10 Halloween Songs

Take note: these are in no particular order

This Is Halloween

Ghostbusters

Thriller

He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)

Monster Mash

Living Dead Girl

Don't Fear the Reaper

Time Warp

One, Two, Freddy's Coming For You

A Nightmare on My Street

Top 10 Red Hot Chili Peppers Songs

#10: Give It Away 

#9: Breaking the Girl

#8: The Zephyr Song

#7: Californication

#6: Scar Tissue

#5: By the Way

#4: Otherside

#3: Can't Stop

#2: Snow (Hey Oh)

#1: Dani California