Halloween gives us an excuse to re-watch horror films that never stop scaring us silly.
So WWTW is reaching out to horror movie mavens to get their take on the creepiest films of all time.
First up – Michael J. Hein, Festival Director of the New York City Horror Film Festival.
- “The Exorcist” – Because it’s the scariest film ever made.
- George Romero’s “Dead Trilogy” (“Night of the Living Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead,” “Day of the Dead”) – Because they are the best zombie films ever made and started a whole sub-genre.
- “John Carpenter’s The Thing” – Because it’s still scary as hell and one of the best sci-fi/horror films of all time.
- “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974) – Because it’s still as strong a film as the day it premiered. It also set the tone for horror films for twenty years after its release. It’s influence can be seen in just about every horror film since.
- “Psycho” – Bates Motel. Mother. Hitchcock. ’nuff said!
(Photo: Michael J. Hein, festival director with the New York City Horror Film Festival)
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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree with this list, I think it is perfect. As a runner up, I would say 28 Days Later was a really good horror film too. It scared the crap out of me.
Shane – there’s rumblings that Danny Boyle wants to direct the third installment in the franchise … good news, indeed.
I like the list, but I thought Day of the Dead was very disappointing. I’d replace Psycho with Alien.
How about some foreign flicks? Audition and Les Diaboliques sure give me the heebie jeebies.
1. It – Tim Curry as a demented, child-murdering clown. I’m still creeped out by it 20 years later.
2. The Shining – Kubrick & Nicholson ratchet the tension up to 11.
3. The Exorcist – creepy and unsettling, gets under your skin like nothing else out there.
4. Silence of the Lambs – not sure who was scarier, Anthony Hopkins as the cannibal Dr. Lecter, or Ted Levine as the creepy transvestite Buffalo Bill. But putting both of them in the same movie made it a freaky experience from start to finish.
5. I’m with Paula on Audition, if only for that ending. Oh dear God, that ending.
cftoto, What is Boyle going to call this one? 28 Years Later?
Your list is spot on – in my opinion. Others that I like: 28 Days Later, Quarantine , A Nightmare On Elm Street, The 6th Sense, Fright Night, Black Sabbath, The Blair Witch Project, Poltergeist and lots more I can’t think of.
Suggestion: Do an all time worst horror movie list. Bet you can name more of those.
The list is missing the original “Alien.” A great marketing campaign built up enormous interest. The only image made public was the egg and the tag line “they can’t hear you scream in space.” As an opening night attendee to a sold out presentation, I was blown away.
Excorcist definitely.
But I still think the first 30-40 minutes of “When a Stranger Calls” (the original with Carol Kane, is some of the most suspenseful frames of film ever exposed to light.
Rosemaries baby
Arachnophobia, It has two of the best boo scenes in film.
Can’t think of any other films that scared me, though there was one boo scene in “exorcist 3″ that I think was brilliantly done.
Lousy movie, but in the prologue monologue portion of the movie, in “The Thaw” when you see the bug climbing out of the neck and then back in, that was creepy, rest of the movie was horrible.
Maybe Salems Lot, I liked that flick.
I loved “Arachnophobia,” a thoroughly unsung flick …