Timothy Schultz wants to scare people silly in the Mile High City.
Schultz is the executive director of the spanking new Mile High Horror Film Festival, which debuts Oct. 22-23 at the Starz FilmCenter in Denver. WWTW reached out to Schultz for his list of the top 5 horror films of all time. He took time out of festival prep to give his answers.
- “The Shining” – This is personally my favorite horror film of all time. Jack Nicholson’s acting is brilliant, the score is powerful and Stanley Kubrick created a masterpiece.
- “The Exorcist” – This is one of the scariest films I’ve ever seen and there are very few movies that actually scare me.
- “Night of the Living Dead” – This classic was one of the first financially successful independent films grossing millions. It also inspired numerous zombie flicks to come!
- “Halloween” – This film is a classic. Many people view it as the first real slasher film inspiring an era of films to follow.
- “Jaws” – This film still makes me terrified to get in the ocean! It’s an important film because it is considered the very first film of the Blockbuster era, coming out in the summer of ‘75.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ll agree with that list, though Jaws doesn’t seem like a horror film to me, per se. The Shining, though, I still refer to as the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. Hmm…. what about some of the great, moody Japanese horror films? Some creepy oevre that!
Dave – which J-horror films do you recommend? I’ve seen a handful and had mixed reactions to them.
I do like The Shining, but I have to disagree with Mr. Schultz’s assessment of Jack Nicholson’s performance. I would have preferred a gradual descent into madness instead of Nicholson chewing the scenery.
I’ll list one that I thought worked really well: Honogurai Mizu No Soko Kara (released in the USA as Dark Water). Simple, straightforward and creepy.
The Shining was a great film. It would have been better if Nicholson’s character started out as a completely sane character and slowly decended into madness, but with Nicholson that wouldn’t happen. While there were parts of the Made for TV remake that I didn’t like, I liked their take on that character a little better. However, I still am a fan of the Shining.
I go more for the old Hitchcock films for suspence. I think Hitchcock could write a scene and give it that old horror gravatas better than anyone else. And, it’s soo much better fare than the likes of today, SAW and Hostel.
As far as a type of film, I go for the Zombie type, or like the Body Snatchers type of film. The idea that you’re friends and family could turn into beings whose only purpose in death is to kill you, can be quite terrifying, and make for good theater fare.