We are now halfway through the month of October, inching closer and closer to Halloween. Stores are filled with candy, costumes, and decorations as an ever present reminder of the approaching holiday, pumpkin patches have sprouted up in every available grassy space, Halloween stores have filled vacant buildings, and trailers for horror movies have overtaken the screen.
Now, I have never been a big fan of horror movies, so when the trailers for these films start flooding everything I get a little annoyed. But I was also never very into Halloween and that has started to change. Now I really look forward to the holiday. I’m excited to come up with a costume and go to parties where I can see what all of my friends have come up with. So, I have started to become a little more intrigued by the idea of scary movies.
Even though I haven’t seen a ton of scary movies there are a few things I know:
1. I hate zombie movies. I don’t know what it is about them, but I absolutely loathe them. My ex used to love them and every once in a while I would agree to go see one with him since I knew how much he enjoyed them. Oh, the torture! Torture for me, not the characters in the films. Ugh. They are awful! So yeah, no zombies.
2. My favorite type of scary movie is the psychological thriller. I am fascinated by the mind and how it works as well as human behavior, so when you have a film that uses those things to create mystery and suspense, I am all about it. Classics, such as Psycho, and newer films, such as Silence of the Lambs, are the scary movies that I get excited about. I may have nubs for nails at the end of them, but hey, that’s part of the fun, right?
3. I don’t really care for slasher films. I don’t hate them, I don’t mind watching them, but they aren’t exactly films that I will choose to go see. Really the only films in this category that I went to go see were the franchises that started when I was young: Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. All I can say here is, meh.
And that kind of sums up my horror film knowledge. I know there are so many great, classic horror films that people like to pull out during Halloween that I have never seen. I kind of want to see some of them. So, here is my question for you: What are your favorite scary movies? Let me know in the comments and if there is a movie that seems to stand out among all of you (and I haven’t already seen it), I will watch it and let you know what I think. I can’t wait to see what all of you have to say!
Really don’t care for horror films. Something about them just doesn’t work for me.
However, thrillers and psychological fear is always welcome, as much as I am easily spooked. Silence of the Lambs is the perfect example. One of my favorites, as well.
If you like psychological thrillers that’ll give you a kick, check out a few other classics: Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn and, of course, Rear Window, one of the greatest thrillers of all time.
Oooooo, I love Audrey Hepburn. I’ve heard of Rear Window, but don’t really know anything about it. Thanks for the suggestions!
I can’t do anything that’s actually scary, so I have to stick to Scream or YA shows like Pretty Little Liars, although that isn’t a movie. I like mysteries & spy movies. That’s as close as I get to horror.
I love crime mystery movies, too. As far as I’m concerned, intense suspense is under the same umbrella as horror.
In general I prefer comedies, but also love psychological thrillers (in fact I love Hitchcock). Classic Horror movies are funny (I mean movies like the first Dracula or the Universal monsters that are not scary at all). I must confess I’ve never seen Kubrick’s “Shining”: when I was a child the posters with Jack Nicholson’s face scared me to death.
The Shining is one of those that I kind of really want to see, but at the same time am really scared to actually watch. Everyone I know who’s seen it, though, has said it’s great.
Toss up between Silence of the Lambs and Silent Hill. Silence is well…Anthony Hopkins as a canibal…They’re really just not going to be able to top that. With Silent Hill, I’ve never played the games, and the only things I know about the games are because of comparisons between the game and movie I’ve read about…but the atmosphere, the grit, the smoke, the various monsters…I thought it was all done beautifully.
My tastes seem similar to yours. I’d say my two favorite “horror” films are “The Birds” and “Carrie.”
I’ve never seen Carrie, but I have seen The Birds. I actually think that film is at least partially responsible for my fear of birds, lol.
I’m not a much of a fan of horrors either but The Birds is one of my top two as is ‘Stay Alive’. Stay alive is basically about a cursed video game and when you die in the game you die the same way you died in the game in real life.
Have you seen When a Stranger Calls?
And I know this isn’t a movie, but have you seen the TV show, American Horror Story? I don’t normally seek out the horror genre (except for the rare exception), whether it’s movies or TV, but AHS is fantastic.
So this Halloween, I don’t have any plans to see any horror films, but I will watch one of my favorite movies ever, Hocus Pocus!
I just watched the Raven and that was creepy! I also like the psychological thrillers.
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
Silence of the lambs definitely…
Anything with mirrors, I don’t like mirrors :-/