Halloween Top 10: (Some of) My Favorite Horror Films

Hello fellow bloggers/readers! Halloween is about a week away and I thought it would be fun to celebrate by sharing a list of some of my top 10 horror movies ever! It was really hard to pick and choose the movies for this list. Being an avid horror movie fanatic, I have watched many horror movies over the years. To make this list more interesting I added movies from three categories:

– Black & White Films

– Classics

– Foreign Horror Films

– Newer films

I really hope you enjoy these picks!

1) Psycho (1960)

A horror classic and it’s a Hitchcock film (he is a genius)! While I did enjoy Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds”, “Psycho” is ten times more amazing. The film stars two fantastic actors, Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. Based on the novel of the novel of the same name, film follows Marion Crane who is on the run after embezzling money from her employer. While trying to flee she runs ends up at a motel where she meets the mysterious and creepy, Norman Bates.

The film is not only a classic for fans of the horror genre, but cinematically it has so many great features. Though the budget for the film wasn’t very high, the acting is what makes the movie so entertaining. The suspense builds throughout the entire film keeping viewers on edge until the final scene. And who can forget that infamous shower scene? The first time I watched that movie that scene stuck with me and terrified me for weeks.

2) House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Alright! Love Vincent Prince in this movie, plus he’s one of my favorite classic actors. This is the original version, not the crappy remake version from 1999 (although that remake is nearly as bad as some of the others I’ve seen nowadays). Vincent Price plays a millionaire who invites a variety of different people over to his enormous mansion. Whoever can stay through the entire night gets $100,000. The catch? They’re already trapped inside the mansion.

So this movie is somewhat scary and some of the jump scares/scary tactics are kind of ruined by the low-budget effects (being able to see the wires on the skeletons chasing people). But the movie is still awesome for having a good cast of actors and that classic eeriness. It has a great suspense factor and viewers are entertained by seeing who will actually survive the night by the mansion’s evil doings or die by the hands of greedy contestants who want to win the prize money.

3) Carrie (1976)

This is the original version of the film not the recent remake in 2013. This film stars Sissy Spacek, as the main role of Carrie, and Piper Laurie as her mother. Based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, the film follows Carrie, a shy high school girl who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who torment her.

I can not honestly stress how amazing Spacek is in this movie! Her acting along with Laurie’s really pull viewers into the story and make you feel for Carrie and resent her mother. High school is usually a hard time for many different reasons. But Carrie has got it bad. Unpopular and has supernatural powers? Jeez. The scene where she gets her revenge is terrifying, but despite the horrible things she does to get back at her classmates I actually rooted for her. I also felt a tremendous amount of guilt for the suffering she went through. But man is that prom scene epic!

4) The Conjuring (2013)

One of the newer movies on my list! And this scared the crap outta me, literally I was like….

And I will tell you takes A LOT of freaky stuff to happen in horror movies to scare me that bad. Those jump scares were intense. Back to the plot, the movie is based on true events that paranormal experts Ed and Lorraine Warren experienced during the case. The story follows the Perron family who seek out the Warrens for help after they experiencing increasingly disturbing events in their farmhouse.

The movie isn’t gory, but it is straight up horror. It also star Vera Farmiga, who acts in one of my favorite shows, Bates Motel. That Anabelle doll scared me so bad. Basically the moral of the story: check a house’s history before you buy it and move into it.

5) The Haunting of Connecticut (2009)

Another “we moved into a haunted house and didn’t know” movie. This film is also based on true events and is more of a psychological horror film, which makes it really interesting to watch. The story follows the Campbell family as they move into a new house (actually a former mortuary) to be closer to medical treatments for cancer-stricken son, Matthew. After discovering out what they house formerly was used as they soon become haunted by supernatural forces in the house.

This movie is not only entertaining from the psychological horror standpoint, but also because it’s got that thriller aspect as well. You and the characters in the film are working to unravel the mysteries of the house and evil spirits. Some of the scenes are very eerie as well.

Again why does nobody check the house history before moving in?!! I don’t want to live with ghosts!

6) 1408 (2007)

Another psychological horror film! This movie stars John Cusack, but Samuel L. Jackson plays a small role in the movie as well. Cusack’s character in the film is a writer who covers stories about the freaky and supernatural. He travels around the country, stays in haunted places, and then writes books about them. Only catch is, he doesn’t believe in ghosts. He comes across an article about the notorious, haunted room “1408”, located in a New York Hotel. He decides to stay the night and ends up getting more than he bargained for.

This movie had great suspense and will keep you on edge as you watch the movie. At first the hotel room seems normal, but then weird and creepy things start to happen. The events that happen to the main character continue to escalate through the film and you actually sit and wonder if the room is actually haunted or is Cusack’s character just losing his mind?

7) Shutter (2004)

Moving into the genre of Asian horror films, “Shutter” is one of the most well-known horror films that I highly recommend. Yes, there was a remake of this movie in America, but it was kind of crappy compared to the original. “Shutter” is a Thai horror film that focuses on mysterious images seen in developed pictures. After the two main characters accidentally hit a girl in the road and drive off without seeing if she was okay, weird things start happening. Ghosts start showing up in their pictures, and the two characters believe it is the ghost of the girl they hit.

This film was so creepy. It got some of the standards in Asian horror films: pale girl with long black hair and a vengeful ghost. But it does separate itself from the rest with the haunted pictures concept and the thriller factor that is evident in the film. Not only is the main ghost scary, but I also love the mystery that unravels as the film goes on.

8) Cinderella (2006)

This ain’t no fairy tale, so please don’t mistake it for a happy Disney film. The film focuses on the concept of plastic surgery and constantly trying to improve looks. Yoon-hee is a successful plastic surgeon who conducts plastic surgery operations on her daughter, Hyeon-su, and friends. Then sinister things start to occur and every friend of Hyeon-su who has received plastic surgery starts to have terrible things happen to them. It soon becomes clear the mother is hiding a dark past.

This movie was kind of extreme. If you can’t handle gore of any kind I don’t recommend watching this movie at all. I enjoyed the film’s take on the topic plastic surgery and the consequences of beauty. Though the film was very good, I’ll admit some parts were a bit unsettling to watch, but nothing too horrible. It’s definitely scary and has lots of mystery packed into the plot. The only negative thing I’ll say about this film is that the ending was a bit puzzling for me and I wasn’t completely sure of what exactly happened the first time I watched it.

9)  A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

For the last Asian horror film pick I chose one of the most well received and fan favorite films. A “Tale of Two Sisters” is categorized as a psychological horror film and is definitely (to me) more of a thriller film. It starts one my favorite Korean actresses, Moon Geun-Young, who does a terrific job at acting in this role. The story follows two sisters who, after returning home from a psychiatric hospital, experience increasingly disturbing events involving both them and their stepmother.

This is probably one of my top favorite Korean horror films of all time. It does have a ton of horror elements, but by far, I think it’s one of the most suspenseful horror movies on this list. The cast of actors and actresses are amazing in this movie and they really pull the viewer into the story.  The ending is shocking, and totally unexpected.

10) Halloween (1978)

And last, but not least we have “Halloween”, which has one of the most notorious horror figures ever! “Halloween” is about the story of Michael Myers who murders his older sister by stabbing her with a kitchen knife. Fifteen years later, he escapes from a psychiatric hospital, returns home, and stalks teenager, Laurie Strode, and her friends.

This film I recognized as one the most classic slasher horror movies ever. Myers gives me the chills every time I watch this movie. He always wears that creepy white  mask, and no matter how fast his victims run, he always manages to catch them! Jamie Lee Curtis, another one of my favorite actresses, also stars in this movie. There are 8 or 9 “Halloween” films out there I think. But the first film, is the best out of all the sequels and remakes.

 

And that concludes my list! I wanted to add a lot more, but here is just of small selection of the horror films I enjoy. I really hope you enjoy my picks! What are some of your favorite horror films? Comment below! 😀

*Post title graphics were created with PicMonkey

THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.