Although I don’t tend to restrict my horror movie
consumption to only October (I’m a year round ghoul). There are many people who
like to get their spook on during the Halloween season.
Since I am a bit of a horror movie buff I do get asked for
recommendations quick a lot so I decided I would share my wealth of horror
knowledge with you all. Below is my top 5 horror movies (in no specific order). Enjoy!
The shining
Originally a novel from one of the masters of horror fiction
Stephen King, the shining is the big screen adaptation directed by the great
Stanley Kubrick. Starting Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, this film tells
the tale of the Torrance family’s experience in the haunted Overlook hotel
during a secluded winter. Since the film was made in 1980, there is no CGI or
spectacular special effects. It does however focus on building suspense as
Jacks mind starts to unravel and his son Danny discovers an unusual talent.
Texas chainsaw massacre (1974)
For me the original will always out shine the remake and the
reason is simple ... fear. While the remake is good and has the added advantage
of CGI, it focuses of gore for the shock factor. The original however is all
about the suspension and it gets you every time. Taking inspiration from real
life serial killer Ed Gein, this film tells the story of group of friends who
run into a psychotic killer family in the middle of farmlands (read nowhere),
spear headed by the iconic “leatherface” who wields a chainsaw and has a
predilection for wearing (and eating) human flesh.
Ringu
Long before Naomi Watts was being traumatised by the creepy
girl in the well, the original Japanese version was scaring the living poop out
of kids not just in Japan but internationally via VHS imports (ironically). The
story is there is a ‘haunted’ tape that curses the viewer to see disturbing
images in the run up to a terrifying death within 7 days. To me the original is
so much scarier than the ring remake, purely because the suspense, the low
budget and not understanding the language first hand (there are subtitles) all
coming together to terrify you. You’ll never look at a VHS tape the same way again.
Silence of the lambs
While I wouldn’t technically class this as a horror, others
beg to differ and it’s such a good film that it has to be included. Based on
the novel by Thomas Harris, SOTL follows the story of a young FBI agent in
training, Clarrice Starling and her assignment to catch the serial killer
dubbed “Buffalo Bill”. When she’s asked to enlist the help of a brilliant
psychiatrist turned cannibalistic killer Dr Hannibal Lecter, things start to
unravel as he agrees to help in exchange for her participation in his twisted
mind games. I’d say it’s more of a psychological thriller that dips it’s toe in
the horror pool but none the less it’s not hard to see why this movie won multiple
Oscars. Anthony Hopkins plays Lecter so well that you actually begin to care
for such an intelligent sociopathic killer.
Sinister
Now. For me the recent bout of horror movies have been a little bit of a let down. I had high hopes for a few but i found them too predictable. One exception to this is the Sinister film. Although the sequel wasn't as bad as i had thought, for me the first one gave me serious goosebumps. The store follows a family who are moving into their new house. Unknown to all (apart from the real crime author dad) the house was actually the scene of a gruesome murder/kidnapping of the previous family. As the story continues and the dad does some research for his next book he finds out that the house and its history have a rather sinister past ... see what i did there :)
What would you say are your top 5 horror movies? Leave your recommendations in the comments below :)
