My Favorite Scary Movies

Halloween is this week. For me, October is a great opportunity to watch scary movies. Here are some of my favorites. Please feel free to add your own in the Comments section.

But first a little prologue. Halloween is an interesting phenomenon. Like Mardi Gras, it is a secular celebration which is the antithesis of the religious holiday which gave rise to it. Halloween comes from All Hallows Eve. In the Christian tradition, All Saints Day is a hopeful remembrance of those who have died in the faith during the prior year. While the focus is on death, from the Christian perspective, it is really about the triumph of live over death in the promise of the resurrection. Halloween, on the other hand, is about candy (for kids) and partying (for adults) and has overtunes of both flirting with and chasing away evil spirits. Thus, All Saints Day celebrates good spirits, while Halloween focuses on bad spirits (and in many cases the kind of spirits that come in a bottle).

Scary movies fit in with Halloween because they are a case of both flirting with and warding off evil spirits. We watch scary movies because we are fascinated by the unbelievable. Scary movies put ordinary people in situations which require them to accept that the impossible is happening and find the strength to overcome that challenge. There is a darker side of horror which mocks and revels in the suffering of its victims. I don't intentionally watch those movies because they feed on emotions which are sickening. I also don't care for movies which epict evil as omnipotently powerful. However, I don't insist that the hero always survive, because a tragic or heroic death can say something significant about life.

A good scary movie has several elements. One is a challenge arising from an unbelieveable situation. Whether it involves zombies, vampires or chainsaw wielding maniacs, a scary movie has an element which jolts ordinary people out of their comfortable world. Another is a strong hero who overcomes panic to deal with the crisis. While many scary movies have a larger than life villain, this is not a requirement. Some of the best scary movies feature a horrific setup, such as a zombie attack, without a specific bad guy. An added bonus is a movie with really creepy images that prey on our subconscious or a really good tagline. Clowns and things which hide under the bed are a plus.

I have decided to list these in alphabetical order rather than trying to rank them.

28 Days Later (2003)

This is a good breakdown of society movie. Bad scientists experiment with a virus which induces uncontrollable violence in lab monkeys. Animal rights activists liberate the monkeys only to unleash a plague which is spready by being bit by an infected person. Our hero wakes up from a coma 28 days later and realizes that the world he knew no longer exists. He must band together with other survivors to try to escape the hordes of humans who have been turned into flesh-eating monsters. In the end, he finds that the threat from his fellow humans is every bit as dangerous as that from the zombies.

The elements that I really like about this movie are that the central conflict is created by reckless scientific experiements and clueless activists, as well as the contrast between the human and zombie threats. That sounds way too analytic, so I will just add that it is fast-paced and exciting throughout.

Alien (1979)

"In space no one can hear you scream." The line isn't in the movie, but captures the spirit well. This is your basic monster movie in space. Astronauts land on a planet only to find it inhabited by aliens. This one has a great gross-out scene where the alien, having gestated, bursts out of a man's stomach and begins running around. The plot eventually reaches its climax in the battle between the last surviving astronaut, Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver), and the queen alien. One of the best parts of this movie is watching the strong female character fight the alien after all of her shipmates have been slaughtered.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer(1992)

It's hard to take a horror movie about a girl named Buffy too seriously. This one, like Fright Night below, is two parts camp and one part carnage. However, Buffy remains faithful to the basic horror premise. Buffy, a cheerleading, mall-dwelling teen (played by Kristy Swanson) must come to terms wih the fact that her friends are turning up undead and that a creepy old guy wants to train her to be a slayer. After Merrick (the creepy old guy played by Donald Sutherland) is killed, she must team up with an outcast (played by Luke Perry) to face her destiny. The final battle between good and evil occurs fittingly at the prom.

Fright Night (1985)

Fright Night is an updated vampire story that pays homage to teenage boys who spend too much time watching horror movies. Charlie Brewster (played by William Ragsdale) likes staying up late to watch his favorite show "Fright Night." Unfortunately he happens to look at the window to see the new neighbor disposing of a body. Eventually the vampire (Jerry Dandridge played by Chris Sarandon) figures out that Charlie is on to him and pays him a warning call. Charlie enlists the reluctant assistance of Peter Vincent (played by Roddy McDowell), the star of Fright Night, to vanquish the vampire. Vincent takes it all as a joke until he realizes that Jerry the vampire has no shadow. Eventually the cowardly actor and the scared teenager join forces to fight the vampire. This one has a chilling scene where Charlie is locked in a room with his girlfriend who has been bitten by the vampire. He must decide whether to kill her or allow himself to be devoured by the one he loves. Part of the appeal of Fright Night is that it is cleverly written and doesn't take itself too seriously. The movie has some great lines like when Jerry Dandridge saunters out in front of the two terrified vampire hunters and announces, "Welcome to Fright Night--for real." There is also a great line where Peter Vincent holds up a cross to ward off the vampire, who casually knocks it away and sneers, "For it to work on me, you have to have faith."

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Night of the Living Dead is the first and best modern zombie movie. A trip to the cemetary turns gruesome when the dead begin gnawing on the living. Although the zombies stumble about like cubicle workers who haven't had their morning coffee, they are able to catch their victims unaware for the reason that none of the people in this movie have ever seen a zombie movie before. It takes a while for the gathered humans to figure out that being bit by a zombie turns you into one as well. For some reason, the undead only want living flesh. As a result, they are able to grow their numbers exponentially as they feed on their one-time friends and neighbors. Although the movie was filmed in black and white to save money, the film choice helps to heighten the feeling of despair as the shambling hordes surround the living to satisfy their insatiable desire for flesh. The ending is dark as the last survivor of the band is shot by rescuers who mistake him for a zombie.

Poltergeist (1982)

Poltergeist does a masterful job of turning the commonplace into the terrifying. A suburban house is inhabited by vengeful spirits who steal children. A creepy tree reaches through windows, a stuffed clown tries to strangle a boy and a closet contains a vortex. All of these are the stuff of childhood nightmares. Like any good horror movie, it takes a while for the ordinary people to figure what is happening around them, although the cute little girl sees it clearly when she announces, "They're heeere." As the plot develops, it turns out that a greedy company built the subdivision over a graveyard without moving the bodies and that restless spirits who cannot cross over to the other side are trapped below. Although the film is rated a tame PG, most of its impact comes from the psychological, including the theme of an innocent child in peril.

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Like Buffy and Fright Night, this British import is as much of a send-up of its genre than a serious attempt to shock. The gore factor places this one on the horror side of the horror/humor divide but does not take away from the fact that this is a clever, tongue in cheek movie. Shaun is a low level manager at an electronics store whose main passion in life is going to the pub. His lack of ambition causes his girlfriend to drop him. When things start going weird, he is so beat down and lowkey that he hardly notices that people are starting to feast on human flesh. One of the movie's great ironic focuses is that most of the people who turn into zombies were so phlegmatic to begin with that the change doesn't seem very dramatic. Shaun gathers a few friends and family and manages a last stand at the Winchester Pub. Shaun comes alive with purpose as he fights to save his little band. After things return to normal, he goes back to spending much of his time playing video games with his best friend (who is now a zombie but can still work a PS2). The level of gore and the fact that main characters get horribly maimed and killed by the zombies keeps this on the scary side of the humor/horror divide.

The Shining (1980)

The Shining is another movie that creeped me out when I was a teen. I went to see it with friends while my parents were out of town. After I went to bed and was trying to get the movie out of my head, my comrades snuck around and banged on my window causing me to jump out of my skin. If it wasn't for the bracing shock from the practical joke, I probably would not have gotten to sleep that night.

This is the story of a writer who brings his wife and young son to a creepy hotel where he will work as caretaker for the winter. Once it starts to snow, they are cut off from civilization. As the story progresses weird things happen. Ghostly twins appear in the hall, elevators gush buckets of blood and the little boy starts uncontrollably shouting "REDRUM." The wife (Shelley Duvall) realizes that her husband (Jack Nicholson) has gone around the bend when she checks on his manuscript and finds that he has written "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" about a million times. No one does crazy like Jack Nicholson and when he snaps, it is terrifying. The scene where he bashes in the bathroom door with an ax and then announces "Heeere's Johnny" is a classic in horror.

The strength of the movie lies in its long build-up. Weird things happen, but are they real or just the product of an overworked imagination? "REDRUM" and "Heeere's Johnny" are two of the great lines in horror. My personal favorite scary scene is the one where the little boy is riding his big wheel down a long, dark hallway and comes across the ghostly twins. I think of it frequently when I am travelling and have to walk down long, dark hallways to get to my room.

The Sixth Sense (1999)

The Sixth Sense is not a horror movie in the classic sense. It is more of a creepy suspense movie. However, any movie containing the line "I see dead people" belongs on a list of scary movies. This is the story of a child psychologist played by Bruce Willis who must counsel a child who claims to see ghosts. What is worse, the ghosts don't know they are dead. The child convinces the doctor that ghosts are real and are more confused than malevolent. As Bruce Willis becomes obsessed with his patient, his wife grows more distant and fragile. This one has a great twist ending which I won't spoil.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre does not need much introduction. It is a classic of horror. The pseudo-documentary style and low-budget film making gives it an air of authenticity. One of the strengths of this story is Leatherface, the chainsaw wielding villain. There is no backstory, no explanation, just a maniac with a chainsaw who carves up victims for his twisted family to cook as barbecue. This is a dark movie. The scene where one of the girls in the group almost escapes from the cannibals' house only to be captured and hung on a meathook is overpowering in its despair.

Horror Humor:

Although they don't have any genuinely scary parts, the following movies about ghosts, monsters and vampires are just plain fun.

Beetlejuice (1988)

Beetlejuice is a ghost story told from the perspective of the ghosts. When a loving couple is tragically killed, they find themselves trapped in their former home. When truly repulsive owners move in and try to convert their charming farmhouse into an avant garde nightmare, the newly dead try to scare them away with underwhelming results. They call in Beetlejuice the bio-exorcist to rid them of their unwanted guests. Hilarity ensues and dead and living learn to live together in peace and harmony. Michael Keaton plays a totally over the top Beetlejuice, doing Jim Carrey before there was a Jim Carrey.

Ghostbusters (1984)

Ghostbusters is about pseudo-scientists who discover that ghosts really exist and turn ghost containment into a lucrative business. The Ghostbusters are played by Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis at the top of their game. Along the way, they must do battle with the EPA and a demon named Zool. My favorite scene is where Zool threatens to destroy them with whatever they think of and Dan Ackroyd inadvertently thinks of the Sta-Puff Marshmellow Man, leading to a climactic battle with a fluffy but deadly monster.

Love At First Bite (1979)

This is a comedic send-up of the Dracula legend. Communists evict Dracula from his castle, causing him to predict that without him, Transylvania will be as dull as Bucharest on a Monday night. The Count (George Hamilton) and his henchman Renfield (Artie Johnson) travel to America where they try to fit in. The count gets a hangover when he drinks the blood of a wino but finds a love from across the ages when he meets Cindy Sondheim (Susan St. James). A neurotic Dr. Rosenberg/Van Helsing tries to defeat the count with the help of a skeptical detective. In the end, Count Dracula finds true love, Cindy Sondheim pays her bill to Dr. Rosenberg and Dr. Rosenberg and Lt. Ferguson get to share the count's cape.

Young Frankenstein (1974)

This is a Mel Brooks movie so it is over the top in ribald humor. In this story, a descendant of Dr. Viktor Frankenstein returns to Transylvania and takes up his infamous grandfather's experiments. When Igor steals the wrong brain for the creation, the reanimated body proves unstable and deathly afraid of fire. In a pygmalion like moment, the new Dr. Frankenstein unveils his creation to the world in a dance number which is marred by a floodlight which catches on fire. History repeats itself with peasants with pitchforks and torches, but this time the good Doctor manages to fix the imbalance in the monster's brain and two mismatched couples are paired with the proper partners.