I love a good scary movie so when I saw the theme for this week’s Ten on Tuesday I got very excited. Here’s my list of my 10 Favorite Horror Movies, just in time for Halloween.
1. Of course the list has to start with Halloween. Not the umpteen sequels but the first – because it is truly the best. Michael Myers. The name alone gives me the chills.
2. Friday the 13th. Again, the first one. Jason-Jason-Jason-Jason. Arrrrggghhhh.
3. Amityville Horror. The book was scarier than the movie but the movie is still good for a creepy experience.
4. Children of the Corn. Okay, so this one is maybe kind of awful. But Malachi is so vicious and that scene in the coffee shop right at the beginning? Yikes.
5. Dark Night of the Scarecrow. Made for TV and definitely obscure but I still remember watching it when it aired for the first time. Bubba didn’t do it . . . Bubba didn’t do it . . .
6. Psycho. The one, the only. Its a classic and I could watch it over and over again.
7. The Shining. Heeeeeere’s Johnny. ‘Nuff said.
8. The Birds. Another Hitchcock masterpiece. I swear it was on every Sunday afternoon when I was a kid.
9. The Exorcist. This movie scared the crap out of me the first time I saw it. I still won’t watch it if I’m home alone.
10. Silence of the Lambs. I had to include this one for all of us woolly- types.
That’s my list. What movies scare you?
Poltergeist! Just the first one. The other two were silly. I was in high school and went to see Poltergeist with a bunch of friends. I screamed louder than anyone in the movie theater and my friends teased me relentlessly for years!
Aaah! These all scare the crap out of me – I don’t like scary movies any more. Real life is scary enough! Great list, though.
I can’t take scary movies. Suspense, yes. Gore, no. I do remember liking Firestarter though (does that count)?
In Cold Blood. I saw it for the first time when I was 13, while babysitting at a neighbor’s house. Aside from the guilt prompted by the knowledge that there was NO WAY my parents would want me to be watching that movie, it scared the bejeebus out of me. Still does.
The only movie I’ve seen on your list is Psycho. It was bad enough.
Your list could be my list. But I’d have to add the first Nightmare on Elm Street. It scared the crap out of me the first time I saw it. I suppose it didn’t help that I was living in an apartment that was the renovated boiler rooms of an old school…
I’ve seen about half of those but I can’t do scary movies anymore. I think The Shining was the last one I saw… redrum… redrum….
Actually… that was a lie. I just saw one last weekend. Dan made me watch 402 or 1402… whatever it’s called… the one with the hotel room that’s haunted. The first half was scary but then it just got stupid. Still… I made him go to bed with me and usually I let him fall asleep and haul upstairs so I can get to sleep before the snoring starts. lol.
Love your list! Salem’s Lot, Cujo — pretty much any Stephen King movie. But to be honest, I’d rather read a scary book that see a scary movie. There’s something much more scary about my imagination I guess!
The Ring, which oddly didn’t scare me when I first saw it, but I’ve seen it a couple of times since, and even knowing what’s going to happen, it gives me the chills.
The Blair Witch Project. {shiver}
I’m not crazy about scary movies, especially since the ones today are more gore than anything. However, there are a few that have scared the pajebbers out of me…one of which is Stephen King’s IT! I’ll never see clowns the same way again.
I LOVE the old classics, but my FAVORITE shows my twisted mind–“Young Frankenstein”! We watch it every Halloween night.
I am not a fan of today’s kind of scary movies….too twisted. The scariest movie I think I ever watched was one of the Halloween movies and the Birds. Those were scary enough to last me a lifetime. Give me a good Bee movie instead…grin.
Dark Night of the Scarecrow! Ha! My hubby always told me about that one and we watched it for the first time a few years ago. I never knew what he meant when he would say “Bubba didn’t do it………..” until I watched it 🙁
One that scares the daylights out of me still – When a Stranger Calls. I didn’t want to babysit for a while after seeing that one!
When I was little there was a show called “Creature Features” on local tv and they had horror movies every weekend. My sister and I loved “The House on Haunted Hill” with Vincent Price. Your list is quite complete!
I was young when I saw the Birds. I remember being so scared I was afraid to go to sleep. Alfred Hitchcock is a master of scary.
I won’t watch today’s “scary” movies, too much gore, but I do like the original Halloween and pretty much anything Hitchcock (master of subtlety; you don’t see much of that in today’s horror movies).
When I was in kindergarten or first grade (in Catholic school) they set everyone up in the cafeteria to watch “Fantastic Voyage” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060397/ . It scared the daylights out of me. To this day I can remember the part where the guy was swallowed by the white blood cell.
Our Wedding Video!!!!!!!
OK, only kidding, you know mine anyways, “Night Of The Living Dead.” Happy Halloween!
Child’s Play scared me to death. I didn’t want to sleep in a room with my dolls after that.
And Pet Cemetery. That movie was just wrong.
I remember a movie when I was little (and why in the world my parents watched it with me in the room is beyond my comprehension) called Dead Heat. In one scene they are in a butcher shop and all of the hanging meat comes back to life. It was super scary as a kid.
Good list!! I saw The Shining for the first time last year… very scary! I still refuse to watch The Exorcist.
I stay away from these types of movies as I would not be able to sleep after – my parents took me to see Poltergeist when I was a kid, I think the week it came out, and I didn’t sleep for a week as there was a big tree outside my bedroom window – that was enough scary for me for a lifetime. (yes, I laugh about it now!!!)
“Carrie” always scared the daylights out of me. And I loved it that the head cheerleader and quarterback got it in the end.
The only scary movie I’ve seen is Psycho. It was our first date, a free movie screened by the student union at the University of Iowa. I’m not much of a scary movie gal, but that one holds a soft spot in my heart.
I agree with Amy about The Ring. I slept with the closet light on after seeing that movie. Halloween is my favorite though.
I don’t do scary movies. I saw about half of Jaws (during the other half I saw the gum stuck to the floor of the theater) when I was about 15. The only one on your list that I’ve seen is Silence of the Lambs, which I don’t think of as a horror movie because 1) it has an actual plot apart from “there’s a madman after us, it’s dark outside, and we don’t know our way around? I’ve got a great idea: let’s go skinny-dipping!” 2) Hopkins and Foster are such great actors. Oh, and I did see The Birds at summer camp a million years ago. Ick.
Poltergeist is one of the few horror movies I’ll watch – my imagination is way too active for horror movies. ;o)
err, scary movies and me?? not so much.
I’ve seen a couple of the ones you listed, but that was a long time ago, and I don’t do ‘really scary’ anymore.
Glad you enjoy them 🙂
I’m not a big scary movie fan. I thought Friday the 13th was funny (in a camp way – maybe because we watched it at camp and were in a silly mood). And there is no way I will ever, ever watch the Exorcist – just reading the book freaked me out! I had to watch the Blair Witch Project with my eyes closed (the handheld camera action was making me nauseous.
I prefer scary books to scary movies. The Birds gave me nightmares after I saw it as a child.
I’m such a chicken sh!t that I swear commercials this time of year freak me out.
And A. Hitchcock, anything by him is frightful. I still get chills whenever I see a big group of black birds.
I think I love your Dale. He’s a hoot!
I don’t mind scary movies, but I do like them to have a plot. I watched the remake of House on Haunted Hill last night while knitting. The sequel, Return to yatta, put me to sleep. Yes, I’m a freak, but you knew that. :p
Have to say Blair Witch Project, hokey as it was, did it to me. Too much real life similarities: woods, basements, evil things you can’t see that will GET you.
OH, god both Friday the 13th (original) and Amityville the book FREAKED me out.
Okay, scary in a different way. We just Netflixed (a new verb) The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. I was in the 7th grade when this aired (1976). I had hoped for some cute, nostalgic television show to share with my 15 year old and 9 year old. Geez, it’s SCARY that this was called entertainment. Scariest thing I’ve seen in a long time!
One that gave me nightmares for the longest time was Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Even though the song written for it was a Top 10 tune waaay back then even it would trigger bad dreams. Needless to say, I don’t do scary very well – to vivid an imagination.
That Dale. Such a funny guy!
Sans doubt, The Night of the Living Dead.
I live alone so I hate scary movies! I was in high school, still living with my parents, when I first saw The Exorcist. I had to sleep with the light on for weeks afterwards!
I forgot about When A Stranger Calls – I would have added that to my list! Otherwise my list is close to yours – except Blair Witch Project freaks me out every time. I live in the woods and this time of year, when we are out walking, Hubby never fails to mention – “Wow this looks like Blair Witch Project” because he knows how much it gets in my head. I usually return the favor by having a nsaty nightmare, wake up screaming and then he can’t get back to sleep either!
I dont watch Scary movies. I am a wimp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
28 Days Later. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should watch it the next time it comes on TV. Maybe not at night, though.
Ring (the original Japanese version, not the remake) and its sequel and prequel (I first watched Ring with no subtitles, and a friend translating: ‘she’s saying aaargh aaargh, no, don’t’ YES I think I get that!). And the other one I still have the heebie jeebies about is Candyman *shudder*. I’m still trying to get up the nerve to watch Mirror – anyone know if it’s worth it?
Has anyone seen “Wait Until Dark” with Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin? Now that’s a good old-fashioned scary movie without the gore.
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