There's no better time to watch scary movies than Halloween. Josh and I love scary movies, but you wouldn't know that because I've perfected the art of simultaneously shutting my ears and covering my eyes with my hands. The best movies terrifies me to the point of sleeping with the lights on or makes me think about it for days after. Don't call us movie experts, but we know what we like. So here it is, our favorite scary movies to watch for Halloween or anytime after!
C L A S S I C
Movies we've grown up watching. There's a lot of bad ones out there so I've tried to only pick the best.
The Shining. "Danny is not here, Mrs. Torrance." If you haven't seen this before you'll either love me or hate me. It's one of those psychological movies where you don't really know what exactly is happening, but one thing's for sure -- you don't want to stay at the Overlook Hotel.
The Thing. I've actually never seen this one, it's Josh's pick. He explains to me that the way the Thing plays with who can trust who is fantastic. Plus he loves the awesome monster design.
Nightmare on Elm Street. This movie gave us one of the baddest villains of all, Freddy Krueger. His Edward Scissorhands-like gloves matched with his creepy smile has given us all a reason not to sleep. Which is exactly what he wants...
Silence of the Lambs. Speaking of bad villains we get TWO of them in this movie. Anthony Hopkins plays Dr. Hannibal Lecter who gives off the sense of menacing with just a single look. I read somewhere that he doesn't actually blink in this movie (except for one time someone discovered and posted on YouTube).
U N I Q U E
Creative movies that don't follow the "horror" movie norms.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night. Strikingly beautiful scenes! It's almost like a love story or a coming of age tale with an unlikely twist. The only downside is it's a bit long, but honestly the visuals are damn good that I didn't mind.
Nightmare Before Christmas. This movie is veering on the edge of classic. A fun stop motion animation by Tim Burton that combines that best of Halloween and Christmas. If the song, "This is Halloween," is not stuck in your head after the movie, I guess you just have to watch it again.
Trick 'r Treat. I have a thing for interwoven movies where they are able to tie in all the stories in inventive ways. The takeaway of this story is follow Halloween traditions or meet a cute child with a burlap sack head.
Grave Encounters. Looking at pictures and reading the synopsis you wouldn't think this was very unique. But trust me, unlike other scary movies this one actually doesn't give you time to settle and take a breather. Once things start happening it doesn't stop. I almost categorized this as "So Scary You'll Need to Hide Under Something... Anything." But I scare easy so that may not apply to everyone.
T H R I L L E R
Movies with so much suspense and questions that you can't stop watching.
The Wailing. A South Korean film about a police detective who is investigating why so many strange occurrences keep happening in his village. This movie will make you question who is the bad guy? Who can we trust? What is going on?
The Strangers. Reasons why this is so freaking terrifying. 1) Based on a true story. 2) The masks. 3) What did the couple do to deserve this?! 4) How did they get inside?! 5) Did I mention it's based on a true story!?!
Sinister. Movie about lost footage, a mastermind using children, and a never ending cycle. Even if you don't like this movie, you'd probably agree that Bughuul looks terrifying. The ending was great. I jumped a lot throughout this movie. I kept having to close my eyes and tell Josh to describe what's happening.
P S Y C H O L O G I C A L
In my opinion, the best scary movies. Ones that will make you want to look it up online and see what everyone thinks. Ones that you tell your friends about so you have someone to discuss it with. Ones that just make your brain hurt when you start thinking about it days, weeks, months, years later.
Triangle. Don't looks this up online yet! Just watch it. Know that it's about a couple of friends that go on a Yacht looking to have a great time. You aren't going to guess the twist of this movie. If you do, you're a genius! It's so good I got chills. Plus a baby-faced Liam Hemsworth is in it!
Jacob's Ladder. Josh's pick. I actually haven't seen this movie before and he told me it's best to watch it without looking up the synopsis or anything else online. The reason he likes it is because it's a roller coaster ride of what the hell is going on. It's a good mind trip with a really unique story. I'll trust him on that!
Skeleton Key. I know I know, this has horrible ratings. But the ending is just too good for me to leave this out. I watched this when I was in high school unable to drive so I had to walk home from the movies after seeing this and having goosebumps the whole way. I actually haven't seen it since then, but I just remember the ending and the feeling of being so angry and helpless!
Exam. My friends and I picked this movie because there were tons of people in it and it fit with our game of picking a person in the movie to be and pretending like we're them. If they die we died, if they kissed a character in the movie that means we kissed our friend, etc. etc. It may be stupid but it makes bad movies fun to watch. In this case, we were expecting it to be bad but it was surprisingly really interesting. There's only one question. Can you guess it?
D I S A P P O I N T I N G
Some of these are critically acclaimed movies, some have a cult following, and some are visually pleasing -- but all have made me feel really sad that it wasn't great. I know I'll get backlash over this because they are pretty popular, but to me they weren't worth watching.
Babadook. Probably the most popular and most liked. For reasons I don't understand. I think I laughed more than I got scared. I understand that it's likely a metaphor for depression or anxiety, but I don't think it did the job. The overall aesthetic was great and the book was scary. But the monster itself wasn't scary, more like a cartoon, and the ending/resolution felt gimmicky.
Houses October Built. One of the least known and low rated movies on this list. I just wanted it to be good because the storyline seemed really interesting -- a couple of friends visit different haunted houses and document it. There were even incredible and terrifying costumes! Nothing really happens throughout the movie and it left me wanting more.
Hush. Another really amazing storyline, one that I haven't heard of before -- a deaf woman is terrorized by a killer in her home. You just want to root for her in the beginning of the movie, but throughout she keeps failing and then you're at the point where it's like "come on, can you do it already?" in a very anxious way.
Purge. I had high hopes for this movie, I really did. So much could happen during a purge. It's a horror fest waiting to happen. But my eagerness kept dying scene after scene. One thing I hated -- possible SPOILER ALERT -- is when the characters continually saved each other by appearing out of no where and shooting the person in the back of the head. How many times did they do that to the point of annoyance? Something like 3 times in a row.
It Follows. A killer sexually-transmitted monster. The ending wasn't satisfying. My biggest question is why is everyone naked? Second question is what is that futuristic-mirror shell phone that sister had? Honestly, what time period is this?
So what do you all think? What's your favorite scary movies? Do you agree/disagree with my lists? ☺
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