To state the obvious, “Beetlejuice” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas” are not horror movies or even slightly scary to anyone over the age of 6. Tim Burton, who directed both, contributed a genuine classic horror film with “Sleepy Hollow” (1999) and Walt Disney gave us the single scary animated Halloween classic, the “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” half of “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad.” Burton borrowed/celebrated several sequences from that 1949 masterpiece (wonderfully narrated and sung by Bing Crosby, who didn’t make the “Greatest Vocalists” list). I watch the Disney movie every Halloween without fail, and unlike many of the movies on Rotten Tomato’s “watchlist,” it impresses me every time I see it.
“”Friday the 13th” is junk, a rip-off of “Halloween” with a big scare at the end that had already been introduced by “Carrie” (why isn’t that far better horror film on the list?”), and marred by several amateurish performances, but OK, I’ll grant it “classic” status. Grudgingly. But with that exploitive B movie stinking up the list, it is impossible to justify the absence of any of the science fiction horror genre classics. Where are “Alien” and John Carpenter’s “The Thing”? What about Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds”?
And zombies! The absence of a single zombie movie when zombies have overrun the horror genre is just weird. There may be no horror movie more deserving of “classic” status than George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead”(1968). You want fast zombies? Fine: the remake of Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” (2004) and Brad Pitt’s “World War Z” (2013) are both scary and superb. I’d rate “Dawn of the Dead” ahead of any film on the Rotten Tomatoes list other than “The Exorcist,” “The Shining,” and maybe “Poltergeist.”
The shut-out of monster movies is similarly damning. Both the first “King Kong” (1933) and the elaborate re-make by Peter Jackson are classics, especially the original. Heck, “Jaws” (1975) had people terrified of the ocean for a whole summer: I witnessed a “Jaws”-style panic on Cape Cod when a few dolphins stampeded bathers out of the surf on Cape Cod.
As you can already tell, I could go on for days. Without pretending that such a list could ever be complete, here are some of my favorite horror movies that should be on any Halloween “watchlist,” in no particular order, some in particular categories:
- “The Howling” ( 1981) Best werewolf movie!
- “The Changeling” (1980) and “Exorcist III” (Best George C. Scott horror films)
- “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992) and the original “Dracula” with Bela Lugosi.
- “Sinister” (2012)
- “The Conjuring” (2013)
- “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)
- “It Follows” (2014)
- “Joy Ride (2001) Best crazy trucker movie!
- “The Haunting” (1963)
- “Scream” (1996) Best horror-comedy hybrid, but “Re-Animator” (1985) is really good.
- “The Mist” (2007) Best “Oops! We opened the door to parallel universe!” movie.
Happy Halloween!
These almost need their own subcategory.
Slashers
Jump Scares
Psychological horror
Supernatural
Monsters
Infection/Zombie
Child-appropriate (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus)
Seems like you could do a top 10 for each.
Confession: I almost did, but it would have taken all day. I’d put “Infection” in a separate category. Then there are hybrids that defy categorization like “The Cabin in the Woods.” Comedy-Horror that has genuine horror (unlike the Scary Movie franchise): “Eight-legged Freaks” and the whole “Scream” franchise. The Child-Appropriate category is interesting: I’d put all the “Abbott and Costello Meet..” series in there. The first “Little Shop” too.
I don’t care for the horror genre at all. It gives me nightmares, even if it’s stupid. I remember watching Nightmare on Elm Street (the first one) and thinking how bad the whole thing was, and having nightmares for like 2 weeks straight. Since then, I’ve largely avoided it.
I really only watch what my wife watches with the kids, which was largely the following:
Nightmare Before Christmas
Halloween Town
Hocus Pocus
Casper
Corpse Bride
Coraline
The Great Pumpkin: Charlie Brown
Labyrinth (Is this Halloweenie? IDK)
When they got older, we have done:
Ghostbusters
Adams Family
Goosebumps
This year the younger one wants to watch Poltergeist. I think I’m out on that one. Maybe I’ll have him revisit my childhood trauma on The Secret of NIMH instead.
I remember watching Nightmare on Elm Street (the first one) and thinking how bad the whole thing was, and having nightmares for like 2 weeks straight.
If a a horror movie gives you nightmares for weeks, then that very fact testifies to the quality of the horror movie. A good horror movie is supposed to have a visceral on its public. Nightmares, people running out of the theater screaming or puking, fainting…that kind of stuff.
Hocus Pocus (just the first one) is actually one of my all time favorite modern Halloween comedy movies, it’s certainly in my overall personal top ten for Halloween.
Not a big horror film fan, although I think I’ve seen a surprising number of the films you mention (vs only 4 or 5 of the ‘list’).
I don’t recall if I’ve seen “The Thing”, but I have read John Campbell’s story, which it is based on, several times and it is definitely a classic. One can only wonder what Campbell might have achieved had he stayed a writer rather than becoming an editor. Of course, the science fiction genre might have then been stunted in its adolescence.
Likewise “The Excorcist”. I do recall seeing this movie at least once, but I’ve read the book several times — it is quite good. I think I’ve still got a copy upstairs somewhere.
Did they ever make a movie out of Stephen King’s “‘Salem’s Lot”? I read it when it came out, and it kept me awake at night.
Also, wouldn’t “The Stand” qualify as a horror story? Or is there a specific sub-genre for tales like that — a powerful, evil magician/king, with a group of adventurers persevering through incredible odds and horrors to defeat him or her. It’s a common theme — I just finished re-reading Gail Z. Martin’s “Chronicles of the Necromancer” with that sort of theme.
Did they ever make a movie out of Stephen King’s “‘Salem’s Lot”? I read it when it came out, and it kept me awake at night.
Two mini-series, and the first, in which Mr.Barlow looked like Nosferatu, was excellent. Also “The Stand” has only been a miniseries, also twice.
Both “The Think From Another World” and Carpenter’s “The Thing” were based on Campbell’s “Who Goes There,” but the Carpenter version is more faithful to the story.
“The Thing” is often mentioned today as one of the greatest horror films of all time, especially in the subgenre of body horror. It was a flop at the box office. The film was published during the early years of the Reagan administration, and the public desired to see some lighter films after all the dark film of the 1970s. Films like E.T. was what the public wanted to see.
This example illustrates that valuation of movies fluctuates over time, limiting the value of any greatest of all time list.
I remember those reviews: they said it was too scary The same thing happened with the original Black Christmas. Tne reviews said it was too disturbing, mad “Psycho” look like Bambi. My sister and I went to the film the weekend it came out. People were screaming in the theater. My sister, who was in law school at the time, had nightmares for weeks, and was furious at me for taking her.
The problem is that few film reviewers are qualified to or have the range of taste to review all genres. Most look down on horror movies. If Kubrick or Spielberg or Hitchcock does one, then that’s different. In theater, I found the same problem with musicals. Most reviewers were just ignorant about the genre, music, text setting, everything.
What’s “body horror”? Never heard of that before. It’s science fiction horror with a possession feature. Would The Exorcist be “body horror”? “Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde”? Sounds like something they made up to justify “The Substance.”
Body horror (or biological horror) is a subgenre of horror fiction where the terror comes from the grotesque, unnatural, or unwanted transformation, decay, and violation of the physical body.
Examples are “The Thing” from Carpenter, “The Fly” from Cronenberg, and “The Substance” with Demi Moore a couple of years ago. “Frankenstein” may be the earliest precursor of body horror, but David Cronenberg is consider the master of the genre with “The Fly” and “Videodrome”. The “Exorcist” falls more in the occult/satanic genre.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_horror
“The “Exorcist” falls more in the occult/satanic genre.” Why any more than “The Thing” falls in the science fiction horror category, or the monster from outerf space category? Not to quibble, but this is academic sophistry. Is “Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde” “body horror”? (I put it in the “Mad Scientist” genre, along with “Frankenstein” How about “Death Becomes Her”?
Wouldn’t you think that “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” would qualify for this genre, at least as much as “The Thing”.
Yes, and so would vampire movies, zombie movies and werewolf movies.
Genres overlap. A movie can be both science fiction and horror.
Assigning a genre to a work of art has arbitrary aspects. I tend to pay attention to the wisdom I find at Wikipedia and other sources on the topic.
Identifying Nosferatu and Dracula as “vampire movies” tells me as interested viewer more about what I can expect as when you call these movies “body horror” (ideal Halloween movies, why are they not on the list?).
Zombie movies are not body horror, as zombies are undead, and body horror involved gradual and dreadful physical transformation of people who are alive and mentally well. (Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, also missing from the Halloween list. Shame!)
A few minor quibbles:
Yes, Hereditary definitely belongs on the list—I found it so disturbing, especially the protagonist sawing her own head off—that I may never watch it again. “The Witch” is also too creepy for me, but yes, it’s a classic.
The comedy/horror hybrids are a tough group. If the balance isn’t exactly right, the whole thing seems off: “American Horror Story” nails that, I think. I should watch AWWIL again..last few times I decided it was too jokey. (“Are you going to eat that?”)
Yeah, it is a bit jokey but I think the jokes land. “Have you ever tried talking to a corpse? It’s boring!” I rewatched it a few weeks ago and, until then, never picked up on the overt “Jewish otherness” theme throughout. It’s not important but it was definitely deliberate.
I think the first “The “Evil Dead” movie belongs on some list. It also tilted towards comedy/horror, and went full bore for that in the sequels. “The Cabin in the Woods” is its direct descendent.
Maybe “Cloverfield” could find a spot on a list somewhere, too, as a grandchild of “Godzilla“.
(The first movie I have a definite memory of seeing is the first American release of Godzilla…watched in my pajamas in the back seat of my parents’ car at a drive-in.)
I left out the Paranormal Activity movies, and shouldn’t have; at least the first is a classic. I agree with “Cloverfield. In fact, the discovered footage films do deserve their own sub-genre. “Quarantine” is excellent.
The list skews heavily to slasher movies that were popular in the 1970s and 1980s. I liked these movies when I was a teenager, or in my early twenties. That age category is also the target audience of the movie.
Already mentioned, old movies are missing. But newer movies are missing as well. I did not see any movie that was made in this century, or even in the 1990s.
Foreign movies are missing from the list as well, e.g. Japan has a thriving horror scene.
And US versions of Japanese horror movies, notably “The Grudge.”
Why do we need to remake foreign films for the US market? In general, why do we need remakes? In some cases the remake is a worthy addition to the original, e.g. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and Werner Herzog’s “Nosferatu” but often I prefer the original.
The other thing I question is the phenomenon of franchises. Halloween, Friday 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street all ran out of gas, and/or contained real stinkers.
1. Remake them if the US audience will enjoy the film more in a US setting and without dubbing or subtitles. Remake them if the US director has a different take and vision.”Quarentine” is a US remake of a Spanish horror film, but I like it better because it’s moved to New York. Heck, Dracula was a remake of Nosferatu…
2. We don’t need remakes, unless they add something to the original. The remake of “Poltergeist” was pointless; so was the shot for shot remake of “Psycho.” I’d like to see a remake of “The Birds” with current special effects so the only killer birds in the movies weren’t gulls, crows and sparrows. “The Thing” is technically a remake of Hawks’ movie, but they are completely different.
3. Several of the “Scream” sequels have been good, especially the first two.
I don’t watch scary movies – reality is scary enough for me! So out of that list I’ve only seen 4. Poltergeist rates a special creepy rating from me – since I’ve read that in the pool scene they actually used real skeletons to create the dead bodies (and didn’t tell the cast!).
I find slasher movies boring. I never thought of King Kong with Fay Ray or Jessica Lange in the horror category. Where was the Murnau’s Nosferatu? IMHO the original black and white monster movies are still far mor entertaining than a movie that relies on Gore. Silence of the Lambs proves that you do not need gallons of fake blood to give people a bad case of the Hebbie Jebbies. Night of the living Dead is one of my favorites but one can dismiss the idea of the dead coming to life. What is horrifying is that movies like The Purge are somewhat prescient given the prevalence of belief that some people should be killed as a matter of policy. The social reaction to the killing of the health care executive and sympathy for those who commit heinous crimes is enough to give anyone nightmares.
William Castle films were not even considered. His innovation of the “percepto” device gave theater patrons a spine tingling sensation.
Well, let’s not forget Homer Simpson’s nomination:
[Homer is a limo driver]Homer: Oh wow, I can’t believe my first passenger is comedy legend Mel Brooks. You know that movie, Young Frankenstein? Scared the hell out of me.
Mel Brooks: Umm, thanks.
-Jut
Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane
The Amityville Horror
Rosemary’s Baby
I think both “Amityville Horror” films are lousy, but the other three, especially #1, belong.
Movie productions from the early days were overwrought, perhaps because so many of the actors came from the stage. I do appreciate the talent and the use of special effects to create wonderful drama and fear, but I rarely watch those moovies any more.
The King Kong remake by Peter Jackson is really wonderful. World War Z is particularly frightening since it seems plausible – my favorite zombie movie, followed closely by Warm Bodies, which is actually not really scary at all, but quite funny with an adorable Teresa Palmer, the always loveable John Malkovich and a very grown-up Nicholas Hoult. Slasher movies are not really my thing.
I apologize to our esteemed host for not keeping up with my required Ethics Alarms readings. I love a good “Movie Discussion” post.
As our host knows a bit about my personal side based on FB connection – I’ve been on a classic movie kick lately. Great movies that I’ve never seen. Legitimately, I had never seen an Alfred Hitchcock movie. Now I’ve seen quite a few. They’re generally fantastic but I did find Vertigo to be a bit self-indulgent.
What Jack stumbled onto in my FB is that I had watched On the Waterfront on October 9th for the first time. Eva Saint Marie and Marlon Brando. What I didn’t know at the time was that Eva Saint Marie has passed away on October 6th. What a coincidence that I should take that plunge just as she shuffled off this mortal coil.
For Halloween movies, I can’t just go with “scary movies” for this. For a personal list for me, it’s about what I like and what’s too disturbing for me to even entertain. So my watchlist makes no sense, but here it is in no particular order:
– Scream (1996)
– Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010)
– Saw (2004)
– Alien (1979)
– The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
– Dawn of the Dead (2004)
– The Gate (1987)
– Predator (1987)
– Tremors (1990)
– The Frighteners (1996)
Alas – that’s only a list fit for me. I was recommended a movie to watch that I’ll see this weekend: Arsenic and Old Lace (1944). Let’s hope it’s a good one!