With the spooky season fast approaching it is time to start breaking out those fear-filled movies!
As a major fan of both movies and Halloween, this is my favorite time of year to start of my classic favorites.
The other night my family and I sat down to put on a horror movie to boost our Halloween spirits and could not decide on what frightening movie was the best one.
After interviewing some students on campus, I was able to find the top 10 horror films people felt they needed to watch before the most terrifying day of the year, Halloween! So let the countdown begin!
10. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is one of the creepiest movies to date! So much so, that this movie was in fact banned in several countries and theaters and deemed too violent for viewers. This movie was originally released in 1974 and is credited with being the first horror movie to create ideas of using everyday objects as weapons. The story revolves around five friends who end up picking up a hitchhiker who discusses a family living at a nearby slaughterhouse. The killer in this story ends up being revealed as popular horror villain, Leatherface, who torments his victims. This film led to a franchise that many find themselves watching every Halloween!
9. The Silence of The Lambs
“The Silence of the Lambs” centers around newly appointed FBI aent, Clarice Starling, who is led to gain help from an imprisoned serial killer and cannibal, Hannibal Lecter, to help solve an ongoing series of murders. Both Jodi Foster and Anthony Hopkins gained immense praise over this movie, as their performances were iconic and mind-blowingly amazing. This movie is not your typical slasher movie, like many other horror movies, but instead focuses on the psychological aspect of fear. This movie quickly became well-known and instantly became a must-see during spooky season!
8. Saw
Now this franchise is not for the faint of heart! The “Saw” series has many sequels, and every single one is more gory than the previous. Jigsaw, as the villain quickly comes to be labeled, kidnaps and tortures his victims through a series of games he creates. Every “trap” that Jigsaw creates gives you the opportunity to escape, however the traps lead to bloody and horrifying results if the task is not completed in time. A great watch for the horror genre, this series always leads to a mind-blowing connection that viewers never see coming.
7. Get Out
Jordan Peele has quickly become a well-known horror movie producer in the new era of horror! With many creepy creations, Peele has become one of the most influential horror producers of today’s generation. “Get Out” focuses on Chris, an African-American male, who goes to visit his white girlfriend’s family. As soon as Chris and Rose arrive, things take a turn for the worst. Chris quickly shrugs off the weird behavior, since he believes it’s a way to deal with the interracial relationship. As the weekend progresses, Chris soon starts to fear for his life as he makes several disturbing realizations.
6. The Shining
Here’s Johnny! Never underestimate the terror that Jack Nicholson is able to convey in this movie, as it will keep you up all night. Based on a best-selling novel, Stephen King novel, the story follows Jack, a writer, and his family as they move into an isolated hotel, so Jack can take a job as the caretaker, while also working on his writing. His son soon starts to have premonitions, and the hotel’s dark secrets slowly start to unfold. From the haunting ghosts within the hotel to Jack’s increasingly disturbing behavior, this movie is bound to bring fear to anyone who watches it.
5. A Nightmare on Elm Street
Whatever you do, do not fall asleep! One of Wes Craven’s most iconic villains will be sure to come and kill you if you do in this 1984 haunting film! Freddy Kruger, showcasing his trademark brown fedora and red and green striped sweater, goes after his victims as they fall asleep and start to dream. Kruger also sports his razor hands as his way of capturing and torturing his victims throughout every remake and sequel of this movie franchise. Since Freddy Kruger is quickly realized to be the spirit of a child killer who was burned to death by his victim’s parents, he seems invulnerable and unkillable. This movie includes so much fear, you will never want to fall asleep again.
4. The Conjuring
Based on the horrifying true-life events, “The Conjuring” has a mountain of series involved in this franchise, each one scarier than the last. The original, however, follows the true events of Ed and Lorraine Warren, who are well-known paranormal investigators, as they are called to help a family that is being terrorized by a dark spirit in their newly purchased, secluded home. As this series also contains content from related movies, such as “Annabelle” and “The Nun,” “The Conjuring” is the original within the story, that allowed directors and writers to contain the story through prequels and sequels. This movie is a must see for anyone who enjoys ghost or paranormal stories, and not your typical slasher horror fright night!
3. Friday the 13th
“Friday the 13th” was first released in 1980, and follows a group of camp counselors who begin to be slaughtered throughout Crystal Lake. The story has multiple sequels, remakes and countless mentions of frightening murderer Jason Vorhees, who goes around creating terror while wearing a Hockey mask. The original story, however, only mentions the hockey-masked murderer as he was the young boy who drowned in the lake many years before and shut down the camp. In the reopening of the camp, the new counselors quickly find themselves trying to survive at all costs. Jason Vorhees is by far one of the most iconic and terrifying horror villains, making this franchise a must-watch!
2. Scream
What’s your favorite scary movie? For me, that is easy! This horror movie series is by far my favorite, and also one of the most popular horror movies watched to this day! As the series has five movies within the franchise, and another one to be released next year, this movie constantly keeps audiences guessing. It seems Ghostface never truly dies, even though the serial killer who dresses up as the horror icon changes in every movie, the killer always seems to put on the terrifying mask to chase his victims. Ghostface likes to torment his victims by calling them and asking a series of horror movie trivia, and if you lose his game, there are deathly consequences. Wes Craven, who directed the first four movies but unfortunately passed away before the new movie was released, recreated slasher movies with this incredible movie that is a must see before Halloween!
1. Halloween
Of course this is the No. 1 fan-favorite horror movie to watch before the big day! This film has had multiple sequels and remakes, as many older horror films do, but nothing will ever beat the original terrifying and frightful movie in which Michael Myers made his debut. In 1963, on Halloween night, 6-year-old Michael Myers butchered his older sister as she was babysitting him. Fifteen years later, after being sent away, Michael escapes the asylum and returns home to continue his reign of terror. This movie continues to torture viewers through horror and fear, and the sequels and remakes are no different, especially because no one can ever truly kill the boogeyman!