My grandmother would occasionally take us to the movies on Sundays, after spaghetti. Some of the movies she took us to were not quite age appropriate, making them all the more appealing to us as pre-teens. One of these movies that stuck in my mind is The Last of Sheila. Since it was released in 1973, I'm guessing I was 13 when we saw it. The story, about a wealthy man who invites a group of people onto his yacht for a weekend trip who each have their own secrets, scared the s**t out of me. This started a love-hate relationship with horror movies. Some of the scariest ones I have yet to see. Here, in time for Halloween, is my personal list of favorite scary movies, along with expert's suggestions (which I haven't seen yet but should eventually check out). Pop up a big batch of popcorn, sprinkle some M & M's (or Milk Duds) in, pop in one of these movies and have a Happy (scary movie kind of) Halloween.
1) Silence of the Lambs I took my son Brad to see this when he was about 11 and he has never forgiven me.
2) Psycho I love Alfred Hitchcock and this movie was a departure from anything he had made before and was the original "slasher" movie (even though we never see the knife enter Marion Crane's naked body). A classic.
3) Jaws Not typically your Halloween type movie, but scary nonetheless. Our younger children did not find this scary at all, perhaps because it is much better seen on a large screen. From the first tug under the water, they've got you "hooked".
4) Rosemary's Baby Roman Polanski directed this movie in 1968, before he was a fugitive. A cute couple move into a New York apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife (Mia Farrow) gets pregnant, things go downhill from there.
5) The Shining I watched this a couple years ago for the first time, and then stayed in the hotel that inspired Steven King to write it. The movie is scarier than the hotel. "Here's Johnny!"
6) Carrie Another Steven King vehicle- who can't relate to being a High School outcast at some point? Well, I'm sure there are some but it did feel kind of good when she seeks revenge on the popular crowd.
7) Cape Fear This one caused my husband not to sleep at night as a child, fearing the Robert De Niro character was going to jump out of his closet and come get him. Now that I look at the date (1991), that would have made him close to thirty.
8) The Sixth Sense When we saw this movie on a Disney Cruise my grandmother declared it "the worst movie" she ever saw. I asked her why she didn't leave. She said she wanted to see the end of it. The end of it ties it all up in a perfect, twisted bow. "I see dead people."
9) Poltergeist A family moves in to a house, only to find it's haunted by ghosts. "They're heeeere!" Creepy to the max, directed by Steven Speilberg so of course, it's set in the suburbs.
10) Frankenstien Being a screenwriting major, I had to throw one old-school movie in there. This classic, with Boris Karloff playing the creature assembled by a mad scientist, is both scary and ultimately sad.
The rest of these, I cannot vouch for, but many others can. No explanations, just the facts ma'am.
1) The Exorcist (1973)
2) The Thing (1982)
3) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
4) Dawn of the Dead (1978)
5) Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
6) Halloween (1978)
7) Friday the 13th (1980)
8) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
9) The Ring (2002)
10) The Blair Witch Project (1999)
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