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October is once again upon us, a time when many of us collectively celebrate Halloween and our love of being scared shitless by watching horror films. Horror is a subjective term, I find, because not everyone would lump, say, a monster film such as King Kong (1933), into the genre. Myself, I think that’s a mistake. For me, horror has always been any film (or other work of art) conceived and executed with the intention of thrilling and shocking and terrifying and making people gasp or cover their eyes or turn away or simply scream. It evolves with the passage of time, sure, and what once left audiences fainting in theaters might seem quaint. But the intention of the filmmakers remains. Which brings me to this week’s question (a question I expect I’ll ask every year around this time):
What’s your favorite horror film (and why)?
Mine is Night of the Living Dead (1968). I saw it for the first time around eleven years old, and it still makes my skin crawl today. The gut punch of its ending never fails to make me sick to my stomach. Fifty-six years later, it sadly remains as socially relevant as ever.
It changes. It's most often 'The Thing', which is like a creepy comfort blanket. Sometimes it's 'The Shining' or 'Don't Look Now' or 'The Wicker Man'. Then I'll get obsessed with Argento or Cronenberg for a while, or recall my love of Hammer, especially Cushing in 'The Curse of Frankenstein'. But it's probably just 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre', unless Lynch counts, then it's 'Fire Walk With Me', or 'Mulholland Dr', just for the scene behind the diner. Actually, scratch that, it's 'Possession'.
The London tube station scene is classic. The moment (at 2:30 in the link here) where we get just a glimpse of our werewolf is brilliant. (Also, the actor playing the poor victim also played Bib Fortuna in Return of the Jedi.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y1nshw5Yn8
My favourite film in general is Alien, but I'm a sucker for the 70s. So The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween and Jaws are also up there. But if I had to pick my favourite horror, it would be The Exorcist
ALIEN - The confinement, the xenomorph's design, Ash's betrayal, the cinematography, the design, the beacon is actually a warning, it looks and feels real, and it lead to ALIENS.
CARRIE - The performances, the overbearing mother, the innocent Carrie, the teacher who tried to help, the editing, the blood, the vengeful slaughter, and that ending.
THE EXORCIST - It feels so real, the effects, the makeup, the tests at the doctor's, the performances.
THE FOG - Maritime ghosts seeking revenge in the fog, and a lighthouse, and that ending.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (both 50's and 70's) - the paranoia, the man faced dog, and that ending.
JAWS - The perfect movie? Need I say more?
ROSEMARY'S BABY - The paranoia, the conspiracy, the betrayal of her husband and his desperation, the "dream" sequence, and the ending that doesn't show anything, but says it all with "What have you done to his eyes?"
THE SHINING - I wish Nicholson wasn't nuts right out of the gate, but the Overlook as a living M.C. Escher hotel works its twisted mind bending logic on the viewer subconsciously while the twins just creep you the hell out, and despite a couple weird moments that feel like they're out of a 50's Vincent Price film like the lady in the tub, and the web covered skeletons, they are superseded by the absolutely disturbing encounter with Blowjob Bear.
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS - By having Hopkins look directly into camera, he penetrates the viewer's mind, to the point that long after the first time I saw the film, I thought I caught Dr. Lecter watching me out of the corner of my eye.
THE THING - The visual effects, the isolation, the paranoia, the evolving body shape shifting in a disturbing Fancis Bacon dream. Act 3... eh, loses a little steam after that amazing blood test sequence.
Favorite? Depends on the time of day, and the day of the week.
To me, it's horror the same way that SILENCE OF THE LAMBS is horror, when someone goes "it's basically a horror movie," I go "oh, yeah, I guess it is." But certainly not overt, so I get why people DON'T consider it one. But look, anytime I can add it to a greatest hits list, I'm gonna take the opportunity :)
THE THING is brilliant. I'm not really sure why people don't talk about 28 DAYS LATER more. I suspect "THE WALKING DEAD" usurped its legacy a bit by becoming such a phenomenon.
Quite possibly David Lynch's Eraserhead. Pure distilled nightmare! Saw it for the first time in the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square and came out shaking. Others include Night of the Living Dead, An American Werewolf in London, The Shining, the usual... :D
I think these are both great although I recently rewatched The Ring (Japanese version not the remake) with my daughter and found that it had lost a lot of its impact because I already knew what was coming in *that* scene. On first viewing it was truly horrifying.
PBS in Pittsburgh aired Night of the Living Dead every night in October when I was in 6th grade, and my friend and I watched it at midnight, in his living room, which abutted a forest, which was barely a better option than the house I had lived in previously, a block away, that backed up to a cemetery. That movie legitimately changed my life. I remember going to eat at Cliffords up in Evans City and asking my dad if we could detour to the graveyard from the movie, and he obliged. The farmhouse was sadly long gone by that point.
Hellraiser is the perfect horror film imho. I also love Cabin in the Woods. But, the movie that scared me the most in my whole life is the movie Fire In the Sky, which isn't even a horror movie!
Please tell your friend that his performance is greatly appreciated. And if its who I think it is, his cameo in Arrested Development is quoted by my wife and I on a weekly basis!
The Mist remains one of my top in-theater experiences. In high school, my buddy and I went in blind and were blown away. Such a fantastic mix of horror, character drama, societal commentary, and sense of awe. Also, one of the best and boldest endings ever. I love returning to this film from time to time, especially watching it with friends who have never seen it.
It would be too difficult to pick one but my top picks are The Exorcist, The Fly, Midsomar, 24 Weeks Later. Let The Right One In is fantastic. I think Rosemary’s Baby is an almost perfect movie. And this is a short movie, part of the Masters of Horror series starring a perfectly cast Stephen Weber - Jenifer. It haunts me.
I'm stunned you're the first person to bring up THE FLY. It's a perfect film. I love how it just dives into the story rather than waste time up front on a meet-cute between our leads.
There are two many classics to pick from, I love many mentioned already. So I’ll key off your most disturbing choice, Hereditary, and go with Ari Aster’s Midsommer. I had no idea what I was getting into when I watched it and it shocked me to my core.
I read the movie tie-in book of “Night of the Living Dead” before I saw the movie, and it scared the hell out of me (along with “Michelle Remembers”).
“When a Stranger Calls” terrified me- I happened to be babysitting when I watched it! I have a fondness for “Cabin in the Woods” and the original “Nosferatu.”
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or Alien, depending on the day. Both films that are texturally, aurally built as genuine worlds, both popular yet radically experimental cinema, both ingenious narratively, with worlds-as-characters and characters-as-humans, both as thematically relevant today as they were back then. If not more. Anytime I need to remember why I do this, I know I can put one of them on and get, so to speak, total recall.
By favorite, I'm going for the movies that I can come across at any point and still be sucked into watching again and again. Since I write about horror and Halloween year round, it can be a long list. Short List: 30 Days of Night, Signs, The Crazies, The Exorcist, The Thing, The Cabin in the Woods and The Shining. Every time I watch that, I'm thinking, "How was this not HUGE when it was released?"
I'm a lightweight when it comes to horror movies - can't cope with too scary or horrific a horror movie! There's too much real horror in the world already. But, I do enjoy An American Werewolf in London - the perfectly orchestrated soundtrack against events; the humour (very Withnail meets werewolf); the effects and the very fake gore, the playing with the whole werewolf genre. Similarly I appreciate The Lost Boys and Interview With A Vampire for their stylishly Gothic rather than horrific elements.
It still has to be "Alien" for me, although "Night" is a close second. I just love the world building in Alien - how we slowly move from the cold, machine-like "safety" of the ship to the cold, organic terror of the alien world and vessel, and of course, the Xenomorph itself.
Great question and so many great choices in the comments. Night of the Living Dead is a rare exception for me in that it is a zombie film that I really rate (Train to Busan also falls in this category). This was actually the first 5am Story Talk essay I read and it’s still one of my favourites.
I love horror. It’s my go to movie genre and the sort of film that I am most likely to watch with my daughter. My favourite (and hers) is Sinister. It is such an effective horror, genuinely scary and it really got inside my head. The horror I am most likely to want to rewatch however, is the original Friday the 13th from 1980. Yes, I know it’s a poor derivative of Halloween but it doesn’t take itself seriously and as horror goes it is so much fun!
Land of the Dead will always have a special place in my heart - it was my first Romero movie after seeing the remake of Dawn of the Dead, and I didn't know it at the time but it was the beginning of my obsession with zombies, which started before it became all the rage, and is still going strong now that the popularity of the genre is waning. Of course then I went back and watched Night of the Living Dead, which I love - I love the whole trilogy.
At the time, I thought I didn't like horror. Pretty funny, looking back (and seeing my own Substack).
I generally avoid anything labeled “horror”. But if we can put The Shining in that category (and given your definition, I think I can), I would go with that. I will say, that I tried to read the book AFTER seeing the movie, and absolutely could not. I could feel the malevolence of the hotel itself leap off the pages. 😳
I can never pick a single favourite. Whatever I list here, I'm bound to spot someone else's suggestion and think, "Ah, yes, that one!" But a few that have left a lasting chill are Citadel (Foy, 2012), Pontypool (McDonald, 2008) and Possum (Holness, 2018). And the one I'd take to the desert island -- more for charm than scares -- is Dead of Night (Cavalcanti & co, 1945).
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (both the 1956 and the Donald Sutherland versions) scared my childhood self to her core. Being unable to know threats that surround you, and the idea that you may not be in control of your own identity, are frightening on a fundamental level.
As an adult, the 2008 movie Let the Right One In has made the biggest impact. The movie pulls you into a liminal space between life and death. It’s literally chilling.
John Carpenter’s The Thing. Favourite movie, never mind horror movie, of all time. A masterclass in paranoia, horror and gore.
I think we've discussed this before. I love this film. On some days, I might even call it my favorite horror instead of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD...
Yeah, I keep mentioning it every few weeks to try and convert more and more people to my way of thinking 😁
Night of the Living Dead is a classic as well. Day of the Dead was the one that came out around my time and is probably my favourite of that series 👍🏼
I watched it again last night!
Excellent Jennifer. It remains just as terrifying no matter how many times you watch it!
Coming up on my annual rewatch, and every time, it simply gets better.
Off to the cinema in two weeks to see it on the big screen for the first time so can’t wait!
It changes. It's most often 'The Thing', which is like a creepy comfort blanket. Sometimes it's 'The Shining' or 'Don't Look Now' or 'The Wicker Man'. Then I'll get obsessed with Argento or Cronenberg for a while, or recall my love of Hammer, especially Cushing in 'The Curse of Frankenstein'. But it's probably just 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre', unless Lynch counts, then it's 'Fire Walk With Me', or 'Mulholland Dr', just for the scene behind the diner. Actually, scratch that, it's 'Possession'.
So hard to pin it down, but I’ll go with American Werewolf in London.
The most realistic and horrific transformation of human into werewolf! Plus Warren Zevon! Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen
Doin' the werewolves of London
I saw Lon Chaney Jr. walking with the Queen, uh
Doin' the werewolves of London
I saw a werewolf drinkin' a piña colada at Trader Vic's
His hair was perfect
The London tube station scene is classic. The moment (at 2:30 in the link here) where we get just a glimpse of our werewolf is brilliant. (Also, the actor playing the poor victim also played Bib Fortuna in Return of the Jedi.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y1nshw5Yn8
Brilliant acting and filmmaking!
John Carpenter's 'In The Mouth of Madness
I have a real fondness for the total incomprehensibility of this film. I think Sam Neill plays this sort of role really well.
I love that it's about a writer whose imagination gets away from him. It should be every writer's greatest fear.
My favourite film in general is Alien, but I'm a sucker for the 70s. So The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween and Jaws are also up there. But if I had to pick my favourite horror, it would be The Exorcist
Oh, jeez... so many great ones.
ALIEN - The confinement, the xenomorph's design, Ash's betrayal, the cinematography, the design, the beacon is actually a warning, it looks and feels real, and it lead to ALIENS.
CARRIE - The performances, the overbearing mother, the innocent Carrie, the teacher who tried to help, the editing, the blood, the vengeful slaughter, and that ending.
THE EXORCIST - It feels so real, the effects, the makeup, the tests at the doctor's, the performances.
THE FOG - Maritime ghosts seeking revenge in the fog, and a lighthouse, and that ending.
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (both 50's and 70's) - the paranoia, the man faced dog, and that ending.
JAWS - The perfect movie? Need I say more?
ROSEMARY'S BABY - The paranoia, the conspiracy, the betrayal of her husband and his desperation, the "dream" sequence, and the ending that doesn't show anything, but says it all with "What have you done to his eyes?"
THE SHINING - I wish Nicholson wasn't nuts right out of the gate, but the Overlook as a living M.C. Escher hotel works its twisted mind bending logic on the viewer subconsciously while the twins just creep you the hell out, and despite a couple weird moments that feel like they're out of a 50's Vincent Price film like the lady in the tub, and the web covered skeletons, they are superseded by the absolutely disturbing encounter with Blowjob Bear.
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS - By having Hopkins look directly into camera, he penetrates the viewer's mind, to the point that long after the first time I saw the film, I thought I caught Dr. Lecter watching me out of the corner of my eye.
THE THING - The visual effects, the isolation, the paranoia, the evolving body shape shifting in a disturbing Fancis Bacon dream. Act 3... eh, loses a little steam after that amazing blood test sequence.
Favorite? Depends on the time of day, and the day of the week.
I love the lengthy list with the great explanations, so many I completely agree with.
Rosemary’s Baby 🙀😈😵💫
Such a great list of films. Jaws is my favourite film of all time. I don’t consider it a horror myself although I can understand why people might.
I do think it's a horror, but understand why others might not agree. I'm breaking down its first 12 minutes or so in November...
To me, it's horror the same way that SILENCE OF THE LAMBS is horror, when someone goes "it's basically a horror movie," I go "oh, yeah, I guess it is." But certainly not overt, so I get why people DON'T consider it one. But look, anytime I can add it to a greatest hits list, I'm gonna take the opportunity :)
My favorite is John Carpenter's "The Thing". I always thought it was severely underrated. It's also one of only two single-sex movies I can think of.
Honorary mention: 28 Days Later. Fast zombies scared the shit out of me the first time I saw them.
THE THING is brilliant. I'm not really sure why people don't talk about 28 DAYS LATER more. I suspect "THE WALKING DEAD" usurped its legacy a bit by becoming such a phenomenon.
Quite possibly David Lynch's Eraserhead. Pure distilled nightmare! Saw it for the first time in the Prince Charles Cinema off Leicester Square and came out shaking. Others include Night of the Living Dead, An American Werewolf in London, The Shining, the usual... :D
I have two: The Exorcist and The Ring. Not a huge horror fan but these two are also examples of exceptional filmmaking/story telling.
I think these are both great although I recently rewatched The Ring (Japanese version not the remake) with my daughter and found that it had lost a lot of its impact because I already knew what was coming in *that* scene. On first viewing it was truly horrifying.
Bride of Frankenstein
God, I love this film.
PBS in Pittsburgh aired Night of the Living Dead every night in October when I was in 6th grade, and my friend and I watched it at midnight, in his living room, which abutted a forest, which was barely a better option than the house I had lived in previously, a block away, that backed up to a cemetery. That movie legitimately changed my life. I remember going to eat at Cliffords up in Evans City and asking my dad if we could detour to the graveyard from the movie, and he obliged. The farmhouse was sadly long gone by that point.
Sounds like PBS Pittsburgh did Halloween right when you were a kid!
The Blair Witch Project.
This is the only film that’s given me nightmares as an adult. That final scene!
I love all the Romero films, even the bad ones!
Hellraiser is the perfect horror film imho. I also love Cabin in the Woods. But, the movie that scared me the most in my whole life is the movie Fire In the Sky, which isn't even a horror movie!
something wicked this way comes
This film has been infuriatingly unavailable for too long.
I'll say The Shining. Obviously it's a masterpiece. The performances, the imagery, the music... I love also the ambiguity of it.
Ambiguity as only Kubrick could pull off, too...
So many good choices in these comments! While not my top, I will add one missing from everyone else: The Mist!
I love this film so much. My good friend is the star of it, and I've enjoyed discussing it with him from time to time.
Please tell your friend that his performance is greatly appreciated. And if its who I think it is, his cameo in Arrested Development is quoted by my wife and I on a weekly basis!
The Mist remains one of my top in-theater experiences. In high school, my buddy and I went in blind and were blown away. Such a fantastic mix of horror, character drama, societal commentary, and sense of awe. Also, one of the best and boldest endings ever. I love returning to this film from time to time, especially watching it with friends who have never seen it.
That cameo is one for the ages. As for THE MIST's ending, I expect I'll be writing about that in the first quarter of next year.
It would be too difficult to pick one but my top picks are The Exorcist, The Fly, Midsomar, 24 Weeks Later. Let The Right One In is fantastic. I think Rosemary’s Baby is an almost perfect movie. And this is a short movie, part of the Masters of Horror series starring a perfectly cast Stephen Weber - Jenifer. It haunts me.
I'm stunned you're the first person to bring up THE FLY. It's a perfect film. I love how it just dives into the story rather than waste time up front on a meet-cute between our leads.
It was Jeff Goldblum's perfect role, if you ask me. So many great lines in that movie.
Wow are you a weight lifter or something?
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Night of the Living Dead!
American Werewolf in London hands down.
There are two many classics to pick from, I love many mentioned already. So I’ll key off your most disturbing choice, Hereditary, and go with Ari Aster’s Midsommer. I had no idea what I was getting into when I watched it and it shocked me to my core.
‘Silence of the Lambs’ … just for the sheer intelligent evil that Hopkins conjures up.
I read the movie tie-in book of “Night of the Living Dead” before I saw the movie, and it scared the hell out of me (along with “Michelle Remembers”).
“When a Stranger Calls” terrified me- I happened to be babysitting when I watched it! I have a fondness for “Cabin in the Woods” and the original “Nosferatu.”
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or Alien, depending on the day. Both films that are texturally, aurally built as genuine worlds, both popular yet radically experimental cinema, both ingenious narratively, with worlds-as-characters and characters-as-humans, both as thematically relevant today as they were back then. If not more. Anytime I need to remember why I do this, I know I can put one of them on and get, so to speak, total recall.
Rosemary's Baby.
Also my favourite film.
By favorite, I'm going for the movies that I can come across at any point and still be sucked into watching again and again. Since I write about horror and Halloween year round, it can be a long list. Short List: 30 Days of Night, Signs, The Crazies, The Exorcist, The Thing, The Cabin in the Woods and The Shining. Every time I watch that, I'm thinking, "How was this not HUGE when it was released?"
I'm a lightweight when it comes to horror movies - can't cope with too scary or horrific a horror movie! There's too much real horror in the world already. But, I do enjoy An American Werewolf in London - the perfectly orchestrated soundtrack against events; the humour (very Withnail meets werewolf); the effects and the very fake gore, the playing with the whole werewolf genre. Similarly I appreciate The Lost Boys and Interview With A Vampire for their stylishly Gothic rather than horrific elements.
I always think this is why I loved Hammer films so much, too.
And Roger Corman's Masque of the Red Death - the style!
It's truly difficult to pick...
For the 21st century, I'll have to go with Hereditary, a masterpiece by horror auteur Ari Aster.
For the 20th century, I'm going to name two: Psycho by Hitchcock and Faust by Murnau
FAUST is a great choice.
It still has to be "Alien" for me, although "Night" is a close second. I just love the world building in Alien - how we slowly move from the cold, machine-like "safety" of the ship to the cold, organic terror of the alien world and vessel, and of course, the Xenomorph itself.
Great question and so many great choices in the comments. Night of the Living Dead is a rare exception for me in that it is a zombie film that I really rate (Train to Busan also falls in this category). This was actually the first 5am Story Talk essay I read and it’s still one of my favourites.
I love horror. It’s my go to movie genre and the sort of film that I am most likely to watch with my daughter. My favourite (and hers) is Sinister. It is such an effective horror, genuinely scary and it really got inside my head. The horror I am most likely to want to rewatch however, is the original Friday the 13th from 1980. Yes, I know it’s a poor derivative of Halloween but it doesn’t take itself seriously and as horror goes it is so much fun!
My NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD/ALIEN piece was your intro to 5AM STORYTALK?
It was, yes. Fantastic piece.
Oh, I love that was your gateway drug into my crazy. I love having you here, Lou!
Land of the Dead will always have a special place in my heart - it was my first Romero movie after seeing the remake of Dawn of the Dead, and I didn't know it at the time but it was the beginning of my obsession with zombies, which started before it became all the rage, and is still going strong now that the popularity of the genre is waning. Of course then I went back and watched Night of the Living Dead, which I love - I love the whole trilogy.
At the time, I thought I didn't like horror. Pretty funny, looking back (and seeing my own Substack).
You might've seen me reference having bloody Marys with George Romero. It was while he was promoting LAND OF THE DEAD. That was fun.
Shadow of the Vampire w/ William Dafoe ☠️👻☠️ creep factor 100, and Gary Oldmons( Bram Stokers) Dracula 👻
I can't believe people don't talk more about SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE.
I generally avoid anything labeled “horror”. But if we can put The Shining in that category (and given your definition, I think I can), I would go with that. I will say, that I tried to read the book AFTER seeing the movie, and absolutely could not. I could feel the malevolence of the hotel itself leap off the pages. 😳
The Descent (2005)
Have to agree with NLD. But I'm biased since it was filmed in the Pittsburgh area.
I can never pick a single favourite. Whatever I list here, I'm bound to spot someone else's suggestion and think, "Ah, yes, that one!" But a few that have left a lasting chill are Citadel (Foy, 2012), Pontypool (McDonald, 2008) and Possum (Holness, 2018). And the one I'd take to the desert island -- more for charm than scares -- is Dead of Night (Cavalcanti & co, 1945).
"White Zombie", with Bela Lugosi as the aptly named Murder Legendre, master of hypnotism and voodoo. Lugosi was a genius actor in his prime.
Yeah, I love this film. I've brought it up a few times at this Substack over the past eighteen months or so. Few people know it, though. It's too bad.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (both the 1956 and the Donald Sutherland versions) scared my childhood self to her core. Being unable to know threats that surround you, and the idea that you may not be in control of your own identity, are frightening on a fundamental level.
As an adult, the 2008 movie Let the Right One In has made the biggest impact. The movie pulls you into a liminal space between life and death. It’s literally chilling.