Curious Inkling Blog

Top Ten Scary Movies For Halloween

Well Halloween weekend is among us and for me there is no enjoying Halloween without scary movies. Now, I know there are lots of blogs out there this weekend blogging about scary movies, I myself have read many such entries in hopes to find a new gem to rent. With this in mind, I know these won’t be everyone’s favorites but for me, they are the ones that truly give me the willies if watching them alone in a dark house.

10. Paranormal Activity

Being a fan of ghost hunting and television shows dealing with that makes this a great movie for me. The scenes that capture demon activity are as exciting as they are dreadful.  You would think knowing that the scenes are made up just like any other movie would detract from the realistic nature of the movie but for me it’s still pretty creepy.

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9. The Signal

There’s something about the atmosphere in this film that gets to me. A frantic and wild search for sanity and calm that seems so elusive to the heroes of this film. I like it because it relies more on the actors to perpetuate the disturbing nature of the  story rather than being a  simple gore-fest and it’s has the gritty feel of an independent release.

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8. High Tension

This is a straight-up slasher film that’s got a ton of dread mixed into it and a surprise ending that’s pretty cool. The kill scenes are the kind that makes you wince a bit but I guess I like this the most because of the suspense it adequately applies. It’s not really a scary feeling while watching but it does bring me to the edge of my seat hoping the heroine survives.

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7. Pet Sematary

An oldie but a goodie, Pet Sematary is a Stephen King classic horror film. For me, the hide under the cover scene is when Zelda is sick in bed and her little sister attempts to feed her. Yikes, that gives me the willies!

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6. Amityville Horror (2005)

I liked the remake a lot more than I figured I would. I had seen all the other Amityville Horror movies before and wasn’t really expecting much out of this one but there are lots of what I call ‘scare-jump scenes’ in this remake that makes it one of those films I don’t want to watch alone. Scare-jump scenes, are those scenes when you know something is about to happen, you expect it and brace for it but then somehow the director is able to surprise you with it anyway, making you jump out of your skin. If you haven’t seen this one, I think you might like it. It’s a lot of fun.

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5. 28 Days Later

Zombie movies have always been my favorite kind of horror flicks. I know there are Romero devotees who would lambaste me for not including a classic in this list but for my money, 28 Days Later does a fine job of bringing back the zombie genre and more importantly, giving our first glimpse at ‘fast zombies’ which just put slow zombies to shame. Fast zombies are much scarier.

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4. Quarantine

This is an English remake of the movie REC. Both movies are really very good and frightening but personally, I prefer Quarantine just because I don’t much care for subtitles. There’s tons of ‘scare-jumps’ in this one and you can’t help but cringing in some scenes. Jitter-cam first person perspective storytelling in it’s finest!

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3. The Shining

Stephen King’s The Shining is masterful horror fare directed by the genius Stanley Kubrick. The film is thick with atmosphere and dread which sets up some of the most horrific, nightmarish scenes ever put to film. It’s a classic so you won’t see many of the ‘scare-jump’ scenes in this movie but for a creepy story projected by the great Jack Nicholson, it’s a real piece of work. This movie is why the world creeps when they see twin little girls.

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2. The Exorcist

I realize that this movie is at the top of everyone’s list and I struggled with that for quite a while but for me The Exorcist is an almost perfect horror movie. It mixes imagery and sound masterfully to make the viewer sink into a pit of darkness that I haven’t seen from any other movie. Half the time I’m trying to figure out these quirky characters while the other half I’m flinching in horror from sounds that surely must be of the devil. Watch the directors cut to see things that just ain’t right.

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1. The Blair Witch Project

I can hear the comments already. “Dude, The Blair Witch Project? That’s your number one? Really?” I say, “Yes, really it is!” I made this list a little different than others in that I wanted to include movies that successfully make me not want to watch them alone in a dark house. Most horror movies are not like this. They offer a few chills, they throw in one or two scare-jump scenes but they don’t make me think twice before watching them if I’m alone.

The Blair Witch Project is at number one because there are scenes in it that actually turn me into a little six year old girl. Another film that masterfully uses the jitter-cam first persons perspective and crazy audio to fill my heart with dread. The Blair Witch Project is an ultimate example of the fact that it’s what you can’t see that’s a million times more frightening than what you can see.

Horror purists can hate me, but there you have it.

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