Ten Creepiest Horror Movies  

Halloween is coming and my thoughts inevitably turn to ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night. Family tradition around my house dictates, that along with plenty of snack-sized candy bars, the gruesome graveyard scene I set up in my bay window and the haunted house complete with ghosts and bats that has pride of place on our living room mantel, we have plenty of horror movies to watch to send chills and thrills down our spines on All Hallows Eve. Of course, I have my favorites, some of which don't have ghosts, goblins or evil spirits, but are extremely full of the fright factor. I choose these movies because the creepy-crawly feeling engendered by them lingered long after the ending credits rolled. So, for what it's worth, here is my list of the top Ten scariest, creepiest movies of all time - not just for Halloween!

Nosferatu - 1922

This Dracula movie, "Nosferatu" contained remarkable animalistic make-up that has not been duplicated, even with today's modern technology.  The creepy performance as the vampire who terrorized the City of Bremen was portrayed by Max Schreck.  He was ultimately destroyed by the heroine, Greta Schroeder, who was willing to sacrifice herself. There were many Dracula films to follow, but none of them captured the raw essence of Bran Stoker's artistry.

In spite of all its low-budget characteristics, this movie features more scares and creepiness than director Sam Raimi's new film "Drag Me To Hell" (though that movie has its moments too). There's just something about the way the camera moves around the forest and into that cabin that is still very effective today.


Nightmare on Elm Street - 1984

Nightmare on Elm Street remains potent even by today's standards with sharp direction by Wes Craven and slithering performance by Robert Englund. The original movie eschews the corniness that permeates the sequels. Besides, who doesn't want to see Johnny Depp by eaten by a bed?


The Shining - 1980

Who can forget Jack Nicholson's deranged laugh as he terrorized his snowbound family? Stanley Kubrick's most commercial film never really found an audience, but repeated viewings reveal a classic psychological study into family dynamics and the mind of an unhinged man. In characteristic Kubrick style, the Overlook Hotel is itself a character, with as much power and intrigue as the real-life actors. Nicholson, never one for subtlety, delivers one of his most over-the-top performances!


The Exorcist - 1973

If a cat unexpectedly jumps on camera, that is scary, but The Exorcist is so creepy and disturbing it will mess you up for months. Because this movie was considered controversial and profane, The Exorcist remains the most viscerally harrowing movie ever made. Why? Not only because it dares to question the existence of God but because it has the nerve to put Satan in the body of a 12-year-old girl. Viewers sometimes fainted as Linda Blair vomited pea soup on a priest and after a series of mishaps, the director, Friedkin, requested a clergyman to perform an exorcism of the set.


Night of the Living Dead - 1968

This is the zombie movie that spawned a thousand more! The film is about radiation-poisoned corpses on the prowl for fresh meat. Night of the Living Dead is the quintessential "zombie" movie. It helped to establish the modern-day mythology of the "flesh-eating zombie."


The Omen - 1976

A governess hangs herself. The child acts wildly when brought near a Church. A spooky governess appears from nowhere to take care of the child. A black evil dog takes up residence at the child's bedroom. To complicate matters, a priest gets in touch with the father and tells him to beware his son and that he is the spawn of evil. The music in the film is a great asset to the overall mood. A very good film....not nearly as gory or shocking as The Exorcist but still as powerful in its own right for its seemingly somewhat realistic adaptation of scripture.
 

The Thing - 1982

The movie follows a crew stationed at an Antarctic base stalked by a shape-shifting alien. Which member of the crew is the alien? The crew doesn't know, and neither does the audience until the creature begins one of its stomach churning transformations. I liked the scene where the guy's head sprouted insect legs to escape. I won't say more!
 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre - 1974

Tobe Hooper has created a master-piece of horror that suggests so much outright violence and mayhem that you can swear that you have seen it, even though you haven't. Indeed the most terrifying aspect of the movie is actually embedded in the name itself, another masterstroke of triggering the mind to all sorts of horror's. A brilliant movie in every sense and one of the greatest horror movies ever.  This film is an epic terror ride, and even more incredible due to the fact that having watched it and felt as though you have visited a slaughterhouse, there is hardly a drop of blood shown in the entire movie.
 

Halloween - 1978

Halloween is an absolutely visually stunning, poetry in motion of a terror ride with nothing much happening, yet the tension is almost unbearable. Perhaps the most imitated movie of the last 20 years or so, it has lost the power to shock because we audiences have become so accustomed to the "rules" of the horror movie genre as cleverly pointed out to us in "Scream". BUT, Halloween was indeed the first, or nearly the first to take the stalker idea to unprecedented, murderous heights. Halloween is THE classic Psycho on the loose horror movie of all time. The gliding visual point of view camera, the tinkling eerie score, the use of shadows and oh that agonizing, stark tension. What a magnificent horror masterpiece.