**Spoiler alert I give some movie details, don’t read if you haven’t seen the movie! **
I love scary movies. I go in watching them thinking I am bold and
unafraid, and then I watch the entire movie peaking between my fingers.
1. The Strangers
Why it made my list:
This is absolutely my number one favorite scary movie of all time! It has all the scary movie bells and
whistles. Things pop out at you, there
is tons of gore and suspense, and no one makes it out alive, or do they? Even the ending is left up to your
imagination. The best part is when Liv
Tyler is looking up at her killer pleading asking “Why? Why us?” The killer just tilts her head and says
“because you were home”. I get chills every time I hear it. The movie makes you realize it was a murder
of convenience and it could happen to anyone!
IMDB info:
“A young couple staying in an isolated vacation home
are terrorized by three unknown assailants.”
Release Date: May 30, 2008 (USA)
Director: Bryan Bertino
2. Hostile
Why it made my list:
After I watched this movie I was afraid to walk outside alone. This movie made me never want to visit Europe
(the fear has since worn off). The scary
factor in this movie is that the “butchers” of the movie paid and enjoyed
mutilating their fellow man. It was done as a hobby and for sport! To make matters worst the going rate for an
American was the highest of all the options.
The villains of the movie literally chose their victims from a menu,
like going to a restaurant. Yikes!
IMDB info:
“Three backpackers head to a Slovak city that
promises to meet their hedonistic expectations, with no idea of the hell that
awaits them.”
Release Date: January 6, 2006 (USA)
Director: Eli Roth
3. The Hills Have Eyes
Why it made my list: I can only watch this movie during
daylight hours. I am so scared of the
deformed monsters that terrorize the unsuspecting family out on their
vacation. I have caught myself screaming
at the television “Get him!” “Watch out”.
I have seen this movie more than the fingers on both my hands and I am
still convinced if I scream warnings at the actors the ending will somehow
change.
IMDB info:
“A suburban American family is being stalked by a
group of psychotic people who live in the desert, far away from civilization.”
Release Date: March 10,
2006 (USA)
Director: Alexandre Aja
4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Why it made my list:
I love this remake of the 1974 classic. Aside from the fact that
watching Jessica Biel in this movie motivates me to go to the gym, so does the
creature in this film. I mean you would
hustle too if you were being chased down by a human skin wearing creature trying to cut you down with a power tool! This movie is so
incredibly twisted you never know what to expect. The entire town is in on the charade: the
sheriff, the local deli owner, even the lady in the trailer with her baby; no
one can be trusted. Lesson learned from this movie: Never, (I repeat) never
breakdown on a lonely dirt road inTexas.
Creepy factor: this is based on true events and the family of murderers or
the deformed “Leatherface” were never caught.
IMDB info:
“After picking up a traumatized young hitchhiker,
five friends find themselves stalked and hunted by a deformed chainsaw-wielding
killer and his family of equally psychopathic killers.”
Release Date: October
17, 2003 (USA)
Director: Marcus Nispel
5. Saw
Why it made my list:
Yeah, this movie has the blood, guts, and gore. But it also has the element of needing to
survive. This movie has the viewer
wringing their hands as the timer ticks down on each puzzle, while praying that the
victim will make it out alive. The
entire time you're holding your breath just waiting for the other shoe to
drop. Once one piece of the puzzle is
solved you are left asking, “What’s next?”
IMDB info:
With a dead body lying between them, two men wake up
in the secure lair of a serial killer who's been nicknamed "Jigsaw".
The men must follow various rules and objectives if they wish to survive and
win the deadly game set for them.
Release Date: October
29, 2004 (USA)
Director: James Wan
6. The Birds
Why it made my list: I hate birds. I blame Alfred Hitchcock, and my
grandfather. This was one of those
movies that I begged my grandfather to let me watch with him and he agreed as
long as I didn’t tell my mom that he let me watch it. I had nightmares for months. The creepy factor is that birds are real.
Unlike the monsters, or villains in other movies. They do exist. They are
everywhere. They fly unpredictably and
directly at you. They are fearless
(especially if they want something you have). Now, whenever they swoop down out
me to steal the last of my french-fries on the boardwalk I drop the entire
bucket and hit the road. Thanks Mr. Hitchcock, and Pop-pop.
IMDB info:
“A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a
potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a
turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people there
in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness.”
Release Date: May 30,
1963 (USA)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
7. The Decent
Why it made my list:
Other then the fact that the group of women were lost with no way out
but they had to fight off man-eating bat creatures the entire movie. These bat people are so incredibly gross
looking. Probably the scariest creatures
on this entire list and of all the scary movies I have ever seen (and I have
seen a lot). The creatures are naked, with
transparent skin and only use their super sensitive hearing abilities to track
down their prey. Before they attack they
let out a high-pitched scream that echoes through the caves to tell the others
they found food.
IMDB info:
A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the
explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of
predators.
Release Date: August 4,
2006 (USA)
Director: Neil Marshall
8. Scream
Why it made my list: This isn’t necessarily as scary as
the other movies on this list but it is still one of my favorites. It made the list to pay homage to the entire
Scream series. The Scream series
changed the game of making scary movies. I love the entire series because it
outlines the formula of the great scary movie, and how to survive them.
(Literally below is a like with “The Rules” quoted from Scream 4)
IMDB info:
“A killer known as Ghostface begins killing off
teenagers, and as the body count begins rising, one girl and her friends find
themselves contemplating the "Rules" of horror films as they find
themselves living in a real-life one.”
Release Date: December 20, 1996
(USA)
Director: Wes Craven
9. Cabin Fever
Why it made my list:
This movie is unlike it’s contenders on the list because the enemy is
naked to the human eye, which makes it
just as scary as a masked murderer. You
can’t see it in order to fight back! By the time
the entire group figures out what is going on half of the group is dead or
about to be. This movie often makes the
“Worst Scary Movies” list. But it is
still one of my favorites!
IMDB info:
A group of five college graduates rent a cabin in the
woods and begin to fall victim to a horrifying flesh-eating virus, which
attracts the unwanted attention of the homicidal locals.
Release Date: September
14, 2002
Director: Eli Roth
10.
Dead Calm
Why it made my list:
This is on my list because of its sentimental value. I know that sounds weird in regards to scary
movies. But this was my first scary
movie I was allowed to watch. I watched
it with my dad. I even own it on
VHS. My dad is the reason why I fell in
love with scary movies to begin with, so this only seemed right to put on my
list.
IMDB info:
“A
mass-murderer kidnaps and seduces a young woman after leaving her husband to
die on the vessel whose crew he's just slaughtered.”
Release Date: April 7,
1989 (USA)
Director: Phillip Noyce
Well that about sums it up! I am afraid of birds, bats, the dark, Texas, hostels, and getting sick. But I do love scary movies. As much fun as I had reminiscing
while writing this blog I may need to sleep with the lights on.
I am cracking up with the Hostile, because I was thinking the exact same thing about Europe. For the longest time every time I hear a European accent I would think of that movie.
ReplyDeleteThanks!! I watched Hostile in college and I had to go out to take the trash out after we watched the movie. Little did I know their were raccoons hanging out near the dumpster. One popped out at me I dropped the trash bags and ran back into the apartment.
ReplyDeleteA week after I watched The Strangers I was running on a trail near my apartment. I always took pepper spray with me, I heard a rustle ahead of me, and a bunny ran out of the bushes and I attempted to spray him thinking he was a psycho killer. Fortunately for the bunny I have really bad aim.