Since this is the inaugural Top Tuesday post, I thought I’d give my audience a little peek inside my head and list my top 20 favorite horror movies. It was just going to be a top 10 at first, but that just made me sad.
So here goes…
20) Evil Dead: How could I not put Evil Dead on the list? Sam Raimi + Bruce Campbell = Imperfect Perfection
19) Paranormal Activity: These movies get a lot more hate than they deserve. I love that they aren’t in-your-face with the effects and that you have to use your imagination. Plus, I’m pretty special because I’m listed in the credits on the DVD. Yeah. It’s there along with a billion other people’s names, but DON’T YOU TAKE THIS AWAY FROM ME!
18) Trick ‘r Treat: I love a good, Halloween-themed, intersecting bunch of stories as much as the next person. That’s why this one is probably on your list, too. And Sam is just freakin’ adorable.
17) The Conjuring: Of the new horror movies that have come out recently, this is only second to one. It doesn’t have to try too hard to get the creep factor across.
16) Sinister: This is that one. Love, love, LOVE this movie. The music, the direction, the story…all gold in my book.
15) Scream: Ah, the movie that spurred a rash of slasher movies in the late 90s. Where would we be without Billy Loomis and Stu Macher? I can tell you one thing. There would be no Ghostface, and that is not a world I want to live in.
14) Poltergeist (1982): ”You son of a bitch! You moved the cemetery, but you left the bodies, didn’t you? You son of a bitch, you left the bodies, and you only moved the headstones! You only moved the headstones! Why!? Why!?” Best. Quote. Ever. Fin.
13) Stephen King’s It: This was my favorite movie in kindergarten, and Pennywise will forever hold a special place in my heart. Now, it has a special place on my list.
12) The Thing: Doom? Check. Gloom? Check. Creepy awesome severed alien head that grows spider legs and shrieks? Check.
11) Shaun of the Dead: All three movies in the Cornetto trilogy are fantastic in my book.
10) Dawn of the Dead (2004): I love zombies. That is all.
9) Psycho: I love the history of this movie just as much as I love the movie itself.
8) Child’s Play: Before Chucky became a wisecracking serial killer with a wife and kid, he just wanted to take over little Andy Barclay’s body with his crazy voodoo spell. These movies turned into dark comedies, but the first in the series was seriously creepy.
7) Halloween: Oh, Michael. I could watch you walk slowly and menacingly for hours. And I have.
6) A Nightmare on Elm Street: I don’t want to glorify a burned child molester, but Freddy’s got it going on in the fright department. The scene where his arms are stretched in Tina’s nightmare? ‘Nuff said.
5) Rosemary’s Baby: This movie is so tense without having to do much. Poor Rosemary. Happy me.
4) The Exorcist: No other possession movie has been able to come close to the horror created in this movie. Perfect.
3) The Shining: Ghost stories and haunted houses have always been some of my favorite things, and Kubrick created such a foreboding atmosphere with this movie that it’s hard not to rank it higher.
2) The Silence of the Lambs: I know. You might try to argue that this one’s more in the psychological thriller category, but go head. I’m ready. Just try to tell me that the world’s most famous cannibal doesn’t also belong on a horror list. You can’t. Not possible. Point: me.
1) The Ring: If you saw my post on Friday, you know I have a little bit of history with this movie. It’s the first movie that I saw in theaters that actually stuck with me way after it was over, and I’m pretty sure it’ll be one of those movies that I look back on when I’m older and think how cool it was that I saw it opening night in the theater.
Wow. That was so much harder than I thought it would be, and there are so many other movies that I love that didn’t make the list. I almost feel guilty that I didn’t add more, but who has time to read a top 100?
So, what’s your favorite scary movie?