Scary Movie Night

When I was a teen, I was obsessed with scary movies. There was something about the relative safety of your couch while feeling like you were putting yourself in danger.

Sal never was one for scary movies, but recently she's been more into watching them. I don't know if I have the same obsession I once did, but I do still love the adrenaline you get from a good scary movie.

So, in case you were looking for Halloween inspiration, here are some of my favorite scary films.

Halloween (1978)

The first time I saw this film was around when I was 14 or 15. It was Halloween night, I was too old to Trick or Treat, but we had just moved to a new area so I didn't have friends. While my parents chaperoned my two little brothers around the neighborhood, I curled up alone for a fun slasher film. Little did I know that my imagination would run wild.

All the lights were out in the house, I had to pee, but I just had this feeling that there was something lurking in the shadows. So I quietly sat on the couch until everyone came home, pretended like everything was fine, went to the bathroom, and then didn't sleep.

The Conjuring (2013)

The Conjuring universe follows the real life famous ghost hunters, the Warrens in all of their adventures.

The Conjuring is about a haunted house. And it's probably the most terrifying film I've ever seen. (with a close second being the Conjuring 2. And I'm currently trying to get up the courage to watch the Nun on Halloween proper.)

We put it on, thinking it was going to be a corny horror film. A friend of ours said she loves watching it while relaxing in the bathtub. Turns out, my friend may be a sociopath.

Seriously, this film made both of us screech at the top of our lungs.

Paranormal Activity (2007)

One of the reasons you don't see horror films take place in modern society is that it's hard to explain why someone can't use technology. If a slasher is chasing you around the house, it's pretty easy to lock a door, call the cops on your cell phone, and refresh your Twitter feed while you wait for help to arrive.

This arguably is one of the first modern horror films that did a great job of showing a paranormal haunting, showing that having technology could still leave you vulnerable and isolated, and it did paranormal haunts that hadn't been done before.

There's this creeping foreboding that the film continues to build as the two main characters deal with paranormal occurrences that keep escalating.

Scream (1996)

It's technically a parody film of all 70s and 80s horror movie tropes. But it's not just a parody, it's legit an intriguing and scary film. It largely was responsible for the late 90s resurgence of horror films.

One of the things it did best was kill Drew Barrymore in the first 10 minutes of the film after putting her on the poster. No one was expecting it.

Sallie and I watched it last year and I was pleasantly surprised that it largely held up. (You know, other than those totally rad 90s fashion choices)

The Shining (1980)

Honestly, the haunted parts of the Shining aren't the scariest. It's the complete and total isolation.

After recently reading the book, I think the film could've been much more terrifying, but still, the long shots following Danny around on his bike build up until finally he turns a corner and the twins await.
The fantastic makeup job of the bathtub zombie, skin barely clinging to the bones. The slow decent into madness that Jack Nicholson portrays perfectly.

Alien (1979)

SciFi and horror have a Venn Diagram that overlaps about 65%. It's why you often used to see SciFi/Horror as a combined section at the video store.

Alien is a horror film. It's a group of people isolated in a dark ship. But the thing about the ship is that it's familiar, but puts a filter over it to make it terrifying. And like a good horror movie, the main protagonist is a strong female.

I'll never forget in film class when we watched this, most of the class had never seen it before, let alone on a large screen.

The VVitch (or Witch) (2015)

Set during the witch trials, a family leaves a town because they believe the church is on the wrong path and go to live in isolation.

Soon after establishing a farm, one of their children is kidnapped. The father blames the daughter, the younger daughter blames the older daughter, and the older daughter blames a witch that is supposedly running around the woods.

There's been a few unsuccessful "real witch" films in the past (Halloween 3 and Paranormal Activity 3, I'm looking at you) but this one successfully builds suspense, horror, and a feeling that witches may just be real.

The Thing (1982)

Again... isolation isolation isolation.

I like the Thing because it breaks any trust you the viewer has with the film. You don't know where the creature is. Yo don't know who it's inhabited. You don't know if you can even trust the protagonist. And like Alien, it has that slimy, wet monster design of the late 70s and early 80s.