5 Great Films for Halloween

     I have to admit it, when it comes to scary films, I am a wimp. As a child I was easily scared by horror films, and even as a teenager they bothered me enough so that I consciously avoided them. I am just now starting to view some of the most famous horror films, which makes the horror genre far from my expertise. In fact, there is probably no other major genre of film that I know less about than horror. Despite my lack of qualification though, this is a movie blog and it is near Halloween, so I am pretty much obligated to make a list about the best films to see for Halloween. The consequence of my ignorance of the genre though means that the list includes films that are definitely a stretch to be included as "Halloween films" (only one of the films would clearly qualify as a horror film), but all five films are great no matter what genre they belong in. Also, I want to clarify before hand that the ranking of the films reflect their appropriateness for Halloween and do not necessarily represent my view on how the films should be ranked overall. Now without further ado, here is my (unqualified) opinion on the five best movies for Halloween.

    5. "A Clockwork Orange"

     

     OK, this is much more of a sci-fi dystopia film than a horror film, but I challenge you to find a more disturbing film. The film focuses on Alex, a misanthrope British punk-teenager living at some time in the future who has an extreme affinity for violence and sex. Even though the film was released in 1971, it is one of the most explicit films, in terms of violence and sex, that I have ever seen. In one of the most shockingly graphic scenes, Alex and his gang go into a random house, beat up an older man, then rape his wife in front of him (the song "Singin' in the Rain" will never have the same context after seeing this scene). After spending the first half of the film creating one of the most deplorable characters in cinema history, the film does a drastic 180-degree turn and transforms Alex into a anti-hero of sorts after he is arrested and agrees to take part in "aversion therapy". The dark, nightmarish imagery does not let up though, as the scenes from the "aversion therapy" create pictures almost as frightening as the violent scenes from the first half of the film (see the picture above). This is definitely an example of getting creative with genres on my part, but even though this is not your typical horror film, I guarantee you that scenes from this film will stick with you much longer than scenes from your typical horror flick.

4. "Death Proof"

      

     "Death Proof" was Quentin Tarantino's half of the double feature that was released in theaters as "Grindhouse". Unfortunately, the double feature concept confused too many people and kept them from seeing the film, which is a shame, because it is a really fun movie. The film is a homage/spoof of old 1970's horror B-movies (missing scenes and untimely cuts included). The movie is actually split into two tales. Both storylines focus on groups of young women who are stalked by an ex-stuntman (played excellently by Kurt Russel), who gets sexual pleasure from crashing his "death proof" car as fast as he can into the car of the women he stalks. If you haven't seen the film, I'm sure the plot sounds pretty strange, but as with all Tarantino films, it's more about the dialogue and the feeling than the plot. "Death Proof" is a great film and is the most underrated film from my favorite director, so if you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and check it sometime if not for Halloween.

3. "Zodiac"

      

     Most horror films involve a lot of fantastic elements that require temporary suspension of disbelief (like the dead being able to rise from their graves or a man entering your dreams and killing you in your sleep). "Zodiac", while not really a horror film, relies on no fantastical elements what so ever, because it tells the true story of the "Zodiac killer" who went on a murdering spree in the San Francisco area during the 1970's. In a way, the fact that the events of the film actually occurred in real life make it much more frightening than a horror film that relies on musical cues and loud noises to temporarily startle you. There are some pretty violent moments in the film (in particular a scene where the Zodiac killer murders a couple enjoying a romantic day in the hills of Northern California), but the scariest scene does not involve any violence at all. In this scene, the police interview a man they suspect to be the Zodiac killer, and even though he technically admits to nothing, he hints so strongly that he is the Zodiac killer that the cops are left totally dumbfounded. It's hard to explain the power of this scene in words, but there is no scene in any movie that made my hair stand up more (it stands up now just thinking about it). This is my favorite David Fincher film (click here if you want to read my review of Fincher's latest film, "The Social Network") and if you want a dose of realism with your Halloween film, rent this movie.

2. "The Terminator"

      

     Once again, I'm left with the task of defending my use of the term "horror film". "The Terminator" fits in much better with the science-fiction and actions genres than the horror genre, but the movie is actually paced like a slasher film. The body count on characters we actually get to know is much smaller than in your typical slasher film (although the overall body count is fairly large), but you will not found a more relentless killer than Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator. In fact, "relentless" is the perfect word to describe this movie. The film has a dark tone and visually creates a very bleak picture. It also has a great techno score that perfectly matches the feel that James Cameron is going for, but the strongest aspect of the film is that no matter what Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese do (played by Linda Hamilton and Michael Biehn respectively), they just can't get away from the Terminator. Even when they go to a police station, Arnold methodically shoots up the whole police station! This is a great movie from the 1980's (which is a rare thing), and even though its more science-fiction than horror, it's a great view nonetheless.

1. "The Thing"

     

     For my number one Halloween film, I finally picked a film that would definitely qualify for the horror genre (although their is a healthy dose of Sci-fi as well). "The Thing" tells the story of a group of American scientist in Antarctica who are visited by mad Norwegian scientists in a helicopter trying to shoot a dog. The helicopter crashes and unbeknownst to the Americans, the dog is actually a shape-shifting alien that can take the form of any creatures it consumes. From there, all hell brakes loose as the alien picks off the members of the research crew one-by-one. All the crew then start suspecting each other of actually being the alien as paranoia spreads like a virus. This is an awesome film. There is no movie that even comes close to dealing paranoia as well as this film does. It not only examines paranoia from a third-person perspective but it makes you feel the paranoia of the characters. The film also contains one of my top-5 favorite scenes when MacGready (played by Kurt Russell in his best performance) ties up all the crew members and tests whether they are human or alien by taking a blood sample from each person and touching a hot needle to the blood samples. The tension in this scene is unbelievable and literally keeps you on the edge of your seat. "The Thing" is truly a masterpiece of John Carpenter's mind. The film would without-a-doubt make my list for the "Top Ten Films of the 1980's" and is easily my favorite horror film of all-time, so if you want a real horror film for Halloween, you can't do better than "The Thing"

     Well that's my amateur opinion. I'm sure a lot of you have seen more horror films than I have, so if you have suggestions you would like to add, just list them in the comments. For myself, I have three horror films I plan on watching before Halloween, so maybe next year I will be able to a make a list of Halloween films that includes actual horror films!