30 Day Movie Challenge Day 4: Your Favorite Horror Movie

[Chris Beveridge]

If there’s a genre I don’t care for much, it’s the horror genre. I grew up during the period of a lot of them in the late 70′s and early 80′s, and they were scary as hell back in the day, but revisiting them in the present has revealed that they’re not quite what we […]

More...

[Sigma UFO]

Re: 30 Day Movie Challenge Day 4: Your Favorite Horror Movie

There was a time when I wouldn't be able to answer this question, because I hated horror films. However, thanks to a friend, I got turned onto the genre, particularly by the works of the great Italian directors.

My favorite horror films are ones that are visually stylish and establish an atmosphere of dread.

The original Dawn of the Dead I have called the Lawrence of Arabia of zombie films. A great epic, a portrait of the 1970s, a human drama. Absolute masterpiece.

Tod Browning's Freaks is a one-of-a-kind creation. It's the one horror classic which I expect never to be remade. The acting may be hokey, but the dread is real. And the ending is just horrifying.

The original The Wicker Man is a great example of "broad daylight" horror. It's not about things jumping out of the dark, it's about the horror that people are capable of and the weirdness of pagan mystery.

But my top pick will have to be Suspiria. One of the final Technicolor films ever made, it is visually spectacular. The sounds and music create a hugely oppressive atmosphere. The suspense and moments of sudden violence are tremendous. And the villain is one of the best in film history.

[General Hentai]

Re: 30 Day Movie Challenge Day 4: Your Favorite Horror Movie

House of Wax, with Vincent Price got me when I was a kid. Pure cornball now, but when I was 10, yikes! This is the 3D version, with Charles Bronson as the assistant.

The Shining with all it's flaws, still has a heckuva an impact.

Made for the BBC, the 1977 film Count Dracula, starring Louis Jourdan as the count, is still the best version of Dracula I've seen.

[bctaris]

Re: 30 Day Movie Challenge Day 4: Your Favorite Horror Movie

Not being a mainstream horror fan, really, besides zombie stuff here and there (and, like Chris, I count Alien and The Thing as more sci-fi/suspense), I didn't really have a thought for this. But I guess I can count one I truly love, just by the number of times I've watched it: Tremors. Kevin Bacon may not want to own it, but it's one of his best, man.

Speaking of zombies, add Shaun of the Dead as a runner up.