One of the things I truly love about AITH is the fiery opinions of our readers and how tenaciously ya’ll fight to defend the genre and those projects you think are great. And just like you guys, the writers here have varying opinions about what rocks the Kasbah and what blows ropey goat chunks, but we all share an unshakable love of everything horror.
So this week I’ll give you a little bit of a window into where I came from. I’m gonna throw out, for good or for bad, the movies that have had the biggest impact on shaping the horror fan I am today.
It’s not a list of fav’s (though some certainly are), and it’s not even a list of movies I recommend (although you could do worse in most cases). It’s just the pics that when I look back I realize that I wouldn’t think about horror the way I do if I hadn’t seen them. So strap in and check out some of the dark corners of my closet.
Then spit bullets on the flicks that made you all into the fine upstanding psychopaths you are today.
READ PART 1 OF THIS LIST HERE WARNING – WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE AHEAD! 5. HELL NIGHT As a 7 year-old watching a movie I wasn’t supposed to watch when the parents were out, this nasty beast scared me like no other slasher has since. It’s highly derivative and a villain named Andrew doesn’t exactly send chills down the spine, but you always remember that first scare. In fact this movie was a big reason that I had a nightlight in my room until I was in my mid teens. And I’m happy to say that despite multiple flaws, it’s still a pretty solid offering.
4. THE BELIEVERS Horror can make you scared of shite you don’t even believe in. Get great performances and give it all the feel of a realistic setting, whoo boy look out, all the sudden compacts and Santeria are a big problem. I also discovered with The Believers that as much as it’s fun to watch the pics that everybody loves, it’s even more fun to find a truly outstanding movie that many don’t give a lot of thought to.
3. THE ENTITY If there’s a movie that makes you feel more nakedly, viscerally vulnerable than this movie I want to see it. I’ve never felt so helpless watching something. Poor Barbara Hershey is getting raped left, right and center by a paranormal force, or forces, and nobody can do a damn thing to help her. It’s relentless, raw, and completely unpredictable. All horror should aspire to this kind of powerful effect. I thought I’d been hardened to any real fright with all the genre I’ve seen, but this proved to me that there’s always a story that can gut you no matter how jaded you become.
2. ALIEN My folks actually let me check this out when I was 8, but they wouldn’t watch it with me. So I spent the better part of my first viewing running into their bedroom to make sure they were alright. They kindly said that I could stay with them if the movie was too scary. But no, I just wanted to check on them – a lot. I finally watched Alien all the way through sometime in the intervening decade and came to the same conclusion I hold today. It’s nearly perfect and if you want to know how to make a scary f*cking movie without a lot of fancy camera magic and music cues, study and learn.
1. IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS This was, is and will likely remain my favorite horror flick of all time. The unrelenting mind-f*cks, the awesomely sick images, and a scenario that is plausible enough to leave you nervous are just some of the reasons to love Carpenter’s most assured and ambitious work. Ole’ John is one of those guys who always swings for the fences, so he hits lots of homers and strikes out just about as often. In this case he knocked the leather right off the ball. Do you read Sutter Cane? You should.
READ PART 1 OF THIS LIST HERE Got a Top 10 idea? Hit me up at mattwithers@joblo.com