It's officially October and I don't know about you, but I've been planning my costume since August. I usually hate horror movies but, in October I make an exception to my rule. While these aren't the scariest horror movies, they're my personal favorites. So without further ado here are my six sick flix (666) movies.
6. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Shaun of the Dead is one of those comedy horror movies that is actually amazing. Edgar Wright employs his iconic music and classic comedy style in this movie. Shaun, a dull 30-something is hilariously thrown into the Zombie Apocalypse with his best friend, Ed, his VERY recent Ex-Girlfriend, and his entire family. Pay attention to the zombie bar fight scene for my favorite Edgar Wright moment. The way he uses music to set the pace of his films is so entertaining to watch. Wright's films are great to study if you're interested on how to effectively use music to improve your film (be sure to check out Scott Pilgram vs. The World, Baby Driver, and Hot Fuzz).
5. Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Silence of the Lambs was my first rated-R movie. I remember watching it at in 3rd grade and having an absolute fascination with Hannibal Lecter. I think this the movie that got me hooked on true crime. Fun fact, Buffalo Bill is actually based off of a real serial killer named Gary Heidnik. Feel free to research him but it's pretty messed up.
4. 28 Days Later (2002)
Another Zombie flick, but this one's actually frightening. This movie was made on an indie budget (5 million) and was actually able to shut down a main London street for 3 hours, creating only a minute of usable footage. While it was only a minute, these are some of my favorite scenes and they show that you don't need a large budget to create an amazing movie. Cillian Murphy's character wakes up from a coma in the middle of the apocalypse. After activists break into a lab housing chimpanzees, a rage virus is accidentally spread through London. The Walking Dead definitely stole this idea (this is pure conjecture, I have no actual idea) for their show. After watching this movie, I made my parents to agree to kill me if there was ever a zombie apocalypse because fuck that mess.
3. Scream (1996)
This is one of those classic horror movies that every scary movie fan has to watch. It acknowledges the classic horror movie tropes and turns them on their head. I think it's highly entertaining that the characters in Scream are horror film watchers and know that virgins always live and the girl should never check out a mysterious noise. This movie makes it OK to have sex and still beat up the bloodthirsty masked man. This is a classic horror movie everyone should watch.
2. The VVitch (2016)
I had to look up the ending to this one to fully understand it. While the VVitch doesn't have the jumpscares and gore typical horror movies have, it instead relies on cinematic footage and increasing tension to scare the shit out of you. A Puritan family is excommunicated from London in the 1600's. After this, they try to survive on a small homestead, to disastrous results. This movie is paced slowly, like the Puritan lifestyle, but boils over the cauldron as the witchcraft heat is turned up.
1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre was originally promoted as a true story but the antagonist LeatherFace is only loosely based off of Wisconsin's very own, Ed Gein. As a Illinois native, Wisconsin needs to get it's shit together when it comes to creating iconic serial killers. After encountering a family of cannibals, the characters are thrown into an all out butcher. If you like gory, jump-scare movies, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a classic you must watch.
Honorable Mentions:
The Shining
Psycho (the OG Hitchcock Psycho)
The Conjuring
Get Out
IT
The Blair Witch Project
Nightmare on Elm Street
The Exorcist
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