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Halloween Top Tens
By
Edward Black, Stephanie
Lane, and Bob Ignizio
It ain't easy for a
die-hard horror fan to come up with a list of the 10 best horror movies for
Halloween viewing (only 10?). Still, as editor of Utter Trash, I felt
it was my duty to try. I also enlisted the aid of Cleveland based
horror fanzine Crimson Screens publisher Edward Black and
Dead Ohio webmistress (and Mrs. Utter
Trash) Stephanie Lane so you would have a few more titles to chose from.
These lists are not necessarily "the best horror movies of all time", just
the ones that each contributor felt would be the most fun to watch during
this season of the dead. Some are fairly easy to come by and exactly
the sort of movies you'd expect to find on lists like these. Others
are more personal, and more difficult to see. For those that fit in
the latter category I recommend heading out to B-Ware Video at 13367 Madison
Avenue in Lakewood, OH. If you're feeling especially adventurous and
want to purchase some of these flicks, try
Cinema Wasteland or
Xploited Cinema Video.
Both carry lots of hard to find fright flicks. Anyway, without further
ado, here's the lists.
Edward Black - Publisher/Editor of
Crimson Screens magazine
Here is my list of the Top
Ten Horror and Exploitation Movies that are perfect for Halloween viewing.
First, I would like to say that these are not my top ten horror movies ever,
although some of the titles would find themselves on that legendary list.
The ten I have chosen here are ten horror movies which I think are suitable
viewing during the Halloween season.
1.
Dawn Of The Dead. The greatest horror movie ever.
Mandatory viewing not only in October, but every other month of the year.
2. Black Christmas. Forget the lack of
gore and nudity. It is more than made up for here with scares, frights
and more scares. It's got creepy phone calls and a killer lurking
behind a door. Do not miss.
3. The Thing (1982 version). One of the
only movies ever to successfully blend suspense and over the top special
effects. Nothing will ever be the same as seeing this one for the
first time, but that's why you should tell everyone about it and make all
your friends see it.
4. Maniac. The king of all disgusting
80's slasher movies. Nothing is pleasant about this one. In
fact, when you're done watching it, you will probably feel like a dirty
scumbag.
5. Don't Answer The Phone. Where Maniac
delivered the gore, this one delivers the sleaze. And boy does it
ever! Watch as Nicholas Worth gives the best "demented serial killer"
role ever. This one is filled with stranglings, prostitutes, pimps,
and the best mental breakdown ever. A+.
6. Friday the 13th Part 4. What is that
you say? A Friday the 13th movie? Naughty naughty, Mr. Crimson
Screens, isn't that mainstream crap? Well, yes it is, but it is good
mainstream crap. The best of the Friday movies, and it has the best
kills. I've been a fan since I was eight, so I don't care.
7. Death Dream. Andy died in
Vietnam, but his mother "just wishes he would come home". And so he
does. A fantastic creepy horror movie, concerned more with scares than
gore, but that is better sometimes.
8. Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer.
The best serial killer movie ever. Graphic, but not in a bloody
disgusting gore way. Also, features great acting, something that is
unheard of in a lot of horror movies.
9. Cannibal Holocaust. I had to put in
one Italian cannibal movie. An all around filthy movie, but is so well
done that it's impossible to ignore. Watch it with some friends and
see how fewer friends you have the next day!
10. Ebola Syndrome. A deplorable little
mess from Japan about a loser with the Ebola virus. This one is filled
with one sick scene after another, all leading up to the A++++ ending that
must be seen at least once in life. A party favorite!
Stephanie Lane – Webmistress of
Dead Ohio
Our esteemed editor/publisher
saw fit to engage in a masochistic game at our expense by having us fulfill
the impossible task of creating a Top 10 list of the best horror movies for
Halloween. Even after several attempts to negotiate the list up to a
more reasonable number (say, 20), he refuses to budge. After much
struggling, sweating, cursing and rewriting, here goes:
1. Dawn of the Dead.
O.K., disregard the social commentary about American consumerism and all
that other pontificating over Dawn of the Dead’s “deeper meaning.”
This movie is what it is—a very scary, intense (and sometimes comical) movie
about four people trying to survive an apocalypse by holing themselves up in
a shopping mall and fighting off dead people who want to eat them.
With a great score by Goblin.
2. The Haunting (1963 version).
This chilling film about a haunted house is a perfect example of why less is
more. Never once do you see a ghost, but that doesn’t stop the hairs
from standing up on the back of your neck as you witness the characters’
terrified reactions to what may or may not be pounding outside their bedroom
door. Features one of the creepiest houses ever filmed, and an
interesting lesbian subtext to boot.
3. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974
version). One reliable test for rating a horror movie is its impact on
me later. In this case, since I first sweated through this movie, I
never: 1. pick up hitch hikers, 2. drive along rural roads on less than a
full tank of gas, 3. trespass into houses where there are bones and teeth on
the front porch and several abandoned cars camouflaged in the backyard, and
4. eat head cheese.
4. Night of the Living Dead (1968
version). Of course.
5. Suspiria. The first 15 minutes
of this movie alone are one of the most frightening, powerful moments in
horror cinema. With the bold cinematography and soundtrack, this movie about
a dance school run by a coven of really bitchy witches feels like a twisted
child’s fairy tale.
6. The Beyond. Normally, it would
be really cool to inherit an old hotel in the heart of Louisiana. Not
the case here, though, where the hotel’s basement also happens to contain a
gateway to hell. Violent, dark, and creepy, with one of the worst
child deaths and the most downbeat endings in film.
7. Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things.
Perhaps I have a zombie fetish, but this is a really good horror flick, made
by the same guy who brought you Porky’s and A Christmas Story.
There’s a real, documentary-like quality (i.e. low-budget) to this weird,
creepy movie about a theatre troupe that comes to an island cemetery
and disses the “locals.” And what a great title.
8. Lisa and the Devil. Telly Savalas
plays the Devil, who completely fucks with the minds, lives and souls of a
group of strangers who find themselves at a mansion haunted by ghosts who
have their own strange, kinky agenda. Bodies start dropping in a
surreal, nightmarish procession, leading up to a weird twist ending.
9. Dellamorte Dellamore. More zombies.
This time, there is plenty of context and hidden meaning within a
smartly-written, funny, and sexy movie about a cemetery caretaker
burdened with the additional responsibility of making sure the newly-buried
dead stay, um, dead. Released as ‘Cemetery Man’ in the
U.S.
10. Let’s Scare Jessica to Death. In
terms of pure atmosphere and style alone, this movie deserves a place on the
list. Ghosts and vampires (!) threaten the recovery of mentally-cooked
Jessica, and no, she’s NOT imagining them. Incredibly scary and
well-acted, this gothic horror movie gets at you with its realism and subtle
imagery.
Bob Ignizio -
Publisher/Editor of Utter Trash
Yeah, there’s a few duplications form Stephanie’s list
(this explains somewhat how we’ve managed to stay married so long) but what
are you gonna’ do? I’ve watched all of these movies multiple times,
and I’ll probably be watching them many more times before I’m worm food.
1. Suspiria.
Like a nightmare captured on film with some of the most stylish and bloody
murders in any movie. The killer soundtrack by Goblin puts it over the
edge.
2. Halloween. You can’t get much
more obvious, but the bottom line is this is a great movie. It’s the
autumn equivalent of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ or ‘A Christmas Story’.
3. The Haunting (1963 version).
Stephanie pretty much said it all, except to warn you to stay as far away
from the remake as possible.
4. Phantasm. The “Tall Man”, zombie
Jawas, and flying silver balls of death. Don’t try to make sense out
of it, just enjoy.
5. Night of the Living Dead (1968
version). The granddaddy of all gut munching zombie movies. It
broke all kinds of barriers for its time, and it still holds up today.
6. City of the Living Dead. Known
to most US fans as ‘The Gates of Hell’. Good ultra gory fun but with
atmosphere. The scene where a girl vomits forth her entire intestinal
tract is a real show stopper.
7. Frankenstein (1931 version).
It’s tough to pick just one Universal monster movie; I love ‘em all.
So watch ‘Dracula’, ‘The Mummy’, and ‘The Wolfman’ too, while you’re at it.
8. Black Sunday (1959). The movie
that kick-started the Italian horror boom. Loads of atmosphere, and
Barbara Steele. If you haven't seen this one, you're not a horror fan.
9. The Evil Dead. The first (scary)
one, before Sam Raimi turned the series into The Three Stooges.
10. The Abominable Doctor Phibes.
Pure pulpy fun with lots of black humor, creative kills, and Vincent Price.
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