It’s that time of year where we dust off the old VHS player and dig out the video nasties
After seeing the new Halloween movie in the cinema, it made me think about my favourite horrors – The Exorcist, Jaws, The Evil Dead, Dead Snow, Gigli, but what was the very best? I decided to ask some experts. From the kings of all things dark and gloomy, The Sisters of Mercy to Japan’s Dark Witch Doom mongers, Blacklab to up and comers Blank Atlas.
Ben Christo – The Sisters of Mercy, Diamond Black
The Shining – Jack Nicholson’s performance is so darkly comic and Kubrick’s realisation of the Overlook Hotel gives it such an overpowering, unnerving and sinister presence.
Harriet Hyde – Black Moth
The 1973 The Wicker Man (not to be mistaken with the bastardised Nicholas Cage bloody ridiculous remake) is drenched in eerily atmospheric, unmistakably British pagan surrealism. We follow a stiff English copper investigating a missing schoolgirl on a remote Scottish island, as things start off creepy and get a whole lot creepier. Something about its ancient, mystical properties, haunting soundtrack and unsettling performances gets under the skin and stays with you for a lifetime. One of my favourite movies of all time.
Tony Heinrich – Deathrite
As you can see, I am more on the classic side. Maybe that’s why 3 of the 5 movies are 30+ years old. In my opinion, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Evil Dead” have defined the entire genre at their respective time and Rob Zombie is keeping that vibe alive, that’s why I chose “House of the 1000 Corpses” .
Derange
Rec
This has been by far the best scary film for me (Cat). The film is on the basis of found footage, which makes all of the scenes feel so real. The fear, the screams, the carnage…. It feels like you’re living it!! Jaume Balagueró is a genius director and nails Horror every time. Also it was inspired by true events…..how unsettling is that?
Silent Hill
Most movies of computer games are awful but this one is an absolute winner, Pyramid Head is a beast and the some of the deaths are beyond raw (the barbed wire one at the end is savage). Also Sean Bean DOESN’T die in it.
Jaws
A little tame by today’s standards but a cinematic classic nonetheless, there are still jump scares in this which get me on my 100th viewing of this film. Spielberg takes us to the sunny shores of Amity Island to teach us the age old lesson to always bring a bigger boat and that sharks are dicks.
Alien
Ridley Scott’s dark sci-fi terror, from chest bursting to claustrophobic vent crawling and the HR Giger’s terrifying costume and set designs. While some may not see it as a horror film now, it’s about things in the dark jumping out and killing you which fundamentally makes it a classic in the genre and a must watch if you haven’t already.
Shaun of the Dead
An all time classic that hilariously pokes fun at modern society. So many relatable and memorable scenes. We’ve all seen (or been) that person that walks home from the local pub at 2am that might as well be a zombie…
Yuko Morino – BlackLab
My favourite horror film is “Night of the Living Dead” though I think for a lot of people this film will possibly be the first that springs to mind. Films that feature blood splattering are really exciting to watch but there was also an underlying psychological element to this one as well. It’s also pretty interesting that the film is only focused on one night and we never know what happened afterwards with the zombie epidemic.
Witterquick
Ollie – The Shining
Simply the greatest horror film of all time. Classic in every way, it created many elements that have become fundamentals of the Horror genre today. One of my all time favourite films.
Ben – Alien
A film that hits me right in the nostalgia. Because for some reason I saw it when I was about five. Ridley Scott is a master of smoke and atmosphere. Horror really is all about impending doom, the terrifying calm before the scare. That’s what this whole film is about.
Will – Dog Soldiers
Although it’s not technically a film that I found scary, I used to love ‘Dog Soldiers’ when I was younger, the werewolves looked ace (better than the weird costume they used for Oz in Buffy). Soldiers versus werewolves, classic British banter and Sean Pertwee saying ‘fuck it’ a whole bunch, what’s not to love? In terms of something that scared the shit outta me I’d have to say the video for ‘Thriller’ by Michael Jackson.
Sean – Jaws
My favourite (and destroyer of my love for swimming in the sea) horror movie has to be Jaws. Ever since I watched that film I have never been able to go out of my depth in the sea.
Dan – Ringu
I’m a huge horror fan so this is tough. Ringu (original Japanese Ring) has to be one of the very best of more recent times. Unique with a classic feel and truly terrifying in a way only Asian cinema can manage.
Blank Atlas
Dan
I’m not actually a big fan of Halloween (sorry to disappoint). BUT, the one Halloween-esque film I love is ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’, it’s pretty good ain’t it! This is such a classic film to watch at this time and you know it’s a Tim Burton film straight away! The animation is so sick, it isn’t like all the other animation films you see like Pixar or Dreamworks. Everybody loves Jack Skellington, he is such a classic character, god knows how many tattoos there are of him. But the main reason I do love this film is because it’s sort of a Christmas film too and I am obsessed about Xmas so any excuse to start getting excited is always good. I know it’s mainly about Christmas but this is the closest Halloween film you are going to get out of me, sorry all you Halloween lovers out there. Blank Atlas are scared of everything.
Chris
Is Shaun of the Dead even a horror? Is Scary Movie 4 a horror? Well SOTD is a masterpiece of a film in any case so I’m going to talk about it anyway. Sue me. Every Halloween I dress as Shaun because I am a master of cosplay. I work in a bar with multiple Halloween events too, so it usually goes like this;
“Who are you dressed as, Chris?
“Shaun off of Shaun of the Dead.”
“Nice! Who are you gonna be tomorrow?”
“Shaun off of Shaun of the Dead.”
Goes without saying. Just like this film should go without saying in any top films list, horror or otherwise. Hot Fuzz is probably better though. 10/10, would be startled at the entrails-getting-ripped-out scene again.
Tom
Casper Meets Wendy – Ah what a Scary one, I remember watching this as a kid and being creeped out by the witches – probably why I’m a little baby when it comes to Horror films now. But Casper is a decent bloke and I proper rate his ghostliness. A good film nonetheless 🤙🏻 10/10
We haven’t even seen The Shining…
Don’t worry lads, we won’t tell Ben and Ollie.
Metal Report Editor.
Ex guitarist in Zenopede, ex vocals for a goth covers band that was hailed as the future of Welsh music, former DJ, promoter and nightclub director. Writer for Gear4Geeks’ Blog4Geeks and owner of Gear4Geeks ltd. First published music critique was Kerrang letter of the Week.
Definitely has never been the future, present or past of Welsh music.