I started doing this as a Facebook post… Watching a Horror Movie a night for two weeks.

I’m a HUGE horror movie fan. I mean, enough of a fan that I was discussing them on Usenet in alt.horror 10 years ago, and owned all the good Asian films (thanks to Bootlegs purchased on Ebay) years before the American remakes were even thought of. It’s a hobby, for sure.

I like all kinds of horror movies - I love a good, atmospheric ghost story; I like zombie films; slashers; weird stuff; vampires; I even like utter trash, like HG Lewis’ sixties “gore” films like Blood Feast and 2,000 Maniacs.

So the other day, on a whim, I said “I’ll watch one a night until Halloween” and posted such on Facebook. I decided that they’d all be what I consider “good to great” horror films (meaning no “so bad they are good” stuff like the above-mentioned HG Lewis or “Plan 9″ or the like.) I guess my goal (besides watching them, of course) was to maybe expose someone to a movie they have not seen. As a film buff, I like doing that.

Anyway, I was asked for a list, so I’ll post such here, with a short synopsis of each movie. I’ll update this as I go. I’ll also link these to their IMDB entries, so you can find out a little more about them. I’ll also post links to amazon if I mention a particular version, etc.

Oct 19th - Night of the Living Dead (1968) - George Romero’s classic zombie movie is the perfect place to start. Shot in beautiful black and white, and filled with tension, this is the movie that kicked off the zombie genre as we know it. He’s gone on to do better (Dawn of the Dead / Day of the Dead), but for pure “Halloween style” atmosphere and scares, you can’t beat the original. 

October 20th - Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971) - Great title, huh?? This is a really creepy movie that is largely unknown. Why it’s unknown is beyond me, as it has “scary atmosphere” to spare. Maybe it’s because the acting isn’t really all that great, and at times, it almost seems like a TV movie (maybe it was? The 70’s were big on TV movies). But trust me, if you like horror movies, you’ll love this one.  

October 21st - The Exorcist (1973) - You can’t have a list of great horror films without The Exorcist. This movie utterly shocked people in the early 70’s, and it’s aged well - it’s still pretty disturbing today. The makeup and effects were really well done for 1973, but it’s the fairly simple story/set that really makes this film - almost all of the key scenes take place in Regan’s bedroom. Personally, I prefer “The version you’ve never seen“, which includes the really creepy “spider crawl” scene. Just a note to anyone looking to pick this up.

October 22nd - Nosferatu (1922) - The first vampire movie (and in my opinion, easily the best.) Max Schreck plays Count Orloknot as a suave, sophisticated, angst-ridden vampire, but as a horribly deformed, cursed soul - he’s really something to behold. This is an old silent film, so don’t expect whiz-bang in your face scares, but to me, the mood of this film is second to none. There are a million versions and prints around, but this one, from Image Entertainment, is easily the best. It has the correct speed, and lets you choose from two different musical scores.

October 23 - Ringu (1998) - This is it… the big one. This is the Asian film that got all the “US remakes” started. Ringuis a creepy supernatural story about a vengeful, thoroughly evil spirit that kills people seven days after they watch a cursed video. It is a really scary film, with an immense feeling of dread that doesn’t let up. And it has one of the best endings ever. I actually liked the US remake also, but feel the Japanese one is superior, because the spirit (Sadako) is so twisted and dark… she was made a little too cute in the US version.

 October 24th - Session 9 (2001) - Great little scary movie that never got any real press. David Caruso (from NYPD Blue) is part of an asbestos cleanup crew working in a creepy, abandoned asylum, where things are not what they seem. This is one of those movies that drips with atmosphere, because the location is just so dominating (the asylum may as well be a character). It takes a little while to get going, but the interplay between the actors is good enough to keep you interested. It gets really gripping about halfway through, and the climax is pretty disturbing (and scary).

 October 25th - The Shining (1980) - We’ll continue with the “location is almost a character” theme and go with Stanley Kubrick’s version of “The Shining” (that’s the one with Jack Nicholson - not the one with the Wings guy). Stories abound on how difficult Kubrick was to work with, but the results are spectacular, as the Overlook hotel is just a deathly forebodingplace, not to mention Jack’s maniacal performance. The score on this film is also superb- just listen to the music in the beginning as you see the little yellow volkswagen go to the hotel and tell me that’s not one of the best opening pieces to a horror film ever… and those two little girls. Eeek.

 I could go on - if you haven’t seen this, you must, and if you have seen it, watch it again this week. This is horror at its best.

 Continued in Part 2