Halloween Top 10
October 31, 2022
Halloween is my favorite time of year, so obviously I wanted to do something on my little website here to celebrate. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do though, but I enjoy writing and I enjoy cheesy horror movies, so here we are. Originally I thought about doing a movie for every day in October, or every week, or just whenever I felt like it, but things never work out the way we plan and life got in the way. So anyways, here's my top 10 list of my favorite movies best suited to the spooky season.
#10: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Directed by: Tobe Hooper
Plot synopsis: "Five friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw."
My thoughts: This movie is camp. I feel like it was created more to fulfill someone's snuff kink than to actually tell a story, but it's funny so I'll allow it. I said this on my movie page as well, but this is the only horror movie I've watched that actually made me feel fear. That shot of Leatherface coming out of the kitchen was horrifying.
#9: Halloween (2018)
Directed by: David Gordon Green
Plot synopsis: "Laurie Strode confronts her long-time foe, Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago."
My thoughts: Is the Halloween franchise beating a dead horse? Yes, absolutely. However, this movie disregards all the sequels and tells its own story. I've only seen the first two Halloween movies and I still understood what was going on. I also love reprisal roles, and Jamie Lee Curtis does her job amazingly.
#8: Embrace of the Vampire (2013)
Directed by: Carl Bessai
Plot synopsis: A timid girl named Charlotte has just left an all-girls Catholic school for a co-ed university, when she begins to have gruesome and bizarre daydreams. A local mystic soon informs her she's caught up in a blood feud centuries in the making.
My thoughts: I don't care what anyone says, this movie was GOOD. Was it good because my friends and I were making fun of it the whole time? Maybe, but that's not the point here. I'm gonna write a longer post on this later because I have so many thoughts. Go watch this movie.
#7: Candyman (1992)
Directed by: Bernard Rose
Plot synopsis: "The Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster's myth."
My thoughts: This movie has really beautiful cinematography. I also find the dialogue very pretty. Those are the main appealing factors to me, because the story itself doesn't make sense in the social context of the folklore. I do plan on watching the more recent one eventually.
#6: Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Directed by: Robert Hiltzik
Plot synopsis: "Angela Baker, a shy, traumatized young girl, is sent to summer camp with her cousin. Shortly after her arrival, anyone with sinister or less than honorable intentions toward her gets their comeuppance."
My thoughts: The special effects in this movie were incredible. I was genuinely repulsed on more than one occasion. This really had the potential to be a super good movie, if only the ending wasn't transmysoginistic.
#5: Happy Birthday To Me (1981)
Directed by: J. Lee Thompson
Plot synopsis: A group of high school students finds their friends disappearing one by one. Virginia has blackouts related to an accident years prior, and wonders if she might have something to do with their disappearances.
My thoughts: Again, lots of thoughts on this movie. The music is incredible. Foaming at the mouth thinking about how good that opening theme was. My overall opinion of the movie is likely tinted by the fact that one of the characters reminds me of someone I'm quite fond of in real life. Oh well. Also, the movie was condemned in the UK during the "video nasty" outrage, and how can you not love something with a name like that?
#4: The Vanishing (1988)
Directed by: George Sluizer
Plot synopsis: "Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation. They stop at a busy service station and Saskia is abducted. After three years and no sign of Saskia, Rex begins receiving letters from the abductor."
My thoughts: It's been quite a few months since I saw this movie, and I didn't take many notes at the times because it really held my attention. I know I enjoyed it, though. I really appreciate its more psychological approach. You know what happened from the very beginning, but it's fascinating to watch it all unfold.
#3: Urban Legend (1998)
Directed by: Jamie Blanks
Plot synopsis: "A college student suspects a series of bizarre deaths are connected to certain urban legends."
My thoughts: Never has a slasher movie made me feel so acutely bisexual. Goddamn. This movie is just a blast all around. I love the humor, and a large part of that is because of the actors and their delivery. I also love the idea of urban legends as a basis, because again, you know what's coming, you just have to figure out how it's gonna happen.
#2: Happy Death Day (2017)
Directed by: Christopher Landon
Plot synopsis: Theresa is attacked and murdered on her birthday, only to wake up and relive the day all over again. She realizes the time loop will only end when she identifies her killer.
My thoughts: I'm such a sucker for time loop stories. This one definitely covers all the "what would you do if you were reliving the same day over and over and you didn't know why" bases. My main critique of this movie is the way it shoes in a "cathartic" conversation between the protagonist and her father. It just feels very heavy-handed, and I think it could have been done better.
And finally, drumroll please...
#1: Scream (1996)
Directed by: Wes Craven
Plot synopsis: "A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a new killer, who targets the girl and her friends by using horror films as part of a deadly game."
My thoughts: Yeah. Nobody's surprised that this is my #1. This movie is a landmark in the slasher niche, and for the horror genre as a whole. It's obviously very self-aware, but it's also not afraid to take itself seriously. The dialogue, the humor, the cast, the acting, all fabulous. Also horny Ghostface fans cannot be subdued. Help.