Lauren Monica | Anson Record
I believe a lot can be learned by knowing a person’s favorite movies or books. Last year, our former editor, Matthew Sasser, wrote about his favorite scary movies. A scary movie fan myself, I thought this year I would share some of my favorite thrillers in time for Halloween.
I want to say at the outset I have come a long way from the days when the “House of Dies Drear” or the “Canterville Ghost” sent me running from the room in terrified tears. These days, I have a respect for scary movies and have found my favorites to be phycological thrillers in the same vein as Alfred Hitchcock, “Rear Window” being an all-time favorite of mine.
A movie beloved by my family is the “Skeleton Key” starring Kate Hudson and Gena Rowland. This movie takes place on an old plantation in Louisianna and is a mix of thrills, chills, and voodoo. It may take a couple times of seeing the movie to fully grasp its meaning and as such is one that will haunt your mind long after the credits roll.
The first “Wrong Turn” in the 7 movie series, featuring Eliza Dushku, leads the viewer on a creepy tale of chase, suspense, and backwoods adventures. Taking place in the hills of West Virginia, the movie follows a group of young adults who run into a family of sadisitic, inbred, cannibals. The group must try to outwit the cannibals on their own home turf- alone, in the West Virginia mountains. A guaranteed hit for those of us who love the outdoors and being scared silly, the second movie in the “Wrong Turn” franchise is not particularly scary but is humorous and entertaining to watch, it is also not for kids.
More recently, I really enjoyed watching “The Hunt” and the re-make of “Fantasy Island.” In “The Hunt,” twelve strangers wake up in a clearing with no idea how they got there. One by one the group is hunted and killed off in various ways. Similar to “Wrong Turn,” outside characters are not always what they seem in “The Hunt.” In “Fantasy Island,” Mr. Roarke, played by Michael Peña, makes the secret dreams of his guests come true at his luxurious, remote island resort. When dreams turn into nightmares, the guests have to solve the mystery of Fantasy Island in order to survive.
“Don’t Breathe” is the suspenseful tale of a group of thieves who break into the home of a blind man in order to steal his money. Proving to be more adept and merciless than anticipated, the thieves become trapped inside the home as its owner fights back.
If gore is more your thing, “Turistas” and “Hostel,” both deservedly rated R, track friends as they navigate the perils of abroad travel. Both movies are chalked full of gore and murder. In “The Ruins,” which is better as a book, nature is the aggressor. “Trick R Treat,” as the name implies, is a true Halloween movie that follows seemingly different stories that end up all being connected by movie’s end.
Not a true horror film, “They Cloned Tyrone” featuring Jamie Foxx, Kieffer Sutherland, and Teyona Parris, is a great choice. Beneath the humor and fear, the movie makes an interesting statement on society.
My list would not be complete without including a few werewolf and vampire movies. When it comes to the howling wolf-man, Stephen King’s “Silver Bullet” remains a favorite of mine. It follows the story of a brother and sister who believe a werewolf is terrorizing their town and they must rely on the help of their uncle, played by Gary Busey, to defeat the beast. Two movies loved by both of my children are “Cursed” and “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf.” An older movie, “Cursed” stars Christina Ricci, Judy Greer, Joshua Jackson, and Jesse Eisenburg. It is about an orphaned brother and sister who have been bitten by a werewolf following a violent car accident. “The Boy Who Cried Werewolf” is a solid scary movie for older children and is about a family who find themselves the lucky owners of a castle in Romania. A Nickelodeon, made-for-tv movie, Brooke Shields completely outdoes herself and I guarantee you will be quoting her lines long after watching.
When it comes to creatures of the night, there are plenty of vampire movies out there to choose from. Two of my favorites are “Fright Night” and the “Lost Boys.” Whether you choose the 1985 or 2011 version of “Fright Night,” you really can’t go wrong with this choice. Featuring Kieffer Sutherland and Corey Haim, “Lost Boys” is a movie about a mother and her 2 sons moving to a new town that seems to have a vampire problem.
Be sure to be mindful of adult themes, but great spooky movies for kids are either of the “Goosebumps” movies, both versions of Disney’s “Haunted Mansion,” “Nightbooks,” “The Curse of Bridge Hollow,” animated “Little Vampire,” Delta Burke’s “Hansel and Gretel,” “Halloweentown,” and the re-make of Roald Dahl’s “The Witches” are excellent choices. A huge Rowan Atkinson fan, it pains me to admit, the Witches re-make is a lot better than its first version. As kids, my sister and I loved Bette Davis’ “Watcher in the Woods.” Sasser definitely diasgrees with me on this, but Nickelodeon’s “Are You Afraid of the Dark” TV series is far superior to the “Goosebumps” series, though both are great for after school scares. My kids really love “The Hole” and “Disturbia,” and will watch either one at any opportunity. A 2009 movie, “The Hole” is about a family who moves into a new home and finds a mysterious and terrifying hole in their basement floor. Disturbia mirrors the screenplay of “Rear Window,” and in similar fashion is about a teenage boy who finds himself on house arrest and believes he has witnessed his neighbor commit murder. Also similar, is a comedy called “Head Over Heels” starring Freddie Prince Jr. and Monica Potter, only this movie involves supermodels, art, baseball, and the FBI. Prince and Potter have recently teamed up again in “The Girl In the Pool,” another thriller, released this year.
For those who prefer suspense to horror, I recommend “Vanished,” “Girl on the Train,” “Red Eye,” “Kiss the Girls,” and “Along Came A Spider.” Fantastic “scary” comedies are “Serial Mom,” “Game Night” [not for kids, hilarious fun for adults], “Vamps,” “The Love Witch,” “Arsenic and Old Lace,” “Bell, Book, and Candle,” and “Death Becomes Her.”
Teens may enjoy “Teaching Mrs. Tingle,” “Scream, “John Carpenter’s “Halloween” series, “Fear,” “The People Under the Stairs,” “Cabin In the Woods,” “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” “Darkness Falls” and the “Final Destination” series.
Some movies on my can’t-wait-to-watch list are Josh Hartnett’s “Trap” and Hugh Grant’s “Heretic.” The first is about a serial killer who has taken his daughter to a concert, only to find the whole show is a farce to trap him inside. “Heretic” comes out on November 8 and you should really watch the trailer because it looks creepy. A movie (and book) nerd, there are so many more movies I could suggest. I hope you find something on this list to thrill and spook your soul this Halloween.
