Halloween is my favorite holiday. It's a time to get creative with your costume, get together with friends and just enjoy the thrill of a night dedicated to the spooky and undead. Because everyone is in costume, it seems that inhibitions are lightened and everyone is generally in a better mood, willing to have more fun. Personally, I think its better than being forced around a table and having to talk through forced conversations with family members you don't really want to talk to, as with Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Admittedly, I am not a huge horror film buff. I can watch horror movies with other people in the room, but if I'm by myself, I'm a little girl about it. Those kind of movies put me on edge, and embarrassingly enough it takes a few days for me to quit looking over my shoulder.
It's been a while since we've had a countdown on here. I know I still have to finish up my WWF countdown, but that will have to wait for another post, because right now, I amd counting down my Top-10 Scariest characters in cinematic history. As always, this is my list and because I am not a horror connoisseur this will only include movies that I have seen and enjoyed.
10. Willy Wonka - Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Maybe a bit of a surprise to be included on a Halloween Scariest characters list, but if you think about it, Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka is plenty scary in its own right. I mean, great movie, a classic, but there is something a little off about a man who has 100s of orange midgets living in his basement. Not to mention, he does have an extra little infatuation for children that is bordering on the likes of Michael Jackson. The fact that he lures these children into his factory and one-by-one they disappear, is a basic premise of horror movies. The nonchalant way in which he reacts to the children's misfortune is creepy. Its not intended to be a horror movie, but it does have its dark points so for that we give Willy a spot on our list.
9. Pennywise the Clown - IT (1990)
I'm not one to be scared of clowns, actually I find them kind of funny, but Pennywise from Stephen King's It, gives clowns a whole new image.
It was a made for TV movie, so it hasn't been as widely seen as some of the other film's and villans on this list, but Pennywise is no joke. Stephen King is a master writer of all things scary and supernatural, and this movie is no different.
I've never read the book, but I've been told it contains more horror elements than the movie. The movie in itself isn't so much scary as it is unnerving. Just the idea of a clown killing children is very King-esque.
Pennywise isn't all that scary, in fact, I find him to be rather humorous, but the mixing of his killings and the joyful carnival music that accompanies his murders is a nice contrast.
So for those of you who haven't seen the movie, basically it is about a group of outcast kids, who in the 1960s were terrorized by a demon clown that fed on the fears of children and killed them. The group was able to defeat the clown as kids, but 30 years later he resurfaces, and the group, now adults, must band together to defeat him again. Kind of a wishy washy premise, but Pennywise deserves a spot on this list.
8. Jaws - Jaws (1975)
I wasn't born yet, but from the accounts I've seen and read, this movie had more of an impact on coastal vacations than the BP oil spill. The idea of a killer shark lurking near the shore and gobbling up unsuspecting tourists is a concept that was not contemplated before Steven Spielberg's 1975 horror classic. Really the movie has given sharks a bad name, but who cares they are sharks and anything that can open its mouth, expose rows and rows of flesh tearing teeth, and can end my life with one chomp, deserves to have a bad name. I like going into the ocean, but when you're out there, there's always that little bit of fear because of the unknown which is swimming mere inches beneath the surface of the water.
Yes, sharks are scary, but what really makes this film a horror classic, is Spielberg's use of the music to create a sense of anxiety and panic. No film before, used music as a way to foreshadow the upcoming events. When you hear that imfamous Jaws theme, you instantly know something bad is about to happen. You know it's going to happen, but you don't know when, where or why. That's what makes this movie scary, the anticipation of what is going to happen. This ploy will be a favorite for all horror flicks that followed.
7. Blair Witch - The Blair Witch Project (1999)
So when I first saw this movie in theaters, the news that this film was fake wasn't yet released. So I left the movies that night thinking that this footage was real, and that three kids were murdered in the woods. Okay, looking back it was naive to think that, but I was only 13 at the time. No studio would release a snuff film that shows three people being tortured by a mysterious "witch," but to the filmmakers credit, they held out long enough to rake in tons of cash for this low-budget production.
Filming the whole movie, using a hand-held camera is just a cool premise, the idea that three people are filming a documentary about a local legend and then they fall victim to this legend is a great concept.
The hysteria of the actors adds that little extra that the audience needed to sit through the 2 hours of footage, and lets be honest, not much action takes place for the majority of the film, but the movie still captivated people nationwide.
Obviously the finding of the tongue was a creepy part, but the ending in the shack with all the children handprints was a great way to cap this cult classic.
6. Samara Morgan - The Ring (2002)
Gotta state the obvious, Naomi Watts is pretty damn hot in this movie.
The Ring wasn't as much scary as it was creepy and disturbing, with the little girl being the most disturbing of all the characters. When she pops out of the tv and does that spider/crab walk thing, that is pretty stunning.
It was a good movie, because the plot was actually that of a real movie, not just a horror/slasher film.
Not going to lie, couldn't actually watch the clip below for its entirety.
5. Jason Voorhees - Friday the 13th (1980)
Well as everyone knows by now, Jason's mom was the killer in the first movie, so really Pamela Voorhees should be added to this spot in the rankings. Anyways this original film spawned countless sequels that have the goalie-masked machete wielding psycho terrorizing sex and drug addled teens across the country. If you're doing drugs or having sex, you will die. That's that.
Jason was derived in the form of the methodical killer that destroys all in his path without compassion. If you are in reach of the machete, you will be hacked up. Usain Bolt couldn't even run fast enough to escape Jason's wrath. Doesn't matter what you do, how much of a head start you have on this guy, somehow you will fall down, break your leg or ankle, get caught in a deadend and be slashed to pieces.
The movie is a typical slasher film, but the ending of the original unveils the ultimate surprise. A true classic ending. The song makes it.
4. Chucky - Child's Play (1988)
The ultimate movie to give a child a nightmare. This came out when I was 2, not that I saw this when I was 2-years-old, but it definately left an impression on my childhood after I did see it. How wouldn't this be scary to a kid, a murderer whose soul is now in a child's toy. Yeah that's scary shit. A doll coming to life is one thing, but a ginger doll coming to life, is on a completely new scale of horrific, even for adults. We don't like real gingers invading our lives in normal circumstances, but a killer doll with red hair and freckles, that's too much.
Anyways I remember checking my stuffed animals before bed to make sure that they weren't going to stab me in my sleep. Yeah lame, but I'm sure I wasn't the only one.
Looking back at it, if this little ginger killer was chasing me around, I would boot the shit out of it. The whole doll/killer thing was a terrifying combination, how could they possible have imagined and engineered a Carrot Top and that munchkin, Deep Roy from Eastbound and Down, combination killer? Now that ingenuity.
3. Freddy Krueger - A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Wes Craven spawned Freddy out of the successes of the newly discovered slasher genre led by Halloween and Friday the 13th. Craven didn't create Freddy to be a brute serial killer that dominated physically, he wanted his creature to torture his victims psychologically, before he wounded them mortally.
So what you had was a Freudian killer, who ravaged your mind and dreams before killing you while you slept. Definately a change of pace from what horror fans were becoming accustomed to, but nonetheless effective.
An icon of the horror world, Freddy will forever remain the cause for the creation of Adderall and 5-hour Energy drinks.
2. Boogerlips - Ernest Scared Stupid (1991)
I know, I know, the Ernest movies were jokes, but this happens to be one of my favorite Halloween movies, and since this is my list I can put ol' Boogerlips anywhere I want.
Hell, when I was a kid, I couldn't get through the scene where the troll sneaks up on the little girl in bed and turns her into a little figurine. It took me multiple tries to finish the movie and find out that the only way to defeat this troll is by spraying it with Miak.
Great special effects.
Jim Varney was an underrated comedic actor. All his movies are pretty funny and he should have gotten more credit than he did for those roles. No they weren't Oscar worthy, or even Razzie worthy for that sake, but they are entertaining and a very good find when nothing else is on tv.
1. Michael Myers - Halloween (1978)
The original, and still the best. Michael Myers is the patriarch of all slasher villians. He was the first, and everything since has just been trying to keep up.
Saw my first pair of boobs while watching this movie in elementary school, so yeah, can't forget something like that.
This movie is Halloween. Michael Myers is Halloween. Who would have thought that a simple Captain Kirk mask turned inside out, paired with a butcher's knife, and some easy to play piano notes would turn into such an iconic member of the film history.
The emotionless and methodic rampage that Michael levels on Haddonfield is awesome. He can't be stopped. You know he is coming by the music, but you never know where he will show up. You can't get away from him, he doesn't care, he will walk as slow as possible and still get you, that's how tough he is. In reality, there is 0% chance of him catching me if I was running, but some idiot girls don't understand you shouldn't lock yourself in a house when a manic murderer is after you.
This is one of the only films, that if on tv, I will stop what I am doing and watch it, no matter what time of year. Even though I've seen it countless times, I still feel uneasy after its over.
Rob Zombie tried to take the remake in its own direction, but what he failed to realize is that there was no need for a remake, the original was the perfect horror movie.
What would Halloween be without Thriller
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