In the spirit of Halloween, I’ve been watching a lot of frightening (okay, maybe not so frightening) TV. The main reason why I like horror genre, it’s the only time where I feel the most alive. There is no other genre where I’m on the edge of my seat, hearing every heartbeat that passes, and anticipating someone/thing to jump out. I just love it. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t like to be scared in real life. In a dark room and in front of a screen…well, scare me away!
Here are some of my favorite ways to get into the Halloween Spirit:
1. Shaun of the Dead:
Okay, I know I said I like to be scared and Shaun of the Dead is not exactly scary. BUT!…it’s movie about zombies and the thought of people turning into a flesh eating creatures is scary to me. I like this movie, because it’s normal people (like me) surviving the Z-Day. I fell like in The Walking Dead, I would’ve died in that show by the first episode. Fo’sure.
2. A Nightmare on Elm Street
Dreams are supposed to be untouchable. No one is ever allowed into our dreams, especially a badly burnt pedophile with a ugly sweater and one razor glove. Apparently, this was my first movie ever. My dad accidentally took me to this movie when I was two years old. In his defense, he doesn’t know English very well.
3. Ringu (Japanese Version of The Ring)
I made the stupid mistake of watching Ringu in my hotel room in Japan. I had a hard time sleeping that night and ended up watching “Babe” (yes, the talking pig movie) at 3AM in the morning. I am not making that mistake again. Out of all the movies, this is the one that I can’t really watch on a whim. It has to be 10AM with a house full of people and I must have 100% control over the remote. Why control over the remote? Well, anytime I feel the scene is getting a little too scary, I can just flip the channel. Yep, I’m THAT scared of this movie and I love it!
4. Goblin 2
Okay, this has to be the best worst movie ever. Yes, the BEST worst movie ever. The acting is terrible and the storyline is crappy. Why do I love it so? It just makes me laugh. I’m not the only person that believe this movie was so bad that it ended up being good. My blogging friend, Fog, did not just write one review on this movie, but three! Check out part 1, part 2, and part 3.
5. Halloween
Who knew a white faced William Shatner would be one of the most iconic faces of Halloween?
6. The Sixth Sense
Just the thought of seeing ghosts freaks me out. I don’t know if I could handle it. One scene sticks out the most with me. It’s the scene where a battered woman with her wrists cut open is yelling at Cole. Ya, I would not want to deal with that all the time.
7. Audition
After watching “Audition” all I can say is, “WTF, did I just watch?!?” Truly scary. I will give it to the Japanese, they know how to make a twisted weird horror movie.
8. House on Haunted Hill (1999)
I may get a lot of crap for this movie, but I genuinely like this movie. I like how the house is all funky and plays tricks on everybody. Also, I like how the house picks off each character. I think this movie did a good job building up the tension, which is why I like it so much.
9. Hard Candy
Sweet Juno is pretty bad ass in this movie. And yes, I did just combine two movies into one sentence. This movie is not really a horror movie, but it’s still sick and twisted. Who’s crazier: the pedophile or the little girl turned vigilante? After watching this movie, I couldn’t tell you. I think they are equally crazy and messed up.
10. What Lies Beneath
Harrison Ford usually plays the good guy, so I had no expectation of him in this movie. Honestly, I thought he was going to be the one that saves the day. This is why this movie blew my mind. I love how the music intensify things. Visually, there is not a lot of scary things…maybe a few camera tricks here and there, but add in those intensive music cue. OH MAN, scary!
Here are my favorite movies to get me in the mood for Halloween! What are some of your favorites?
On a serious note: Thank you for all the tweets, calls, emails asking about my safety during the Tsunami last night. I felt truly blessed to have great social media friends. Thank you. Luckily, there was no damages on O’ahu and my house. I do want to send out prayers for British Columbia and anyone who was affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Also, to anyone on the East Coast, I’ll be praying for everyone’s safety during Hurricane Sandy aka Frankenstorm. Be safe. Please, help one one another–stranger or not.
Heh… I got the pingbacks and I was like… who’s linking to Troll 2? LOL It’s JEN!
Happy Halloweeeeen, Jen! You picked some good movies out up there. Still have never seen the original Ring – Ringu. Hear its good though, so you dont have to feel bad for being freaked out by it.
If Troll 2 scared you though, you’ve got issues
@Fogs!
HEY!!! Happy Halloween to you, too. You have to watch Ringu! It’s so scary, but maybe you won’t find it to be too scary.
If I ever–EVER–find Troll 2 to be scary, you have my permission to punch me in my face. Seriously. No holding back…go for it. LOL
I don’t like scary movies. I find that I would rather watch kiddie halloween movies created by the Disney Channel…You know I love me some Disney Channel!!! No spooky movies for me…I am a wuss I admit it, but I just can’t be adding that allegedly fictional stuff to my anxiety list – allegedly because hey evil spirits, possession, and serial killers aren’t fictional! Ain’t met a zombie yet, but cannibals are real, so just cause they ain’t dead don’t mean we ain’t far off.
@Illusyon: LOL I can see that. I do like Halloweentown and Hocus Pocus. I should’ve done a kiddy version of my favorite Halloween movies. Maybe if I have some time I will do it. I still haven’t packed yet…so I’m kinda stressing out.
I hope that you don’t EVER meet an evil spirit, possession, serial killers, zombies, and cannibals. If you do, I hope it’s the fake Halloween kind.
I’m a total pansy. I’ve watched my share of frightening movies. I just can’t do it anymore. I didn’t like The Ring. I was traumatized by Event Horizon. I thought The Others was a pretty good suspenseful movie. Nightmare Before Christmas is just about my speed now.
I’m glad you came through the tsunami alright. Hard to believe how so many natural disasters can rear their heads all at once eh?
@Rachel: OH my, I totally forgot about Event Horizon. I don’t quite remember the movie, even though, I remember watching it. OH, The Others was pretty freaky, too. The twist ending was like, “whoa”. I was more afraid of the maid than Nicole Kidman.
You know what…I’ve never seen Nightmare Before Christmas. I know…crazy, uh? I just never got around to it. That’s the story of my life…I just never got around to it. LOL
i HATE horror films because when i was a kid, i was forced by my mean neighbour to watch all of them and now i have an irrational fear of anything scary on the screen. i’m surprised you didn’t include exorcist in this list which is the all time shit-your-pants scary movie!
@Kat: I can’t believe your neighbour did that to you. How terrible. I remember my neighbour used to make me watch Gozilla movies over and over again. You know, the cheese Japanese ones.
I was thinking about adding the Exorcist and The Shinning, but I couldn’t fit it in my list. It would’ve been number 11 and 12.
Jen, I like your list; you can’t lose going with classics like Halloween, Sixth Sense, Nightmare on Elm Street, and similar films. Shaun of the Dead is an fun horror-comedy. A very seasonal list; I dig it.
@S: Thanks! I tired to mix the classics with some newer horror movies. Honestly, it’s hard to beat the classics. I think they will always be on my list forever.
I’m shocked that a lot of people are in agreement of Shaun of the Dead. I thought a lot of people would tell that it’s not a true horror movie. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment on my blog. I hope to see you again!
Omg, I have never seen Shaun of the Dead! I know! I’ve heard over and over again how great it is, but for whatever reason still haven’t seen it. Maybe I’ll watch it tonight for Halloween or something
@Tiera: WHAT! WHAT!…wait, WHAT! You haven’t seen the BEST (yes, the BEST) zombie comedy of all time. OF ALL TIME?!!! Girrrrl, you better go out to Walmart right now. Yes, get up and buy Shaun of the Dead. You will not regret this. Just go….what are you doing…stop reading and go. I’ll wait right here for your, “OMG, Jen, you are right” comment.
I’m totally not a scary or gory movie kind of person. And I watched a bit of that Hard Candy trailer and was kinda confused. Anyways….you are right, the Japanese are masters at scaring the s*** out of you, or so I’ve heard. My husband has watched the Ring, maybe both versions, and says it’s the scariest stuff he’s ever seen. Americans can’t even re-make Japanese movies right. Don’t know. The Japanese got that je ne sais quoi. Anyways, the movie that disturbed me the most was that Halloween movie where they go-back into Jason’s childhood. You see him in a broken family where he’s hated by his step-dad, who he ends up killing. It’s disturbing b/c I have a son and was heartbroken that this fake character Jason was raised in such a way that he became a coldhearted killer. Sorry to be so gloomy!
@Lisa:
Hard Candy isn’t really your typical horror movie. Well, it’s not really horror, but just gross. For you, I wouldn’t recommend it. It will totally twist your mind a little bit.
Ya, The Ring (Ringu) is scary. I can’t wait it alone at night…nor in the morning. LOL I agree, Americans can’t re-make a Japanese movie correctly, but the American Ring comes pretty close.
Shaun of the Dead! I think, my favourite zombie film of all time. Oh yes!! You need to check out [REC]!
@Jaina:
I haven’t seen [REC]. I keep on seeing it on blogs, but never really gave it much thought. Okay, since you suggested it, I have to check it out!
I actually don’t like scary movies, so I haven’t seen any but The Sixth Sense and Shaun of the Dead, but those are really good picks. I considered watching a Korean horror film I hear praised, but I chickened out. As usual.
@George: I would’ve taken you as a horror man, but after thinking about it you seem to like the Drama and Comedies. Honestly, horror isn’t really that important. You don’t see horror movies getting Oscars. LOL
If you do watch that Korean horror, blog about it. I want to read it!
If I do, I’ll be sure to take notes so I have a notepad to hide behind during the horrific parts!
@George: That’s my move! LOL Be brave. You can do it.