Last week, I began revisiting my Top 10 Genre Series which started with the action category. Originally I ended it by saying I would be looking at adventure but with Halloween coming up, it was changed to the horror category. Time to be spooked!
___________________________________

“Horror is a film genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience’s primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer, and the macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes.”

___________________________________

#1. PSYCHO – 1960

DIRECTOR: ALFRED HITCHCOCK
STARRING: ANTHONY PERKINS, VERA MILES, JANET LEIGH

SPOOKY MOMENT: Too many contenders to think of with the shower scene being the obvious choice. However Mother’s attack on Arbogast (Martin Baslam) is even more shocking especially when Bernard Hermann’s pulsating score kicks in. Horror films prior to that lacked the real scares of what Psycho achieved with Hitchcock proving that he was the master of suspense with his marvellous film-making.

___________________________________

#2. THE EXORCIST – 1973

DIRECTOR: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN
STARRING: MAX VON SYDOW, ELLEN BURSTYN, JASON MILLER, LINDA BLAIR

SPOOKY MOMENT: The final act is riveting stuff as Father Merrin (Von Sydow) and Father Karras (Miller) battle it out with the demon that is controlling Regan (Blair). From green vomit to floating people, it leaves you completely on edge as we cross our fingers that this evil spirit will be destroyed. But death plays a big role in this sequence…..

___________________________________

#3. THE BIRDS – 1963

DIRECTOR: ALFRED HITCHCOCK
STARRING: TIPPI HEDREN, ROD TAYLOR, JESSICA TANDY

SPOOKY MOMENT: The final ten minutes are simply horrifying (my sister’s worst nightmare!) as Melanie (Hedren) goes up to the attic and is attacked by hundreds of birds nested in there. Just as nerve-wracking is the sequence after that as Mitch (Taylor) attempts to guide the others through the giant swarm of birds waiting to strike leading to its classic closing shot. Genius from Hitchcock!

___________________________________

#4. THE SHINING – 1980

DIRECTOR: STANLEY KUBRICK
STARRING: JACK NICHOLSON, SHELLY DUVALL, SCATMAN CROTHERS

SPOOKY MOMENT: Possibly one of the most famous horror moments ever as Jack (a sublime Nicholson) begins to confront his wife Wendy (an erratic Duvall) by using his axe to try and knock the door down which leads to the chilling line “Here’s JOHNNY!”. Amazing to think this film never received an Oscar nom despite the fact it was nominated for two Razzies…..

___________________________________

#5. POLTERGEIST – 1982

DIRECTOR: TOBE HOOPER
STARRING: CRAIG T. NELSON, JOBETH WILLIAMS, HEATHER O’ROURKE

SPOOKY MOMENT: As ghost expert Marty (Martin Casella) uses the bathroom to wash his face, he begins to spot some blood pouring onto the sink. This leads to him tearing bits of his face off before revealing his gory skeleton face (fantastic makeup there!). But like Carrie, it was just a hallucination….

___________________________________

#6. ALIEN -1979

DIRECTOR: RIDLEY SCOTT
STARRING: SIGOURNEY WEAVER, TOM SKERRIT, JOHN HURT, IAN HOLM

SPOOKY MOMENT: While the chestbuster scene is completely horrific and iconic, it is Dallas’s search for the alien which leaves you on the edge of your seat. As he tries to get out of the corridor shaft, he flashes his torch towards the camera but upon turning it the other way….boo!
______________________________________________________________________

#7. THE THING – 1982

DIRECTOR: JOHN CARPENTER
STARRING: KURT RUSSELL

SPOOKY MOMENT: McCready (Russell) starts testing his colleague’s blood to see whether they match the blood. After a couple of people pass the test, the third one completely jumps you as a loud scream is heard. Cue the thing making another gory appearance….

___________________________________

#8. CARRIE – 1976

DIRECTOR: BRIAN DEPALMA
STARRING: SISSY SPACEK, PIPER LAURIE, AMY IRVING, JOHN TRAVOLTA

SPOOKY MOMENT: Leaving the jumpiest scene of the film till last as Chris (Nancy Allen) goes to place flowers at Carrie’s grave, a hand springs out leaving everyone (including me) rather shit-scared. Thankfully it was only a nightmare….

___________________________________

#9. BEETLEJUICE – 1988

DIRECTOR: TIM BURTON
STARRING: ALEC BALDWIN, GEENA DAVIS, WINONA RYDER, MICHAEL KEATON

SPOOKY MOMENT: As it’s a comedy, there isn’t much to fear though the first time we see Barbara (Davis) using her new personality to pull her face back is rather freaky to say the least!

___________________________________

#10. THE OMEN -1976

DIRECTOR: RICHARD DONNER
STARRING: GREGORY PECK, LEE REMICK

SPOOKY MOMENT: When Robert (Peck) and Jennings (David Warner) prepare to leave for home, a mysterious presence causes a truck to slide towards Jennings leading to one of cinema’s best decapitations.

___________________________________

Phew, hope you all managed to get through that without being scared. Horror is the category which flaws me as a film critic but this list does have some spooky classics particularly the top 5 contenders while Beetlejuice is the newcomer to it. The next list will definitely be ADVENTURE!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!