Confession: I am a huge horror buff. When a terrifying new movie comes out, you can for sure find me in line, at the midnight screening, eager to experience a fresh round of thrills. From The Creature from The Blue Lagoon to Nightmare on Elm Street to Paranormal Activity 3, I’ve seen them all. Thus, you can only imagine how excited I get when Halloween rolls around and my DVR is nothing but an ode to slasher films and spooky features!
So which movies will make you scream wider than an Edvard Munch painting? Which ones will satisfy your craving for fear and entertainment? Here’s a list of thirteen Halloween specials that will not only give you goosebumps but also force you to leave the lights on all night long:
The Stepfather (Original)
Memorable Line: "Buckle up for safety!"Fear Factor: Love at first sight? Think again. You may want to run background checks on anyone you date in the future because they could be more than capable of stabbing you in the back. Literally. (Plus, the film stars Lost and 666 Park Avenue actor Terry O'Quinn so you know it gets pretty darn sinister!)
Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer
Memorable Line: "You can use a gun. I'm not saying you can't use a gun. Just don't use the same gun twice."Fear Factor: Some monsters are imaginary. Some are real. In this documentary style movie, evil takes shape in mortal form. Meet Henry, a sadistic murderer with a deep thirst for blood and violence, everyone!
Jeepers Creepers
Memorable Line: "You know the part in scary movies when somebody does something really stupid, and everybody hates them for it? This is it."Fear Factor: You'll never look at a scarecrow the same way again.
Nightmare on Elm Street
Memorable Line: "One, two, Freddy's coming for you. Three, four better lock your door. Five, six, grab a crucifix. Seven, eight, better stay up late. Nine, ten, never sleep again."Fear Factor: You'd assume an Edward Scissorhands look-alike with a penchant for jazz hands would be down for a good time. And if a good time involves killing children, terrorizing your dreams, and giving water beds a bad name, then yes, Freddy Krueger, is more than ready to rumble!
Hocus Pocus
Memorable Line: "You know, I've always wanted a child. And now I think I'll have one... on toast!"Fear Factor: Don't be the foolish virgin who lights the black flame candle because soul-sucking witches will burst forth, raise havoc (and the dead), and ruin your trick-or-treating experience! Children's movie? Think again. This one's packed with eerie moments.
Amityville Horror (Original)
Memorable Line: "I just wish that... all those people hadn't died here. I mean... ugh! A guy kills his whole family. Doesn't that bother you?"Fear Factor: There's no such thing as white picket fence dreams and happily ever afters. That's what this movie will teach you. When newlyweds George and Kathy Lutz and their three kids move into their dream house and begin experiencing terrifying interactions with evil manifestations haunting their home, they soon realize that happiness is but a mere myth.
The Silence of The Lambs
Memorable Line: "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."Fear Factor: Two words...Hannibal Lector.
Frailty
Memorable Line: "It's not fair! All I get to see are demons and Fenton gets to see God!"Fear Factor: Sometimes fanatically religious fathers have a spiritual calling. And sometimes this calling involves lifting up an ax found in a creepy barn and killing "demons" (aka people) in cold blood because God told the old man to do so. Dream big!
The Exorcist
Memorable Line: "I cast you out! Unclean spirit!"Fear Factor: Sure, it had some funny moments. (That crazy Satan sure has a wicked sense of humor...) But when a demon's possessing your young body and forcing you to shout out crude and vulgar words, beat your mom, projectile vomit green slime onto a priest, and turn your head 360 degrees just for kicks, then shit's gotten real. Seriously real.
The Ring
Memorable Line: "See, when you live on an island you catch a cold, it's everybody's cold."Fear Factor: Receive mysterious tape. Pop it into your video player and watch as nonsensical creepiness seizes your screen. Phone rings. You have seven days to live. Seven days later...watch as a girl with stringy black hair covering her face crawls out of a well. The girl crawls towards you. The girl crawls out of your television screen. Welcome to the most horrific 4-D experience of your life!
Stephen King's It
Memorable Line: "I believe in Santa Claus. I believe in the Easter Bunny. I believe in the Tooth Fairy. But I don't believe in you. This is battery acid. Now, you disappear!"Fear Factor: An evil clown named Pennywise who roams bathrooms and sewers, and crunches on the bones of all the children he's slain? Um, please count us out of that birthday party, thank you very much!
*Technically, It is a mini-series but it scared the living daylights out of me as a child so I'm just going to go ahead and include it!
The Shining
Memorable Line: "Redrum. Redrum. Redrum."Fear Factor: Imagine living in your very own hotel that's located in the middle of nowhere. So far, you're the only living residents for miles. Add a hurling snowstorm to this scenario. Then add a few malicious ghosts. Oh, and don't forget the doting husband and father who turns insane and murderous with some slight prompting from these sadistic spirits. Now...RUN FOR DEAR LIFE!
Halloween (Original)
Memorable Line: "I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... *evil*."Fear Factor: Babysitting on Halloween night...especially if you live in Haddonfield? Think again. Because Michael Myers is on the loose and he's not stopping until he paints the town red.
Are you a fan of horror films? What’s your favorite Halloween movie of all time? Tell us in a comment!
Theodora Guliadis is an Assistant Editor (Digital) at Alloy Entertainment in New York City. She loves freshly brewed iced tea, Greek poetry, and Whedonverse. A conspiracy theorist at heart, she’s constantly on the look-out for horcruxes and is still trying to make sense of Lost Season 6. Follow her musings on entertainment at @theodorag13.
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