I put up a similar post last year, but I wanted to go back to it in the spirit of the season. You see, my film literacy is brutally bad where horror is concerned, and every October I feel especially ashamed of this.

How bad is it? Consider that I haven’t seen any of the following…

Any Friday the 13th chapter.
Any Nightmare on Elm Street besides 1 and 3.
Any Saw chapter
The original WOLFMAN, MUMMY, and CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
and the only time I’ve seen AMITYVILLE HORROR was the edited version on AMC

If you’re new to these parts, you might be asking yourself why I’m so illiterate where horror is concerned. The main reason is that when I grew up, I was a giant ‘fraidy cat, and as such I was late in developing a taste for anything gory.

When I mentioned this over the last two years, my faithful readers were good enough to suggest the long list you see below. While i was able to get to a few of them in over the last two autumns (CAT PEOPLE, ROSEMARY’S BABY, both EVIL DEADS, THE FLY, HALLOWEEN, THE DESCENT, and [REC] amongst others) there is a vast number of scary movies left untouched. So dear readers – once again I put this to you.

I want to try to strike five or six films off this list by Halloween – Which of the films are musts? Or if you had to nominate some of your very favorite scary movies, what makes the cut?

BLACK SABBATH
THE BLOB
CANDYMAN
CARNIVAL OF SOULS
CAT’S EYE
THE CHANGELING
THE DEVIL’S REJECTS
DOG SOLDIERS
FRIDAY THE 13TH PT 1 & 2
FRITT VILT
GINGER SNAPS
THE GORGON
HAXAN
HIGH TENSION
HORROR OF DRACULA
HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES
THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL
I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE
THE INNOCENTS
JEEPERS CREEPERS
JIGOKU
KWAIDAN
LADY IN WHITE
NIGHTBREED
NOSFERATU
THE OMEN
ONIBABA
POLTERGEIST
PULSE
RE-ANIMATOR
ROVDYR
SAW
SLEEPAWAY CAMP
SUPSIRIA
THIRST
VAMPIRE LOVERS
VAMPYR
THE VANISHING

82 Replies to “Disturbia: Or My Lack of Horror Movie Know-How ver. 3.0”

    1. I zoned out a bit while putting this post up: I saw POLTERGEIST with last year’s round of viewing. I’ll get on SUSPIRIA though.

      Any other favorites of yours that aren’t on this list?

    2. Na I don’t really go out of my way to watch horror movies unless they are the essentials. Which I am guessing you have seen.

      Have you watched The Others? That’s a good one.

  2. – The Changeling, can’t stress it enough
    – Nosferatu is excellent
    – Vampyr is one of the most visually beautiful films I’ve ever seen
    – The Vanishing is an excellent suspense film
    – Poltergeist, because it was basically directed by Steven Spielberg, and you can’ call yourself a true Spielberg fan without having seen it. I mean, COME ON!

    1. Just mentioned this to Nik, but I have seen POLTERGEIST, I just zoned out when typing out that list. Did you get copies of VAMPYR and NOSFERATU in that giant dvd boxed set you bought last year?

      Any others that I didn’t mention?

    2. The big box set was Murnau, Bozage and Fox, so only Murnau’s American films. Vampyr is a Dreyer film. I don’t own either film, but they’re very easy to find online and in stores. Bay Street Video would definitely have copies, especially since Vampyr is in the Criterion Collection. I think when I watched Vampyr it was on YouTube.

  3. you gotta watch
    THIRST
    POLTERGEIST
    NOSFERATU

    I have a big blind sight in this genre as well…

    I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE is probably a good film for you to see too… it’s short (under an hour I believe) and it’s old and very laughable.

    2. I’d probably debate you a bit on the “laughable” comment regarding “I Walked With A Zombie” – if only because it’s gorgeously shot and truly provides a great atmosphere of spookiness. The voodoo zombie elements are pretty goofy though…

  4. I guess my answers here depend on what you want from it. Are you looking for a film education? Or are you looking to poop your pants? There’s sort of a great split here on your list. Some are great arthouse horror films (Nosferatu, Vampyr, Haxan) and I don’t know how much terror they’d elicit. Others are hokey but fun as hell (The Blob, Re-Animator, Sleepaway Camp, The Lady in White). And still others are movies I’d say are legitimately scary (Poltergeist horrified me when I was 8; I LOVE The Changeling for chills).

    My six favorite on your list: Kwaidan, The Changeling, Poltergeist, Haxan, Ginger Snaps, and Nosferatu. I’m not much of a slasher fan myself, but Sleepaway Camp is a total blast (try not to learn anything about it beforehand). Of the other slashers, Candyman’s the one I like most.

    I didn’t put it as a top six, but Carnival of Souls has a great background. Herk Harvey, the director, tried to make a b-movie horror that was half Bergman and half Antonioni. All things considered, I’d say he did a decent job with it.

    1. I want a cross-section really.

      Last year for instance, I watched some that genuinely gave me the heebie-jeebies ([REC], THE DESCENT), some that were classically eerie (CAT PEOPLE), and some that were good for a lark (POLTERGEIST, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3).

      So a little bit of everything really! Any others that I didn’t mention that rank high for you?

    2. You mentioned the Universal creature features in your intro but I didn’t see any on the list. Did you ever get to those? I think those are must-see. I’m a HUGE fan of the Wolf Man (it’s an allegory for Jewish people persecuted in Nazi Germany).

      I love the tar out of the Ti West horrors, Amicus studios has some really fun anthologies… I could recommend horror all day.

    3. Well FRANKENSTEIN is slated to be my Blind Spot for October, so I suppose it will serve double-duty. I’ll make sure I add WOLFMAN to the watchlist as well.

      I liked the hell out of HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, which my sis in law gave me as a Christmas gift last year. I wanted to see THE INNKEEPERS when it played The Lightbox last spring, but just missed my window.

    4. It’s probably not fair to compare the two because they’re trying to achieve different things, but I lump The Innkeepers together with The Woman in Black because they’re both classic haunted house films released around the same time.

      If you’ve never seen any George Romero films, that’s a great place to go. Night of the Living Dead is excellent. And Dawn of the Dead is one of my all-time faves despite the fact that I’m sort of “meh” about zombies. If you like allegory with your horror, it’s well worth checking out.

      The French put out a ton of great body horror-style movies in the late 90s/early 00s. If you’re interested, look up “New French Extreme” and go to town. And speaking of body horror, I’ve never seen a Cronenberg horror I didn’t like. Also, if you go to the Criterion site and go after all of their Japanese horrors, you’ll never go wrong (looks like you already have with Kwaidan and Onibaba).

      Really, I’d recommend almost everything on your list of possible movies in the article.

  6. Not sure if you have seen Takeshi Miike’s Audition but that would be a start.

    Suspiria, The Omen are good too.

    Thirst, is that the Korean Vampire movie? It’s weird but not scary. Lots of fun though (for me anyway)

    1. I realize they aren’t all going to be “scary”, but that’s a whole other conversation since what scares one person won’t scare another. Not sure if you know my position on THE EXORCIST, but that’s my shining example about what scares who.

      Any other suggestions that weren’t on my list?

      1. I will add three more, all foreign films. Both are Guillermo Del Toro films, that you may have seen. Cronos and The Devil’s Backbone.

        And The Eye directed by the Pang Brothers (sadly it’s remade into a Jessica Alba movie)…

  7. First of all, don’t feel bad for only having seen “Nightmare On Elm Street” 1 & 3. You’re probably OK for the moment…B-)

    I would mostly echo the recommendations above – “The Changeling”, “Suspiria” and “Carnival Of Souls” are probably the top 3 to get under your belt for reasons already given. “Onibaba” and “Kwaidan” are beautiful, creepy and simply wonderful pieces of filmmaking. Speaking of Japanese horror, can I also suggest “Ju-On: The Grudge”? One of my faves and leaves you nicely curled up in a ball on the couch…

    Actually, you could pair up the following with that Top 3 to make a nice set of double bills:

    – “The House On Haunted Hill” would make a nice companion with “Carnival Of Souls” for low-budget, creepy 50-60s fare
    – “Black Sabbath” could slide in next to “Suspiria” with its bright, saturated Italian colours
    – “The Vanishing” fits nicely with “The Changeling” for a great dose of some of my favourite 70s slow burn horrors.

    And part of me really wants you to see “Sleepaway Camp”. Have a six-pack by your side when you do…

    1. JU-ON was actually my first experience with Midnight Madness! So not only have I seen it, but I watched it on a big screen no less.

      That said, you’re on notice with the asian horror after talking up PULSE to me last autumn.

    2. Oh man, Ju-On would’ve been fantastically fun with a Midnight Madness crowd.

      As for “Pulse” (and let’s be clear to others that I mean the original Japanese one, not the remake), it’s one of the very best manifestations of human disconnectedness and loneliness that you’ll ever see. Masterful use of sound and shadows. And it never backs away from its bleakness.

      #RyanIsOhSoVeryWrong

    3. Re: JU-ON, talk about Midnight baptism by fire!

      I might have asked you this last year about PULSE, but was your first experience with it in a theatre? Something tells me that my viewing of it on a bright afternoon didn’t help the overall effect.

      #ryaniscurious

    4. Though I did manage to see PULSE in a theatre once (at the NFB during one of their monthly Japanese film screenings), I had already seen it several times on DVD. However, I did find that settings the brightness controls for your TV were immensely important to catching the details and proper things that poke from the shadows. Not sure it that’s due to the transfer to DVD or the nature of how it was filmed in the first place.

      But yeah, on a sunny afternoon in your bright apartment isn’t the best time/place for it.

  8. Oh man. Here’s the thing: most of these are only horror films in the broadest sense of the word. As in, they have horror elements but are more along the lines of atmospheric art films. ‘Candyman’ was the only one I found mildly frightening (but that’s because PARKING LOTS). I definitely, definitely think you should watch most of what’s on the list, but if I had to narrow it down to the necessities, I’d say start with these…

    GINGER SNAPS
    I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE
    THE INNOCENTS
    KWAIDAN
    NOSFERATU
    THE OMEN
    RE-ANIMATOR
    SUSPIRIA
    THIRST

    1. Holy shit, CANDYMAN!! I’ll take “Films I Haven’t Thought About since High School” for $800, Alex.

      Thanks for narrowing it down, are there any creepfests that I didn’t list that you’d recommend?

    2. Jonathan had me watch Candyman last year (it’s extra-creepy to him because he lived in Chicago for a while and knew the area where it was set). Definitely intense for me.

  9. For your reference, I once did a marathon of the Friday the 13th films (in summary I liked 2-4 the best) – http://www.skonmovies.com/2009/02/classic-thoughts-friday-13th-series.html

    Here are other films I saw from the list:
    Candyman – A bit unsettling, but decent
    Ginger Snaps – HIGHLY recommended
    Jeepers Creepers – Pretty decent (if not campy)

    I also saw the House on Haunted Hill remake if that counts.

    Some films not on the list I recommend:
    Trick ‘r Treat – Not that scary, but a whole lot of Halloween fun
    Halloween – Hopefully you’ve seen John Carpenter’s original, which has become yearly viewing for me (this year I plan to see it when it plays at the Lightbox)
    The Blair Witch Project – While there’s a whole lot of nothing, it gets quite tense in the final minutes (though beware the shaky cam)
    Cube – A Canadian sci-fi/horror cult classic
    From Dusk to Dawn – A fun and gory vampire film
    Sleepy Hollow – Tim Burton is at his best when he does dark films like this.
    30 Days of Night – One of the better vampire films of recent years.
    Thir13en Ghosts – Probably the best of the Dark Castle remakes
    1408 – An interesting haunted hotel story
    The Mist – Frank Darabont started in horror and it shows here.

    2. No. No the remake of “House on Haunted Hill” does not count…B-)

      I do second the noms of “Candyman” and “Ginger Snaps” as well. I also really like “Jeepers Creepers”, but the campy elements only really kick in during the 2nd half – that first part is actually pretty disturbing.

      I’m not a fan of “Trick ‘r Treat”. Thought it was quite the mess.

  10. I’m not far off from you in terms of playing horror catch-up the past few years, and a bunch of ones on your list are also on mine for this year. Still, I can recommend some for you – predictably tending toward the old-school. 🙂

    My top five from your list:
    Haxan
    I Walked With a Zombie (my favorite Val Lewton film – I wrote a paper about it in grad school, even!)
    The Innocents (great double feature with the original Village of the Damned; they share Martin Stephens, aka Creepiest Kid Ever In Movies)
    Suspiria (or Deep Red, which I actually like better)
    Carnival of Souls

    Other recommends, aside from the parenthetical ones:
    The Cat and the Canary (1927) – one of my favorites I saw last year, a winning combination of creepy-old-house, family comedy, and crime thriller
    Bride of Frankenstein – you’re watching Frankenstein anyway, what better to double feature with it?
    A Tale of Two Sisters – not old, but if you haven’t seen it, this K-horror film is pretty awesome; definitely one of more tense movie-watching experiences.
    Hausu – This film is just insane.

    1. Bob actually gathered a bunch of us up to see a screening of HAUSU autumn before last…which was followed by Kurt Halfyard declaring “We HAVE to go across the street and talk about that”

      As you say: Insane.

      I don’t know why I never thought of BRIDE before you just mentioned it, but you’re right – that has to be one I check out.

  11. I haven’t seen much myself but from your list(without getting into if it’s really scary or not) The Omen and Nosferatu are awesome. I haven’t seen Saw, Suspiria, Thirst, The Vanishing and Vampyr but they have been recommended to me a lot.

    Those not on the list, A Tale of two sisters. Probably the best one I know. Enjoy !

  12. From your list I can thoroughly recommend The Innocents, which I saw for the first time recently.

    Re-Animator is great fun, I’d recommend that too.

    I’m a big fan of Thirst and don’t think it gets nearly enough credit compared to his Vengeance trilogy.

    A lot of people have suggested Suspiria and it is great, but be warned – Argento isn’t for everyone. I didn’t like it on first viewing, but loved it on a rewatch (which was on the big screen at a horror festival which probably helped). His films eschew a lot in favour of pure style and set pieces. Don’t go expecting any sort of coherent story or award winning performances (dodgy dubbing ruins these as per usual for giallo).

    1. The Innocents is definitely one of the best ghost stories ever. And Deborah Kerr is in it – double win.

      Pretty much everything else David said I completely agree with. I’m really curious what you’ll think of Suspiria Ryan – it’s easily picked apart as a weak on many fronts, but the mix of sound, colour, movement and music works magic in many of the scenes. Like Jandy, Deep Red is my favourite of his films and has the most solid, uh, narrative while also being a treasure trove of amazing shots and moments.

    2. Yeah, the stronger narrative of Deep Red is really what puts it over Suspiria for me. That said, don’t give Suspiria a pass, either – it’s pretty weak on story, but it has some fantastic set-pieces and great use of color and sound, as Bob said. I think Opera is the only other Argento film I’ve seen, and it’s an interesting take on the Phantom of the Opera story (not to be confused with Argento’s Phantom of the Opera, which I hear is terrible) with some great visuals, but kind of goes off the rails into ridiculousness at the end.

    3. I sort of feel like a bit of a twit because SUSPIRIA played at The Lightbox not long ago and I didn’t so much as lift a finger. But by the sounds of what Bob and Jandy are saying (who have both been wickedly chatty today!), DEEP RED might be the way to go.

      Sounds like you have a candidate in INNOCENTS though!

  13. From your list, these are a few flat-out masterpieces: Carnival of Souls, Haxan, Suspiria, Onibaba, I Walked with a Zombie. All must-see. Candyman’s good, too.

    As for other great horror, I love the British anthologies Dead of Night (1945) and Tales from the Crypt (1972). Plus Island of Lost Souls, Repulsion, Phantasm, and Perfect Blue!

    1. OMG, Dead of Night. I love that movie! Can’t believe I didn’t think of it. Also Repulsion, great choice. Onibaba’s on my own list for this year – been meaning to get to it for a while.

      Sorry, Ryan, I’ll stop taking over your comments now.

    2. Someone I know was just talking about ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, but for the life of me I can’t remember who it was…sonofabitch.

      Thanks for weighing in bro, it’s going to be fun seeing what I can actually get my hands on over the next month.

    3. Not to take business away from any of our local merchants, but I do have a lot of the titles we’ve been discussing (not on Blue though), so feel free to give me a jingle…B-)

      Don’t give up on Suspiria, OK?

    4. I reviewed it quite recently (but that probably wasn’t why it was on your mind 🙂 )- it’s a decent film, but not one of the best horrors out there. It’s worth watching for Charles Laughton’s performance though, he’s great as Dr. Moreau.

    5. It might also be that someone was talking about it in relation to MOREAU, but if I do catch up with it, I’ll be sure to double back and read your piece on it.

  15. ‘Fraid I’m no use here: I can’t even sit through the Sinister trailer without losing a few nights of sleep. Seriously, got a few a chuckles Friday night when I buried my face while it played at the theater.

    2. Meh…at least it didn’t take ME 30+ years to sit through The Exorcist, which I still say you cheated on by wearing headphones through the entire film.

  17. For the film literacy aspect of this project, NOSFERATU is the essential title on the list. I don’t particularly care for it myself, despite being a huge Murnau fan, but then I’ve never been much into vampires. Its importance to the development of horror cinema is undeniable however.

    Strangely enough, considering I don’t like it all that much, I’ve seen it something like six times. It’s among that half dozen or so silents that keep showing up in repertory screenings. Although I like to support silent screenings I really think I’ve reached my limit on this particular title.

    1. Might I ask what it is about NOSFERATU that you don’t much care for? I count myself a fan of SHADOW OF A VAMPIRE, so my watching of its inspiration is wildly overdue.

    2. It’s a Dracula movie. That’s pretty much it. I appreciate its artistry on an intellectual level but I’ve never felt the love for vampire stories. If you’re a fan of SHADOW OF A VAMPIRE (which I also, unsurprisingly, didn’t much like, and for the same reason), then you’ll like NOSFERATU.

  18. I’d say that these are musts:

    THE BLOB (is this the ’50s or ’80s one? I’ve only seen the ’80s one and it’s excellent.)
    HORROR OF DRACULA
    THE OMEN
    ONIBABA
    RE-ANIMATOR
    SUSPIRIA

    And as much of a horror fan as I am, I haven’t seen a lot of those actually. I’d also throw on THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, as I think it’s a better movie than Horror of Dracula and a great take on the tired old Frankenstein tale. I don’t know how Re-Animator would play to a non-horror fan, so I’d be interested in your take.

    1. I actually caught the last half of the 50’s BLOB on TCM a month or so ago. I might as well watch it from the beginning now that I know what I’m in for, right?

  19. Well, I’m late to the party on this one. I see you’ve already knocked out Pulse (not one I would have suggested, but you could do much worse) and Poltergeist (thumbs up), so I guess that means you need four more suggestions. So let me echo the best ones:

    Suspiria
    Re-Animator
    Onibaba
    Nosferatu

    You can also replace Onibaba with Carnival of Souls if you so choose. However, I think if you really want to get into the spirit of Halloween, you’ve gotta bust your limit up past six; dive into it! The more horror you watch, the harder you become to its wiles and chills and scares and crimson splatters. So, on behalf of that, I’m going to be a jerk and tell you to also watch:

    Dog Soldiers
    The Blob
    Candyman
    The Omen
    Thirst
    The Devil’s Rejects

    Although I think you should be able to stomach Thirst quite handily. It’s not all that scary, just disturbing, unsettling, occasionally gruesome, and kind of tragic. And Korean. So, basically, it’s awesome. If you can sit through Chan-wook Park’s other films, you can sit through Thirst.

    Hope you really get into some of these– you have some great horror films listed here, and some true classics that should be seen by everybody. (In my opinion. But then, I love horror movies.) While you’re at it, stretching your boundaries of horror cinema, you should keep an eye out over at G-S-T throughout all of October; I’m taking Halloween very seriously this year.

    1. Better late than never mate! (Speaking of late, how d’ya like the three-day reaction time for me to respond to your comment!)

      I’m definitely looking forward to hashing through a lot of these through October…hell, right now I’m just looking forward to taking pen to paper and seeing what the most recommended ones were! Seems as though every year when I put this post up, it turns into one of my most popular discussions.

      As for Park Chan-Wook, I’ve seen Mr. Vengeance and Oldboy (don’t ask me why I never completed the trilogy), so I think I can hack it. I might end up eating those words, so place bets now…

    2. The third part of that trilogy (Lady Vengeance) is one of my Top 20 films EVER. OK, now that I’ve completely set your expectations to levels that can never be reached, go see it.

    3. Funny thing is, I haven’t the foggiest clue why I didn’t finish out the trilogy. Someone mentioned the Vengeance trilogy on a Matineecast two summers ago, and I immediately went out and watched Mister and Oldboy. You’d think lady would have been taken care of then too!

      Guess I have homework to do. Might as well put it in your bag for next Tuesday right now…

    4. Even if Thirst is a horror film, Park isn’t really a horror director; he’s more in the vein of a Hitchcock or a De Palma, guys who directed horror films but have an oeuvre that’s stuffed with thrillers. (Though I guess you could argue that the two genres have a distant relationship with one another.) So I guess what I’m saying is that if you want to experience horror as a novice, you might want to turn to horror directors, because they’re the reason that guys like Park end up making horror movies in between their regularly scheduled productions.

      That sounds sort of dismissive of Park, but know that I mean it when I say he’s one of my top five favorite filmmakers on the planet. And it sounds dismissive of Thirst, which is a great movie and a worthy horror film to check out.

      Anyways. I’ma shut up about Park. Watch more horror movies. In fact, I’d love it if you watched Carnival of Souls just because I’m curious to see what other people think of it– I’m going to do a piece on it before the month ends.

      1. WAY late on responding to this comment, so apologies in advance.

        Bob did indeed give me THIRST in the pile to watch, so do expect to see a reaction to that later this week. Good to know what I’m in for though, and how it will differ from so much else that I’m watching. The funny thing is that these films have all really varied in tone. So much so, that I’m surprised “horror” as a genre isn’t more often broken down into dozens of different sub-genres!

  20. I’m a little late on this post, but Definitely see Candyman. To this day I hate parking garages because of that movie.

    Also, IMO, skip the Rob Zombie movies. He can’t write a screenplay to save himself.

    1. Hey Brittani – Been a while!

      CANDYMAN certainly seems to be a lock at this point. I;m actually looking forward to it…sort of a return to my high school days.

  21. I just wanted to add Takashi Miike’s Audition to the list if you haven’t seen it yet. I just finished it a few minutes ago and it’s absolutely amazing. I’m unsure that you’d be able to take certain scenes, but it’s such a well-crafted movie that I think it’s wrong to miss it for that.

Comments are closed.