Thursday, October 8, 2009

My Favorite Horror Flicks

Hey, if I can think of more lists of horror movies to make this month, I'll be posting them here to support my continuing effort to provide suggestions for folks who just want something scary this month. This list is gimme--my favorite horror movies. I'm at a disadvantage compared to other horror lovers on account of my wife's dislike of the genre, which limits my ability to watch these movies to times when she's not around. So, during my limited time spent watching horror films, I've enjoyed these ones the most.

The Descent - My favorite monster movie. A group of spelunking women encounter hungry, subterranean creatures after a cave-in.

28 Days Later - My favorite reinvention of the zombie. People infected with the rage virus become chaotically violent, posing more of a challenge to survivors than traditional moaning, shuffling zombies would.

Saw - You know they've made six of these? Don't bother with any after the first, as it's the only one worth seeing. The psychological horror is reminiscent of another favorite of mine, Se7en.

The ____ of the (Living) Dead - Or at least the Night, Dawn, and Day of--I haven't seen Land of, or any of the remakes. I am a fan of zombie movies in general, but the combination of campiness and both inadvertent and blatant attempts at social commentary in these films make them fun to watch and rewatch.

The Shining - There's too much good stuff to choose from here. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy, the hedge maze, the slow zoom down the hall with the tension building, the tricycle, the foreboding, giant kitchen... Sidenote: this is showing on Saturday at the Virginia Theater in Champaign. I'll be there for sure.

The Evil Dead - It's all camp and cliche when Bruce Campbell and friends shack up at a cabin in the woods and unleash the evil discovered by the previous occupant. There's a sequel that's essentially the same as this one, with the exception that Campbell winds up sent to the past, setting the stage of Army of Darkness (which we are reordering).

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