elizabeth: let’s just say we are taking on the old fashioned killer movies. I doubt that you will ever catch me in one of those let’s kill them down to their bone marrow kind of movies that Hollywood feels is so important to make. Oh, that’s right. I forgot. They make money. Silly me. Personally, I think that the more slice and dice movies people see, the less sensitive they become and that real life crime and killings don’t really impact them anymore without a head exploding on someone’s freshly pressed white tee shirt. I say let the evening news chill me to my marrow.
Nicole: I hate it when we agree. I’ve never been a blood, guts and gore kinda gal. I can’t even make it through a commercial or trailer for slice ‘n dicer movies. So, I don’t have many scary movies to recommend. But, I’ll do my best to scrounge up some movies that give me the heebie jeebies.
So here are our favorite killer movies.
ELIZABETH’S PICKS
Night of the living Dead. 1968 Directed by George Romero. It was filmed in black and white. The horror!
This was the first VHS I ever bought. Alert the paramedics. This is the most horrifying horror movie I have ever seen because you had to use something besides a barf bag. You had to use your imagination. Romero lets you freak yourself out because you don’t know if all of mankind was going to cease to exist because of some crazed flesh-eating zombies. Yes, we had zombies way before The Walking Dead came out. My only suggestion when viewing this movie is to not see it with a bunch of people who are drinking. Drunkenness and pure terror do not mix.
The Omen. 1976 Directed by Richard Donner. Starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner. The Antichrist.
Imagine you have everything you could want in life…and then you wake up one day only to find out that your precious little boy is Satan and that is when the movie goes downhill in a way that makes you sleep with all the lights on. Give me a 6-6-6.
Carrie. 1976 Directed by Brain DePalma. Written by Stephen King. Starring Sissy Spacek, Pipe Laurie, and Amy Irving.
Perhaps this movie should be shown to all the bullies out there and maybe all the kids being bullied could develop telekinetic powers. Maybe Stephen King was right.
The Birds. 1963. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Starring Tipi Hedren, Rod Taylor and some killer birds – like a zillion of them.
To this day, I don’t like birds. I live in fear that my eyes will be plucked out by them. Thanks, Mr. Hitchcock. You bastard.
NICOLE’S PICKS
28 Days Later. .. 2002. Directed by Danny Boyle. Starring Cillian Murphy…and lots of pissed off Birtish zombies.
My raging love for everything British is why I gave this one a try. And, might I say: holy.effing.crap. I won’t be doing that again, ever. Mystery virus turns virtually all of Britain into a populace of zombies while the unaffected try to lay low and survive. The payoff at the end: Genius.
Signs. 2002. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Starring Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix.
Looks like I scared the crap out of myself a lot in 2002. I totally hate to recommend any Mel Gibson movie given what we now know him to be, but this movie is really well done. It’s Hitchcockian in the way it shows you just enough, making your mind conjure up the worst before the reveal.
Jaws. 1975. Directed by Steven Speilberg. Starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfus.
Hands down, the best monster movie ever made. The genius is not in the special effects (or lack thereof) but in the script…and how Spielberg masterfully builds terror with every single frame.
The Others. 2001. Directed by Alejandro Amenabar. Starring Nicole Kidman.
Possibly the best ending ever (barring the ending of The Sixth Sense). If you haven’t seen it and no one’s spoiled how it ends for you – watch it now. You won’t be disappointed.
NOW IT'S YOUR TURN...
So, tell us -- what are your favorite suspense and/or horror movies? Join the discussion by adding your comment. We'd love to hear what you have to say.
And, oh yeah... Happy Halloween. ;)
