My Top 10: Favorite Scary Movies

Well, it's October, and that means Halloween is right around the corner.

Sure, scary movies are awesome all year long, but the Halloween season just seems to bring out that desire to indulge in scare fest after scare fest. I am no different, and seeing as I've been re-treading some of my favorite scary movies, I thought I'd share with you my ten favorites. I know it seems kind of click-baity, but I view Steemit as a community; we're a social media site as far as I'm concerned, and some of the best conversations I've ever had have been about ranking favorite movies among my friends.

This list is by no means comprehensive; I lurk around NetFlix plenty for some halfway decent horror fare (when kiddo is sleeping in the other room, of course). However, these are ones that I absolutely loved and could re-watch at any time.

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#10: Re-Animator

I think I was 9 the first time I caught Re-Animator on the Scifi channel (back when it was Scifi, not Syfy). This was long before I discovered the Cthulhu mythos created by H.P. Lovecraft, before I really developed an abiding love of the surreal, and before I'd really formed opinions about the horror genre in general. As far as the scare factor goes, it was okay. The practical effects were pretty well done, considering the film came out in 1985, and the way that David Gale portrayed Dr. Carl Hill was fantastic. Really, though, it was Jeffrey Combs that made the movie for me. He absolutely nailed his performance as Dr. Herbert West. I remember him being the most impressive thing about the entire film. Now that I've matured and I've really grown into my love for Lovecraft, I have to say that he was perfect in that role, and he really brought to life a genuine Lovecraft character. It was creepy, had excellent effects for its time, and really had a disturbing factor that I've only ever seen in other films on this list.

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#9: The Rite

Anthony Hopkins is a phenomenally accomplished, talented actor. From films like Amistad to The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, he has depth, gravitas, and can deliver a flawless performance in practically any capacity. He managed to be the only non-crappy thing about Mission Impossible II for the whole five minutes he was in it, and that's saying something. His performance in The Rite as Father Trevant was equal parts stoic and terrifying. There was a particular scene, after he becomes possessed, where he's standing out on a plaza in Rome and he's approached by a small child that, earlier in the scene, he smiled kindly at. This second time, though, he snaps and strikes the kid without warning. His descent into demonic possession - and the predatory savagery that plays in his features - is far and away the best portrayal of demonic possession I've seen in any recent film. Coupled with the heavy, oppressive aesthetic of the room where much of the second half of the film takes place, it earns the film a spot on my list.

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#8: From Beyond

This is another 80's horror film that I had the privilege of catching on the Scifi Channel at an age where I probably shouldn't have been watching it. Jeffrey Combs once again makes an appearance in this Lovecraft-inspired gore-fest, this time as lab assistant Dr. Tillinghast to the crazed Dr. Pretorius, played by Ted Sorel. Once again, he demonstrates the strange kind of insanity that any normal human being would be subjected to at seeing terrifying eldritch horrors from the darkness beyond reality. The practical effects in this film are a step up from Re-Animator, and there are a ton of scenes where the creature and makeup design really shined. Once again, watching it now dates it pretty severely, but overall, it is a fantastic film. Unlike the other movie on this list starring Jeffrey Combs, this one really delivered on the Cthulhu universe and gave me my first glimpse into the horrors of the beyond. Plus, that scene where Detective Brownlee is devoured alive by monstrous bee-insects was terrifying and awesome at the same time.

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#7: Hellraiser

Once again, I'm listing a movie here that was made in the 80's. I'm not sure why, but I think these really esoteric horror films felt more real to me. I'm chalking it up to the use of physical effects, and Hellraiser has it in spades. Most of the film is spent detailing Sean Chapman's Frank reconstituting himself, piece by gory piece, and it's done with an excellent attention to detail and cinematic flair. The introduction of the puzzle box and the instantly recognizable Pinhead are both badges that this film wears with honor. As a villain, Pinhead is as mysterious as he is terrifying, and he accounts for half the reason I love this film. Despite only being in it for a fraction of the running time, the build-up with Frank is eclipsed entirely by his introduction, and those now timeless words: "We have such sights to show you."

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#6: The Witch

I saw this movie when it was in theaters with my brother-in-law on a lark. Green Inferno was the last horror-ish movie I'd watched before then, at the behest of my brother-in-law, and it had turned out to be the worst two hours of my life. Seriously. I would have gladly taken a day back in Basic Training over watching that utter garbage again, so my expectations for The Witch were unbelievably low. Boy was I wrong. Aside from being meticulously crafted to be as true to history as possible, the setting for the majority of the film - the wilderness of the New England forests, back when they were wild and foreboding - was incredibly unsettling. Every shot lent something more to the oppressive atmosphere to the woods, and every time a character had to venture into them, the whole scene seemed to darken. There weren't any real jump-scares, loud noises, or what you'd normally expect from a horror film. Rather, this is a film that got underneath my skin and stayed there. The whole time we watched it, it all felt subtly wrong, and that was the true, terrifying beauty of it.

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#5: Alien

I think we can all agree that Alien is easily one of the most terrifying science-fiction horror movies ever made. From the horrifying way the xenomorph burst out of Kane's chest, to the scene in the reactor room with the chains, to the final gripping sequence in the Nostromo's escape pod, every moment is crafted to impart claustrophobic terror on the audience. Alein essentially created the isolated space environment that franchises like Doom and Dead Space translated into interactive experiences, and Ridley Scott knocked it out of the park. He took the tagline - "In space, no one can hear you scream" - and turned it into an experience unlike any other before it. Like Hellraiser, the genius of the xenomorph is not in its extensive use, but the fact that we only catch glimpses of it. It pushes the action along and creates a real, gripping fear in the characters, but it's part of the environment. It isn't until the very end that we get to see it in its true, terrifying glory. And it is glorious.

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#4: The Thing (1982)

John Carpenter's The Thing was my favorite horror movie of all time for a looong time, and even though it's been edged out now, it still retains its incredible quality. Like other movies on this list, it is a movie made in its time, so things are understandably dated now, but none of that detracts from the experience at all. The isolation and paranoia of being trapped in the Arctic with a predator that could be anyone you know hasn't lost its edge with time. Likewise, the physical effects are astounding. The scene where Richard Dysart's Dr. Copper gets his arms chomped off by the Thing was cut in the middle, and Dysart was replaced by a double amputee with prosthetic arms to add to the realism of the scene. Carpenter literally hired a guy with no arms to film a scene where a character's arms are bitten off below the elbows. That is incredible. Combined with the extensive use of prosthetics and makeup, the film brings to life the alien lifeform in every scene. The only time its presence isn't completely believable is during part of the climax, where some stop-motion animation is used on a wide-shot. Other than that, though, the entire film is spent with the actors interacting, in real-time, with the most terrifying monstrosity since Cthulhu.

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#3: The Fourth Kind

Screw this movie. Seriously. This movie can burn in hell. I mean that in the most appreciative way possible, because this is the only horror movie that, to this very day, sends a shiver up my spine when I try to describe the plot to others or recount the movie in my head. Alien abductions have been a thing for decades, but The Fourth Kind took a dramatic documentary approach that was both refreshing and terrifying. While I found out later that the "found footage" portions of the film were just fabricated material for the film a-la The Blair Witch Project, I fully believed that what I was seeing was actually real. Mila Jovovich delivers a fantastic performance, and the way that some of the actors contorted was unsettling on every level. Not only that, but that fucking snow owl still makes me shudder. Seriously. I've got goosebumps as I'm writing this. To top it all off, they possess Jovovich's character at the end and utter the most terrifying phrase in the most terrifying voice I have ever heard: "I AM GOD."

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#2: The Thing (2011)

I know what you're thinking. "But you already listed The Thing!" You're absolutely right, but aside from the title snafu that requires me to list the release date next to it, they are separate movies. The prequel to 1982's The Thing explains the fate of the Norwegian excavation team hinted at in the original movie. This time around, however, physical effects work is exchanged for a healthy serving of CGI. Despite it not have the same tactile presence on-screen, I still felt that the Thing in this movie was very much a part of the film in the same way it was in the previous film. What's more, despite following a similar progression to its predecessor, it still managed to be a fresh take on the world that Carpenter created. The terror the characters experience and the paranoia that arises from being infiltrated by an organism that can copy anyone perfectly feels as real as it did when it was Kurt Russel who was the protagonist. Another thing I'd like to mention is the fact that scenes we got to see in the 1982 film are recreated down to the last detail, and we get to see how they got there! The terror of the original is maintained, and this film stands on its own while also building upon the world that John Carpenter brought to life more than 30 years ago.

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#1: Event Horizon

If you haven't seen Event Horizon, you are seriously missing out. It combines a whole host of elements into an original film that lives up to its tagline: infinite space; infinite terror. Set aboard a derelict, experimental spacecraft that lends its name to the title, Laurence Fishburne and the intrepid crew of the Lewis & Clark are sent to investigate a distress beacon from the Event Horizon, a ship thought to have been destroyed in orbit around Neptune. Accompanied by the ship's designer, played by Sam Neil in one of his best - and creepiest - performances, they discovered the terrifying truth: the ship opened a wormhole into another dimension, and after spending years in what is described as literally being worse than Hell, it returned alive. The ship affects each member of the crew differently, showing them terrifying visions from their own worst fears to drive them insane. It impersonates Sam Neil's dead wife, who committed suicide because he was so wrapped up in his work, in order to turn him into its slave, and he literally gouges his eyes out with his hands at the ship's behest. Coupled with scenes that are taken from the ship's log depicting horrifying grotesqueries on par with anyone's worst nightmare depiction of Hell, this movie makes you believe what Sam Neil tells Laurence Fishburne: "Hell is just a word. The reality...is far, far worse." That's right, kids. The combination of extreme isolation, paranoia, schizophrenic hallucinations, and the looming reality that there are worse things beyond the edge of our reality combine to create what I qualify as the best horror film I've ever seen. Where we're going, we won't need eyes to see.

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So, there you have it. I love new and exciting stuff, so if you guys have any suggestions for new movies that might possibly unseat these particular ten, let me know in the comments. Since I posted this in the hope of starting a conversation about the genre and favorites, please engage with me! Tell me I'm completely off-base. Agree with me. Mock me for making a Top 10 List. But most of all, let me know what you thought. Upvotes and resteems are appreciated; let's get this conversation going, guys!

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