The Top 10 Films To Watch On Halloween Night

TOP 10 FILMS TO WATCH ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT

So as the gloomy month of October draws to a close, we find ourselves in the midst of one of the most fun and entertaining festivals of the year, Halloween. But while young children enjoy themselves with trick or treating, apple bobbing and dressing up as witches and vampires, us adults are left out of the festivities due our supposed maturity and age. But while the kids can have fun with the costumes and the makeup, the 31st of October provides a great oppurtunity for horror and non horror fans alike to indulge in some of the most deplorable and bloodiest films of all time. So as the end of 10th month of the year rapidly draws nearer and nearer, what better time to list my top 10 films to watch on Halloween night? 

10. 'THE OMEN' - 1976

Richard Donner's fantastic supernatural shocker features fantastic performances from it's stellar cast which includes Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Billie Whitelaw and David Warner, a number of brilliantly elaborate set pieces and the most amazing decapitation ever shot on celluloid. Fun, entertaining and strangely prophetic, 'The Omen' teaches us that evil will always triumph, shrouded in the veil of innocence and the angelic face of a child.

9. 'FRANKENSTEIN' - 1931

Following hot on the heels of Tod Browning's 'Dracula', James Whale's astonishing adaptation of Mary Shelley's hugely popular novel was the first movie ever made with the sole intention to scare it's audience. With an extraordinary performance from the very great Boris Karloff (to me, the most important horror star in history), amazingly innovative direction from Whale and featuring one of the first truly controversial moments to ever be shot, 'Frankenstein' did just that. As powerful and as moving as it was nearly 90 years ago, 'Frankenstein' is not only one of the greatest horror movies to be made, but one of the greatest movies of any genre period.

8. 'THE STRANGERS' - 2008

The most recent entry on this list is for my money one of the most scariest and spooky to made in the past decade or so. Liv Tyler and James Marsden are perfectly cast as a couple who are terrorised by intruders on a cold Autumn night. Showing us that we are just as much at risk in our homes than on the street, 'The Strangers' shows us the grim reality that there is nowhere on Earth that we are truly safe and that someone, somewhere is watching us.

7. 'THE HAUNTING' - 1963

Robert Wise's fantastic adaptation of Shirley Jackson's 'The Haunting Of Hill House' basically formed the template for every haunted house movie made ever since. With it's bending doors, loud bangings and creeping atmosphere of impending doom, 'The Haunting' still manages to terrify and bemuse in equal measure today. 

6. 'DAWN OF THE DEAD' - 1978

Still widely considered to be the high watermark of the zombie subgenre, George A. Romero would turn the undead into a cultural icon with his terrifying, bloody, suspenseful and hilarious commentary on the growing consumerism that has now sadly infested our society. Showing us that the 'not quite dead' are just as easy to love and laugh at than scream and run away at, 'Dawn Of The Dead' remains one of the most purely entertaining horror movies ever made.

5. 'A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET' - 1984

In the early 1980's, the horror genre has become overrun by generic and predictable slasher movies; films that would indulge in gore and bypass characters or narrative. However in 1984, Wes Craven would breathe life back into the genre with his deeply terrifying and nightmare inducing 'A Nightmare On Elm Street'; the story of teenagers who are stalked in their dreams by a razor gloved psychopath. Starring the ultimate horror icon Freddy Krueger (played with gusto and passion by Robert Englund) and featuring the first film appearance by a young Johnny Depp, 'A Nightmare On Elm Street' would go on to become one of the top grossing movies of the year as well as one of the most respected horror movies.

4. 'THE SHINING' - 1980

Stanley Kubrick's awe inspiring adaptation of Stephen King's terrifying novel was critically slammed on it's release in 1980. The director would be nominated for a Razzie and King himself would turn his back on the entire production. So it is ironic that 'The Shining' would not only become one of the most influential and best loved horror movies ever but also one of the most analysed and studied. Jack Nicholson is on blistering form as the insane Jack Torrance who is turned into an ax wielding maniac thanks to the spirits haunting the palacial Overlook hotel, Shelley Duvall is simply spellbinding as his doting wife Wendy and Kubrick's direction is nothing short of masterful. 

3. 'THE DESCENT' - 2005

For me, the scariest movie ever made is Neil Marshall's terrifying 'The Descent'; a film that preys on my personal claustophobia as well as fears of the dark and would throw into the mix deadly vampire like monsters for good measure. Telling the story of a group of women who are forced to work their way through a cave system while diving, 'The Descent' is one of the most intensely nerve racking watches I have ever had. Before watching the movie I thought I had seen everything and was totally desensitized to horror. Watching 'The Descent', I found out I was wrong.

2. 'THE EXORCIST' -1973

Still one of the most controversial and reviled movies of all time, William Friedkin's 'The Exorcist' still touches a chord in our culture to this day. While it's rotating heads and pea vomiting may have now passed into the lexicon of modern cinema, the undeniable power and terror created by Linda Blair's performance and Friedkin's chilling direction helps to make 'The Exorcist' an immensely disturbing watch. Taking religion and the ideologies of the Devil very seriously indeed, the film leaves little room for laughs or tenderness. Played purely to scare us, 'The Exorcist' relentlessly attacks our morals, our ethics and our societic values for it's entire running time, making for an incredibly unbelievable experience.

1.'HALLOWEEN' - 1978

Yes this may be predictable, but the number one movie to watch on October 31st is of course John Carpenter's brilliantly intense slasher magnum opus 'Halloween'. Like 'The Shining', the movie was met with critical derision on it's original opening, but thanks to film critic Roger Ebert, 'Halloween' would become known as one of the scariest and greatest horror movies ever made. Reworking the ideas of Bob Clark's 1974 masterpiece 'Black Christmas', Carpenter would single handedly (and unintentionally) invent the slasher movie and while the formula has been copied hundreds of times since, nothing beats the original for pure terror. It's central antagonist Michael Myers embodies everything we fear; an unstoppable killing machine who feels nothing while murdering innocents and whose motive seems to be the sole intent of causing death. Nothing else. With a cast which includes Jamie Lee Curtis, PJ Soles and Donald Pleasance ad well as the metronomically hypnotising score from Carpenter himself, the film would influence an entire generation of filmmakers by showing us that horror doesn't come from budgets or special effects, but from atmosphere. So while the pumpkins are shining dimly in the window sill and children are walking the streets trick or treating, enjoy the majesty, the wonder and the pure terror of 'Halloween'; simply one of the most perfect motion pictures. 

Happy Halloween everyone!