Since the great day is so agonizingly close now, I thought I might throw my big hat into the “best movies of all time” ring. The ones I will be picking are personal choices.

I could research and do big important all time choices, but this is not that kind of article. This is about the best movies to watch when you want to really have fun with horror. Such as at a Halloween party or slumber party or, in my case, a Christmas Party.

I will list them in reverse awesomeness order, starting with number ten.

10 Ghost Story–It seems a bit dated now, but then it seemed dated when it was new. It’s just that kind of set up. This has some of the scariest moments of any film I have ever seen. It blew me away in the theatre. It also made me try to read Peter Straub’s books. I have yet to finish one. Though I keep being told they are wonderful.

9 Halloween-- The original John Carpenter film. It is not number one on the list but obviously it is a necessary part of any Halloween movie festivities. Not 2 or 4 or H2O or anything made by Rob Zombie.

8 This position is split. The film here is “Village of the Damned“, the original made in 1960 and starring George Sands. It was film noir style and had lots of dark undertones. It was about a village that fell unconscious one day and a few weeks later they discovered that all the proper aged women had become pregnant that same day. As the film continues there are reasons to expect that these are not normal children and they may not even be human. I loved it for years But then John Carpenter remade it in 1995. It was in color and starred Christopher Reeve (Superman). It was definitely a different feel but worked really well. So no matter which version you get your hands on it is a must see.

7 Frank Langella’s Dracula. I have nothing further to say about it.

6 Hocus Pocus- What do you mean it’s not horror!?! Up yours! This is my damn list. I like it. I said this list was about fun and Halloween. This movie delivers both. Not to mention that Alison looks really good in a sweater.

5 Sometimes a movie is made badly, with a weak script, and stiff (or no) acting and yet somehow is enjoyable. And on even rarer occasions becomes iconic. It transcends all normal ways of judging things and becomes a total classic despite its faults. Which brings me to Phantasm. OMG. It is just re-watchable. I can tell you a thousand reasons why it’s a shitty film, and yet I love it. And not in that “it’s so bad it’s good” way. But in a full-on this film is so cool that it would have to be far worse to even begin to be bad. (I really like Phantasm)

4 Curse of the Demon–Flat out demonic fun. It was made long before everything in it became cliche, therefore it pulls no punches. There are no stupid “explanations” or ambiguities. Based on the short story Casting the Runes by M. R. James and brilliantly directed by Jacques Tourneur, this thing sizzles. I have lost or worn out many copies and always buy a new one. The mood is perfect and there are some scenes that will blow you away, as Harlan Ellison has said.

3 Creepshow--This thing simply rocks. It is flat out the best anthology horror film ever made. It is so good that it makes me like it’s sequel brain-deadly named Creepshow 2. While not a bad movie in it’s own right, 2 gets a big interest bump just by being associated with the original.

2 The Exorcist–Come on! You knew it would be here somewhere. I am still undecided about the special edition. I would recommend the original. Although the extended version actually deepens the story, it also introduces superfluous elements that detract from the gestalt of the original. Go with the original if you can.

1 You may have noticed that all these films are fairly old (as I am as well). So you may be surprised to see that my top choice for best horror film (on this list anyway) is Constantine. It stars Keanu reeves as the cynical chain-smoking fighter of evil from the Hellblazers series of graphic stories. It is a complete joy from 30 seconds in and never farts around or gets boring or stupid at any point.

That’s all for today kiddies.  Check back soon for three wonderful new comic reviews.  ( One of them is a brand new series by Richard Corbin!)

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