One day late… it’s Top 10 Tuesday! Of all the horror movies I’ve watched (and I’ve seen my fair share), here are the ten films that scared me the most:
10. Silence of the Lambs
Not one, but two very big villains graced this film. Hannibal Lecter, of course, who ate his victims, but also Buffalo Bill, who skinned them. Bump into these two in a dark alley, and there’d be nothing left of you to bury.
9. Witchboard
An horrible, horrible B movie (okay, C movie), but when I watched it at 16, it scared the crap out of me. A woman plays with a Ouija board and summons up an evil spirit who then tries to kill her. The moral of the story: Ouija boards are evil.
8. Friday the 13th
Ahhh… Jason Voorhees. This original movie was the first really gory horror film I ever watched. One of the first of many mindless serial killer movies, it scared me because I happened to watch it in a house in the woods, which really upped the tension. I couldn’t sleep that night wondering if some guy was going to bust in and impale me to the bed with a broom handle.
7. Se7en
Some movies are scary in a fun kind of way – this wasn’t one of them. Based on the Seven Deadly Sins, every murder is bloody and gritty and original. From the guy whose stomach explodes (Gluttony) to the guy who stabs a prostitute using a strap-on (Lust), this movie is gruesome, but also smart. The fact that the plot doesn’t insult you makes it scarier.
6. Carrie
The first 90% of this film is more creepy than scary. Carrie’s a misfit with telekinetic powers, and her mother’s a religious fanatic. Nothing really frightening really happens until the end, when a bloody hand suddenly pops out of the ground at the cemetery. I’m not a screamer, and I screamed. To this day, I still can’t watch that part. I will close my eyes and mute the sound until it’s over.
5. The Omen
What would you do if the newborn son you brought home from the hospital is actually the son of Satan? Why, kill him, of course! But of course the parents don’t, and of course everybody but the kid ends up dead. I remember after I watched this, I snuck into my big brother’s room early one morning to check if he had ‘666’ anywhere on his head (I felt it would have explained a lot).
4. When A Stranger Calls
A teenager answers the phone at the house she’s babysitting in, and a strange man says, “Did you check the children?” After a couple more calls, she finally has the calls traced… and they’re coming from inside the house! Every babysitter’s worst nightmare, and I babysat a lot in high school.
3. Candyman
Say “candy man” five times while looking in the mirror, and he’ll appear. And kill you. A myth perhaps, but does anybody want to try it and see? I sure as hell don’t. This is another B movie at best, but the urban setting (the slums of New York) was a great backdrop for all the blood and gore.
2. The Exorcist
A classic. What is scarier than a 12-year-old girl possessed by a demon? Her peeling, cracking face, the green vomit, her child’s voice saying the most foul language you could imagine. Plus the actual exorcism at the end is a cinematic masterpiece. I can only watch this movie when the lights are bright and my husband is going to be home for a few days in a row afterward.
1. Paranormal Activity
I never thought any movie could be scarier than The Exorcist, but this movie has won the #1 spot for me. A young couple films their bedroom at night while they’re sleeping, only to discover they have a demon in the house. This movie messed me up for days afterward. I’ve seen it once… and unlike all the other films on this list, I will never, EVER watch it again.
What movies scared you?