My Favorite Horror Movies

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is my Favorite Franchise, PERIOD! I watched these movies over and over and over all thru the 80’s and 90’s. My love for them has never waned, not even for a second. I watch all of them every year without fail, this is the fourth time I’m watching this one this year. It’s my favorite chapter.

I think the first 4 films in this Franchise are all Perfect. Parts 5 and 6 are also both unique and excellent. I even have love for Parts 7 thru 10, Manhattan, Space, I’ll take it. Freddy vs Jason is a Blast and the remake is Bad Ass!!

This chapter has the best cast, easily the most interesting and most likable. You could disguise this movie as a coming-of-age drama comedy if you took out the killings.

Corey Feldman as Tommy Jarvis - He was all of us, speaking from the perspective of being nine years old when this movie came out and after watching it being obsessed with horror for the rest of my life and this franchise.

Kimberly Beck as Trish Jarvis - Perfect Final Girl

Erich Anderson as Rob Dier - He's Great. You really feel he is a good guy and really trying to find his sister. On first view we think he will be a formidable match for Jason. His death DAMN! “He’s killing Me” Haunting. The Suspense built in that scene where he and Trish enter the house and then he inevitably meets his end in the basement to Jason.

Barbara Howard as Sara - she could’ve almost been the final girl until she got in that shower.

Joan Freeman as Mrs. Jarvis - A different dynamic having an adult mother. I think they handled her character perfectly.

Peter Barton as Doug - Pretty boy, nice guy. Its epic watching Jason crush his face in the shower!!!

Crispin Glover as Jimmy - who doesn’t love the lovable loser, George McFly. His dance scene is to Die for!!! “Why don’t you run this through your computer Teddy Bear”. “Ted, Hey Ted where the hells the cork screw”

Judie Aronson as Samantha - what an absolute Baby Doll. She is the “experienced “ girl but you love her anyway no one in this cast is unlikable.

Camilla More as Tina -
Carey More as Terri - The twins are there to stir the couple drama and both have cool deaths.

Lawrence Monoson as Ted - even though he comes off as an obnoxious douche bag you still feel for the guy. “Let me run it thru the computer”. “It says, it says, you’re a Dead Fuck”. The back and forth between him and Jimmy is Great.

Alan Hayes as Paul - why would you cheat on Samantha. We don’t get to know Paul real well, he seems like a nice guy but then tries to cheat on his GF Samantha with a chick he just met. He doesn’t go thru with it though again making him likable enough. Poor son of a bitch gets a speargun to the dick! This kill is another example of this mean spirited Jason that I love. The lake, at night, with the Fog, what atmosphere

Bruce Mahler as Axel “Jesus Christmas”
Gets a Hacksaw to the Throat!!! Amazing!

Lisa Freeman as Nurse Robbie Morgan - “Axel you’re the Super Bowl of self abuse” Jason shows her no mercy it’s a very vicious kill and a hell of an opening.

Ted White as Jason Voorhees
He Is The ULTIMATE Jason!! He’s scary mean and Evil!! White plays him with such great intensity, couple that with his fantastic look and Makeup from Tom Savini and you have the ultimate Jason.

This movie picks up perfectly at the close of Part 3. We are at Higgins Haven and Jason is laying supposedly “dead” in the Barn. Starting with a Helicopter light shining down into the darkness with all the Macabre everywhere is great! Then after all the bodies are collected and all the Police Cars and Ambulances pull away we are left there at Higgins Haven hanging in the total darkness, it’s an amazing shot! Bravo Zito

We have to give Joe Zito tons of credit. He directs this film and creates a fantastic atmosphere. It’s mean spirited for sure much like his earlier effort The Prowler, though this movie is superior.

This movie is everything I want in a horror movie and everything I want in a Friday the 13th movie!! I’ve said before that I think it is The Ultimate Slasher!!

It’s Scary, it’s atmospheric, has beautiful cinematography, a perfect location, a perfect cast of characters, great kills, great gore, great suspense, great score!!!

Did I mention perfect or great?

Many things in this sequel I actually prefer to the original. The dark hospital with its mostly empty hallways makes for a great setting. Seeing Myers on the security monitors when no one else does. Just seeing MUCH more of Michael Myers in general I like. They took some cues from Friday the 13th by upping the violence and gore and showing us more Michael. He’s almost always lurking in the background in this one, and it ups the creep factor. I think the score in this one I may possibly even like better than the original, it’s the same score but with more synth. One shot that always stood out from my childhood is in this movie, it’s the scene where Michael is in pursuit of Laurie and is slowly coming down the stairs after her. The way it’s shot looking up the stairs, his creepy walk, and of course that perfect mask, still chilling. This is a Phenomenal horror sequel on par with the original.

This ones like an old friend, it’s been in my life since it came on the scene. I feel like it’s criminally underrated. But maybe people just aren’t as high on it as me.

The Garths are a creepy ass Duo of Huge Mongoloid monstrous Killers!! One almost looks like a Jason Voorhees Frankenstein monster mashup, his face is pretty similar to Jason in Friday the 13th Part 3, but he’s scarier! And this one came before Friday 3 so if someone copied the other, well...... The other Garth is a Huge hairy mountain man type, kinda Madman Mars but also again much scarier. We get 2 monsters here, TWO! The first time you experience this it’s quite a shocker.

This one absolutely SEEPS with Atmosphere. The House, the tunnels to the basement and below , the roof, the garden maze. The house has no electricity so we are Candle lit, PERFECT!!

Some might say it’s a bit slow. I say it’s a perfect slow burn. But I’m also a fan of old school slow burn style horror films. Like Hammer or the even older Universal films.

The house has such a Gothic look and feel it’s almost like one of those old castles. The under ground tunnels literally make you feel like you are underground in like The Phantom of the Opera.

When the Garths come it’s always scary.

Just a perfect film!! How lucky are we that Stanley Kubrick had his own vision for this Stephen King Story. I’ve always said King is as great writer, and Kubrick is a phenomenal film maker! This is probably the scariest Horror film ever made.

This movie is the Definition of a 10 outa 10!
It’s absolutely flawless. It’ll make you laugh, it’ll scare you, it’ll even make you cry. It goes without saying that Steven Spielberg is a Genius. It also goes without saying that even though Tobe Hooper gets a directors credit here, this movie is a Spielberg. No one quite captures the family aspect and the truest of film magic quite like Spielberg. It’s unbelievable, the emotions that his films stir. I saw this when it was first released when I was barely 7 years old so it’s RICH with Nostalgia for me.

The Freelings are a typical happy American family from the 80’s living in the Burbs. When I was younger I identified with the son Robbie. We had the same toys, posters, bedroom, I went thru the terror from his point of view. Now as an adult with two children (one boy and one girl) I see it thru the eyes of the parents. I’m also the father of a blonde haired blue eyed 5 year old little girl.

The special effects still hold up and look amazing over 35 years later. The score is chilling at times and incredibly touching at others. The Clown, the hallway scene, the mirror/bathroom face-ripping, the pool full of skeletons, the evil tree, the tornado. This movie is a first rate top notch roller coaster ride. A horror film with heart, emotion and drama.

“Machines are gonna fail and the system's gonna fail...then, survival. Who has the ability to survive? That's the game - survive.”

Survival Horror. Backwoods Horror. Hillbilly Horror. Man against Nature. The best outdoor adventure film of all time. 4 men confronted by natures wrath, a story of survival. Set in the beautiful backwoods of Georgia, with its forests, mountains, and wild rivers.

This movie is so Authentic. Using real locals for the secondary characters. The Hillbillies (or the locals) look the part because they actually are. The way the look, the way they talk, their faces, all of that would not have been as well achieved with hired Hollywood actors.. Our big 4 doing there own stunts, many having brushes with death. Ned Beatty almost drowning, Burt Reynolds really getting injured, Jon Voight really scaling that 200 foot Rock Wall Cliff!!! They just don’t (can’t) make movies today like they did back then, you won’t find a film this genuine or authentic made today.

Beautiful Cinematography throughout, the river, the mountains, the woods, the sounds of nature and the sounds of the river are captured just flawlessly, flawless direction.

Perfect cast, Burt Reynolds was never better. Ned Beatty, Jon Voight, Ronny Cox all simply amazing!!!

Even the less intense scenes are flawless and amazing. The first night scene where they all camp, just barely off the river, it’s so dark and you just know they’re really out there in the thick. The scene where Lewis thinks he hears something and heads up in to the darkness, in to the woods only to double back and end up behind his friends for a nice little scare on them, that scene is just done flawlessly, the camaraderie between the men and just that feeling of them against nature, out there battling is just amazing. You see how they share a laugh and a drink but there is still an element of the unknown, all is just a bit unsettling, they are out there with Nature. And maybe something else is out there too, watching them and waiting. It’s just 1 scene from a film filled with amazing scenes.

The movies dialogue is well written and captivating. You feel like you are out there with these 4 men. All very different but all very interesting.

“Dueling Banjos”. That kid is off the charts Nightmare fuel. The scene with the kid again only shortly after where they pass underneath him while he stands above on a very man made rope/log bridge, the way he just stares at them blankly, with dead eyes, Ronny Cox (Drew) waving at him and smiling ear to ear but gets zero emotion returned from that weird kid, just a blank slate, you just know he’s “off”.. The most famous “Squeal like a pig” Rape Scene...... Ed (Jon Voigt) climbing that giant Cliff!! All the scenes on that beautiful yet violent river!!

Was Drew shot? Was that the right man Ed killed? Open ended questions add to the mystery. You decide.

This is one of those movies, and I have a handful of them that EVERY-TIME I watch it I come away saying “ yup that’s my favorite movie ever”. I’ve been obsessed with this movie since I watched it with my dad way back then.

It’s Perfect, it’s truly just incredible. The Story, The Score, The Effects, The Cinematography, The Location, The Cast, The Atmosphere and tone!!

I love every fiber of this film. It opens with one of the most epic scores ever. It’s simple yet a creepy tension builder. From the jump you’re a bit disoriented, what the hell is going on exactly. The movie never lets up, it just takes off. Paranoia and Isolation run wild. You feel like you’re right there with Child’s and MacReady and all the rest. When the lights drop out on an alone Fuchs that’s some real terror filled celluloid!!! Every time someone is alone you fear for them, you feel the dread and weight in the scene, every damn scene is perfectly crafted. Who’s the thing! Man this movie is such an experience. I’ve seen it countless times and it never loses its luster.

John Carpenter really is just the master.

THE SAW IS FAMILY.

This movie is an absolute Madhouse!! It's dark, twisted, gory, funny, scary it literally has it all! It's shot beautifully, SO colorful, the colors seem to just jump off the screen. That's a huge contrast to the grittiness and the seeming lack of color in the original film.

The Score is simply amazing, all the locations are amazing. The near opening scene on the bridge where the two yuppie frat boys encounter Leatherface is Horror Cinema GOLD for my money. Leatherface with that Black Cape holding the stuffed dead body of Nubbins (aka The Hitchhiker from the first movie) in front of his body and making it dance!!!! DAMN this movie just gets me!!!!!

The radio station where Stretch and LG encounter Chop-Top and Leatherface in the flesh for the first time is unbelievable. The station has a certain creepiness to it, I love the shots inside and outside the station, The color jumping off the screen that I mentioned earlier is never more evident then in the scenes in the radio station, the use of colors in the station is simply perfect.

“E X I T EXIT, ha ha ha”

The Best jump scare of all time when Leatherface comes Chainsaw roaring out of the record vault!!

Chop-Top (Bill Mosley) is sensational!!! He’s hilarious and terrifying. He’s unhinged AF.

“Lick my plate you dog dick”

“Dog Will Hunt”

“incoming mail”

“A bonus body”

“Nam land”

“Booger, Big Crazy Booger”

“Burn her like a rat, burn her like a rat, burn her like a rat rat rat”

Every single line that comes out of The Cooks mouth is Hysterical!!! “Oh that’s just one of them hard shelled peppercorns”

Dennis Hooper in all his cocaine fueled glory is the perfect advisory for the Sawyer family. If you've seen this movie you're fully aware of how psycho he is in it.

“I’m The Lord of the Harvest”

“One of them boys so wild managed to saw his own damn head off going 90 miles per hour, Yeah Hell, Hell’s exactly what they raised”

The ending scenes in the Sawyer lair, which is a sight that must be seen for my money are about as good as it gets, in these scenes they again use color so well, with all the lights, Christmas lights strung all over, lamps you name it the whole place is very well lit while also seeming dark and sinister through all the tunnels. There is so much to this underground lair, from dead bodies to lights, so much macabre perfectly spewed all over and everywhere nothing is wasted EVERY piece adds something, a maze of macabre let’s call it.

TEXAS BATTLE LAND!!!

The Resurrection (sort of) of the Faceless LG after having been semi skinned by Leatherface courtesy of an electronic Knife Turkey Carver.

“Darlin, Darlin don’t be scared Darlin”

The Chainsaw Duel between Leatherface and Lefty is EPIC!!!!

No other movie is quite like this one to me.

This movie is absolutely PERFECT.

On a Train, A Dark Night, a bitter Cold Winter and a costume party with our killer hiding in costumes. Elements that set a tone and create an amazing atmosphere!!

The costumes allow our killer to move amongst everyone, undetected, Chamaeleon like, but WE know exactly where he is and who he is, this provides some GREAT tension.

Being inside this train screeching forward, in the middle of the NIGHT, during a DEADLY COLD snowy winter provide a sense of extreme isolation, claustrophobia and entrapment, there simply is no way to escape. If you get off the Train you’ll freeze, if you stay on you may be murdered.

It's a tossup for me as to which mask is the creepiest the Groucho mask is pretty good but I think the old man mask at the end is probably the coup de grace.

Great Opening Score, the whistling then the music kicking in. The Walking Dead over 30 years later would totally steal the Whistling and use it for their bad guys called The Saviors. Totally ripped, whistling in the dark empty Forrest.

The opening scene is chilling. The movie immediately establishes the we are DEEP in the woods. It’s as great a location as I’ve ever seen in a horror film. We open with an overhead shot deep in the woods of two men in an old abandoned Church. One is having a drink and giving a fun little jokey sermon. When he looks up he notices the hole in the roof and a very large creepy looking man staring down at him with a very sinister look on his face, it’s absolutely terrifying!! The opening kill here is equally terrifying.

The movie proceeds to take us even deeper in the woods. This one is near the top of the charts for a backwoods horror film.

This is one of my favorite movies EVER, regardless of Genre. I’m not exactly sure where it fits in, everywhere honestly to me. It’s hilarious, it’s dark, it’s twisted and has some very Graphic Violence, some shown and some simply implied. Christian Bale is UNBELIEVABLE in this. Theroux, Lucas, Sage, Sevigny, Witherspoon, Leto, Mathis, Seymour and Willem Dafoe all of them, some only on screen briefly but all leave a mark. It’s one I can watch (and do watch) over and over again! It’s an absolute masterpiece. Released in 2000 but set in the 1980’s, it’s very well done, it feels very 80’s yet modern at the same time. Easily my favorite movie Post 2000.

De Palma crafted what is to me an amazing American made Giallo. This film is so Stylized. Its a combination of everything I love in a Giallo. The long wordless scenes, the importance of music, fantastic music/score, the almost hypnotic violence, the razor blade, the very graphic kills, the killer in disguise, the RED blood, mystery, it almost feels pornographic at points during the violence. If we can consider it in the Giallo genre then it’s my favorite of them all. De Palma excels with his complex camera shots and angles going split screen and putting his touch on it. The film is perfectly paced and superbly acted. The stand out scene is probably the Elevator slashing, but what makes it so effective is the set up, no dialogue for a bit and even a shot of our creepy killer lurking beforehand if you’re paying attention.