It's hard to grow up surrounded by at least 7 historic cemeteries and not be a "fraidy cat". In college, I set myself the task of tackling my fears by committing to watching X Files with the guys every Sunday for a year or two. It worked -a little. At some point, I discovered H.P. Lovecraft, Charles Williams, and Hellboy, and that helped more. I turned to writing my own supernatural thrillers for a number of years until a nervous breakdown and subsequent medication derailed my writing efforts. In an attempt to get re-started, my wife bought me a copy of "Save the Cat". So began my trek into Horror films as I attempted to master the ins and outs of the genre and its subfields. I've generally tried to avoid any obvious drek and keep only to the highlights. After a couple years, here are my favorites in no particular order:
Alien - I saw this re-released in the theater during college and it still made me jump. More important is the way it uses the genre to highlight the problems women, minorities, and the working class were facing in the late '70s.
The Blair Witch Project - This is still my favorite "found footage" film.
Prometheus - A wonderful space opera that still has one of the most realistic depictions of infertility I've seen on screen
Alien Covenant -The Ring Cycle of Sci-Fi Horror
The Conjuring - Second best demon possession movie I've seen with the added fun of featuring local notables The Warrens
The Exorcism of Emily Rose - Shout out to fellow alum Scott Derrickson for this wonderful and thought provoking piece on the complex problems involved in diagnosing and treating "spiritual illness"
The Haunting of Hill House - This series hit me at exactly the right time. There's something deeply cathartic about examining what it was like to have lived in a haunted house.
A Dark Song - This is why some people mess with the ritual magic and so many don't -it's a long, boring, and isolating process that undermines itself.
Coraline - There's something just delightfully perfect about how this film visualizes childhood fears.
Over the Garden Wall - This film is my childhood. It probably says everything I ever wanted to say better than I can say it.
The VVitch - This is as close to actual N.E. witch belief as your going to get on the big screen.
The Shining - Jack Nicholson is creepier than any ghost and Shelley Duval is completely believable as the broken-down, gaslighted wife.
The Lodgers - H.P. Lovecraft in Ireland
1922 - Stephen King does Lovecraft in Iowa
Gerald's Game - King and Flanagan prove that Horror provides an opportunity to slip past "the watchful dragons" and force us to deal with the mundane horrors we regularly flee from.
The Black Coat's Daughter - As a Yankee prep-schooler, this just about nails it. It could win awards on atmosphere alone.
Ravenous - Proves that everything is more dignified in French, even a zombie movie, and that Appalachia extends into Quebec. Seriously, this almost rises to the level of Terrence Malik shooting the zombie apocalypse.
The Endless - Best thing since Memento plus Lovecraftian Sci-Fi
Hush - Flanagan and Siegal are a creative force to be reckoned with. This is like Home Alone for grown-ups.
I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House - This is as close to Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" as I think you're going to get on film. It's a reminder that ghost stories can be gorgeous as well as terrifying.
Alien - I saw this re-released in the theater during college and it still made me jump. More important is the way it uses the genre to highlight the problems women, minorities, and the working class were facing in the late '70s.
The Blair Witch Project - This is still my favorite "found footage" film.
Prometheus - A wonderful space opera that still has one of the most realistic depictions of infertility I've seen on screen
Alien Covenant -The Ring Cycle of Sci-Fi Horror
The Conjuring - Second best demon possession movie I've seen with the added fun of featuring local notables The Warrens
The Exorcism of Emily Rose - Shout out to fellow alum Scott Derrickson for this wonderful and thought provoking piece on the complex problems involved in diagnosing and treating "spiritual illness"
The Haunting of Hill House - This series hit me at exactly the right time. There's something deeply cathartic about examining what it was like to have lived in a haunted house.
A Dark Song - This is why some people mess with the ritual magic and so many don't -it's a long, boring, and isolating process that undermines itself.
Coraline - There's something just delightfully perfect about how this film visualizes childhood fears.
Over the Garden Wall - This film is my childhood. It probably says everything I ever wanted to say better than I can say it.
The VVitch - This is as close to actual N.E. witch belief as your going to get on the big screen.
The Shining - Jack Nicholson is creepier than any ghost and Shelley Duval is completely believable as the broken-down, gaslighted wife.
The Lodgers - H.P. Lovecraft in Ireland
1922 - Stephen King does Lovecraft in Iowa
Gerald's Game - King and Flanagan prove that Horror provides an opportunity to slip past "the watchful dragons" and force us to deal with the mundane horrors we regularly flee from.
The Black Coat's Daughter - As a Yankee prep-schooler, this just about nails it. It could win awards on atmosphere alone.
Ravenous - Proves that everything is more dignified in French, even a zombie movie, and that Appalachia extends into Quebec. Seriously, this almost rises to the level of Terrence Malik shooting the zombie apocalypse.
The Endless - Best thing since Memento plus Lovecraftian Sci-Fi
Hush - Flanagan and Siegal are a creative force to be reckoned with. This is like Home Alone for grown-ups.
I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House - This is as close to Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" as I think you're going to get on film. It's a reminder that ghost stories can be gorgeous as well as terrifying.
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