I just love horror/scary movies regardless of whether it's Halloween season or not. True, I tend to get scared and always literally jump off my seat and give my friend sitting next to me, a shock. But I enjoy being scared once a while as long as it does not last long after watching the movie. Now, that would be spooky...So, here are my random Hollywood favourites.
1. Poltergeist
Scenes of skeletons floating in a pool, or a young girl being taken by ghosts, did not scare the wits of a 13-year-old boy (me!) to watch it over and over again. After all, this was the movie that sparked my dreams to become a successful film director/screen writer one day, just like Steven Spielberg (a producer for this movie). Those dreams still live on, actually :)
2. Gremlins
Bad things come in three? If you ever wanted to keep a mogwai as a pet, just follow these three 'simple' rules: First, don't feed it after midnight. Second, it cannot come into contact with water and third, avoid it from bright lights. Otherwise, mayhem will ensue. Another Spielberg's classic.
3. The Ring
Naomi Watts caught my attention because of this movie. She was sure not your average scream queen. She gave an engaging character to her role as a young mother who raced against the time to uncover the truth behind the story of a girl who 'never eats, never sleeps and loves to kill people.'
4. The Sixth Sense
One of those horror movies that deserved the Best Picture title! Bruce Willies for once, was chasing after ghosts instead of some baddies. Haley Joel's performance was impeccable for a child actor. And those ghosts, they sure knew when to make you jumped off your seats.
5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003-remake)
Not many remakes surpass the original, and the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre did just that! It was so much better - gorier and scarier. With stellar young casts as the helpless victims, it was horrifying to see them being chased by some maniac with a chainsaw and wore human skins as his mask.
6. The Others
They say, some things are not what it seems. The idea of a big, deserted and haunted house has been repeated many times before. But, not one had utilised it so scary and creatively like The Others. After all, it's not common for us to feel empathy towards a bunch of ghosts.
7. Scream Trilogy
The movie regenerated the public interests over horror/scary movies after a string of unsuccessful and ridiculous horror sequels. For the Scream trilogy, I especially enjoy the opening sequence of Scream 1, when Drew Barrymore got sliced and diced while her boyfriend was gutted to death!
8. The Thing
What thing? That THING, of course! The thing that sprouted tentacles out of a dead dog, or grew spider-like legs out of something that looked like a human's head (and then it crawled). A superb horror classic helmed by John Carpenter, it gets to me everytime.
9. Jeepers Creepers
As a brother and a sister driving home for spring break, they passed the hours making up words out of plate numbers, until they met 'BEATING U', a plate to a rusty old truck that belonged to a creature which had deep interests on human organs. A movie with witty script, and not bad acting at all!
10. Nightmare on Elm Street 1
If you think you had the worst nightmare, wait till you meet Freddie Kruger, a razor-fingered monster. Chances are, you might not get out of your dream alive! Johnny Depp, who had a small role in this movie, must be thinking about Freddie when he agreed to become Edward Scissorhand in his later movie.
� Copyright Abdun Nizar Ahmad