Watching scary movies is a standard part of Halloween tradition. With constant remakes of traditional scary movies along with the plethora of new movies being continually made, I have lately noticed that a lot of relatively modern scary movies are overdone and overly gory. Being a huge scary movie fan, I’ve narrowed it down to the top five scary movies that are sure to get you spooked for Halloween!
- “Child’s Play”: To the unfortunate people who watched this movie at a young age, this film may have started their terror of dolls. A child’s doll possessed by the spirit of a killer is an idea that is so original, it’s bound to scare people of all ages. Ben Brunell, a sophomore here at UT, agrees that this movie is one of the ultimate scariest movies: “‘Child’s Play’ just took something that was unlikely to be suspected and sent it on a murderous rampage; of course it didn’t help that I was already scared of porcelain clown dolls.”
- “American Psycho”: Based on the famous thriller/satirical novel by Bret Easton Ellis, this movie isnot your traditional ghost story, but an incredible psychological thriller. Centered around the mind of a serial killer, this movie will keep you on the edge of your seat and have you questioning what is reality and what is based on the perception of the main character–not to mention Christian Bale has the creepy lead role!If you are looking to watch scary movies that are not centered around ghosts and the paranormal, this movie is the perfect thriller!
- “The Exorcist”: Based on an alleged true story of a young girl possessed by a demon, this film is a great creeper that is so powerful that many different interpretations and remakes of it have been made ever since. Natasha Viteri recommends this movie as a great horror movie classic: “When I first watched “The Exorcist,” I was scared out of my mind! The scenes in this movie haunted me for much longer than those of any other movie I’ve seen. It is a movie everyone needs to watch at least once, and the perfect movie to watch to get spooked during Halloween time.”
- “Paranormal Activity”: The scariness of this movie is astounding compared to the relatively low amount of money it cost the producers to create it. Constructed as a movie with “real footage,” this movie is powerfully scary because it makes you feel like you are watching a true story. Pooja Mehta, who rarely gets scared by horror movies, admits that this is one of the few movies that she found very convincing and interesting to watch. “Initially I thought it was all true–the footage had actually been taped and just reconstructed into a movie.”
- “The Shining”: I recently watched this movie this past summer. Even though I am a scary movie fanatic, for some reason, I’d never gotten around to watching it before despite the great things I’d heard about it. Having seen countless scary movies, I didn’t have high expectations watching it based on the film description and cover. Upon watching it however, I not only found this movie scary, but incredibly well-crafted, almost like a work of art. The movie is about a haunted hotel called The Overlook Hotel, which is really called the Timberline Lodge. Not only did I fall in love with this movie, but with the beautiful lodge as well! Overall, The Shining is a great thriller to watch during Halloween, and is visually and mentally captivating.
If you’re looking to get into the Halloween spirit or need a break from studying for midterms, these scary movies are perfectly classic and creative flicks to watch. They combine subtlety with creepiness to make an excellent “Halloween movie option” that is not too gory or too overdone. So grab some popcorn and blankets, get together with friends, and be ready to be on the edge of your seat the entire time!