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Five Horror Movies you Should Watch Before Halloween

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Manhattan chapter.

Since Halloween is right around the corner, it’s time to watch some scary movies!  Horror is personally one of my favorite genres.  It has the ability to excite you, and to make you jump to your feet.  Horror is subjective, which is wonderful.  We get to have our own take on the things that frighten us, which makes this genre even more intriguing.  So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite scary movies.  If you have seen any of these (I hope so), then maybe it’s time to re-watch.  If not, enjoy them!  Be safe this Halloween, and if you get the time, cozy up with one of these! ~

 

1.  Jeepers Creepers (2001)

Okay, so to start, any movie with Justin Long is a good movie, because he is a freakin’ smoke-show.  This movie is particularly interesting because the main characters are brother and sister, not boyfriend and girlfriend.  This relationship is more intimate and powerful, in my opinion.  Anyway, the basic synopsis is that the two are driving home from college for spring break and make a terrifying discovery in a church basement, and after that, things get pretty intense.  I won’t ruin anything, but it’s pretty creepy and makes you never want to accidentally see something “odd” on the side of the road.  This is a monster movie, for sure.  So, if you’re interested in that – go for it!

 

 

2) The Shining (1980)

If you haven’t seen this movie, the only question I have for you is…why?  It’s amazing.  So terrifying, yet so satisfying.  I sometimes find myself randomly watching this, just for its cinematography.  Stanley Kubrick turned Stephen King’s novel into a masterpiece (side note, all of Kubrick’s movies are amazing).  It’s about how Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy, and son Danny get the opportunity to watch over the isolated Overlook Hotel in Colorado to cure Jacks writers block.  Danny possesses some sort of psychic abilities that allow him to “shine” and see ghosts.  The movie gets really interesting from there, so you’ll just have to watch to find out.  Isolated hotel, obvious haunts, a man with writers block…you get the picture.  

 

3) The Evil Dead (1981)

Although this movie came out one year after The Shining, it isn’t very good quality.  But, what it lacks in quality it gains in providing a horrifying experience.  This is the original Evil Dead.  Its gore is almost funny to us now in 2015, but we have to appreciate its uniqueness.  It takes place in a cabin in the woods were a group of friends are staying for a night (that never turns out well).  When exploring in the basement (why) they find a book called the Necronomicon that will wake the dead if read aloud.  Basically, the group of friends accidentally releases a slew of evil.  The main character Ashley or “Ash” Williams has to watch all of his friends slowly become possessed before making a tough decision about his own life.  Bonus:  If you like this movie, it’s the first of a trilogy by director Sam Rami. 

 

4) The Ring (2002)

Not gonna lie, this movie scared the sh*t out of me when I was younger.  I’m pretty sure I watched this with my dad in my kitchen when I was in third grade.  After that, my good ol’ dad would whisper “seven days” into my ear at the most random times just to scare me.  It took about three months to fully get over this one.  This movie doesn’t use much gore at all, but manages to scare your pants off with a creepy little girl, a call, and a TV.  It’s about a videotape that, when watched, causes the viewer to get a phone call.  The person on the other line whispers “seven days” foreshadowing the viewer’s death, and hangs up.  Who wouldn’t be crying on the inside after that?  The movie follows a newspaper reporter who is skeptical about the tape but decides to look into it after a few teenagers mysteriously die after watching it.  After viewing the tape, she realizes that it might have made a mistake, but only has seven days to solve the mystery. 

 

5) Scream (1996)

There is no denying that this movie is a classic.  It has some wonderful actors, who were just getting their start at the time, and plot twists like you wouldn’t believe.  This is a slasher movie, and it’s definitely the best in its class.  It’s about a killer that is on the loose in Woodsboro, California and nobody is safe.  This movie was credited with refreshing the horror genre after a long flat-line of direct-to-video titles.  But, in later sequels, it was accused of possibly inspiring real-life violent crimes and murders…

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

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Alex is a Junior at Manhattan College studying Marketing and Psychology. She likes good movies, good music, great friends, and long walks on the beach. Enjoy ~~~