this scariest halloween
from 2020
This scariest Halloween, i thought i would make my own seasonal favorites-list. I wouldn’t say—even as a kid—any of these movies really scared me. Better: they were a flavor i liked.
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920). The original “head movie”—German Expressionism at its finest. Those sets!
Nosferatu (1922). Full of indelible images & a genuinely creepy performance by Max Shreck.
Vampyr (1932). Still the closest cinematic approach to the depiction of a nightmare. It’s not supposed to “make sense”. It doesn’t.
Night of the Hunter (1955). Besides being visually one of the greatest black & white films, an inspired Robert Mitchum does the perfect psychopath. (Sorry, Hannibal.)
X the Unknown (1956). Less well known than others of its era, but i think a great example of doing less with more.
Night of the Demon aka Curse of the Demon (1957). Now considered a classic, its special effects are still remarkably effective in the final sequence.
Carnival of Souls (1962). I think no better portrait of mental illness exists on film, & full of great images, especially the abandoned amusement park.
The Conqueror Worm aka Witchfinder General (1968). This along with Fall of the House of Usher are my favorite, least bombastic Vincent Price performances, but Worm is not the least bit kitschy, & one of the very few honestly nihilistic films ever made (sorry, Mr von Trier).
The Exorcist (1973). This one is irrevocably tied to its moment, but if you saw it at the right age (as i did), it pushed all the buttons. (The sequel, too, is better than its reputation, but it’s a completely different sort of movie.)
Don’t Look Now (1973). More of an art-movie than a thriller, it vividly conveys a sense of Venice as a foreboding, haunted place (see below).
Suspiria (1977). The most beautiful horror movie ever made (not that there’s a lot of competition).
Alien (1979). Carries a wallop. Made H R Giger & Sigourney Weaver household names.
The Hunger (1983). Mainly for the opening montage (perhaps the best in cinema), featuring live Bauhaus.
Begotten (1989). Viscerally uncanny; ultimately, a grueling & unpleasant experience i admire without reservation.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991). As far as i’m concerned, the serial-killer genre should have begun & ended here. But what i remember now, more than anything, is how great Jodie Foster is.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992). Not a great horror movie but, as a tribute to fin de siècle decadence, priceless.
The Addiction (1995). Off-beat, really it’s more like philosophy-as-horror in a way that later became much more mainstream (among a certain group of writers, anyway). Lili Taylor is incredible. So is, briefly, Christopher Walken.
The Sixth Sense (1999). Good story, well made, three fine performances & a memorable sense of place. A modern classic.
The Host (2006). I like the glimpses of everyday life in Korea, making this one its own unique kind of movie. Good monster, too.
A Quiet Place (2018). Just when you were sure there was nothing further to be done, this one delivers, quite efficiently, a new shudder.
Gaiju (for me, the Godzilla & Gamera series—my favorite Godzillas: the first [in its Japanese-release version], Godzilla vs Mothra (gaiju meets head-movie!), & Godzilla vs the Smog Monster aka Godzilla vs Hedorah) is its own genre, just as Noir & Sci-fi are. The Dr Phibes movies (which I love) are bad moviemaking but great Camp. However, I hate most horror movies made after the 60s, because they aren’t anxiety-based anymore, but voyeuristic sadism.
For books, i always say the two scariest books i ever read were both nonfiction: The Hot Zone & The Long Emergency. I think Hell House & The Haunting of Hill House are the best novels, with The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Cipher, & The Red Tree closely behind. Thomas Ligotti is easily the best short-story writer, but this is a genre where many one- or two-hit wonders are found. “Ligeia” is my favorite Poe story & the one that most repays rereading, & i would also single out Matheson’s novella “Some of Your Blood.” Dark fantasy is abundant & some of it written on a high level e.g. Michael Shea’s Nifft the Lean, & Brian Catling’s Vorrh. (The most disturbing book i ever read is still Matthew Stokoe’s Cow, but i would not advise anyone at all to read it. I mean, just don’t.)
In poetry, Thomas Lovell Beddoes is the undisputed king. One can also mention Byron’s long-poem “Night”, plus many pieces by Clark Ashton Smith, Walter de la Mare (barely remembered, these days), & early W S Merwin.
For music, Diamanda Galas (her Masque of the Red Death trilogy), & Penderecki’s Utrenja. (Although Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite has some of those moods among its exquisite many.) There is so much great “dark-ambient” & “industrial music” out there (I mean, The Unacceptable Face of Freedom, anyone? Songs of Byzantine Flowers?), not to mention more recent “witch house”… Special mention to Wolves in the Throne Room, Ningen Isu, & Sidewalks and Skeletons: White Light. But far scarier than all those sound-effects put together, is the Violent Femmes’s “Country Death Song.”
And (why not?) my Spookiest Places: Praha, Venice at night, Caddo Lake in the daytime, Baja California (where, unmistakably, Death is King). And (trust me on this)--Delphi. Is there a spookiest place in Dallas? How about Vikon Village?