MY HALLOWEEN TOP 5 BY RICHARD ALAN LONG

I guess if I had to pick my top 10 horror films of all time it would include five definite unchanging titles (The Exorcist, The Evil Dead, Dawn of the Dead, The Fog and The Shining) and five titles that change depending on what mood I am in. However, at Halloween we (sometimes) want cheap shocks and jumps rather than substance and political overtones.

Picking my top 5 horror movies for Halloween is a slightly different affair. Let’s assume that this top 5 favourite horror movies is an eventful list for when you have a few friends around on Oct 31^st to have a few drinks, maybe carve pumpkins, pretend you’re Americans and turn out the lights to have a few scares over some classic horror movies.

I’ve tried on Halloween to force friends at fake knife point to watch how wonderful a movie ‘Deep Red’ is and witnessed aghast as they chatter over the top of the film. Then I’ve watched in wonderment as the same people laugh and jump in terror when we viewed the awful as Saw 2.

Films to avoid on Halloween are many, but try to stay away from Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer as no one wants to be depressed and disturbed. And don’t be fooled into thinking that because the Human Centipede movies are getting so much hype that they might be as fun as the Saw franchise, they’re not. They’re rubbish and will kill any mood as will any of the recent influx of countless torture porn movies.

So here we begin...let’s get scared.

My top 5 movies for Halloween this year, in no particular order are...

INSIDIOUS (2010) Dir: James Wan

Insidious was one of the first movies in such a long time I saw that scared the hell out of me. There are moments of pure fear which don’t rely on jumps and loud music to get its reactions. One scene only has a pale figure standing looking into a bedroom window, but it was enough to have me jump from the sofa like a fat man on a hover board.

The storyline can be summed up with its tagline. It’s not the house that’s haunted, it’s your son. This should be watched in the dark. It’s a wonderful movie which I wasn’t expecting to be so good or so scary. It’s a rollercoaster ride and once it starts it doesn’t give up. It’s disturbing and everyone will be scared shitless, but they will all talk about it afterwards with smiles on their faces.

THE EVIL DEAD (1981) Dir: Sam Raimi

This is the ultimate experience in gruelling horror. It has over the top gore and plenty of scares. It’s a fun movie which doesn’t take its violence as seriously as the BBFC took it back when it was released. Stephen King famously said it was the most frighteningly original horror film he had ever seen. The plot is simple and could be written on the back of a beer mat. Five kids go to a cabin in the woods and one by one become possessed leading to all sorts of dismemberment and tom foolery. However, in director Sam Raimi’s hands, the Evil Dead is a viewing experience and not a film that carries well in storylines on the back of vhs and dvd boxes. There are some genuinely scary moments, and some over the top sheer brilliant masterful violence, which borrows more from the three stooges than Apocalypse Now. What I love about the film is its sheer terror. There are plenty of scares and frightening moments, with some added comedic moments of relief which adds to the adrenaline fuelled ride. Afterwards came squeals Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness, which were better made and polished and took the comedy to the forefront of the horror which I personally found saddening as I never felt the menace or skin crawling terror like I did with the first outing. Evil Dead was made by a talented filmmaker and crew who showed passion and artistic sheen to a brilliant level from creating such atmosphere and depth.

AMITYVILLE HORROR (1979) Dir: Stuart Rosenberg

I don’t think Halloween night would be the same without a haunted house movie. Based on real events (which have led to many believers and non believers) The Lutz family move into an idealist homestead where years earlier a whole family were slaughtered by their estranged son. The movie plays for scares, departing from Jay Anson’s novel to bring some very disturbing moments. Directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring James Brolin and Margot Kidder, The Amityville Horror was a smash hit when it was released and not without reason. Yes, people were fascinated by the publicity campaign, and yes audiences wanted to feel as scared as they did when The Exorcist came out, yet regardless of that the movie has a wonderful cast, and is superbly shot, from the tiniest things of the camera being motionless in the backseat of a hearse, filled with the noise and chaos from outside, to suddenly there being a deathly silence when the door is closed, making us cringe to be in the back of hearse. There is a terrific scene where George and Kathy discover the demonic red room lurking in their cellar. Notably James Brolin goes from handsome father figure to unstable stranger as the film progresses and he does it convincingly to the point he is unrecognisable at the end of the movie, to what he was at the beginning. Amityville Horror has all the jumps and thrills you’d expect with a big budget horror movie but everything fits together nicely and nothing ever feels over the top within the confines of the movies world. Yes, the movie has been dogged with some bad sequels and remakes but for a great haunted house movie this one has it all.

THE SHINING (1980) Dir: Stanley Kubrick

Okay so this is the movie that Stephen King and a few critics hated. Yet everyone else seemed to love it. It’s a deeply personal movie for me, and during that scene (not the credits) were the camera rolls over the hilltops and we see the Torrance car, I am reminded for no reason of my late mother, of the video shop she’d take me to as a kid and of the films we’d watch together at the weekend. I won’t even try analysing Kubricks techniques on the film, there are many books and high brow critics who have done that over the years. Some say it didn’t have enough of the book in it. Yes, that’s because it was BASED on the book. It has a cold quality in which you feel you are right there with Jack and Wendy in the Overlook Hotel. But, the most powerful thing about this film isn’t based on jumps or monsters, it’s the fact you are watching the decline of a man who’s letting everything fall away from him, leaving you wondering, is it the hotel doing this? Or is the darkness already in Jack and being allowed to breathe in a place were horror has history.

CABIN IN THE WOODS (2012) Dir: Drew Goddard

During this movie’s credit sequence you would be forgiven for thinking this film is a Coen Brothers movie, it has that feel.

Cabin in the Woods is one of the best horror movies I’ve seen in the last five years. It’s original, even though the majority of it is flooded in homage’s to other horror movies, it’s refreshingly unique when you release where the twisted story is going.

Five kids go for a holiday to a Cabin in the Woods, which has a cellar that springs open. Sound familiar? Well you’re wrong. During their time in the woods our characters revert to their stereotypes of Jock, Nerd, Slut and Virgin and party in the usual style with games of truth and dare, alcohol, drugs and skinny dipping. We soon learn that this is the intention of the other characters in the movie, the characters that sit in a room filming the teenagers for what at first appears to be a horror style Big Brother, using horror characters and settings, clichés and stereotypes to make the end result work without failure and to create a show that will look and feel familiar. When a character isn’t being enough of a stereotype gas is pumped into the room, making the viewers have a more entertaining ride.

Chris Hemsworth plays his role of Curt brilliantly, looking as far removed from Thor as possible. Also standing out in his role as Sitterson is Richard Jenkins who’s dry wit and tiresome banter with Hadley (Bradley Whitford) will often leave you laughing and scratching your head.

There are some thrilling moments in this movie. At times I felt like clapping (although that would have been ridiculous) at the stunning array of unique monsters. If you saw Hellraiser or Nightbreed and got a kick out of the creatures on screen then you won’t be disappointed as most are relics or similar (purposefully) from horror movies you will remember. I was especially and truly disturbed by the Merman character.

When the final credits role to the sound of Nine Inch Nails plays I was stunned, staring at the screen. What the hell had I just witnessed? I thought horror had lost its originality recently. I am pleased times are moving on with Insidious and Paranormal Activity. However, Cabin in the Woods couldn’t be compared with those films because what we have here is such an original horror movie, that has been missed for so long in a genre bogged down with rip off’s and torture porn.