It’s that time of year again. Halloween! Fall! Pumpkins! Goblins! Witches! Black cats! Ok so maybe that’s just a bunch of clichés. But still, it really is the best time of year. And why is that? Well, mostly because scary movies come out. Some “jump out of your seat” fun-scary, some terrifying and uncannily realistic, others with ghosts (or characters that “might” be ghosts), and still others that break traditional horror molds. Of course not all scary movies come out in the fall, but if you’re lucky you will catch some of the re-screenings/showings of the classics like “The Shining,” “Carrie,” more contemporary campier favorites like “Halloween” itself, “Scream,” and “I know What You Did Last Summer.” And there’s TV too! “American Horror Story (AHS)” usually leads the charge, but the list is endless. The last few years have encountered a resurgence of fandom for the 80s with “Stranger Things,” remakes like “It,” “Pet Sematary,” and “Child’s Play.” AHS’ newest season will focus on the 80s too. But if we had to choose the best, if you could only pick 5 classic horror/mystery/thriller films to show to an eager student/fan of film, what would they be? I’ll tell you mine (and I’m sure I’m missing some great ones, but the night is young, right?).

 

Top Five

Psycho

The Shining

Rear Window

The Others

The Sixth Sense

 

Runner Ups

Strangers on a Train

The Blair Witch Project

Carrie

The Exorcist

A Quiet Place

 

Honorable Mention 

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Scream

Us

 

So I know I’ve conflated some genres, but some of the best movies do this. Hands down, the best filmmaker in this arena (and arguably in all cinema) is Hitchcock. And while it’s his most famous, I still think “Psycho” is one of, if not the best in his repertoire. The setting, characters, story, music, cinematography, and on and on. It’s bone chilling. Both the anticipation of and the actual violence, which in turn pales to the relationship between Norman Bates and his mother. Hitchcock was a master of deception – showing the audience what he wanted us to see and nothing else until it was too late to figure it out on our own. Kubrick is also a master storyteller and adept at the art of chilling motion pictures. There are few scary movies as effective and unsettling that linger with you as long as “The Shining.” We have Stephen King to thank for that too! It took me a few attempts to watch the whole film (granted, I was still a kid! Much to my parents’ dismay) but when I did, it stayed with me. Indubitably Jack Nicholson’s performance is unrivaled. As is the eerie way in which the scenes are shot – often without dialogue — that slowly and inevitably builds terror. As the snow falls around the Overlook, we become frozen in a space that transcends the hedge maze. This level of scary is not for the easily rattled. In other words, do not watch alone in an abandoned hotel. Next on the list is another Hitchcock: “Rear Window.” I can’t say enough about this masterpiece. It’s hands down one of the most clever suspense/horror films. What starts as voyeuristic curiosity, turns quickly into dangerous obsession. With two of the biggest stars of the time, James Stewart (at his best here) and Grace Kelly (mesmerizing), the film transformed cinema and left us hanging at the edge of our seats, while L.B. was bound to his. A spectacular horror film featuring one of the best actors of recent generations, Nicole Kidman, is “The Others.” Directed by Alejandro Fernando, it dismantled predictable formulas through a slow creeping reveal of the unknown. Kidman’s character so expertly paired loss and fear that her reality became ours. Finally, to round off the top 5, is the acclaimed “Sixth Sense,” with Bruce Willis in an out of form role. This tour de force emerged in theaters with surprising fervor, and stayed on our minds because M. Night Shyamalan did something that hadn’t been done before. At times a jaw-dropping, in-your-face whodunnit. Though ultimately a story about a boy and his friend, who (spoiler alert) happens to be dead.

My runner up/honorable mention lists are all reliably good – a mix of high quality thoughtful creations (“A Quiet Place”), to the epitome of camp (“Scream”), to unique stylistic barebones thrillers like “The Blair Witch Project” which changed the art of the scare and made fiction appear “real.” Well known productions like “Carrie” and “The Exorcist” used cultural fear and repression to tell stories of the supernatural. Others like “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (has any movie done make up like Freddy Krueger since??) became embedded in pop culture references and inspired other slasher/shock horror directors to follow. I had to add one more Hitchcock with “Strangers on a Train” – the best example of when not to rely on the kindness of strangers, as well as inspiration for countless filmmakers that followed. The final runner up is last year’s “Us” by Jordan Peele. While I loved “Get Out”, and thought it was a tighter more succinct film generally, “Us” took on complicated themes in a singular style. With Lupita Nyong’o’s urgent, breathless, cutting performance, it rises to the level of top tier horror and does what the best scary movies do: never, ever leaves you.

Don’t be afraid of the dark, but definitely be afraid of these movies.

*Author’s Note: I would have added the “It” remake of 2017 because it was very entertaining and well edited, but I was capping this list at 13..for obvious reasons. And I still have to see all of “Jaws” (I know, I know).