Welcome Halloween: The Top 6 Horror Movies of All Time

With Halloween just right around the corner, many folks are looking for costumes and planning Halloween parties. Watching scary movies is a perfect way to get in the mood for the Halloween season. There are some newer Halloween horror movies but mostly older classics that make this list of top six horror movies of all time. 1. Psycho (1960) Who can forget the Bates Motel in this black and white thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock? When Marion checks into the deserted motel ran by Norman Bates and his mother, Bates’ mother is supposedly jealous of her son’s hanging out with beautiful young women, so she ends up slicing up Marion in the shower. The plot thickens as Marion’s family look for her, their search leading them to the Bates motel. They see the mother sitting up in the window, but Bates won’t let them see her, as she is old and fragile. It’s quite a twist when we find out that Bates’ mother died ten years before, so who is the figure in the window? And who killed Marion? Psycho is a 1960 American suspense/horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, and Janet Leigh. The screenplay is by Joseph Stefano, based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch loosely inspired by the crimes of Wisconsin murderer and grave robber Ed Gein. The film centers on the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Leigh), who ends up at a secluded motel after embezzling money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner-manager, Norman Bates (Perkins), and its aftermath. When originally made, the film was seen as a departure from Hitchcock's previous film North by Northwest, being filmed on a low budget, with a television crew and in black and white. Psycho initially received mixed reviews, but outstanding box office returns prompted reconsideration which led to overwhelming critical acclaim and four Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Leigh and Best Director for Hitchcock. It is now considered one of Hitchcock's best films and praised as a work of cinematic art by international film critics and film scholars. Ranked among the greatest films of all time, it set a new level of acceptability for violence, deviant behavior and sexuality in American films. After Hitchcock's death in 1980, Universal Studios began producing follow-ups: three sequels, a remake, a television movie spin-off and a TV series. Image Source: jdxyw, (CC BY-SA 2.0), via flickr 2. The Exorcist (1973) When a young girl, Regan, played by Drew Barrymore, starts exhibiting personality changes and eventually becoming shockingly violet, her mother consults a priest. This young priest happens to be dealing with doubts about his faith. He has to deal with his own demons in order to come help this twelve-year-old fight hers. After nothing seems to work with the girl, he calls in an older priest to help him perform an exorcism. The excitement begins with Regan spewing green vomit, tuning her head around, and growling in her devilish voice. It seems as though the evil is too much for these priests. The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted by William Peter Blatty from his 1971 novel of the same name. The book, inspired by the 1949 exorcism case of Roland Doe, deals with the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl and her mother's desperate attempts to win back her child through an exorcism conducted by two priests. Image Source: drmvm1, (CC BY-ND 2.0), via flickr 3. Halloween (1978) No list of great Halloween horror movies would be complete—especially near Halloween—without mentioning the movie Halloween. While there have been many sequels and remakes of this movie, the original is still the most chilling. The plot involves a young boy named Michael killing his older sister on Halloween night. After being put away in an asylum for fifteen years, Michael is released and returns to his hometown to go on a killing spree. His psychiatrist, aware of the evil inside, chases Michael around town trying to stop him. Halloween is a 1978 American independent slasher horror film directed and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with producer Debra Hill, and starring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut. The film was the first installment in what became the Halloween franchise. The plot is set in the fictional Midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois. On Halloween night in 1963, a six-year-old Michael Myers murders his older sister by stabbing her with a kitchen knife. Fifteen years later, he escapes from a psychiatric hospital, returns home, and stalks teenager Laurie Strode and her friends. Michael's psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis suspects Michael's intentions, and follows him to Haddonfield to try to prevent him from killing. 4. The Shining (1980) “Here’s Johnny!” is the famous line from our main character in this horror movie. Jack Nicholson is brilliant in this Stephen King thriller. He takes his family on a retreat to an old hotel, where he can get some peace as a writer. He thinks it’s no problem that the former caretaker went crazy there and killed his family. His son starts seeing hallucinations, visions from the bloody past, while the father starts seeing his own. His wife is worried as his behavior changes. As they are snowbound miles away from civilization, escape from her crazed husband seems nearly impossible. The Shining is a 1980 psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, co-written with novelist Diane Johnson, and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, and Danny Lloyd. The film is based on the Stephen King novel The Shining. A writer, Jack Torrance, takes a job as an off-season caretaker at an isolated hotel. His young son possesses psychic abilities and is able to see things from the past and future, such as the ghosts who inhabit the hotel. Soon after settling in, the family is trapped in the hotel by a snowstorm, and Jack gradually becomes influenced by a supernatural presence; he descends into madness and attempts to murder his wife and son. Image Source: agitprop, (CC BY 2.0), via flickr 5. Poltergeist (1982) This horror flick centers around a normal family of four. Weird things start happening, such as the pet bird dying and crazy storms coming out of nowhere. The young daughter is drawn to the TV by the voices talking to her. An eerie light comes from the television set, shaking the room around the seemingly mesmerized little girl. “They’re here,” she says, a popular line from this movie. When Carol Ann disappears, her parents consult a psychologist and then an exorcist when paranormal activity is determined. Poltergeist is a 1982 American horror film, directed by Tobe Hooper and co-written and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the first and most successful entry in the Poltergeist film series. Set in a California suburb, the plot focuses on a family whose home is invaded by malevolent ghosts that abduct the family's youngest daughter. Image Source: MerneSanchez, (CC BY-ND 2.0), via flickr 6. Saw (2004) Whatmakes Saw a great horror movie (and all its sequels) is the psychological aspect. How far will people go to survive? This movie starts with two men waking up and finding themselves tied up in a room with a dead man between them. We soon find out that they are really being manipulated by a serial killer who will play games with them to see what they will do to free themselves and get out alive? Will they go as far to saw off their limbs to get free? This psychological thriller keeps viewers on the edge of their seats until the very end. A perfect Halloween horror movie! Saw is a 2004 American independent horror film directed by James Wan. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannell, is based on a story by Wan and Whannell. The film stars Cary Elwes, Danny Glover, Monica Potter, and Whannell. It is the debut of Wan and Whannell and the first installment of the seven-part Saw film series. The film's story revolves around Adam (Whannell) and Lawrence (Elwes), two men who are chained in a dilapidated subterranean bathroom and are each given instructions via a microcassette recorder explaining how to escape. Adam is told he must escape the bathroom, while Lawrence is told to kill Adam before a certain time, or Lawrence's family will die. Meanwhile, police detectives investigate and attempt to find the victims' location and apprehend the mastermind behind this "game" and several other similar incidents. Image Source: NeoGaboX, (CC BY 2.0), via flickr Are you ready for Halloween? Author bio: This amazing list is brought to you by Tiffany Faming. She is a passionate writer and English teacher. She loves to write on home, custom gifts, fashion and saving money topics. This Halloween she recommends Threadless T-shirt coupon as a great way to get a custom t shirt design for Halloween. comments powered by Disqus Submit News/Videos/Links | Discuss article | Article Link | More Unsolved and Unexplained Mysteries