For 364 days of the year we focus on the good things in life.
We sing Christmas carols, cut birthday cakes and celebrate the joys of a new
year. But for one day of the year we embrace the darkness. Halloween. 10. The Loved Ones (2009)
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Wolf Creek may be the most bloodthirsty Australian movie yet made, but
this relatively unheralded Aussie flick is genuinely scary. It's about a girl
who just wants to go to her high school formal with a boy who doesn't even know
she's alive. That may well have you reminiscing about Sissy Spacek doused in
pigs' blood in Carrie (1976), but Lola (Robin McLeavy) takes the
character of the demanding teen to a whole new level. Brent (Xavier Samuel) may
have declined Lola's invitation, but he is destined to be her date all the same
– whether he likes it or not.&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;
9. Pet Sematary (1989)
Based on the horror maestro Stephen King's book (and adapted by him for the screen), this film may inspire you to do some research on the plot before choosing the perfect place for your beloved – animal or human – to rest in peace. Hilariously referenced by South Park many years later, Pet Sematary is the story of a bereaved father (Dale Midkiff) willing to go to any lengths to have his son back.
8. Scream (1996)
Resurrecting the tradition of good ol'-fashioned slasher films, Scream breathed new life into a formula that had begun to look tired and predictable, mostly by playing for laughs as well as screams. Sidney (Neve Campbell), who is recovering from her mother's murder, attends a high school under attack from a masked killer. Famed horror director Wes Craven shatters the fourth wall as the survivors-cum-victims debate the rules of the slasher genre in order to improve their chances of living through the horror film they seem to have found themselves in. Very meta, and very very good.
7. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Another one from the Craven catalogue, the original Nightmare is almost guaranteed to keep you from a good night's sleep. Serial killer Freddy Kruger isn't the bogyman who gives you bad dreams – he is the nightmare made flesh. The knife-gloved Freddy (Robert Englund) is one of the most terrifying killers of all-time, though whether he could beat Edward Scissorhands in a hairstyling contest is up for debate (but watch out for a young Johnny Depp in this one all the same).
6. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Shot on a pittance (the budget was, by some estimates, a mere $25,000), The Blair Witch Project has probably done more than the fear of malaria to put a generation off camping. It also single-handedly kicked off the "found footage" sub-genre, with its tale of three film students heading into the woods of Maryland to make a documentary on the legend of the Blair Witch; they disappear, leaving no trace but the footage on their camcorders. This is a film that MUST be watched in the dark with the volume cranked right up.
5. Poltergeist (1982)
Poltergeist will have you thanking God you own a flatscreen TV while wondering how safe is the land your house was built on. A haunted house is scary enough, but when the haunted house is the gateway to the next world, a ghost or two is the least of your worries. It's a bit of fun at first, with sliding chairs and then the supernatural phenomena take over the whole home. But after Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) goes missing, her parents hire a team of ghost hunters to explain the occurrences possessing their home, and things get seriously out of control.
4. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Originally banned on the grounds of its "explicit content", George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead has rightly become a cult classic. As any true horror fan who partakes in the annual Zombie Walk will tell you, this is the film that brought zombie movies back from the dead. The plot though is simplicity itself: trapped in a farmhouse, a group of youths battle to stay alive in the face of a ravenous zombie horde.
3. The Shining (1980)
Stanley Kubrick directs this superior horror film based on a Stephen King novel, with Jack Nicholson starring as a man possessed; need we say more? Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, a struggling writer who takes a job as the caretaker of a lavish but deserted hotel in the mountains, with only his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and seriously creepy son Danny (Danny Lloyd) for company. Or so he thinks. But as the winter closes in, Danny begins to see glimpses of past horrors as his father slowly goes insane. If nothing else, you'll know to avoid room 237 the next time you check in for a weekend away.
2. Ju-on (The Grudge) (2002)
You may have seen or heard of the American bastardisation of Ju-on, aka The Grudge, featuring Sarah Michelle Gellar. It would be wise to dismiss this as a mistake, but if you did find it scary – you 'aint seen nothing yet. In a fit of misguided jealousy, Takeo (Takashi Matsuyama) murders his wife Kayoko (Takako Fuji) and son Toshio (Yuya Ozeki), creating a curse on the family home that forever imprisons his family in rage, and terrifies any future occupants.
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1. The Exorcist (1973)
The first horror film to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, The Exorcist continues to terrify audiences across the world today. After traditional science fails to cure the demonically possessed Regan (Linda Blair) of her odd behaviour, two priests attempt to expel the demon by repeatedly shouting "the power of Christ compels you". Whether it's the head-spin, the voice or the infamous spider walk, this is the film that sets the benchmark for visceral, emotional and psychological horror. Though it didn't do much for the sales of Ouija boards.
