My Halloween Movie Playlist

My Halloween Movie Playlist

by Eli Henry

  This upcoming Wednesday is Halloween. Sounds like a good time to make up my mind about what movies I'l be watching...

1. 'HALLOWEEN' (1978)

  Does this one even need an explanation? The original Halloween introduced one of the most recognizable faces in horror cinema, and its eerie setting and use of camera angles has made it a classic. Also, Donald Pleasence. 

2. 'Jeepers Creepers'

  Ah, Jeepers Creepers, the greatest of the un-sung horror films of the 90's. This independent movie stars Justin Long and Gina Phillips playing a couple of siblings on a road trip to visit their mother, when they stumble upon... well, I won't ruin the surprise for you. All-in-all, Jeepers Creepers introduces likable, easily relatable main characters, and a terrifying, original antagonist. 

3. 'Slither'

  James Gunn's Slither is a ridiculously great, and widely unseen, alien-invasion horror movie. Starring Nathan Fillion as a sheriff whose small town is under siege by some sort of extra-terrestrial mouse-sized worms, Slither conjures up (purposefully) some great laughs, which are evened out by some great scares, and some fantastic make-up effects-work.

4. 'Trick 'r Treat'

  The biggest and best horror-anthology movie, Trick 'r Treat sadly never managed to gain a theatrical release, and is thus a greatly unappreciated (catching a theme here?), and genuinely scary movie. Released on DVD in 2007, Trick 'r Treat contains 4 (but really, there are more if you think about it) interwoven stories set in a small town on Halloween night. Starring Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker, and Brian Cox, Trick 'r Treat is the second greatest (only to Halloween) movie set on Halloween night. 

5. 'The Evil Dead'

  The Evil Dead is my definitive favorite horror movie. It's gory, it's hilarious, it's insane, and it's original. Evil Dead was Sam Raimi's first movie, and also introduced the world to the greatest b-movie actor of all time: Bruce Campbell, who plays the main character, "Ash". After 5 teens venture to a remote cabin in the woods, and find a recorded recitation of a passage from the Necronomicon (the book of the dead), everything goes to hell... literally. And once the first quarter of creepy tension-building, the movie's gore factor shoots through the roof, and never lets up. The make-up, direction, editing, and acting in The Evil Dead are a very special treat of the often-campy rarely-good realm of film known as 80's horror.

CHECK THESE MOVIES OUT!