Charthouse’s Favorite Horror Movies
The nights are getting longer. You're beginning to see your breath in the air. Shadows are becoming much more sinister, and bumps in the night are inducing goosebumps. All together, everything is becoming much more spooky. This can only mean one thing: it's October! This is my (Jon's) favorite time of year because it means I get to put on a sweater and watch a horror movie. For the last several years, my wife and I have created an annual "Spooktober" list where we sit down and watch a horror movie every single night, including both new to us and old favorites. So, for this blog, I wanted to ask the owners of Charthouse what their three favorite horror movies are so you can be inspired if you need a recommendation.
Films: A Quiet Place, Scream, Shaun Of The Dead
Credit: Paramount Pictures, Dimension Films, Universal Pictures
Andrew:
A Quiet Place: The newest film on this list but it still feels like a classic. Intense but still heartwarming, John Krasinski broke his pigeonhold of being “Jim” from the office and made this sci-fi horror about a family trying to survive a monster with killer hearing.
Scream: Speaking of classics, if you haven’t dipped into Wes Craven’s 90’s hit Scream, now is the time to do so. With Slasher films taking over the late 70’s and 80’s Scream’s Ghostface delivers the last time the sub-genre of horror truly had an original spin.
Shaun Of The Dead: Who ever said horror can’t be funny? Edgar Wright launched his Cornetto trilogy with this take on Zombies that was even loved by the King Of Zombies himself, George A Romero,
Nate:
Housebound: Two continue our horror comedy theme, is the underrated New Zealand horror comedy Housebound. This Kiwi gem follows the story of a young woman sentenced to house arrest in her childhood home, As she's forced to stay inside, strange occurrences start piling up, and she realizes that the real terror might not be the spirits she's encountering but the secrets her own family is hiding.
Tale Of Two Sisters: A South Korean psychological horror that will keep you guessing until the very end and leave you haunted by its enigmatic twists and turns. Consistently on the list of best foreign horror films, Tale Of Two Sisters is a classic you won’t forget.
The Orphanage: A Spanish horror film that’s as emotionally charged as it is scary. A film that deals with parental love and loss, it just goes to show that imagination is more real than we expect.
Films: Housebound, Tale Of Two Sisters, The Orphanage
Credit: Semi-Professional, B.O.M. Film Productions, MEDIA Programme of the European Union
Films: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, IT, The Thing
Credit: Vortex. New Line Cinema. Universal Pictures.
Tommy:
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: If there was ever a film that was just as disturbing as the day it came out, it’s Tobe Hooper’s 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Even though it’s been remade, retweaked (the sequal is technically a horror comedy) and reworked, nothing stands out as visceral and haunting as the original.
IT: in 2017 one of Stephen King’s most ambitious pieces of work (in my opinion it is his most ambitious but die hard’s would argue the Dark Tower series or The Stand) was made into a Blockbuster horror that was just downright fun. IT captures not only what it feels like to be scared as a kid but that when you’re with friends you’re invincible.
The Thing: Based on a novella from the 1930’s and a remake from the 1951 film “The Thing From Another World” John Carpentar truly made the 1951 B-Film how own. A horror film under the disguise of a who-dunnit (or better yet a who-isit) it’s a movie filled with paranoia and isolation where bonds are made but no one is trusted.
Jon:
Halloween: Speaking of John Carpentar let’s talk about the GOAT of Slasher movies. No matter how many remakes, and rabbit holes the franchise went down, John Carpentar’s original 1978 Halloween has stood the test of time and has been the source of of inspiration for a lot of our favorite horror films today.
Rosemary’s Baby: A film that’s truly pushed the genre forward. It’s brilliant in the fact of not what it does show you, but in how it holds it’s cards and refuses to show you. You’re left constantly guessing Rosemary’s sanity as she deals with her pregnancy.
The Witch: Robert Egger’s first feature is small and effective. In a lot of cases it feels like you’re watching something you shouldn’t be seeing and out of every movie on this list is easily the most haunting. It feels like something you read something out of history book, a true American Folk Tale.
Where I know the horror genre is not for everyone, It’s a genre that’s so vast that there really is something for everyone. So give it a chance and if you are a lover of horror please let us know some of your favorites in the comment section.
For The Love Of Movies,
Jonathan Austin
Films: Halloween, Rosemary’s Baby, The Witch
Credit: Compass International Pictures. William Castle Productions. A24
