Richie’s Review: Top 5 Halloween Movies (Classics)

Halloween is right around the corner and WHS students are too old to be trick or treating. I’m here to give you suggestions on what you should watch or rewatch this Halloween. This is the first part of my list, I’ll be talking about older classics that I continue watching around this time of the year. (The list is not in order).

    “The Thing” (1982): John Carpenter’s “The Thing” was a game changer in the horror genre. The movie is about a group of scientists who are doing research in Antarctica, they are interrupted by a dog who had his body taken over by unidentified being and it attacks the people in the base. With a monster that can look like a normal human, it’s up to Kurt Russell and the people he thinks are not the monster to figure out where the being is hiding and take it out. The vision John Carpenter had was so innovative that the outcome was an instant horror classic. Kurt Russell’s performance couldn’t ave been better and his supporting cast brought their game too. The tension and special effects were ground-breaking, creating one of the most influential horror movies to date.

    “Videodrome” (1983): David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome” is a torturous kind of film, the images are twisted and feels as if you are in a bad VHS trip. The movie is about a tv president named Max Renn (James Woods) who is in charge of broadcasting sadistic and cruel visuals for the sake of over-stimulus, portraying images
that are supposed to overwhelm the audience. Once he comes across a dangerous tape called Videodrome, he starts hallucinating horrible images and wants to find out what it really is. I enjoy this movie because it’s stands alone, no other movie has come close to the style that “Videodrome” gives off. James Woods kills this role as a sick and twisted man who is confused all at the same time.

  “The Shining” (1980): Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” has been a state mark in one of the best horror films and films of all time. With hidden meanings throughout, an intense story and a chilling setting, The Shining is different and no other horror movie has come close to its ambiguity. It’s about a writer (Jack Nicholson)
who takes his family to a hotel for the winter so he can find the peace and quiet he needs while still being with his family. As the winter goes on, the family starts experiencing abnormal activity. The boy sees horrific images, the writer loses his mind, and his wife has to try to escape. The beautiful cinematography mixed with the petrifying images makes the pictures in “The Shining” stay in your head. The music makes the mood of unrelenting tension almost unbearable. I definitely recommend The Shining to fans of horror movies and to people who haven’t seen it before.

   “Evil Dead II” (1987): Although Sam Raimi did an astounding job with “Evil Dead”, he improved “Evil Dead II” on every level. The film is about a man named Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) who spent a night with dead demons attacking and killing his friends off. After barely surviving, he has to go through another night by himself. The reason why I love this movie so much is because it knows how to have fun while still being well-made. The practical and special effects mix together perfectly creating a realistic vibe to all the chaos. While the story is the pretty much the same as the original, the dialogue is extra quotable and Bruce Campbell’s acting puts the cherry on top of the sundae. Evil Dead II is extremely bloody and fits perfectly with the Halloween theme.

    “The Exorcist” (1973): William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” is debatably one of the scariest movies ever made. The dark and grim feeling never lets up throughout the movie, and upon release it’s been an extremely
controversial film. The movie is about a young girl’s possession and the story on how they tried to recover the girl’s’ body from the evil spirits. This movie was way ahead of its time, it built a foundation of what horror movies should strive to be like. The stress and anxiety that it creates is overpowering at parts and the disgusting images leave a chill. The Exorcist is a truly cinematic horror experience.