Halloween Horror Countdown 2013

October is upon us. 

The leaves are turning. 

The winds are coming. 

The blood is gushing. 

So. Much. Blood.

Sorry, wimps. I know this is your least favorite season but for the fear festers, it's damned horror movie month!

  And for all ye fond of Halloween-themed movies that don't partake in blood (ie: Hocus Pocus or Casper), that's cool. I totally dig that and will remain nostalgic for the former flicks this season myself, but as for those who are itching; those who crave; who thirst; who just wanna hear the blood-curdling screams, feel the hair stand up on their skin and shiver with fear, rejoice! Today, for my first time ever, I will make a horror movie countdown; one for every day of the month, scaring you all the way up until Halloween night.

For those who don't know how my system works, I give fair grading after each mini-review (in my horrifically humble opinion) but will rank based solely on a blend of my taste and pure entertainment; in this case, what makes a horror movie not just a great horror movie, but a great Halloween movie as well.

I will not be including any comedies (intentional comedies like Shaun of the Dead) or any movies released since 2013
(so unfortunately no Conjuring, no Evil Dead remake)


A word of caution! (so the villagers don't chase after me with a pitchfork)

I have NOT seen the following films, (OR I haven't seen them in a long enough time to remember them):

• Dawn of the Dead (1978)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
• The Amityville Horror (1979)
• The Descent
• The Blair Witch Project
• Hellraiser
• The Wicker Man (1974)
• Eraserhead
• Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
• The Orphanage
• [REC.]
• Candyman
• Trick 'R Treat
• Drag Me to Hell

And probably whatever else you love being scared of that I disappoint you by not having seen...


Let the madness begin!!!

• October 1st

31) 30 Days of Night

Let the true vampire fans hate! But Twilight fangirls take notice! These are vampires, got it? They're ruthless, mean, cold-blooded (literally) creatures that aren't only not afraid to suck your blood, but they seek out your necks to do their biting-umm-bidding. Nobody's hiding in the woods creepin' on you at school here. Nobody's sparkling. Yes, I understand that the roots of vampire mythology dated all the way back to Bram Stoker portray the vampire as a pseudo-sexual/seductive creature that lures or literally seduces its prey into bed or somewhere secretive for them to do their sucking thing but when it comes down to it, vampires should never be succumbed to the censorship of a PG-13 teen romance novel. In the end, it's about the fangs and gore. Now, fitting that we have 30 days left, it's only appropriate I offend you naysayers who cry and shout that "true horror classics" won't appear on this list when this does but one thing this 2007 biter does go for, aside from the wardrobe change turning the vampires into more relentless screaming, merciless creatures with black eyes and a full mouth of razor teeth is that it actually has a fairly original and really cool plot. By throwing its characters, bravely lead by the stern but flimsy as always Josh Hartnett, into Alaska our heroes are literally stuck with 30 days of night. And what could be more intense than 30 days of night? 30 days of night WITH vampires. It is what it is folks: A bloody, violent gore-fest; helpless people having their necks eaten by not God fearing creatures of the dead, but unleashed demons from hell who denounce God's existence. It pretty much breaks down most of the barriers in the vampire mythology (and most logic), sans the daylight thing which happens towards the end as expected but at the end of the night, it's just a gory thriller meant to make your blood curdle whether it's the shrieks of the bloody mouths of these ruthless killers or whether you cringe at the acting, CGI blood or abandonment at moral reason (like so many characters in horror), one thing it's not is a snooze-fest. If you can leave your brain at the door and pop in the plastic $0.99 cent fangs, you can enjoy some good old fashioned blood.

Blood scale: 8/10
Scare Factor: 3/10
Grade: B-

• October 2nd

30) The Strangers

If you haven't seen a movie that's made you afraid to stay home alone in your own house at night then you clearly haven't seen the home invasion thriller The Strangers. Made with a smaller than usual budget at more or less one location in the woods and not much more than three bag-faced terrorizers and two petrified victims, this taught, twisted little tale is at once clever and absolutely terrifying based on one simple fact: that someone, somewhere out there can get you in your own home, simply because you were home. The sheer idea of that alone sends shivers up my spine and the film executes that fear and drives it all the way until the final credits. Granted the second half of the movie becomes more of a suspenseful cat and mouse chase thriller, the first half really builds pure, creepy suspense. By staying masked the entire movie and uttering no dialogue until the very end, the intruders are ten times more scary than they have any right to be seeing as it makes the idea that these sick people can be literally anybody. By having no real motive other than to terrorize their victims, these masked villains are as spooky as the bags and masks they wear over their heads and the idea of someone breaking into your home while you're in your own home, alone is again, terrifying. Earlier in the film we're introduced to one of the top ten scariest moments in cinema; literally ranked. Liv Tyler producing tears of a breakup soon shows tears of fears when she's alone in her kitchen. The camera holds still in a wide shot of her just standing in the room of her home when out in the backgrounds of the shadows enters the first bag-faced menace. The camera doesn't draw focus to the villain. The music doesn't come. Nothing but sheer silence and the entrance is so subtle it can probably be missed if you're not ready for it. This, my friends, is pure fear at its finest. It's a moment of pure realistic tension where we notice the danger and Liv doesn't. It's a moment that sends chills down our spine as we ask not only "how the hell did they get into the house?" but "Why won't she just turn around!?" The first moment where madness begins to ensue. Like I said, once the film picks up the pace, it loses steam as it settles into the paranoia of the home invasion of it all but damn, the silent spooky sinister making their way to your only safe haven is just awful and it stays with you and sits in your gut long after its grim, bleak ending takes you by storm. It's bound to make you scared to be home alone at night, if you aren't already.

Blood scale: 2/10
Scare Factor: 6/10
Grade: B

• October 3rd

29) Insidious

James Wan's nifty little haunted house thriller of 2011 pays homage to Poltergeist and pretty much spits the same film back at audiences for this generation, only filled with lots more little twists to make the film... Well, pretty twisted. Some have gone on to say that Insidious is the scariest movie they have seen since The Exorcist. Others claim it is the scariest movie they have ever seen... Now, me personally? I see where some spook seekers might be coming from. Some moments not only pop out with some ugly demonic faces but some moments just sit and stir with you in the worst way. Whether it's the eerie string soundtrack or the realm of "the further" and just what it means to cross into demonic realms, the film is bound to make the hairs on your neck stick up in ways that would foreshadow the brilliance of Wan's next and more well crafted piece, this summer's The Conjuring. But for now, insidious gets the job done and damn well. Granted it fumbles into berserk and straight-up bizarre territory in the last half hour as most horror movies do, with things going bump in the night and creepy, old ladies grilling you left and right. For what it is, it is indeed one of the most straight up spooky flicks to come out in the last decade (granted we haven't been treated to much craft over that period of time but bear with me folks). And that is because in order to create not the perfect horror movie but the right horror movie, it clearly takes Wan to know one.

Blood scale: 1/10
Scare Factor: 8/10
Grade: B

• October 4th

28) The Cabin in the Woods

Holy meta horror movie Joss Whedon!
Let's take the biggest cliche in horror movies, shall we? 5 high school teens all representing different personalities: the jock, the slut, the brainiac, the slacker, the good girl all get away to cause major debauchery in an old cabin in the woods far away, near a sketchy town filled with creepy suspicious people and in the span of one night they are picked off one by one by things that go bump in the woods. Ready to turn it off and move onto something less predictable? Of course you are. And just when you really settle into the awful sighs of familiarity and groan at the headaches of déjà vu, the godfather of fanboys, Joss Whedon, takes an all-too-familiar tale and flips it right on its head. That's when the film gets interesting. To further explain would be a rather unfortunate spoiler so to avoid the mater, I'll just be even more vague.  After flipping the clichés upside down, Whedon then turns them on their side and puts his craft in a whole new light. It is the second shift in gears where things go from interesting to surprising... Then Joss does what we all want but could never see coming and pulls right out of his ass the most hectic third act a horror movie can conjure up. It's literally insane. To even describe how nuts it all becomes would again be an unfortunate spoiler. Seriously. If you're fortunate enough to know absolutely nothing about the film,  Read not a word about it. Expect the unexpected. Watch it. And be shocked. Be horrified. And when it's necessary, laugh your ass off. This is hands down the most meta, self aware horror film since Scream though it's definitely more meta. Though knowing the twists will eventually take away from the replay value, it's so smart for it's own good and such a satire on horror that it's essentially the last horror movie... I know that makes no sense now but watch it and you'll understand... This is literally the final chapter to any and every horror film and will change the way you look at the genre. And while it's not perfect, trying to bite off way more than it can chew, it's bound to be one of the most fun times you'll ever have watching a horror movie.

Blood scale: 7.5/10
Scare Factor: 2/10
Grade: B+

• October 5th

27) Scream

Every generation has a group of horror movies that define its age; something that changes up the horror genre in ways that are eye opening, smart and often very self aware. Sometimes it only takes one movie to change up the genre so horrifically that it not only smirks at horror movies past in ways that you'll never be able to view them the same way again, but that it redefines horror movie cliches by mocking its own cliches. It would become one of the first flicks to redefine horror from a self aware point of view that would influence and pave the way for not just meta slasher movies to follow but for filmmakers to create their own groundbreaking bookends to the genre that would change the game well over a decade after its conception.

  Scream is to slasher movies what Cabin in the Woods is to... Well, cabin in the woods movies. In 1996, Scream remarkably called out the biggest and most popular horror movies targeted towards the same type of debauchery-raging teens that were getting slaughtered in these films, dating all the way back to John Carpenter's Halloween. By having the characters brilliantly point out the similarities between the nightmarish world of Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers, they ironically create their own rules according to horror movies as to what to do in order to stay alive from a masked serial killer in their own hometown. By creating a horror movie with characters who point out these cliches while being cliches themselves, Wes Craven fantastically creates a universe that is comical, satirical and fun for any casual horror fan to watch over and over again. Not to mention it spawned 3 sequels, each arguably worse than the last (they just become a little TOO self aware for my taste, to the point where it's eye rolling), Scream has gone on to become the basis for the jokes in the original Scary Movie spoof. Even though I'm not a huge Screamer, it's one of the most notable game changers in the horror movie genre. It has more replay value for me rather than the biggest meta game changer of this generation, Cabin in the Woods, because Cabin is mostly notable for its brilliant twists. Aside from those, the whole movie is built on smiling at the cliches where Scream, while a cliche of cliches, is also a slasher movie in itself. The reason some people hate both is because they tend to take these movies seriously. Now, obviously to be a Joss Whedon fan you'd have to be open to sarcastic self awareness and such fans will be the biggest fans of Cabin, where with Scream you can get away with enjoying the meta-ness of it all and still take away a brilliant, bloody, twisted slasher movie all on its own. While I appreciate the brilliance behind what the movie knows underneath, making Wes Craven a meta master (just look at Wes Craven's New Nightmare), I'm not totally on board with all the hokey comedy. I appreciate the smart gimmicks, but it's not my favorite... I will say though, it grows on me more and more every bloody season.

Blood scale: 7/10
Scare Factor: 3/10
Grade: B+

• October 6th

26) Dawn of the Dead (2004)

George A. Romero is one of the most  influential and important names in horror movie history. He is the single person who gave zombies a name... Well not really. They actually weren't called zombies till later but by conceiving Night of the Living Dead, Romero gave birth to a hoard of zombie movies and TV shows that are not only still popular today but might be the most popular they've ever been. I can talk a big game about Romero but I'm focusing not on one of his movies but the first of a list of remakes in this ranking. That remake goes to Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead. Now, hardcore horror fans and diehard Romero fans would be out for blood knowing someone is giving recognition to the modern day remake when the original doesn't appear here but like I've stated in my initial warning, I've never seen the original. It hurts to say since it's deemed one of the greatest horror movies of all time. I'll get there eventually but until I do, I'm gonna glorify the remake for a minute.

   Now, Zack Snyder is a questionable artist but still an artist indeed. Man of Steel has produced mostly shrugs or essays of spite. I couldn't sit through 10 minutes of Sucker Punch. Watchmen, IMO, was the meatiest, bulkiest, sloppiest decomposition of a film I've seen the man put out (fantastic visuals but that goes without saying the man's a visual entrepreneur) and 300 looks just like a comic book (I mean that in the highest of compliments) but with its overbearing graphic violence and little focus on story or depth, it's not much more than a macho man's blood feast. So why does Zack Snyder deserve credit? Because despite my love for 300 and MOS, I think Dawn of the Dead might be his best flick. Now hear me out because A) I'm not saying it's his best visually and B) saying a Snyder movie is good is only a few steps ahead of saying a Michael Bay film is good. I understand that but for once, Snyder's hectic filmmaking abilities, sometimes reminiscent of a DP on cocaine, make sense here! With DOTD'04 we're treated not to the slow corpses that look like sleepy neighbors. False. This would be one of the first flicks that would give way to the controversial running corpses; the ones with the bloody mouths that screech and howl as they sprint at you chomping. Now, it's definitely not textbook Z formula but tell me the idea of that isn't terrifying. From what I know of the original, Snyder keeps the plot and Romero's famous political undertones fairly similar in having victims trying to fight their way through carnivorous flesh eating corpses while trapped inside a shopping mall being a gigantic metaphor for shopper consumerism. And that's all dandy but essentially this is just a gory bare bones remake, similar to the Nightmare on Elm St. remake in vain of someone looking at a great story but a possibly dated film and just saying "Hey. Let's tell this story again but for a new generation," and I'll get more in depth with that whole philosophy when I get to Nightmare but for now, Snyder makes Dawn one of the better horror remakes you could ask for. It's fast, it's furious (no Vin Diesel in sight though) and it's got a pulse. Literally. If these in-your-face zombies don't have you catching your breath, you better check YOUR pulse because even if it doesn't have much of a brain, it's smarter than your average zombie flick and more brilliant than most below-average remakes.

Blood scale: 8/10
Scare Factor: 4/10
Grade: B

• October 7th

25) 1408

While some may not consider this PG-13 gem of Stephen King's a horror movie, it's still eerie, mildly terrifying and just might make one never want to sleep in a hotel ever again. Based on King's short story, John Cusack surprisingly brings this simple haunted tale to life as he is essentially by himself for the majority of the film (with a pleasant as always short appearance by Samuel L. Jackson). With his sarcastic wit of a ghost writer (literally... Writes about ghosts), clearly based on King himself as he does often by making many of his protagonists stern writers, Cusack shines as "that writer who has slept in the 10 most haunted places in the country" and it is his sheer doubt and ultimate resent in the paranormal universe that make him an interesting enough character to follow alone for nearly 90 minutes. By adding new twists to the story like a previously dead daughter, the haunting becomes more heartfelt and character driven than the short story ever gave out on the pages. Granted King's bizarre trademark is clearly imprinted into the film with endless strange and weird occurrences happening with no other purpose than to scare you while making you question the unknown. And just when the spooks may feel slightly repetitive, the filmmakers add even more new twists and turns along the way to make the moviegoers feel like they're going as insane as Cusack. What works best about this King-adaptation is that it's short, spooky and straight to the point. Often, filmmakers feel the need to create such a new spin on King's stories (The Shining) where others simply just cannot pull off portraying King's wacky imagination on screen (IT). Granted the adaptations of these stories have become beloved classics to some over the years but 1408 doesn't try and be anything more than what it is: A straight up ghost story; a haunted hotel room inhabited by one man who doesn't believe in the paranormal and slowly loses his mind as said paranormal tortures him.  It makes for one of the better King adaptations and one of the more well crafted spook-flicks you'll see all season.

Blood scale: 1/10
Scare Factor: 4/10
Grade: B

• October 8th

24) Misery

It makes me wonder who Stephen King's biggest fan really must be and Misery makes me wonder if this really is the horror writer's biggest fear. To say Misery doesn't descend from the direct psyche of Stephen King's worst fears as a writer would be a bold faced lie; a famous writer with a literal cult following crashes his car in the middle of nowhere during one of the year's worst blizzards and is rescued and nursed back to health by their claimed biggest fan. Now,  sure that doesn't sound bad at first but when fan becomes stalker and stalker becomes obsessive psycho who makes the bed-ridden writer change the ending to his current book and threatens him if he doesn't, well-- that's terrifying. And seeing as how only a writer could come up with something that scary, it's fitting that it's a Stephen King story and here, James Caan and Kathy Bates hit it out of the park with a hammer. By using only the two of them, Rob f*cking Reiner of all people really focuses on the full fledged character development and the decent into madness. What makes this the perfect horror flick is that it's a slow burning tale. It doesn't start off scary at all. The atmosphere is cold and deathly desolate for sure but the rescue of a writer on the brink of death from his biggest fan; it almost sounds tender, like the beginning of a heart warming relationship. And from there everything literally only goes downhill. By taking a page from Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window, Caan plays the man in the wheelchair with pure determination but it is Bates who outshines him as the unstable Annie. Her performance is downright creepy, delivering the dialogue with mannerisms that send shivers down your spine. King and Reiner are proof that you don't need pop out scares, dramatic effects and hell, really anything at all but brooding conflict between two characters boarded up in a house together during a deadly blizzard to scare your audience. It's a true character study and one that proves that there's nothing scarier than an obsessive psychopath. Again, one of King's better adaptations, Misery is a miserable good time.

Blood scale: 2/10
Scare Factor: 3/10
Grade: B+

• October 9th

23) Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The godfather of zombie movies and not just the beginning of Romero's undead legacy but the first step of the walking dead phenomenon is still to this day hailed as one of the greatest horror movies of all time. Shot on a lower-than-usual budget, on black and white, Romero unleashed his corpses to a legion of audiences that shocked them, grabbed them and pulled them six feet under in ways cinema had not yet unveiled. By being a throwback to B movies and exploitation flicks of trashy 50's drive-in flicks, the original NOTLD is simple, straightforward and often downright scary but ultimately with actual social commentary. By being spoiled by all the gore and special effects of today, it may be a bit of a shock how tame Living Dead may seem in the graphics department. There was little to no blood and when there was it was usually chocolate syrup sans Hitchcock's Psycho. The victims were never really graphically eaten when shown and the corpses aren't seeming to be rotting but more or less look like everyday people. This detail factors into Romero's political themes as we would see him continue with each undead saga. The fact that the corpses look like they could be your neighbors who are merely sleep walking makes them all the more terrifying with the sheer bold fact that these rabid beings could be literally anybody which whittles down to the man vs. man factor which ultimately is Romero's true focus. By trapping a group of uninfected, normal human beings in one house together as they attempt to fight off the undead and survive the night but instead all bring each other down with their own selfish human values is a theme that dates far before Romero. Almost reminiscent of Lord of the Flies, Romero uses this exploitation flick of his to really exploit human nature when it's totally stripped down. Ultimately a tragedy, NOTLD shows the positive but ultimate negative aspects of what happens when humans are stuck in a situation together and base our options on survival instinct and like I said, pure human nature (moral of the story: If you want to live, don't be a dick). It's a theme that's been used long before cinema but here, Romero puts the theme in such a light that often makes the man vs. man battle almost scarier than the man vs. corpse battle. With a shocking ending that truly defines how primitive man really is we are once again scorned by how much we suck as people... While shuttering and/or rejoicing in expendable citizens being eaten like a slab of meat. Make no mistake folks. It's a B movie. It has the almost goofy nature of a brainless monster movie but it in fact does have a brain... and wants your brain. It's a movie that tends to make you think a little bit while entertaining you. It has surprisingly fantastic replay value and whether you're a die hard fan who tries to piece together just how these corpses arose from the graveyard (was it a toxic experiment? Was it aliens? Was it government shutdown!?) or whether this is your annual, holiday, classic cinema sit-down a la It's a Wonderful Life, make no mistake, if your name is Barbara, they are definitely coming to get you.

Blood scale: 2/10
Scare Factor: 4/10
Grade: B+

• October 10th

22) Night of the Living Dead (1990)

One of the worst things that can happen to a horror movie is when it's given the redo button. Most diehard fans of Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers tend to ignore their deemed petty, worthless incomparable remakes but when looking back before the modern age of horror remakes, most people tend to forget that the first zombie movie and an absolute horror classic was remade more than 20 years ago.
  When looking back on Night of the Living Dead one might think it seems dated but then again, that's sort of the point right? As I stated with the original, it has the feel of a trashy 50's drive-in B movie that ends up having a lot more brain than its corpses may be gnawing at. And the style works pretty well as a throwback to the monster movie genre but being a game changer all on its own by revolutionizing not just zombies, but horror in general. So why on God's green corpse-rotting earth would anyone want to remake Night of the Living Dead? Ask Romero's FX guy Tom Savini. The man has enough experience bringing the dead to life with makeup, fake blood and dissevered limbs but why touch a deemed classic? For the simple reason of giving people exactly what they didn't ask for: a more serious but fun gun-toting zombie killing machine of a remake. Not only is the film in color featuring corpses that actually look like rotting, disgusting monsters reminiscent of what would be churned out on Walking Dead two decades later but as similar as the story begins, it progressively becomes a different beast entirely. Instead of representing the helpless damsel in distress that lives somewhere in us all, the titular character of Barbara becomes a gun-blazing badass bitch in vain of Alien's Ripley; someone we truly want to follow during the end of days. The character of Ben is played even more aggressively by Tony Todd and arguably stronger than that of Duane Jones. The character of Harry is even more obnoxious this time around, etc. Needless to say the characters have all become controversial exaggerations of who they were in the original but in some cases it works even better. And with an all new twist ending we're given a different kind of political moral: that these undead were once living people and that when driven to kill, we people become just as animalistic as the creatures that crave our flesh. Is better than the original? It will never leave the same imprint but as far as horror remakes go, this is the way to do it right.


Blood scale: 5/10
Scare Factor: 3/10
Grade: B

• October 11th

21) The Exorcist

Welp. Here it is folks. Not just the most talked about horror movie of all time but the scariest. Sure I've met the naysayers who claim it's "not that bad" but make no mistake, it's f*cking terrifying. Perhaps it's because the film disturbed me so badly that it's not deemed a top slot today but it's not only obviously disturbing but it's incredibly well crafted. With a slow burning inside look at demon possession 101 the film gets a tad too hands on and a little too personal. Whether ol' Lucifer-bound Reagan is spouting explicit blasphemy or using crucifixes as sexual gestures, it's not only bound to rub religious folk the absolute wrong way but it creates a universe so dark and so emotionally stirring, the film just sits with you like a rotten pit; it broods like a bad core that churns your stomach long after the final frame and I get shutters just thinking about it. One of its most terrifying aspects is that it takes demons and pure evil and uses actual film to craft these elements as realistic as possible. While horror films today are spoiled by CGI to produce cheap gimmickry, films of an older age use the craft of special effects and using practical methods to create tension and pure horror that's completely real. Whether it's gross makeup, spewing up fountains of vomit or characters floating on wires, the actors (mostly poor little Linda Blair) are put through the ringer as the despicable acts are actually acted and not depicted by use of a computer or phony FX. And while the craft is mostly realistic to create a physical manifestation of evil, it is the pure idea and sacrilege behind the evil that leaves audiences shivering under the bed covers nights, months and years later. There's a reason it's literally deemed the scariest movie of all time and it's not just because demonic faces pop up subliminally to mess with your head or actors doing backwards spider-walks down the stairs. After Rosemary's Baby and The Omen, people were literally too scared to give The Exorcist (the unofficial "unholy trinity" trilogy capper) the credibility. People deem the film purely evil and many have said that eerie curses and unexplained occurrences have plagued the film. It has scared audiences so bad that people have sworn off ever watching it again having only seen the film once. Like I said, perhaps it's because I hold my religion too close to my soul that I deem the film too disturbing to be enjoyable (hence why it's not number one on this ranking) but even though it is only a movie after all, it's still in my humble opinion, the scariest f*cking movie of all time.


Blood scale: 2/10
Scare Factor: 11/10
Grade: A-

• October 12th

20) Rosemary's Baby

Only fitting that I include the first chapter in the unholy trinity of horror movies right after discussing the grand king of them of all, Rosemary's Baby is a memorable gem that would only give birth to such an evil trend. 

On this note, take notice that I am not including The Omen on this list at all; not the remake, nor the original classic. While I find The Omen to be a true testament to horror, I firstly don't think it's as notable as the other two films in its trinity and lastly find it too bleak and grim for me as a spiraling tragedy of everyone but the obnoxious son of the devil dying as its gothic atmosphere leave you almost opaque and annoyed that such a little bastard gets away with all his terror and child-like stupidity (I feel similarly towards Pet Sematary but that's a whole league of child-like stupidity all in its own. [End of rant]

Dating back to a time where evil in films was seen as the face of a vampire from Transylvania or of a disguised, demented slashing man with a mommy-complex, audiences couldn't have possibly been prepared for Roman Polanski's bold (and probably best) film following a young woman preparing to bring her child into a questionably bizarre world. By dragging the film out to over 3 hours long, Polanski does his absolute best (and achieves) at making you really get to know Rosemary; that you're really taking a walk in her pregnant shoes in the worst kind of way. What separates Rosemary's Baby from other Gothic horror films of its era, from the unholy trinity and from many horror movies, is that it's incredibly well crafted. It moves with a brisk pace; an almost sweet and graceful nature. Where the cliche rule of thumb in horror is to use unexpected, terrifying imagery to jumpstart your audiences and create gory, bloody or gross sight gags to have them, well-- gagging, most horror movies do what they can to raise your pulse and steal your appetite. However, here Polanski takes Rosemary as the centerpiece for the everyman (or woman in this case); someone we can all relate to and more or less have us follow her down the seeming rabbit hole of absurdity as just about everybody she knows, including her faithful husband, deny her sanity as she claims she is raped by a demon (a scene that was brilliantly and unexpectedly spoofed in this Summer's This Is The End). Yes folks, make no mistake, just because we follow Rosemary for long spirals of character threading as we too question her sanity, does not not make this a horror film. The film brilliantly uses subliminal imagery and questionable and disturbing sights as would be foreshadowed in the coming days of Friedkin and a possessed girl named Regan some odd years later. The film is so centered on Rosemary's tragic psychosis and who she is to strive from co-worker to wife to mother that the true horror is not only following her sanity but questioning the idea of everyone you know and love not believing you when you know the truth. It's a psychological film nevertheless; an art Polanski grasps from the optimistic, pleasant opening frames down to the haunting, chilling final moments. By not including all of his imagery he takes a genius page from the horror playbook by not showing us all of his demons (including the one at the very end) but by having his characters describe the horror in what is truly one of the most classic, chilling horror movie endings of all time, Polanski goes out with a bang and sends shivers down your spine long after the film is over, producing one of the all-time greatest horror films from the bowels of hell and it still scares up an example of brilliant filmmaking today.


Blood scale: 2/10
Scare Factor: 7/10
Grade: A-

• October 13th

19) Poltergeist

Remember Tobe Hooper's R-rated gritty, frantic, near-snuff film, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre from 1974? It only makes sense that the man would produce the PG-rated family-friendly ghost story that looks a lot like a Steven Spielberg picture masqueraded as the ultimate haunted house flick, no? In fact, take away the credits altogether and this almost could be a Spielberg picture... Hmm... Oh, there's his name on the producing credits. That makes sense.

  One of the biggest controversies and theories behind the making of Poltergeist is that ol' Stevey did a lot more than just produce the beloved ghost story. Rumor has it that the man pretty much directed the film but because he was getting ready to put out E.T. he couldn't slap his name on the final product and couldn't claim ultimate ownership over it and honestly, I take a lot of theories into consideration but beyond any other film Spielberg has produced, this one feels closest to his actual work and perhaps that's part of the reason the film gets its job done damn well... For the most part.

  Poltergeist is clearly one part Spielberg and other parts... Well, bizarre. Not to say some Spielberg movies don't have their bizarre encounters. Just look at Temple of Doom, but then again that is with his hand guided by Lucas, just as he is here by Hooper. The bits of the film focused on the importance of the family dynamics are all Spielberg and they are the most heartfelt parts that are moving here. They're reminiscent of E.T. and Close Encounters and you can tell early on that Spielberg just has a knack for throwing beloved American families through the ringer and what's more of a hoop than your little girl being sucked into your television, entering a spiritual realm that stirs in your haunted house?

  With endless classic moments that would later pave the way to cliches and parodies of horror, Poltergeist does its best not just to scare you but to leave a lasting impression. Children are creepy. Let's get that one out of the way. By putting strange children in a horror movie, you've already one-upped your audience because kids are unpredictable. As seen in Pet Sematary kids can be little bastards but it's their child-like innocence that keeps us guessing what they're gonna do next. Just having the little blonde girl staring at the static television one moment and slowly turning to her parents saying the iconic "They're heeere," line is creepy enough. Save for the absolute bat-sh*t crazy moments clearly inspired by Hooper, the film is a steady tread of fear and explores the true horror of losing a loved one; your own innocent child to the world of the unknown and the unexplained. As it would later influence James Wan's world of Insidious, Poltergeist opens up a mysterious realm to the paranormal, but not just with ghosts. The film throws its ghastly hands from the TV set, destructive whomping willows (Yes Jo, we all know this was the influence), eerie clown dolls that come to life (a real charmer for those already scared of clowns) and eerie sequences of moving furniture, rotting faces and zombies(?) into the mix. It's a strange and uneasy film to say the least, but with its fine attention to detail and execution of incredible craft (another dolly-zoom shot? Steven Spielberg, we know it's you), we have something more than a horror movie. We have a work of film; something well crafted down to the bare bones of actual FX and no CGI (I'm clearly a nostalgist for the days of aught) and with an actually honest and sincere script that drives a heart-warming-family morality tale, we see not just Spielberg's influence, but the influence of people who wanted to give audiences one of the most memorable horror gems of all time. It's far from perfect, but it's still considered one of the scariest films well over 30 years later.

Blood scale: 2/10
Scare Factor: 6/10
Grade: B+

• October 14th

18) Let Me In

Similar to the Norwegian film turned American only a couple years later, Let Me In follows a similar pattern to the popular Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remake. Based on a beloved foreign vampire modern day classic, Let the Right One In, this flick indeed falls into the "was it really necessary to remake this (and so soon)?" category. Granted all signs pointed to uselessness, but I was shocked and appalled at how disgustingly bloody brilliant this film was. Perhaps I'm a sucker for quality vampire stories that drive tragic romance the way it was intended (Again, take note Myers lovers) but this film won my heart and devoured it. Everything about the sad innocence of two lonely kids befriending each other and slowly developing a tragic but heartwarming relationship as one of them turns out to be a blood-sucking ageless undead beast who can only come out at night is truly heartbreaking. I've come to respect Chloë Moretz so much in her age because it's real difficult to come by exceptional acting from kids these days, or in general really but she proves worthy with each role she does, maturing more and more into a more than exceptional actress and here she nails the role into the coffin and carries the picture almost entirely herself. Granted, the film may disappoint many gore-hounds, as there is indeed blood aplenty but this isn't your typical horror movie. The film focuses on a budding romance between two kids, a truly disheartening relationship between a father-daughter figure and an ultimately brutal moral on bullying (can't be as brutal as Moretz' Carrie remake hitting theaters this weekend). This isn't your everyday slasher flick where characters run in terror as prey from their heartless maniacal attackers but instead it takes a heartless character (literally) and expresses their need to kill because of their not-so-human nature which is ultimately disheartening for them if they had a heart. It's a sad, broken picture with a glimpse of youthful hope but not without the brutal blood-draining murder horror fans have come to adore. But with Let Me In, the killings aren't adrenaline-fueled, centered on or dare I say fun as would be seen with the endless crappy Friday the 13th sequels where we're addicted to the happy-go-lucky teens getting slaughtered by a guy in a hockey mask. No, here the killings are quiet, violent and disturbing. They're hard to watch not just because seeing people's throats ripped out via biting is never easy to watch but because we feel for the tragic character of Abby. We see an impossible romance even though we know she can never be truly let in (and ultimately what happens if she comes in uninvited). Make no mistake, it's still a vampire movie at its core. It follows the methodical steps and embraces the cliches that have been represented in blood-thirsty tales dating all the way back to Bram Stoker and does so with respect. Again, no one is sparkling. No romance is tedious or unrealistic. The film is both romantic and horrific. It's true horror romanticism at its finest. It won't necessarily make you shutter at the idea of a vampire coming to your window to eat you but rather, will send a chill up your spine and a possible tear down your face.

Blood scale: 7.5/10
Scare Factor: 1/10
Grade: B+/A-

• October 15th

17) 28 Days Later

Before Zack Snyder turned up the treadmill speed for his walkers in the Dawn of the Dead remake, Danny Boyle brilliantly gave these undead a reason to run because frankly, they're not dead... Not quite. Boyle revolutionized the "infection theory" with a seemingly much more believable ergo much more terrifying plot line where the world has been plagued by some sort of unestablished virus that quickly spreads turning normal people into blood/brain-thirsty monsters with no inhibitions whatsoever. Boyle executes exactly what fear is from the opening moments Cylian Murphy wakes up alone in a hospital after the world has ended (pre-Walking Dead for all you keeping count, and no I'm not just referring to the fear of a totally frontal-nude Cylian either) all the way to the bone-chilling finale (which ultimately, inevitably and undoubtedly set itself up for a much more entertaining but much less crafted sequel). By focusing less on the question of "what the f*ck happened" and more on the isolation from the world; the utter separation from all of humanity, Boyle really makes his audience feel completely trapped and utterly helpless as there is seemingly no way out. Boyle uses a vacant London to set the stage for his fear (to see Big Ben and not a soul surrounding its touristy venue is a chilling sight in itself) but once the "infected" start rolling in by the numbers, the isolated fear becomes chilling paranoia. This isn't just a zombie movie folks. This is a centerpiece on what it truly means to feel alone with literally not a shred of hope left in this void of what once was a world you knew only yesterday. By taking away the complete campiness from the B movie universe of Night of the Living Dead and stripping away the action-packed "fight 'til you die" mentality of Dawn of the Dead (28 Weeks Later succumbs to such big-bang sequelitus), 28 Days Later is a work of true horror. It becomes less about the monsters and more about the isolated journey towards self-realization of dying in a de-civilized world. Imagine waking up one day and the world you loved is gone. Before Robert Kirkman or Frank Darabondt came along, Danny Boyle struck our beating hearts with such paranoia and amidst all its influence (rumors of 28 Months Later are in fact real), the film is still just as effective today as it was nearly a decade ago.

Blood scale: 7/10
Scare Factor: 7/10
Grade: B+/A-

• October 16th

16) Ginger Snaps

Out of the monster genre, the werwolf has got to be one of the most difficult to peg (and take seriously). The original Wolf Man gave birth to a gothic era of horror romanticism in leagues with Dracula, Frankenstein and the other members of the classic MGM Monster Mash of the 1930's. But how can the horror; the true nature of this classic Jekyll and Hyde story be both scary and effective enough for today's audiences? It takes sheer brilliance to pull off correctly but when adding a satirical commentary aimed at menstruation as a metaphor for young girls becoming young ladies, it turns the entire wolf genre into a whole new beast and that's just what happens to young Ginger.

  Indeed being a graphic morality tale on womanhood (blood and all), Ginger Snaps takes a touchy subject and treats it with both satire and respect. While it comes off as a female-targeted, teen-based thriller, it in fact digs its fangs deep into the audience's expectations and produces outrageous sickening gore for all the true horror fans out there. Make no mistake, just because you're following two girls in high school doesn't mean you're about to see any bites near the Twilight universe. In fact, from its opening darkly comedic moments, as our heroines take photographs of themselves posing in phony graphically gory deaths, we know we're in for a much darker tale than your average Teen Wolf. And as the film progresses we slowly feel for Ginger as she becomes both woman and wolf. With an outrageously terrifying climax and an abrupt change in nature about three-quarters into the film (not to mention one of the most disgustingly bloody bathroom scenes earlier in the film), it goes out with more than just bark and bite leaving this gore hound to be not just one of the best werwolf flicks but one of the most horrifically effective horror films of all time.

Blood scale: 8/10
Scare Factor: 6/10
Grade: B+

• October 17th

15) American Psycho

Guaranteed to be one of the most bizarre and politically challenged horror films you will ever see (not to mention one of the most outrageous climaxes), American Psycho gives not just Christian Bale one of his most underrated performances, but it will truly crawl under your skin when you start to consider just who in this world is a full-fledged, absolutely mental, bat-sh*t crazy murderous psychopath, especially when you take into account that they could be everyday normal people you pass by every single day of your life. Granted, the film is bizarre especially the more we slowly fall deep into Patrick Bateman's psychosis but that's the point right? Wall Street businessman by day, hooker-slashing, axe-wielding sex addict/perfectionist by night, Bale's Bateman is indeed one of the most terrifying characters to come from film based on the sole fact that he's a man of total unpredictability. He's clearly got hinges loose from the get-go. With some form of extreme ADHD/OCD, the man is a ticking time bomb with his actions and he's the perfect character to be placed in the working world of business men. Part of the sheer brilliance of American Psycho is its satire on the working world; a social and political commentary based on the greedy droids that come from Wall Street and the ability to create multiple characters in a realistic working world who are all nameless, faceless, power-hungry greedy corporate businessman who are essentially all clones of one another. They serve no other purpose than to show that they seemingly have no empathy or humanistic shred of three-dimensional personality. The perfect example is when, in one of the most memorable scenes in horror, a petty co-worker of Bateman's is axed to death (you will never hear "It's Hip to be a Square" the same ever again) and when he seemingly just goes missing, not only do the majority of the characters not really seem to be all too concerned but at the end of the film (no spoilers, no worries) the death is confusingly washed away of any blood and conspiracy theory leaving one of the most shockingly self-aware reflections of Bateman, his audience and anyone out there; any common working man, psychopath or not. Bale's performance is so astute it creates such a chilling environment in this pseudo-sexual political satire that any of these average Joe's could be psychopathic murderers. But by focusing only on Patrick's psyche, he's the only character in the film that is developed to a point where he could be a raging lunatic in a world of ignorant, gullible individuals or he could just be a little more mental than we or he could ever imagine.

Blood scale: 7/10
Scare Factor: 3/10
Grade: B+/A-

• October 18th

14) The Evil Dead (1981)

Sam Raimi is a genius. And when I say that I refer to the days before he took us back to Oz or before he had my preferred version of the famous Marvel web-slinger swing from Manhattan. No folks, there was a time, over three decades ago that Raimi shocked the world with one of the most extreme horror films of all time; a film so extreme it not only flew with no rating but is still banned in some countries. Of course the film I'm referring to is the original Evil Dead. Now I know what some of you might be thinking: Either "Hey, that just came out," or for the established die-hard fans, "Evil Dead 2/Army of Darkness is better" but you know what? None of those films in this absolute bat-sh*t crazy, demon-possessed, chainsaw wielding, tree-raping, gory universe would exist if college graduate Raimi (admittedly on drugs at the time) didn't have the dream to create the most outrageously gory and disgustingly shocking horror B movie of all time and 30 some-odd years later, he hasn't not succeeded... Let me elaborate. 
  From the get go, the audience needs to understand that Sam Raimi doesn't take anything he does seriously. This is something some moviegoers still can't wrap their branches around because they still complain that Raimi ruined Spider-Man 3 by having Peter Parker do a cheesy dance/hip walk down the streets of Manhattan while pointing finger guns at women (The film still sucks but it's supposed to be corny, ladies and gentlemen) but this has also hurt his films because his films (outside of Spider-Man 1 and 2) clearly aren't for everyone and he's never made that more clear than he does with his Evil Dead films. If you can get on board with this first outrageous little gem, you'll be inclined to watch the inevitable sequel Evil Dead 2 and its follow up, Army of Darkness. With each film Raimi does he progressively takes himself less seriously and subjects his audience to more tongue-in-cheek humor than his initial semi-serious take on horror, and by falling in love with Raimi's bizarre horror trilogy, you'll be bound to follow his cult-audience as you start to peel open the weird and strange shell of Raimi and his unbelievable universe. But be warned: The Evil Dead is not for the faint-hearted. It's gory. Really gory. And you read correctly earlier. There is a rape-tree (Raimi admitted he was watching way too many strange Japanese films as an influence when under the influence and even says he wish he could have removed it from the film) but like I said, as sickening as it may sound, this is somewhat of a comedy. I guess the horror is just too outrageous and extreme that you can't help but laugh out of pure shock (if you have a literally wicked sense of humor) but with Bruce Campbell barely steering the film (he becomes the real star starting with the sequel and becomes the only reason worth watching Army) and Raimi's horrifically impressive ability to create all FX with actual practical pieces; real gallons of fake blood, pounds of bubbly makeup and prosthetics and gross sight gags with goop, vomit and stop-motion twigs, this is literally the B movie to end B movies. It's perfect for a night of debauchery as played out by blood-thirsty youths, not unlike the helpless young victims that are slaughtered here in their cabin-in-the-woods getaway... As seen in most cabin-in-the-woods getaways. Don't take it too seriously folks. It just might scare you how outrageously entertaining it all is.

Blood scale: 9.5/10
Scare Factor: 7/10
Grade: A-

• October 19th

13) Red Dragon

The only sequel on this list so it may have a bit of an unfair advantage but since it's actually a prequel and one of the best follow ups to one of the greatest films of all time, period, it must be mentioned. 

For those wondering, Aliens almost made the cut as it is also one of the greatest sequels to one of the greatest films of all time, but I personally consider Aliens to be much less of a horror film than the original Alien.

  Red Dragon does everything under the sun correctly without being better than its chronological follow-up, The Silence of the Lambs. But since there was no shot it was going to be better, the best idea would seem to be to serve up a bloody dish of something that's almost on par with the 1991 Best Picture Winner... And that's really saying something.
  Abandoning Ridley Scott's formula of making Hannibal the central character while upping the blood scale for the gore hounds without really creating any genuinely original suspense, Brett Ratner takes a page out of Jonathan Demme's playbook and serves us his best film and one of cinema's best prequels on a silver platter. Whether that's all really saying much is a different story but alas, the film makes Lector one of the scariest villains of all time, again. With a questionably "younger" Hopkins (the film was conceived a decade later after all) and a mild retread of the original film's "use the predator to catch the prey"technique, the film isn't perfect as Silence arguably is but everything else about the film is just as pulse-pounding and well crafted as the dated days of Clarice Starling in that first chilling entry of Thomas Harris' Manhunter series. Not only does it do the source material justice on the pages but Ratner's team was actually paying attention to the careful precision in the careful film work that came before it (something he had trouble with when making a certain Last Stand for the X-Men). The film is not only an homage but a true follow-up to Lambs. From the odd cinematography where characters stare deep into the lens to make their audience feel doubly uncomfortable to the set pieces and scenery that bleed right into Silence, the film is more than a love letter to the horror classic. It is a true beast of its own. And with an all-star cast that does not outweigh the meaty script (from Ed Norton to Ralph Fiennes to Phillip Seymour Hoffman), this dragon truly takes terrifying flight. It's the only film in the Manhunter series outside of Lambs that's worth taking a second look. It's almost as bone-chilling and crafted with enough care to make us quiver with fear at Anthony Hopkins' iconic cannibal once more and is a truly under appreciated gem.

Blood scale: 3/10
Scare Factor: 4/10
Grade: B+/A-

• October 20th

12) Saw


One of the most iconic horror films of this generation, Saw is James Wan's launch pad. It is not just the film that jump started the man's career but it is one of the most sickly twisted and bloody brilliant horror films of all time. By spawning six sequels, one every Halloween, each progressively becoming mind numbingly dumber than the last, the original stuck to a pure and simple story line. Wan explains it as having not much of a budget so how can one Wan come up with something effective enough to be believable (to an extent) and within budget amount? You simply stick your characters in one room together, physically chained to the walls with a limited time to follow the clues and literally cut their way out of their traps or they die. By fusing David Fincher's cop-killer tale with a twisted plot (and wicked ending), Seven (titled "SE7En") and inducing gore hounds to just a little more blood to be shed due to the limited scale and a little more sickly twisted of a villain (that's actually up for debate), we follow Jigsaw's piece of a giant puzzle in a series of sick games that allow a mad man's victims to technically kill themselves or each other in order to survive, in order to be forgiven of whatever sins they've committed. It's sick but clearly sick is what this generation ordered as this film spawned, like I said, six sequels. But save for the bigger picture, this first entry stands alone as one of the most iconic pieces of brilliant bloody horror with each little clue leading to one of the greatest (even if flawed) twist endings in horror movies. It's a stamp on this generation even if it is more of a matter of cringe and twist more than craft and terror. Granted, the gore isn't that bad (especially when compared to its sequels) and the terror is there (pig man anyone?) making this one of the most memorable, even if not favored, horror films of all time.

Blood scale: 7.5/10
Scare Factor: 6/10
Grade: B+

• October 21st

11) A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

THE REMAKE!

That's right townspeople! I said it! The remake! And you better put on those finger-knife gloves, because guess what? The original doesn't appear on this list nor do I think it surpasses the 2010 version. That's right. If I've just lost all credibility as a critic then more power to you for sticking by the original and saying sayonara to my opinions because frankly? I find the 1984 classic to be a piece of outdated pop-culture that was practically begging to be remade. Granted, I must give Wes Craven the credit for dreaming up such a million-dollar idea and give Robert Englund the tip of my fedora for bringing this nightmare of a character to life and making it all his own but let's call some spades spades for one moment, shall we?

  The tacky 1980's synth soundtrack. It ruins the tone of some of the most should-be-effective scares of the original film, such as Tina's bloody (and yes more gory) death. Some of the soundtrack sounds like straight up 80's techno and it butchers most of the moments where we should be scared, not smiling.
  The hokey special FX. Granted, I'm a diehard fan of practical special FX and completely respect the effort of actually creating fantastical elements with physical parts rather than relying on a computer technology but the stop-motion sleeves and objects floating? The tongue through the phone? The unnecessary literal geiser of blood that comes from one of the victim's beds after they're pulled in? It's interesting to watch but what's the point? None of these things do justice to what should be horrific. Granted, a fountain of blood is disgusting but no human body can produce that many gallons (a then-all time record for most fake blood used in a film because of that scene).  Save for the fact that you've got 
dim-witted caricatures of the carbon-copies of idiotic, raving high school teens that inevitably get picked off one by one as seen with Halloween and Friday the 13th, the brilliance of making one afraid to go to sleep can't be outdone by the sheer cringe-worthy 80's outdated culture of the original horror classic. Which is why I not only welcome the remake with open arms but I embrace it as one of the better remakes and more effective uses of the teens-getting-killed-by-Freddy formula. How there were as many sequels to these older horror icons, except to fuel the slasher addiction, I might never understand.

  The remake brilliantly casts Jackie Earle Hailey in Englund's shadow and while not being nearly as iconic he does something Robert does not. This is no disrespect to Englund or Wes but Freddy's--Well, actually scary here. Part of what makes the original not just terrifying to some but iconic to most is its legendary and original idea of being killed in your dreams, led by Englund parading the dream team through the march with his sharp claws and recognizable hook nose. But what Samuel Bayer does for Freddy in one film is far more terrifying and effective than what Wes Craven does with eight films. Look, I'm no horror master of suspense here. I have no right in criticizing Craven. The man is an actual horror genius but I know damn well that by shutting Freddy up (Englund's stupid puns get old fast) and giving him an actual shred of a third dimension beyond dreams and flashbacks, Bayer provides a Freddy we oddly care about. Where Freddy originally was just a whacko who's out to get a group of kids, here he is a man who wants revenge on the people who burned him alive for dark reasoning; and what better revenge than to go after those people's children. By seeing and hearing the backstory of ol' Fred Kreuger, the pre-school gardener who loved the children there (a little too much so it seems) we actually feel for Freddy... We feel for him in a way that we almost want him to be innocent of his crimes. And by feeling that for Freddy, we feel more than we ever did in Wes' hands, proving that handing the claws over to someone else was in fact a dream move.
  That doesn't go without saying the film is dark and plenty scary. While yes, relying mostly on cheap gimmickry like jump scares, the film crawls under your skin with each dark, brooding word Hailey speaks to his victims in their sleep. By adding some brilliant plot-twists introducing micro-naps and the consequences of staying awake too long (and dreaming while you're awake) with new sequences of escaping a nightmarish world with some wildly effective special FX, we never grow tired of this story we know so well, which is saying a lot since the remake is more or less a beat-by-beat retread of the exact same story with small additional scenes thrown in, unnecessary scenes snipped out and plenty of homage to all the craft that came before it. Not to mention the film creates characters we actually care about (they're not the most well developed but it beats the teenage Friday the 13th clones, yes, even Johnny Depp), the film has so much more going for it than the original. By losing the goofy, comical nature of the B movie and by taking its terror more seriously, the film feels much more dark. By following characters that aren't ignorant teens looking to get drunk and have sex but characters that have truly been traumatized, looking to escape their demons--well, demon, we actually feel the fear when they're stalked by their parents' cross to bear. My advice is to erase any knowledge and love you have for Craven's original material. Use the original as a respected homage to an audience that thirsts for a currently crude and truly sinister Freddy. Maybe then you will love the film as much as I. 

Blood scale: 7/10
Scare Factor: 4/10
Grade: B

• October 22nd

10) Psycho (1960)

What can one really say about Alfred Hitchcock's most famous work? What words can one truly use to emphasize the influence or define its brilliance? And that's just the thing. Psycho is simply too good to really describe. Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates and the famous Bates Motel have spawned a terror of showers the way Spielberg and Bruce made us afraid to go swimming. The film has spawned and unreal legacy that has been so empowered over 50 years later that it's even inspired a modern day TV series. From Janet Leigh's spotlight taken away almost an hour into the film to the downright bone chilling ending, the film is near flawless (and this is coming from a film major who mostly finds Hitchcock to be overrated) but I'll show my hand here. The man is a pure genius and a mad man of craft and this film alone proves it. By shifting the camera in opposite directions from our eye movement to subconsciously throw us off and by going completely against the rules of Hollywood (from the common artist's guidelines of "proper" method-moviemaking in cinema to out-skirting producer's restrictions and limitations on nudity), the man simply broke the mold and gave us a grandfather of horror. Before Hitchcock, the world was used to the MGM monsters of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff to give us horror of a past generation. In 1960, Hitchcock gave horror a brand new shiny name, and its name was Norman Bates. By handing the kitchen knife over to the horror genre, Hitchcock gave birth to slashers which would influence John Carpenter to nab Janet Leigh's daughter over 40 years later and influence an endless series of slasher movies that are literally still being made today. As much as I hate to be on Hitch's Cock, we owe it all to him. The tone of "horror" was drastically shifted because of Psycho. It created an unstable balance of maniacs in film and geniuses who were no longer afraid to let them out of their cages. The film may not be scary to a current generation of gore hounds but it's just as effective today as it clearly was over 50 years ago leaving a long lasting impression by being not just a major piece of pop culture horror (maybe the most major piece), but as one of the greatest films of all time. Period.

Blood scale: 2/10
Scare Factor: 3/10
Grade: A

• October 23rd

9) The Thing (1982)
Believe it or not there are at least three versions of the original conception, Howard Hawks' The Thing From Another World but unless you're a hardcore classic sci-fi/monster movie fan (or a fan of really crappy remakes/modern day sci-fi/horror movies) the only version worth crash landing on is John Carpenter's 1982 true morose tale of monstrosity. With undoubtedly one of the most graphically disgusting uses of mind-blowing puppetry, The Thing never once feels cheap or fake. Beyond all the realistic gore, it's the bone chilling fear of not being able to tell who's who that keeps the mystery of this deadly tale alive. With phenomenal homage to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Carpenter hides much of his reveals as to who is taken over by the alien creature and at what given moments. Much like he did with Halloween, he brilliantly masks his tension behind long drawn out moments of pure sweat-filled suspense. Granted, the gore is graphic and the blood is bursting (featuring probably one of the most remarkably memorable scenes to feature a dissevered head in all of cinema), again it is the mystery and drawn out tension that is truly horrifying that keeps this case a classic over 30 years later. With an unanswered ending that leaves shivers down one's spine and room for decades worth of eternal debate, The Thing has earned its spot as a cult classic in not just horror but in sci-fi and cinema altogether proving once again that John Carpenter is a true mad man; a genius who really is a master of horror. Given that some of his most memorable works have been given the sequel/remake/reboot/prequel treatment, it truly shows a testament to time that fans are still looking back at the original classics and this is one Thing that should not only not be missed but being deemed by some as the greatest horror movie of all time, it should be embraced by true horror movie lovers everywhere.

Blood scale: 9/10
Scare Factor: 5/10
Grade: A-

• October 24th

8) An American Werwolf in London

A remarkable achievement, this London Werwolf serves as not only arguably the best werwolf movie ever made but as one of the more unique horror films out there. Blending an odd but extremely articulate mish-mash of gory terror and black humor, London serves everything under the full moon that you could crave in a horror flick. By not bringing anything superbly original to the platter, the film sticks with its grizzly graphic violence; quick, clean nasty deaths by an unseen terrible beast and balances out an unexpected tread of oddly paced dark comedy and by applying to those two aspects, the film becomes an original beast in itself. What can one really say with the werwolf genre that's new? We all know what to expect so by placing a couple of college guys backpacking through the pubs of present day London we're already in a different setting than your average old gothic folklore of most werwolf myths. But once the madness begins to ensue, this beast really catches you off guard. Not to mention one of the most if not the most notable aspect of the film is the incredible werwolf transformation towards the end of the film. I'll never stop praising practical special FX and here they are as practical as they come. By using real prosthetics and stop motion, the horrific sequence happens in real time with each finger stretch and bone growth to show the disgusting and agonizing pain and by watching the legs and neck stretch, the hairs slowly grow all over, the sharp nails and fangs slowly emerge; it all makes one feel as if they're truly watching a man actually turn wolf in one of the most realistic horror sequences ever captured on film. It's the film's single greatest achievement but beyond the out of place humor, oddly sexy atmosphere (with lady-victims and all), a zombified vision of a friend, a fantastic soundtrack (Including CCR's Bad Moon Rising) and a shockingly fast paced, graphically violent, nail biting climax, this is not only a film to be viewed by horror lovers everywhere but single-handedly the most crucial werwolf film to a current generation of horror fans over 30 years later.

Blood scale: 8/10
Scare Factor: 6.5/10

Grade: A-

• October 25th

7) The Shining

Because you can't have horror without Stephen King and you can't have great cinema without including Stanley Kubrick ergo you just can't have a horror movie countdown without The Shining. Much like Psycho or The Exorcist there is only so much you can say about Stanley Kubrick's beloved adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel which is approved by almost everyone except... Well, Stephen King (Guess it wasn't strange enough for him). The reasoning behind the affection for this film by horror fans and cinema fans alike is almost too great to go into grave detail beyond its cliches and defining moments. Everything from one of Jack Nicholson's most iconic performances to the one liners make this a pop-culture phenomenon even to those who loathe cinema or horror. You can't utter "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy," or "Heeere's JOHNNY!"without someone recognizing the source material. The film has been parodied, spoofed, mocked, imitated and has had countless eerie "making of" specials and inspired the incredible recent documentary, Room 237. Whether it's the ominous hotel bartender, the beautiful naked woman in the bathtub who morphs into a rotting old lady, the pool of blood rushing down the stairs, the creepy twins in their dolled up dresses who stand at the end of the hallway staring deeply into your soul or the entire axe-wielding climax, the film is literally built on characters and moments one after another that make the film one of the most memorable gems to come from King and Kubrick. It sends sheer terror down one's spine even to this day making it one of truly scariest films of all time. It's an iconic stamp on horror and one that can never be redone, remade, continued, extended or shown what happens before it all began. Regardless of King's opinions (he even approved of a by-the-books mini series which was not taken lightly by fans of the original  film), Kubrick's masterpiece stands as one of the most remarkable pieces of film not just in horror or his collection of directorial efforts but in film and art in general. 

Blood scale: 5/10

Scare Factor: 9/10

Grade: A

• October 26th

6) Seven

Before David Fincher became a powerhouse director with cult favorite Fight Club, curious tall tale Benjamin Button or Oscar nominees The Social Network and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo remake, his greatest achievement was an incredibly nifty murder-mystery thriller that would become one of the greatest serial killer manhunt movies of all time. As we would see James Wan influence the idea of Jigsaw almost a decade later, in 1995 David Fincher played with the idea of a justifiable murderer who literally tried to play God. By using the seven deadly sins as the basis for his murders to show just how truly evil the world had become, our mystery killer (who doesn't show their face until the brilliantly shocking final act) leads our Brad Pitt/Morgan Freeman-looking detectives on a wild, biblical goose chase. And it is not so much the murder mystery so much as the sins themselves represented as they are that truly disturb us to the core that really make this grizzly killing tale pass for modern day horror. While it falls more into the thriller category, there are moments few and far between (mostly when each new sinner is found victim) that make the film downright scary. Grounded in an exaggerated sense of reality, we are actually led to believe in our John Doe and that he truly justifies his killing. By not donning a mask or popping out of the shadows, Doe stalks his victims with cryptic messages and hypnotic clues, stringing them along as he watches his victims fall right into place and the fact that he's not actually present for the majority of the film makes his eerie omnipotence creepier than it has any right to be, though the short but final reveal puts Doe only steps beneath Hannibal making him one of the most ridiculously notorious villains in cinema. It may not wallow in gore for the hardcore horror heads but its disturbing thread of deadly sins at the crime scenes keep the elusive mystery and shocking twist-ending as scary as its faceless final judge whether that be John Doe or a vengeful omnipresent force.  

Blood scale: 6/10

Scare Factor: 5/10

Grade: A-

• October 27th

5) Alien

Much like the few that have come before on this list and most likely the ones that will finish off the list, there's only so much to say. Arguably Ridley Scott's best film (next to Blade Runner), Alien is literally presented as Jaws in space. With six crew members led by the notorious not-yet badass bitch of sci-fi, Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley, we're introduced to not just the iconic Xenomorph, or commonly known as "the chest burster," but over 30 years ago, audiences truly got a dose of the film's slogan, "In space, no one can hear you scream." It has become a stamp on modern day sci-fi and horror alike and Scott perfects his craft with impeccable pacing and true tension. By hiding the ever growing and ever killing creature on board a single spaceship far from the reaches of Earth, Scott delivers all of his thrills and chills based on pure hype. With characters uttering paranoid dialogue, deep discussion and theorize as they get picked off one by one by the alien in the shadows, we leave our imaginations to so much until the final climax which would become the traditional Ripley vs. the alien (or aliens as the sequel would show) showdown. But beyond the action-packed or suggestively dark (and sometimes very stupid) sequels, nothing is quite as horrific as this first adrenaline-fueled monster movie in space and Scott knows how to make his audience feel tight, trapped and terrified. His first sci-fi horror monstrosity has become such a legacy it has built an empire and fan base of epic proportions with sequels and spin-offs still in the works today (see: Prometheus). We owe it to Scott, Weaver and that first Xenomorph to make us even more afraid of space than we've ever been and to have us at the edge of our seats in good old fashioned tension-fueled horror.

Blood scale: 3/10

Scare Factor: 4/10

Grade: A

• October 28th

4) The Sixth Sense

A near-forgotten gem in this day in age, buried in what would later become one of the biggest train wrecks of one filmmaker's career and a twist that would later become so iconic, so lampooned and so shocking; so twisted, people would only (and almost rightfully so) remember the film for that small aspect alone, most people may not recall that in 1999, M. Night Shyamalan's directorial debut was one of the most effective and by means down right creepy horror films of all time. 

   Again, out-skirting the fine line between horror and thriller, The Sixth Sense does so much right by doing only so little. With an enormous buildup of suspense, the film is essentially really only based on the relationship of two people: A determined psychiatrist and the boy he's trying to get through to; the boy who can see dead people. By focusing on the pure fear in poor Haley Joel Osment's glossy eyes, the horror is almost all descriptive and in that sense, ten times scarier in our imaginations than what's actually shown of the walking corpses. By bringing "I see dead people" to life, Shyamalan effectively makes ghosts way more terrifying than they have any right being. While the depiction of a ghost to most may be a translucent apparition floating around, here the dead are literally the walking dead; seemingly normal-looking human beings depicted in their final moments on Earth, whether they be sick, hanged or have a shotgun hole in the back of their head, these corpses don't know that they're dead and the fact that young Osment is the only one who can see them makes the boy's life a literal walking nightmare. It's the kind of thing you think about before you go to bed and you gaze down long hallways or God forbid get up to take a piss in the middle of the night (someone had to make us scared to do so and Shyamalan nailed it) and thinking back on long, drawn out moments of pure sweaty suspense, it's the kind of idea alone and ultimately the kind of film that crawls under your skin and will haunt you.

  Save for the fact, that seeing corpses when nobody else can is purely terrifying, the film also consists of one of the most begotten but brilliant scripts. As incredibly astute a performance as Shyamalan could once pull from his actors, the man also once knew how to write knock-out scripts (hard to believe seeing as the man wrote The Happening not even a decade later) and that's not even only referring to the famous twist-ending. The script builds one of the most believably dynamic relationships between not just Willis and Osment but of all the characters, even in the smallest of moments. The characters here feel broken; all of them, from Osment to Willis to all the helpless corpses. The scenes between the unreachable Osment and his heart broken mother make for not just some of the most emotional acting in the film but they tug on the real heart strings of our seemingly unknowing souls. The film is tragically almost impossible to account nowadays given Shyamalan's disaster of a career (at least he hasn't scared himself completely out of filmmaking yet), but taken as a stand-alone thriller, The Sixth Sense is not only one of the most remarkable and scary horror movies of all time, but one of the greatest films out there, period.

Blood scale: 2/10

Scare Factor: 9/10
Grade: A

• October 29th

3) Jaws

There is nothing that can be said about Jaws that hasn't been said already. Everything that occurs behind this film makes it near flawless. Steven Spielberg's breakout picture about a terrorizing great white not only literally invented the term blockbuster but with one of the greatest blessings in disguise by having a mechanical shark that kept breaking, Spielberg became Hitchcock and used the complete build and tension based on pure imagery and dialogue with almost no shark to create the greatest example of leaving the audience's fear up to their imaginations. The film is driven from beginning to finish based off fear and pure fear alone, from the moment the first skinny-dipping victim succumbs to a a near-unseen watery grave to the final climactic showdown between fishermen vs. Bruce. And with the help of brilliant directing and one of the most iconic if not the most iconic score of all time, Jaws is a cinematic masterpiece (cliche term, I know). It proves not just that Spielberg is a genius but that with such few repetitive notes, John Williams paints such a vivid menace in our heads with only his orchestra.

  Everything behind the making of Jaws is a gem and the fact that it almost didn't happen and almost put ol' Stevey out of his career makes the film even more of an icon. The film is such a stamp on cinema that it needs no words to portray its grandeur and not just as a horror film. Save for the fact that it scared audiences away from beaches for over three decades, the film is a textbook for filmmakers everywhere. It's a film that should be viewed at least once a year whether it's on a hot Summer day or a cold October night. It's one of Spielberg's greatest films and one of the greatest films we will ever have. Amen.

Blood scale: 4/10

Scare Factor: 3/10
Grade: A+

• October 30th

2) The Silence of the Lambs

Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins as the infamous Hannibal Lector is the reason people remember this 1991 Best Picture. The fact that he's on screen for less than 15 minutes makes his role as iconic as the film itself. Again side-stepping that fine line, Silence works as both thriller and horror though here it is much more of the case of psychological horror; the kind that plants seeds of ideas in one's head about the sickening madness of grizzly serial killers as opposed to consistent grizzly serial killing. Granted there's a fine dose of murder between Lector and the manhunt for teen-girl snatcher Buffalo Bill, Silence is built solely on the idea of these murderers and the lengths they go to not only terrorize their victims but become serial killer legends in the most disturbing ways (see: Buffalo Bill wearing the skin of teenage girls to make himself a woman). Lambs has continued to prove that it is a timeless, taught thriller and Hopkins makes for one of the most terrorizing villains in cinema. The film is a gigantic winding climax from beginning to finish and progressively builds as the story unravels. While Jodie Foster is the true protagonist as detective Clarice Starling, in one of her most memorable roles, it is Hopkins' Lector and the moody atmosphere of this grizzly murder mystery that keep this a horror classic that continues to get better with age. Whether it's fava beans, Goodbye Horses or stories of screaming lambs, the film is stamped with horrifically memorable moments after another. It is incredibly well crafted from the tension-built script based off the mind of Thomas Harris to the odd, psychologically elusive cinematography to Jonathon Demme's downright damn good directing of these brilliant actors making this one of the best detective movies, murder/mystery thrillers and one of the greatest examples of ruthless, bloody iconic serial killers. There is not a bad thing to say about Silence of the Lambs. It is an incredible film that should be viewed by moviegoers everywhere, horror lovers or not.

Blood scale: 6/10

Scare Factor: 6.5/10
Grade: A+

• October 31st

1) Halloween (1978)

Would you expect anything less?

Blood scale: 1/10

Scare Factor: 4/10

Grade: A