The American Film Institute recently celebrated its 10th anniversary of “100 years, 100 movies,” a listing of its top 100 movies of all time. Since the start of the series, AFI has also cited movies that are inspiring, great movie quotes, great movie songs, love stories, heroes and villains, thrills, laughs, stars and film scores, all in the “Top 100″ format.
I was wondering: Why haven’t they yet done the 100 Scariest Movies of All time. I think it’s possible that they haven’t done it because, quite frankly, there haven’t been enough great scary movies made. To name the Top 100 would be to name almost all of them that are any good.
I’d love to see them do it. Short of that, on this Halloween, here is my list of the top 5 scariest movies I’ve ever seen. These are just my own favorites–I don’t claim to have seen all the contenders out there. What are yours?
1. “Halloween”: See my post here to hear why I like this one so much. It was dang scary, but watchable.
2. “The Changeling”: A truly scary older film with George C. Scott and a cast of people who’d become famous later, it lives outside the bounds of most scary movies, defying cliche with an original story.
3. “Needful Things”: This slow-starting and mysterious movie starring Max Von Sydow and Ed Harris depicts how the devil can infiltrate a community by turning people against each other. It also portrays how people pulling together can serve to win in the end.
4. “The Exorcist”: It certainly wasn’t the kind of movie I’d want to see again and again, but there were exorcisms in the Bible, and the thought of demons needing to be cast out is an idea that most Christians need to better understand, or at least be aware of.
5. “Poltergeist”: It was such a nice suburban neighborhood, before evil things started happening. The contrast between the daylight hours (in which those who’d seen wonders were not believed) and the nighttime (when the stinkola hit the fanawamba) was pronounced, as was the idea that demons could be existing amidst the safety of our suburbias.
One thing you may notice: there aren’t many recent ones on here. Either I’m getting too old, or they’re just not making good ones lately!
Use the comments box below to let me know what your favorite scary flicks are.
posted October 31, 2007 at 10:54 am
Some of the more recent movies that have really scared me are “Silent Hill” and “Thirteen Ghosts.” When I was a kid, all of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies freaked me out. And “It” was the cause of my ongoing fear of clowns.
posted October 31, 2007 at 10:58 am
Oh…I forgot “Night of the Living Dead,” “Dawn of the Dead” (the new one, where the zombies can run just as fast as humans) and “28 Days Later.”
posted October 31, 2007 at 11:47 am
What a great surprise to see The Changeling on this list…since I just watched it with a friend last night! (We were trying to scare each other with our movie selections…I won.)
It’s been one of my favorites since I was a kid because it’s just plain CREEPY. I’m not a fan of the overblown Hollywood third act, but it’s a keeper…one of the few DVDs I own.
posted October 31, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Thank you, Dena, for mentioning “IT”; why doesn’t anybody else mention this movie when it comes to being scary? A child eating clown? Come on!
That being said, the top three scariest movies for me:
3.)Halloween
2.)IT
1.)Jesus Camp
posted October 31, 2007 at 6:35 pm
1. The Shining
2. The Exorcist
3. Jacob’s Ladder
4. Psycho
posted October 2, 2008 at 5:33 am
all fine moviez accept for the changeling i havent seen that one but i must add my choice of the top five movies
1. halloween 1
2. the texas chainsaw massacre not the beginning but the one that came out like five yearz ago
3.nightmare on elm street all of them were goo accept towardz the end
4. poltergiest 1 classic
5.the shinning { it waz more weird rather than scary but a classic none the less
posted August 17, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Scariest movies: It, The Shining and Let’s Scare Jessica to Death. I heard about The Changeling being scary, but it had hardly any effect on me. Same for Needful Things.
Scariest novels: Drowned Sorrow by Vanessa Morgan and Salem’s Lot by Stephen King.