Amityville (Photo credit: Kousto)
October is the month for scary movies, haunted houses and spooky stories. Since we are nearing the end of the Halloween Season, I am in full-out Halloween mode! This post was initially published last year and at that time, I only named eleven picks. I’ve since added a few more.
Now, for me, when I say “scary”, I mean the spine tingling, hair raising, goosebump rising, OMG kind of scary. Not blood and gore and hatchet scary. I sat through the Friday the 13th and Halloween movies with my hands over my eyes. How are we supposed to enjoy a movie we can’t even bring ourselves to watch? I KNOW, some of you love that stuff. But not me.
Since the movies with a scare factor I enjoy most aren’t due to hacked up body counts and blood, you won’t see much in the way of gore while watching any of the following. In my opinion, the movies that make you cringe without the use of machetes and chainsaws are the best. Since stories that include ghostly elements happens to be the kind of stories I like to watch as well as write (my most recent paranormal thriller being NO MATTER WHAT!), I thought I’d share my top twenty list of spooky movies. Now, there’s been a LOT of movies made over the years, and I’m sure I’ll not list one or two that you think should be included. If so, please feel free to leave a comment and share your picks!
So without further ado, here is my list.
1. The Entity. This movie is supposed to be a true story about a woman who was repeatedly attacked by a supernatural entity. You can only take Hollywood depictions of true stories with a grain of salt, but it still made for a pretty intense movie!
2. The Changeling. This is a great spooky tale of a ghost wanting justice for his untimely death.
3. The Sixth Sense. I loved this movie. It was scary, spooky and had a great ending!
4. Poltergeist. Although this got pretty crazy towards the end, I thought this movie gave a great portrayal of supernatural occurrences.
5. Ghost. Okay, this one isn’t really scary, but it was a good ghost movie anyway!
6. Gothika. This movie had a nice spooky atmosphere and a few jumpy spots. And it was a good story.
7. Paranormal Activity & 2 & 3 & 4 These movies definitely have the creep factor. Okay, they are about demons not ghosts, but still, they are pretty scary and so I included them on my list.
8. The Others. This is a great ghost tale for sure!! A true classic.
9. The Shining. Okay, this movie turned into a story of an ax-wielding maniac, but up until it became all about that, the movie was spooky scary. (The book is MUCH better!)
10. What Lies Beneath. This movie was pretty good at portraying scary ghost activity … at first. Then it became a raving-lunatic-out-to-kill movie and that sort of ruined it for me. But because the first half or so was pretty spooky, I put it on my list.
11. Stir of Echoes. Although this film didn’t get a lot of attention, I thought it was pretty good and so it, too, made my list.
12. Insidious. I had to add this one because my daughter loves it and because it IS spooky!
13. The Innocents. This one I recently discovered!
14. Dragonfly. This one definitely had a paranormal influence and so I decided to include it.
15. White Noise. This one had a lot of potential and there were some bit parts I thought was pretty good but it is sort of laughable in places. Still, I thought I’d include it because sometimes a light-scare is good to enjoy!
16. Lake Mungo. Another recent discovery. Done as a documentary but interesting even so.
17. The Orphanage. This one was recommended to me when I posted last year’s picks. It definitely needs to be on the list!
18. The Amityville Horror. This was supposed to be based on a true story and though I think Hollywood did a lot of embellishment, I figure maybe SOME of it was true and if so, THAT is pretty scary! This is the updated version but the old Amityville might be a good alternative. Watch them both and compare! By the way…the book was much better! Also, there are a whole slew of movies that came out with the Amityville name attached to them. Most of them are rather silly and some are gory but you might like them. I didn’t.
19. Elvira Mistress of the Dark. Yeah, I know, this one isn’t spooky, scary but it sure is FUN! I laughed through this one and it’s such a great HALLOWEEN kind of movie!
20. The Fourth Kind. This is a bizarre movie. It’s one of those that after you are done watching it, you are tempted to watch it again just to see if you can figure out what the heck you just watched! It might be about aliens (or not…do we ever really know?) but I thought it was spooky enough to include on the list.
So what say you? Have you seen any of these? As I said, if you want to add more, please leave a comment and tell us about it!
Hope you all have a Spooktacular Halloween!! And if you don’t celebrate that holiday, have a great October 31st!!
Until next time, blessings to all and Peace Out!
Related articles
- 13 Inspiring Books and Movies on the Paranormal! (deborahjhughes.com)
- Top 10 Ghost Movies (thefilmfellas.wordpress.com)
I have seen most of these movies and you have some great picks! I admit to missing the paranomal flicks and Gothika. I may have to check them out now that they made your top 11. I am glad Stir of Echoes made it. I think it is always under rated. Another movie that just freaks me out is The Orphanage. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464141/ *shivers*
I haven’t even heard of The Orphanage but it sounds like something right up my alley! Thanks for the suggestion. Gothika is pretty good…very spooky and well acted. The Paranormal flicks have parts that are just not right … in that they give me the creeps. lol. I actually don’t care for their endings all that much but all the stuff leading up to the ending is freaky…tense. Thanks for stopping by my blog!!
GREAT post! I love spooky movies! I’m ashamed to admit that I still haven’t seen any of the Paranormal activities yet, but they are definitely on my list!!
Thanks! The Paranormal Activity flicks are spooky at first and then become horror towards the end. They are about demons rather than harmless ghosts but still, the spook factor is pretty high. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and posting a comment! If you ever see a good spooky movie, let me know!!
The Entity and The Changeling are well deserving of top spots in any list of good, chilling movies. I haven’t watched The Entity for quite a few years, but I’ll probably dust it off this week now and check it out again. “Intense” is a good description for it, and almost claustrophobic at times. Very well made movie.
Stir of Echoes and The Others are two of my favourites.
Mine too! I loved both of them. I love the creativity that went into their creation!
The Orphanage is one of my favorites, while Mathair prefers Insidious. If you’re a fan of The Orphanage, you’ll love Pan’s Labyrinth.
Actually, I have seen Pan’s Labyrinth and I DID like it very much! Thanks!!
The Entity scared the crap out of me. I can’t remember what happened in Paranormal Activity 3.
What’s scary about the Entity is that it was well documented and thus…more REAL! From my understanding, the poor woman is still getting attacked!
There is no movie more frightening than Tobe Hooper’s original Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
I couldn’t watch it so I wouldn’t know! I simply cannot handle human chopping movies!
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the Innocents! 🙂
Great list! I’m so glad you mentioned The Changeling! It’s a favorite of mine and my Dad’s, he introduced me to it. I also find Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (a Steven King fav), Carrie (the original with Sissy Spaceck), and Rosemary’s Baby to have a wicked creepy feel. What do you think about these 3 movies? ~Ilene
I haven’t seen Let’s Scare Jessica to Death! So thanks for that. I’ll have to check it out. I do agree that Carrie is creepy/scary! The only reason why I didn’t put it on the list is because it isn’t so much “spooky” as horrifying…that blood bath at the end was awful! The book is much better by the way! And I should have added Rosemary’s Baby…thanks! I need to watch that again, it’s been awhile. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!
I see your point about the end of Carrie – it was more gross than creepy. The scenes with the mother are the creepiest ones of Carrie. Have you read The House on Haunted Hill by Shirley Jackson? So eerie. One of the black and whites from the late 50’s early 60’s versions was fantastic. The creepiest scene being the one where the one girl says to the other after the lights come back on, “But I wasn’t holding your hand.” I agree that the books are always better. Having to piece it all together in your own imagination makes it so much more visceral and prickly! Can’t wait to hear your opinion of Let’s Scare Jessica To Death! Have a great weekend! ~Ilene