Black Apple Halloween Film Fest

We've been hosting a pretty intense non-stop Halloween film festival around here lately, and I thought it might be fun to share a few of my top creepy-crawly favorites with you guys. I know that lots of folks don't like scary/horror movies, but some of these are classics, and most really defy the genre (so even Halloween-movie-haters might want to give them a shot).

 

I realized as I was making my list that most of these are very girl-centric, which I guess isn't that surprising. I'm linking to the IMDB page of each film here, so you can find out a little more about them than what I have to say (if you're interested). Follow the jump, here!

• Nightmare Before Christmas, everyone has seen, but I still need to include it. I love that movie so fiercely, and it never fails to make me cry at the end... from the sweetness, but also the sheer force of the visual beauty and craftsmanship of the thing.
• The Descent is a new film, and though it's not quite as scary on the little screen as it was in the dark, cavernous theater, it's still so good. I'm a big fan of well-executed creatures, and the ones they find in the cave are amazing and interesting. The creatures aren't the scariest thing, though...the suffocating journey is.
• Don't Look Now is one big foreboding, tense mystery. Even when the film ends, the foggy Venetian canals still run circles around any logical explanation of what you just saw. I happen to love Donald Sutherland (even though I know some people think he's seems a bit of a creep...ahem Sara and Josiah) and I think he's great in this. It's very thoughtful, and not really a horror movie...but more of an eerie, creepy movie.
• Ginger Snaps seems like the worst, most cheesy film from the look of the box (and the plot synopsis), but it's really very good. I watched it expecting  a so-bad-it's-good sort of thing (as I think most people do) but it's not that at all. It's part dark comedy, wistful growing-up drama, and monster movie...and it has a sort of sweetness that is unexpected and genuine.
• Dracula, the Guy Maddin version is really beautiful, and a good introduction to him as a director. I adore Mr. Maddin for his unfalteringly perfect aesthetic, and this movie is a great synthesis of his unique look, the ballet, and the classic story.
• Eyes Without a Face has one of the most beautiful Criterion-covers ever (in my opinion) and is a really graceful and methodical French horror film. Apparently, the dubbed US release was called "The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus"...though it's not really Faustian. It's about an obsessed father/doctor who tries desperately (and unsuccessfully) to fit his deformed daughter with a new face...and it is  quite scary.  I haven't watched it this year, but I think it would make for excellent Halloween watching!
• Rosemary's Baby is one of my favorite movies, and I don't really know why. The ending is so ridiculous, but the rest is so very good. Most of you have probably seen it, but Mia Farrow never stops being wonderful and luminous and the Castevets never stop being creepy as hell...so it's always worth breaking out when October rolls around.
• Spider Baby is another of my favorite movies...and everyone that watches it loves it. It's another dark comedy, with a strangely awful-but-awesome performance from Lon Chaney. The sisters are amazing, and I am particularly smitten with the title-character. It's short-ish, lovable, and truly a mad, mad movie, and I think more people should see it. A special edition just came out, and I am so happy that I finally own it!

Comments

[shona]

And I watched "Ginger Snaps" baised on your reccomendation- I had picked it up a zillion times. Actually I'm surprised that "May" is not on your list

[kassy]

I watched both The Descent and Spider Baby this weekend on your recommendation. I made the mistake of watching The Descent at midnight whilst home alone, bad idea!! And then I raved about how scared I was so much, my boyfriend made me watch it again with him.

Spider Baby has got to be one of the oddest movies I've seen, it was really good as well. I love little quirky movies like that. Next on my Netflix queue is Don't Look Now, thanks for the list!

[ramona west]

you should add "creepers" by dario argento. it's the best horror film ever! EVER! must see.

[Anita]

I never thought I'd ever like horror films until I saw the films of Dario Argento and Mario Bava. The stylishness and theatricallity of Italian horror is incredible.
You should try it.

[oolookitty]

I second "The Others"! Very good classic ghost story.

[chantal]

Gingers Snaps is pretty good - I was surprised when I finally saw it. I also really liked Don't Look Now, all those shots of Venice are lovely!!

I also recently saw Spider Baby. I watched because the clown guy from House of 1,000 Corpses is in it. Yeah, I hate to admit, my husband and I recently watched the Rob Zombie movies and really liked them - the dialogue in them was really good.

[Alisha]

I second 1408. My hubby and I watched it last weekend and it was good. I just love a good scary movie at night time. Happy Halloween (a bit early)!

[Niki]

I love so many of the movies mentioned...but am I the only person that thought "The Others" was fabulous?

[Magen]

I'm betting you might get a kick out of Lucky McKee's May or Sick Girl. Those are two of my favorite horror films.

[Jill]

I have to say I'm a big baby when it comes to any of these too, with the exception of The Nightmare Before Christmas :) I blame it on my vivid imagination...if one of these movies comes on while I'm in the house even in the next room I come running to say change the channel!

[tiffany]

except The Nightmare Before Christmas.. I liked that one!

[tiffany]

I'm such a baby... I would have nightmares for life if I watched any of these... :)

[Rebekka]

Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D.......Amazing. (have you seen it?)

The original silent Dracula but the one re-released in 2000 I think with the Philip Glass score?....priceless

[Amanda Button]

Great list!!! You know, i JUST finally saw Spider Baby for the first time a few weeks ago and i love love loved it! I can't beleive i put it off so long, and it's certain a favorite now!
(I loved it so much it inspired me to make a glass icon candle in homage! LOL!)
TOTALLY agree with Ginger Snaps, too.....it is surprisingly wonderful! Normally i like my horror movies to be REALLY old, or full of zombies, but the Ginger Snaps movies made me wanna haul out the werewolf faves/

[Nichole]

Thanks for posting this list! I am a HUGE scary movie fan...something about the rush of adrenaline that gets my blood pumping. I hate being scared, but I love it too!

I'm a huge Dracula fan, but I've never seen the Dracula you mentioned. I will definitely look into it.

I can't say I have a favorite scray movie. What I will say is the creepiest one I saw recently was The Hills Have Eyes. Ick. I think watching the film when I had just had my baby didn't help matters.

Oh and for the record, I thought Sean of the Dead was supposed to be funny. It was witty, but still super scary to me!

Happy haunting!

[Ally]

This is the first time i've posted here so firstly just to say I love your blog and I love your paintings!

Im really not a fan of scary films and Ginger Snaps gave me bad deams although I really reccomend the two sequels they are excellent.

There's nothing better than a good dose of Historical Gothic Romanticism though a la Bram Stokers Dracula, Sleepy Hollow, The Corpse Bride, Phantom of the Opera, Mary Shelly's Frankenstein...

Incidentally one good film I saw which noone seems to have heard of is "May", its quite random.

[Sarah]

I'm a horror movie fanatic (my fave genre), so thanks for sharing your picks! I also very much enjoy Rosemary's Baby although parts are pretty cheesy, it's still creepy-licious. I also just watched The Descent and thought it was pretty good-- almost freaked out with the whole clausterphobic spelunking scenes more though!

If you want to see some of my faves, I did a post last year:

http://welcometogirlland.blogspot.com/2007/02/its-okay-to-be-worried-about-zombies.html

My absolute fave is 28 Days Later.

xo and happy haunting!

[Bridey]

Donald Sutherland freaked me out when I watched Invasion of the Body Snatchers when I was young. He is so creepy and he pops up in so many movies, freaks me out every time!

But I might have to check out some of the other movies :)

[Jane]

Rosemary's Baby- Amazing Creepy! Nightmare Before Christmas- Wonderfully Creepy!

[amanda bel]

Ha! Glad I'm not the only one with a strange attachment to Rosemary's Baby. One of my all time favorites too, and I could never figure out why.

[Jessica Marie]

Oh man, Rosemary's baby! Soooo creepy!

[Melissa]

You should go to the theatre to see The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D. It is spectacular! A must see for fans. :)

[jenniferL]

i can't imagine seeing the descent in the theater!!! it was so dark and suffocating even sitting on my couch. great list.

[Elizebeth]

I LOVED the descent! It was so much better than I thought it would be.

We watched 1408 for our annual 'Scary Movie Night' a few weeks ago. Pretty good, definately worth watching.

And we just watched "30 days of Night" last weekend. Seriously the most intense vampire movie I've ever seen. Made me jump a lot!

[sarah]

now, I'm not a huge fan of horror: it gives me bad dreams, if you can believe it! BUT, have you seen Sean of the Dead yet? A "zomedy"? As in, zombie-comedy? You'll die of laughter when Queen comes on. =)

[Emma]

Not a huge fan of horror-type films, and I haven't seen Don't Look Now, but I just had to say I too was never a big fan of Donald Sutherland, until I saw the most recent version of Pride & Prejudice--he was just wonderful, and it completely changed how I felt about him.

Also, I couldn't agree more with you about the craftsmanship of Nightmare Before Christmas; I liked the film, but then I watched the "making of" dvd extra...wow. Such a huge undertaking!

[Casey]

TCM just had "Eyes without a Face" on a few days ago, I believe--and I missed it! *pouts*

I harbor a love of horror films, as long as they don't gross me out (like "The Hills Have Eyes 2"; how I ever let someone talk me into going to see that... ick!). I love me a good movie that is tasteful and makes my spine tingle!! :D

[Nice]

haha i am working on a halloween / october movie list as well..and lon chaney is in it..but i haven't even heard of this spinder baby movie..i will for sure check it out. ..sigh i can't watch scary-gross movies like Decent seems to me like it would be haha..i can only do creepy-weird. i'm a bit of a wuss. plus i like to nibble on something while i watch a movie and scary-gross movies just don't encourage that for me haha.

[katie]

Hooray for them all- but extra credit for Don't Look Now (great novella, as well) & Ginger Snaps.

Happy (early) Halloween!

[Shannon]

The Descent is definitely one of my favorites in my collection.. even though I can barely bring myself to watch it. If you want to watch a crazy indie horror film, rent May. so so so freaky.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0303361/

[sarah e.]

Wow! I have been reading your charming blog for a while now and I never would have pegged you for a horror-movie fan! I was pleased as punch to find out otherwise :)
And Spider Baby too! Goodness!

Not exactly horror, but have you seen/heard of "Blood Tea and Red String"? It is a little stop motion film...kind of strange but very pretty.

[Samantha]

I recommend "The Devil's Backbone," since you enjoyed "Pan's Labyrinth" so much!

[oolookitty]

Oh, and seconding the rec of "The Ruins". Freaked me completely out.

[oolookitty]

Love those choices, though I haven't seen that version of Dracula -- I'll have to Netflix it. I also must confess to not being a fan of "Nightmare Before Christmas"; just doesn't do a thing for me, despite the great look of the film. SpiderBaby, Rosemary's Baby, and Don't Look Now, though - yeah. And GingerSnaps is quite a good little movie.

If you've never seen "The Changeling" starring George C. Scott, that's another good scary one.

[nanette]

Not a movie, but a book recommendation: have you read "The Ruins" by Scott Smith? It's got the same sort of creepy vibe as some of the movies you've listed (plus an extremely freaky monster). There's not much that can be said about it without spoiling the surprises, but it's good. And creepy. And weird.

[Maritza]

I love scary movies! Thanks for sharing your faves - I just added "Eyes Without a Face" to my Netflix queue.