The dark nights are drawing in, the shadows are getting longer and someone is blowing on the back of your neck! DO NOT turn around, go into the basement / attic, or say “I’ll be right back!” Also watch out for strangers in hats, creepy kids, loners, clowns and anyone with bulging eyes… because it is Halloween season, time to take a look at The Wasteland’s 12 of the best Scary Movies, to help inspire you to find the best cosied up chills around. So light the pumpkin and come closer…
You’ll see many lists coming out around now that rely heavily on the trend of jump scares and trash that can only be described as “torture porn”, and that’s fine, there are some OK ones out there… but mostly not. I find them cheap, gratuitous and a little obvious to be honest. I prefer my frights to be a bit more psychological and wrapped up in a decent story with a decent artistic backbone. Subtlety and tension are key to feeling frightened by a movie. Being creeped out is about the silences and atmosphere between the graphic scares, and about resisting showing too much of the monster too soon.
Therefore, this list looks for good movies (with a solid Halloween vibe) that happen to be pretty terrifying or unsettling in a meaningful and lasting way to me. They may defy the label of Horror, or even subvert it. What is important is that it makes your mind race and your skin crawl. And for that we have to go right back to the late 60s for a starter. All films are chronologically listed with their Decinemal Rating at the end, as always on The Wasteland’s 12 of the bests. Hopefully there’s something on there you have never seen, or haven’t seen for years. Dive in to a couple of these over Halloween and you won’t go far wrong. Whatever you do, have a horrible time!
I first saw this when I was about 14 and it bothered me in so many ways! Mostly because I couldn’t at that age pin down what was so compelling about it. It takes an age to get where it’s going, and is much more about tension, dread and paranoia than any actual horror. Mia Farrow was never better as the stay at home housewife who seems to be going gently mad in her eerie New York honeymoon nest, beset on all sides by doubt and conspiracy, with a macabre and satanic background. Ruth Gordon is terrific as the beguiling neighbour at the centre of the intrigue, a role for which she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, as is John Cassavetes in a rare acting role in which he didn’t direct himself. The dream sequences are the most chilling moments until the final scene revelation, which is a masterclass of holding your cards until the last possible moment, and will stay with you for a lifetime. Proof you should never trust a priest, a doctor or an out of work actor. Also, never eat green moose, especially if you can smell a hint of tanis root! Iconic cinema in every way, that holds up well for its 50 plus years.
Decinemal Rating: 75
You never forget the first time you watch this, because the build up and hype influencing you to have the guts to do it causes as much disruption to your calm as anything you actually see on the screen. From the moment Regan plays with the ouija board you are unsettled, but, of course, you have been taking in the infamous subliminal images for a while by then. As much about what you don’t see, but imagine, this seminal work plays on your inner fears at a primal level, especially if you had any kind of religious upbringing. So many perfect scenes, but father Karras playing the tape recording in reverse for the first time, Ellyn Burstyn taking a candle into the attic, and the iconic exorcism scenes themselves are the clinchers to set your skin on edge, in style. So much more disturbing when you realise how young Linda Blair was when this was made, and what happened to her in later life. Often quoted as many critics’ favourite film of all time despite genre, because it works not only as a horror, but as a commentary on faith, family and guilt. Easy to mock and parady in this day and age, but still an incredible piece of cinematic art. Just count how many ideas and images have been copied to lesser effect since.
Decinemal Rating: 79
Another iconic 70s shock flick, this always felt like a British Exorcist-lite to me. Not as impactful as a work of cinematic art as the 1973 classic, but still full of memorable moments and images. An ageing Gregory Peck and Lee Remick have some nice moments, but it is the two priests, David Warner and Patrick Troughton that carry the scares here. Young Harvey Stevens as Damien, son of Satan, is also perfectly cast – his intense stares and dead eyes are very unsettling indeed, and had the child not been effective then the entire film just wouldn’t work. Contains some of the most creative and well crafted death scenes even commited to celluloid, including an effect with plate glass and a clearly fake body that is memorable to me as one of the most shocking things I ever saw on TV before I was old enough to watch horror movies in an actual cinema. The music is timeless in its association with evil too, winning the film’s only Oscar. Dated badly in its weakest moments, it is still a mainstay of any vintage horror list, this one included.
Decinemal Rating: 71
The highest rated movie on this list, rated as the 62nd best movie of all time by iMDb, and the only 5 star Decinemal amongst the devilish dozen. What remains so very special about Kubrick’s master opus? Well… everything. Jack’s performance, the production design, the music, the script, the moment to moment tension and anticipation. So many iconic moments to choose from – the terror isn’t so much in the scares, but in the waiting for them. Never has a building contained so much negative atmosphere! Forget a creepy old mansion with dark corners and creaking floorboards, the Overlook Hotel is the one place I never want to be alone in. The endless empty corridors, the dread of what is in those rooms! It feels as if loneliness and madness are actually coming out of the screen at times. The Big moments are now so famous that they have lost impact, especially after seeing it so many times over the years, but I still feel tense every time I hear the wheels of Danny’s bike rumbling over the uncarpeted bits of the floor, or when Jack is bouncing that ball. His descent into madness is such a pitch perfect performance it may never be bettered – criticised for being a little OTT sometimes, and it is, that’s Jack, but you can’t deny his commitment and skill in creating one of the most memorable roles of any genre. It is a film that stands scrutiny from any perspective and, if anything, gets better with time. Many seeing it for the first time often talk about being underwhelmed, but years later they are still thinking about it, and that is what makes it such a classic.
Decinemal Rating: 81
Only the warped genius of John Landis could have divined the best of British humour with the fine tradition of Hollywood monster movies of the 30s and 40s. Here we have a Carry On Werewolf meets Lon Chaney jnr. It shouldn’t work either way, but… it does. Not filmed on a huge budget, starring one David Naughton who is famous for… literally nothing else (Sharknado 5, anyone?) and B-list underdog Griffin Dunne, it had one big creative as a plus (other than the director). His name is Rick Baker. The quintessential master of “real” make-up and prosthetics across 30 plus years of Horror, Sci-fi and quirky auteur movies. He has won no less than 7 Oscars in his field, this being the first. I was 8 years old when this came out – and it still gives me nightmares! Yes, I watched it way too young and wear the unhappy scars to this day. The transformation scene from man to wolf alone, is enough to leave anyone, even in 2022, in open mouthed awe, questioning “how did they do that?”. It is gross, spectacular and truly unforgettable. I remember the dream sequences best; the fever that leads to the above image, and the dream within a dream that left us all going: “Holy Shit!” along with the protagonist. It is brutal and gory, but is also a workable romance (thank you Jenny Agutter), has a killer soundtrack and enough laughs to raise the dead. For a go to Horror romp for the ages, this is the one. More or less the only one! An absolute cult classic in any tangible sense. Want to watch it now? See you next Wednesday…
Decinemal Rating: 74
For me, this movie is as seminal in the Horror genre as E.T. was in the family Sci-Fi genre. And both would make my top 10 of what the 80s in cinema meant. No list of the best Horror movies ever would be complete without it. Why? Well, the story is great. The pacing is spot on. The mystery unfolds in just the right way to keep you hooked. Besides all this, a movie family never felt so bonded, which made us care in every moment. Plus… it is really f***ing scary. A little girl talking to the static on her TV, a clown doll under the bed, objects mysteriously moving around at night, a midget clairvoyant with a high pitched voice, and a climax that famously involved real human skeletons (yep, they were not props – not even the actors knew that at the time). It also came with a mythos that lasted the test of time. The set was cursed, they say. Many members of the crew got ill or even died. A few sequels later, even 12 year old Heather O’Rourke tragically passed away, leaving the Horror geeks and freaks with a lot to talk about. That in itself always made me sad that the boundary of cinema and the real could merge in such a macabre way – ask Linda Blair about it, too. Yet, most importantly, this remains an entertaining film 40 years on. For the time, the Oscar nominated effects were phenomenal, and I believe many new Horror writers could learn a lot from studying this fine screenplay.
Decinemal Rating: 72
John Carpenter. Halloween. The Fog. Christine. He pretty much is the cinematic Prince of Darkness (which he also directed in 1987). His best, however, is this 1982 chiller, set in the remote ice of Antarctica. Being alone in a location with a mysterious killer is a mainstay of tension movies. One by one they drop and the culprit is checked off the list of survivors as we go. We are not only watching a movie but playing a game. Can we outsmart the writers and uncover the truth before the big reveal? That thrill and communal experience has made this 80s classic a big winner with future generations. Chances are you won’t guess what is really going on until too late, and by then you have been scared out of your Winter boots! Some of the best ever jump scares in a movie that earns them this side of Alien. Although, let’s face it, this movie is Alien on ice, pretty much. At an iMDb of 8.2 it is the second highest rated film on this list. Proof that no one that watches it doesn’t get what it is or fails to be drawn in to the well paced intrigue. Cult for sure, but it has transcended that tag in the last 20 years to become merely Vintage Horror Sci-Fi. Kurt Russell, also the star of Carpenter’s Escape From New York / LA is an out and out cowboy movie star in this; eating the screen with charisma in every scene. For those that have never seen it, or not seen it in a while, go back and watch that ending again… what is really going on? Have we even truly decided that? Love the ambiguity!
Decinemal Rating: 72
Cronenburg is the undisputed king of the body Horror. But his imagination often gets the better of him. The scripts don’t usually match his vision, but in this remake of the classic Vincent Price story of a man merged with a fly he gets it all so right. An economical film at a mere 96 minutes, it feels like he has packed all of his best moves into an inspired greatest hits of gore. Undeniably your enjoyment of it comes down to two things: the incredible make-up and special effects (note that this is the last film on this list that doesn’t utilise CGI effects), and the uniquely sympathetic performance of Jeff Goldblum, who embodies dread, pity and the tragedy of failed ambition to sublime effect. No matter how horrible he becomes, we still remember Seth as opposed to the Brundlefly. Credit also goes to Geena Davis, who is much more than a heroine / love interest in danger / distress. She plays her part with a depth that defies the scream queen cliche and sets a new high bar for actresses in this kind of role for the future. Try not to squirm with audible discomfort as Goldblum plucks his puss-filled nails off his fingers, or finds yet another loose tooth. His twitches and verbal ticks are something I actually used to try and imitate to schoolfriends to freak them out. Iconic, and beyond that, just a really really good film.
Decinemal Rating: 77
Fast forwarding a full 12 years, this choice not only epitomises the trend for found footage shockers, but also adds a touch of cultural diversity to the list. I was thinking about The Blair Witch Project and the like, but this is simply a better film. Not to include something Japanese in the list seemed wrong, so much have they done for the unsettling in cinema. This unique (at the time) surprise hit has spawned dozens of inferior copies, including the American remake starring Naomi Watts – which is OK too, but lacks an essence of the bizarre the original has in spades. The trick is that you are given a terrifying premise and allowed to let let it fester in your brain before anything remotely scary is shown, other than silence and space (two of the most terrifying things we know). We are told that anyone that watches a certain video will die… this may or may not include us, as we watch. By the time we do see it, that idea is so insidious that everything in our psyche is screaming to turn it off! But… we don’t. We have to watch, hearts pounding. What is shown could then be anything. What is shown is skin crawlingly strange. It is beyond our comprehension. And then it comes out of the screen. Almost literally. Genius. Such a shame that repetition of the idea diminishes the impact. Still, it remains a pretty cool Halloween costume. All you need is a white sheet and a lot of black hair.
Decinemal Rating: 71
When I saw this at the cinema in ’99 I found it both underwhelming and a little annoying that everyone was saying how great it was. I don’t know if it is because I was brought up on Hitchcock and other twist filled movies, but I saw the secret as plain as day about half an hour in. I never thought it was a bad film, I just didn’t like it as much as everyone else seemed to. 23 years later and I have to admit it is very well executed and one hell of a watchable and rewatchable film. Knowing the secret does not actually diminish the joy of it. It has some incredibly memorable scenes and some great acting. Haley Joel Osment is of course phenomenal for his age, and even Bruce Willis attempts to do some serious acting quite well – but it is Toni Collette that makes this movie for me. Her performance is pitch perfect, imbibing the story with so much emotion. From a directing point of view, Shyamalen never managed to recreate all the cinema tropes he likes to steal so well. The clues with the colour red, camera angles, uses of music, close-ups and silence to point to a scare – non of these are original to him, but he makes a fine collage out of borrowed memes. It is a satisfying film, accessible to anyone, and that is its selling point. It has a longevity that almost none of his other films or films in the same ilk have. The 3rd film on this list to make the iMDb top 250, I have to include it. In a pop culture sense it is an indispensable Halloween movie. For the strength of the ubiquitous line “I see dead people”, it deserves its place alone.
Decinemal Rating: 75
Post millennium scares started to get a little smarter, subverting our ideas of what monsters, vampires and, yes, even zombies could be. How it took until now to have the idea that the undead could move fast instead of slow is beyond me… but Danny Boyle took that basis, mixed it with a universal fear of an apocalyptic pandemic and made an instant classic. The opening scenes of a world turned upside down are rivetting. Tense, ambiguous and creating questions in your mind without spelling them out. What happens to the rules of society if there is no society? Does morality even still exist when survival is the only currency? By the time we get to the high octane chases and frenetic violence our hearts are already stressed to the limit. The red eyes of the infected are so iconic. As is the title; the very idea that it would only take 4 weeks for everything that makes you feel safe to disappear entirely. The Britishness of it only adds to the believability for me. Cillian Murphy was a bright star waiting to emerge, and this role went a long way in cementing his career. The supporting cast are also great. There is so much to admire, even if the ending doesn’t quite tick every box of complete satisfaction. The journey is much more than the destination, but nevertheless this is a top movie to show to someone who has never seen it.
Decinemal Rating: 71
The next decade and a half in Horror after the early 2000s almost killed the genre. There was nothing of serious worth going on, merely blood and more blood, or jump scares without substance. A good script almost seemed taboo, it was not a good time for fright fans. The mobile phone generation seemed to demand more and more thoughtless thrills over anything subtle, which pushed me away from almost anything claiming to be “scary”. That was until the re-immergence of film-makers intent on turning scares back into an artform. Jordan Peele’s Get Out is where the movement pivots, but the films of Robert Eggers and Ari Aster have done just as much to breathe life into the formula. And it is the debut movie of the latter that impresses me most. Full of strange, unsettling moments that we don’t quite recognise, the bizarre ending alienated a lot of people that felt they had been cheated into watching a different film than they were expecting. But going back a 2nd, 3rd and 4th time, you realise all the clues are there to make this not just a haunted house story, but a trauma on a supernatural scale that is off the charts! Moments from the beginning now raise the hairs on my arms now I know where it goes. Subtle, deep and relentlessly giving of sublime detail. I love it. And also… Toni Collette again should really take a bow. A few rookie errors in pacing aside, this is a demonically inspired first film from Aster, who may prove the heir apparent of the genre long into the future.
Decinemal Rating: 73
I hope you have enjoyed my list, and feel inspired to comment on the ones you agree with or the ones you would replace. Of course, 12 of the best is never enough, so in conclusion here are my near misses that I considered. Looking forward to your wicked thoughts! Happy Holloween!
The next 12 of the best… scary movies:
(Some higher Decinemals were demoted based on how scary I find them… note, scary is not the same as creepy or freaky! it may be a better film – just less scary to me)
Don’t Look Now -1973 – Decinemal 79
Carrie – 1976 – Decinemal 71
Invasion of the Bodysnatchers – 1978 – Dcml 74
Halloween – 1978 – Decinemal 72
The Fog – 1980 – Decinemal 73
The Orphanage – 2007 – Decinemal 73
Let the Right One In – 2008 – 78
Drag Me to Hell – 2009 – Decinemal 70
The Babadook – 2014 – Decinemal 71
Get Out – 2017 – Decinemal 73
A Quiet Place – 2018 – Decinemal 70
Midsommer – 2019 – Decinemal 70
The 12 that didn’t fit…
(Genre problems / wrong Halloween vibe, too similar to another film, not scary enough or lower than 70 Decinemal Rating)
Frankenstein – 1931 – Decinemal 75
Dracula – 1958 – Decinemal 68
Psycho – 1960 – Decinemal 78
The Wicker Man – 1973 – Decinemal 73
Jaws – 1975 – Decinemal 83
Alien – 1979 – Decinemal 84
The Silence of the Lambs – 1991 – Decinemal 76
Misery – 1992 – Decinemal 77
Audition – 1999 – Decinemal 69
The Blair Witch Project – 1999 – Decinemal 67
Scream – Decinemal 69
Saw – 2004 – Decimemal 66
* note – to clarify, although some films in the next best and “don’t fit” lists have higher decinemals than those in the main list, they have been chosen as the best films to watch considering all factors of entertainment as well as quality and the full criteria of what is… scary!
Feel free to disagree or add other suggestions in the comments. These lists are always flexible and never claim to be definitive.
Shantih Kx
The Wasteland 