Horror Films

Does everybody remember the good ole' days of youth? When you would secretly steal your brother/sisters/family member's copy of Freddy Krueger or Jason or Chucky and watch in the middle of the night, during a sleepover? I sure do! (Thanks Marissa!! haha). I was eight years old, at my friend's house and we watched Nightmare on Elm St. 1, 4 and 5. Needless to say (I am a big wimp anyway) I was scared. For two weeks I looked under my bed for Freddy! Although it scared me, I found it exciting. There has always been something about being scared, getting that jolt that gives your body the adrenaline rush. When you get that fight or flight feeling your body releases dopamine in your blood which acts as a natural pain killer ( gotta love the human body). But what is it about a horror film that get's your heart pumping even more blood? Is it the guts? The story? These are my top ten horror films, (whether you consider it a horror movie or not I don't care...because in film they are considered horror!):
10. Nightmare on Elm St. http://youtu.be/Adgp0v_mfTk
9. Friday the 13th http://youtu.be/2S8YFTcEDME
8. The Hills Have Eyes http://youtu.be/JdYas_8EDZM
7. Evil Dead http://youtu.be/dtsK7skqk9U
6. The Exocrist http://youtu.be/YDGw1MTEe9k
5. Night of The Living Dead http://youtu.be/5gUKvmOEGCU
4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre http://youtu.be/Vs3981DoINw
3. Psycho http://youtu.be/NG3-GlvKPcg
2. Frankenstein http://youtu.be/tTNN5h8CG_Y
1. The Shining http://youtu.be/I6qDqdYY6-Y.

These are the some of the first really jolting scary films. Everybody has their own opinion on it, but to be honest these are the ones that really started it all. Now I know I didn't include such great films as; Rosemary's Baby, The Birds, The Wolfman, Dracula, The Bride of Frankenstein, Halloween (original) , Hellraiser, Black Christmas, The Last House on the Left, Scream, I could go on. But these where really the ones that scared me in my youth. As you might have noticed I didn't put down any new horror films...and I did that for a reason, although they might be "boo scary", they don't really have an originality that a lot of the old ones do. I most definitely give Eli Roth credit for coming up with new ideas, and having wonderful respect for old horror films. But a lot the production companies and film director's aren't using any new formula, they're all using the same shit that we all grew up on. Honestly I think it would be better if production companies stopped coming out with horror films for a little while and actually took the time to come up with something that would truly be scary! That's one of the reasons why we have such AMAZING classic horror films, because they didn't just put one out every five months from each other, they took the time to write something truly frightening. Words of Wisdom for the wicked;
10. "All of us have our individual curses, something that we are uncomfortable with and something that we have to deal with, like me making horror films, perhaps."-Wes Craven.
9. "I am not a fan of brutal, ugly horror films. I don't like them, I don't enjoy them."- Sean S. Cunningham.
8. "Horror films don't create fear. They release it."- Wes Craven
7. "Audiences really don't go see a lot of movies - except in L.A. and New York I think, and maybe one or two other cities, maybe Chicago - where there are foreign-born, foreign-speaking actors. That's just the culture we are."- Sam Raimi
6. "Today, movies are as visual as they've ever been, but they don't make any sense! They've got no heart, very little story. The dialogue is very often a little bit above a grunt...now, for the most part, people just stare at the screen for two hours and it's like opium for the eyes and you're not moved at all...it's an escape from reality. So there it is."- William Friedkin
5. "My zombie films have been so far apart that I've been able to reflect the socio-political climates of the different decades. I have this conceit that they're a little bit of a chronicle, a cinematic diary of what's going on."- George A. Romero
4. "You've got to send a physical sensation through and not let them off the hook. I like to make it faster and faster and faster and pumping and banging until I get into you."- Tobe Hooper
3. "Fear isn't so difficult to understand. After all, weren't we all frightened as children? Nothing has changed since Little Red Riding Hood faced the big bad wolf. What frightens us today is exactly the same sort of thing that frightened us yesterday. It's just a different wolf. This fright complex is rooted in every individual."- Alfred Hitchcock
2. "A director must be pretty bad if he can't get a thrill out of war, murder, robbery."- James Whale.
1. "I can't honestly say what led me to make any of my films. The best I can do is to say I just fell in love with the stories. Going beyond that is a bit like trying to explain why you fell in love with your wife: she's intelligent, has brown eyes, a good figure. Have you really said anything? Since I am currently going through the process of trying to decide what film to make next, I realize just how uncontrollable is the business of finding a story, and how much it depends on chance and spontaneous reaction. You can say a lot of "architectural" things about what a film story should have: a strong plot, interesting characters, possibilities for cinematic development, good opportunities for the actors to display emotion, and the presentation of its thematic ideas truthfully and intelligently. But of course, that still doesn't really explain why you chose something, nor does it lead you to a story. You can only say that you probably wouldn't choose a story that doesn't have most of those qualities."- Stanley Kubrick.