My love of horror started when I was very young, probably around 9 or 10 years old.  It started by my watching “Thriller Theater” on TV every week where they would show mostly Hammer films, but sometimes they would throw in some Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, and Peter Cushing.    And then I started reading Stephen King and I was hooked.

So without further ado and not in any particular order since they all have their own qualities and it’s hard to rank them, here are my favorite horror movies:

1.  The Shining – Kubrick, Nicholson, and Stephen King (although revised).  What a combination!  And those twins still creep me out.

2.  Suspiria – I really hate it when your ballet school is actually a front for a coven of witches.

3.  Thirst – I also really hate it when you’re kidnapped by a cult who think they’re vampires and then proceed to try to brainwash you into thinking you’re one too.

4.  28 Days Later – Ah.  The movie that introduced me to dreamy Cillian Murphy.  Easily, for me, the best zombie movie ever made.  I also love the soundtrack and listen to it often.

5.  Shaun of the Dead – The second best zombie movie ever made.

6.  Halloween – John Carpenter version, not the Rob Zombie version although I do like his version as well.

7.  Halloween II – Again, John Carpenter.  I haven’t seen the Rob Zombie version yet.

8.  The Changeling – Not to be confused with the Angelina Jolie movie (although I did like that movie as well and it’s definitely not a horror movie), this is a ghost story. A very very spooky ghost story.  Freaked me out.  Good times.

9.  Scream – The first time I saw this film, I thought the opening was brutal and unexpected and it really made me uncomfortable.  I loved it!  It had me at hello.

10.  Scream II – Not quite as good as the first, but it didn’t disappoint.

11.  Scream III – Loved it!  Never saw the ending coming.

12.  Final Destination – When death has your number, what can you do?

13.  The Ring – Damn creepy.

14.  Theater of Blood – Vincent Price classic where he’s an actor who decided that he had one too many bad reviews.  So along with his daughter (played by Diana Rigg) he exacts his deadly revenge against all the critics who panned his performances.  I particularly enjoyed the creativity in which they did away with each one.

15.  Dracula – I call this the “hot” Dracula version – the 1978 version.  Yes, Frank Langella was quite the sexy young Dracula…  and that voice!  Hotcha!

16.  Grindhouse:  Planet Terror – Any movie that replaces a leg with a machine gun on a stripper is on my list.

17.  Evil Dead 2 – I know a lot of people thought Army of Darkness was the best one, but I have a soft spot for Evil Dead 2.  Better than the first one, and not as polished as Army of Darkness, but it has a certain charm.

18. Poltergeist – I saw this again recently and it still gave me chills.  One of the many many reasons why I don’t like clowns.

19.  The Omen (original) – When your child ends up being the son of the devil, bad times lie ahead.  Why aren’t there support groups for these sorts of problems?

20.  Psycho – I have just one word :  classic.

21.  Rosemary’s Baby – This one is a little unsettling to watch after having a baby.  But I still like it.

22.  The Sixth Sense – This scared me in the theater and to this day, I can’t watch it at night.

23.  Frailty – This one’s sick and twisted and I like it.  It’s about a father who with his sons, kills demons hiding as people because God told him to.

24.  House of 1000 Corpses – This is the movie that made me a Rob Zombie fan.  I’d like to have a drink with him one day and talk horror movies.

25.  The Devil’s Rejects – The sequel to House of 1000 Corpses.  I like that it was done in a totally different style than the first movie and focused on the killers.

26.  An American Werewolf in London – I can’t hear “Bad Moon Rising” and not think of this movie.

27.  The Nightmare on Elm Street – “One… two… Freddy’s coming for you….”

28.  Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – I love the London Tim Burton created; dark and gloomy with a hint of twisted.  Oh ya – Johnny Depp’s not bad either.

29.  April Fool’s Day – This film has a fun premise.  And I liked the song at the ending credits.  Still haven’t found it to purchase though…. maybe I should try itunes?

30.  Fright Night – My favorite vampire movie from the 80s.  Again, I also liked the soundtrack.

31.  From Dusk ‘Til Dawn – My favorite vampire movie from the 90s that made me really wish I looked like Salma Hayek.  I also have to imagine this has one of the highest body counts of any vampire movie out there.  You can tell it had to be a blast to make.

32.  Interview With The Vampire – I was one of those people not convinced that Tom Cruise was the right one to play Lestat.  I was hoping for Julian Sands.  But Tom did okay.

33.  Quarantine – scary.

34.  Willard – the original version.  This one was on “Thriller Theater” quite a bit.  It should serve as a reminder that rats may act like your friends, but in the end, they’re soooo NOT!

35.  The Others – excellent ghost story with a twist.

36.  The Craft – I don’t know why, I just like this movie.

37.  Tales From The Crypt:  Demon Knight – This movie introduced me to the bald Billy Zane.  He is one man who absolutely should not have hair!

38.  Sleepy Hollow – fun.

39.  Cat People – good soundtrack with Malcolm Macdowell in it.  Good combination.

40.  The House on Haunted Hill – the newer version.  It’s a lot sicker than the original.

41.  The Haunting – the original.  Scarier and made more sense than the remake.

42.  The Amityville Horror – I also read the book and it scared me so much I couldn’t allow the title to show from the bookcase so I put in backwards.

43.  The Rocky Horror Picture Show – I LOVE Time Curry!

44.  Carrie – I like this one because it’s actually pretty sad if you think about it.  All Carrie wanted was to be accepted, but she had a crazy Mom and telekinesis… what can a girl do?

45.  Joy Ride – Be careful what you say to truckers for fun over the good ‘ole CB radio… you never know what they’re capable of.

46.  Jeepers Creepers – when you see someone dump what looks like a body into a well, call the police and get the hell out of dodge.

47.  The Silence of the Lambs – This came out at exactly the same time I was considering a career as a psychological profiler for the FBI.  I decided that if I had to carry a gun to work, the job was probably too dangerous for my liking, even though I would totally love to study psychotics.

48.  The Descent – This movie reminds me that I’m making the right choice by not getting into spelunking as a hobby.

49.  Something Wicked This Way Comes – I enjoy this one for sentimental reasons as it scared me as a youth.

50.  Psycho II – of course not as good as the first one, but it held its own.

Perhaps the geekiest thing I do with movies is once I find a movie I really really like, I have to see it a billion times.  I’m not sure why.  Perhaps it’s an addiction.  And the movies never get old.  The very first movie I watched a billion times was when I was very young and VCRs were new and there was a war between Beta and VHS.  I  was probably around 8 years old.  It was Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band starring George Burns, Paul Nicholas, Frank Howerd, and wait for it… The Bee Gees.  I absolutely loved that movie and watched it over and over and over and over again on the trusty VHS – the first version where the tapes were huge.  It was an easy movie to memorize since the only dialogue belonged to George Burns between songs.  

A few years ago I watched it again to see if it had the same appeal.  When I was young, I thought it was a truly great movie. What wasn’t there to love?  You had The Bee Gees, Beatles songs, Aerosmith, Alice Cooper, a girl named Strawberry and a guy named Mr Mustard.  What kid doesn’t like characters named after food?  As an adult, I find it a “so bad it’s good” movie.  There are movies that are so bad, you can’t help but love watching them, marveling at their badness.  So although I have a different appreciation for the movie, I still like it, but I rarely watch it.

Another movie I’ve seen a billion times is, surprise, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  I’ve only seen it a few times at the theater, but a million times at home.  In fact, I was one of the stupid people who paid the full asking price of $80+ when it was first released on video.  Now you can find it for $15 on DVD.  Who knew?  I must have thought it was going to be like a Disney movie where they release it for a limited time and if you don’t own it by the deadline, you’re screwed.  

I remember the very first time I ever saw Tim Curry as Dr. Frankenfurter.  It was love at first sight.  I was 5.  I was watching Sneak Previews with Siskel & Ebert and they were reviewing the movie and discussing how it had become a midnight sensation.  Then there he was singing Sweet Transvestite in all his sexy lingerie’d mighty bad self.  He had me at (throw water at camera) “Well you got caught with a flat well, how ’bout that?”  It was a combination of his makeup, his voice, and that he was wearing women’s underwear that fascinated me.  You don’t see guys like this every day when you’re in kindergarten. I attribute my penchant for drag queens to this moment in my history.  I had that image in the back of my mind for years.  Through MTV, I saw videos and clips from the movie and it excited me. The possibilities!  I had to see this movie!  

The opportunity finally presented itself when I was either 16 or 17 at an old theater called The Blue Mouse.  I’m not sure, but I think I took my 13 (or 14) year old brother with me.  I took him at some point, I just can’t remember if it was the first time I went.  The movie was all I dreamed of and more.  

Through the years I acquired lots of memorabilia.  I bought the soundtrack. Okay, I didn’t only buy the soundtrack, but also the soundtrack that included audience participation, Rocky Horror CD specials including obscure material from Tim Curry and other members of the cast.  I bought the Roxy theater soundtrack.  I still have the “Lips” poster around here somewhere. I saw the sequel Shock Treatment since I just had to know what happened to Brad and Janet after they got married, but sadly, I’ve only seen that movie twice. 

There are probably hundreds of movies I’ve seen multiple times.  One only has to see the size of our DVD collection to believe it.  As an adult, there’s only one set of movies that are approaching Sgt. Pepper & Rocky Horror status.  Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2.  I can’t get enough of those films!  Quentin Tarantino is a genius!  What do I love most about them?  It’s a sick and twisted love story that you don’t realize is a love story until Volume 2.  Even cold-blooded assassins can love, but expect their love to be as sick and twisted as their jobs require them to be.  The fight scenes are awesome. The dialogue is awesome. The soundtracks are awesome.  And now I own both films on DVD and Blue Ray. Ya baby!!!! 

This is just a brief introduction to my movie geekdom.  I’ll write more movie related posts in the future so stay tuned…