For our second installment of “our fave flicks of all time,” we’ll take a look at a genre that isn’t often taken seriously, perhaps that’s for the best: the horror film.
TAYLOR: I love a good horror flick. Sad thing is, good ones don’t come along very often. What usually happens, is the same old formula: walking around in the dark, calling or searching for someone or something, followed by a shock. I would much rather you just showed me the evil. So for my first flick pick, I choose Night of the Living Dead. Directed in 1990 by makeup guru Tom Savini. This exact remake of George Romero’s 1968 classic has two advantages over the original, colour and gore. Some of the acting is cheesy, but the film treats the subject seriously and puts it in a modern light.
HOWE: I dislike the “walking around in the dark, calling someone’s name type of scare,” otherwise I would have liked The Chernobyl Diaries. What gets me on the edge of my seat, are the psychological horrors, the ones that play with people’s minds. Movies like What Lies Beneath starring Harrison Ford, who’s ghostly past is going to catch up with him in this mystery/horror.
TAYLOR: Others that cut the mustard are: the Exorcist, (although quite slow, it’s unforgettable,) The Ring, (which is another horror/mystery,) Event Horizon, (which is about a spaceship that returns from hell,) and finally, what many consider to be the scariest film of all time, John Carpenters’ The Thing. Now, it’s only fair to warn you, I’m not particularly scared of anything in reality, (except stupid people in positions of power,) but these films gave me the heebie jeebies.
HOWE: I did enjoy the Thing. Good call Mr. Taylor. Well if you’re going down that route, I would have to put Clive Barker’s Hellraiser in there. Made in 1987, the effects are pretty bad, but it has a very interesting storyline which includes an unfaithful wife, a zombie lover and a Rubik’s cube from hell.
TAYLOR: If you like your horror with a bit of intentional humour, as opposed to being laughably bad, you can’t go wrong with Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead 2. It’s ridiculous and in my top 10 favourite movies of all time. Bruce Campbell’s depiction of a lone man fighting off a forest full of invisible demons deserves it’s place in every horror fan’s heart. I also thought Cabin in the Woods was funny. It should be released on DVD soon.
HOWE: And just to finish things off, we can’t forget the master of scary.
He has written bazillions of books and a fair few of them have been made into TV shows or movies. Some are good (The Shining and Misery), some are downright terrible (Secret Window and It). Yes I am talking about Stephen King. He teamed up with George A. Romero for the cult classic, Creepshow. If you can find it, get it, turn the lights off, sit back and enjoy a few laughs with your scares.
Brian Taylor and Peter Howe are The Morning Star’s film reviewers, appearing every Friday and Sunday.
