Top 10 with Gavin: Gavin Shares His Top 10 Horror films

Movie Quote- “Herrrres Johnny!”

First and foremost, it must be mentioned that Jack Nicholson is the man!! A movie that clocks in well over three hours delivers every kind of scare a person can want from a horror film.

“The Shining” is probably the quintessential horror film that uses the slow spiral into insanity tactic. The movie is full of great performances other than Jack Nicholsons. Shelly Duvall kills it as Mr Torrence’s wife and the little son delivers the movies biggest phrase “Redrum”.

If aliens came to earth and The Shining is the horror movie that represents the genre, I could not argue with that.

Movie Quote-“Bad luck isn’t brought my broken mirrors, but by broken minds”

Horror Art, or  Beautiful Murder are two things I always say when describing Dario Argentos 1977 cult classic “Suspiria”.

You realize while watching this film that it is not just a movie but a peace of art work. I’ve seen this movie so many times, and everytime….its been alone. The reason is, it’s a movie almost exclusive to people who are horror nerds.

The characters are almost secondary to the actual plot and imagery in the film. Theres a lot of bright colors, bright blood, erie sounds and strange camera shots. The movies first kill scene still holds up as one of my favorite all time clips in movie history.

So that says a lot! In conclusion, if I ever find a woman who loves this movie as I do, I think I found the one.

Movie Quote- “Your mother ate my dog!”

Dead Alive is probably the goriest film of all time. There i said it. If gore is your thing, then this movie is for you. But to me, that isn’t the movies biggest merit.

The movies most effective tool is the humor intertwined in the film. You can have the mic back in a moment Shaun of the Dead, but Dead Alive is the funniest horror film of all time….of ALL TIME!! After showing this movie to folks I always end it by saying this.

“It was directed by Peter Jackson”. Minds then blown.

Movie Quote- “When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth”

George A Romero is one of the kings of horror. And without a doubt, the king of zombie films. Long before people were creaming themselves to social statements in The Walking Dead, George a Romero was doing it in the 60’s and 70’s. And might I add, infinitely better than The Walking Dead.

In the sequel to Night of the Living Dead, its one of the first movies to have a brother as the lead hero in a film. And he is without a doubt a really cool hero at that. This is a social statement that at the time was indeed taboo. It took an incredible amount of brass to make the social statements that Romero did in this film when not many people are standing behind you.

In 2012, it’s far too easy for shows like American Horror Story and Glee to make obvious social statements when you have a legion of supporters behind you. But anyway, I digress, Dawn of the Dead is one of the most epic horror films of all time. It’s probably the most fun someone can have watching a horror movie. Plenty of scares, gore and action! Zombies plus a mall and you.

After the movie is over you and your friends can have that age-old debate, what would you do? So grab some popcorn, a few beers and sit down and have a good time. I’ve done that to this movie numerous times!

Movie Quote- “That’s the last god damn hitchhiker I ever pickup”

This movie is dirty, grungy, unsettling and just plain awesome! The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is widely remembered as one of the bloodiest movies of all time.

But here’s the thing, there’s almost no gore in the film! That’s what talent in film-making can do. And for that reason, it makes the director Tobe Hooper a genius. This movie is so creepy because it’s based on a true events. You watch Nightmare on Elm St or Friday the 13^th amongst others and feel better by saying, “oh that wouldn’t or couldn’t happen!”.

After all, zombies vampires and demons aren’t real. Every little thing that occurs in this movie can actually happen. This is also a movie that could have perhaps made me an ass man. The character Sally has quite the gluteus on her. And there are plenty of scenes where you are watching her run away from you.

Again Tobe, you genius bastard. The best part of this movie is the fact that 90% of it occurs during sunny daylight. So escape and safety always seems attainable.

But if you think that in this movie, you are as my friend Biggie once said, dead wrong.

Movie Quote- “They all float down here, and when you’re down here, you’ll float too!”

Coulrophobia is a fear of clowns. I didn’t even have to look up the spelling to the word because I am someone who suffers from this. But let’s be real, who out there actually likes clowns? Other than Joe Dirts mom?

Stephen King is a twisted maniac for giving the world a character that is a monster clown who eats kids. Wow! I never thought I would ever have to type that sentence.

I’ve seen the movie on a couple occasions as a child and was always completely petrified and the outcome was me in a puddle of sweat. Something had to be wrong. I was watching this movie one time with my friends and one of my friends fathers. At one point my friend’s father looks over at me, seeing me sweating like I’m in the Tour De France and says“Are you ok?”.

I was not ok. And this movie is not ok.

Movie Quote: “I love you Henry” “I guess I love you too” 

This is the biggest “what the fuck?” movie you could ever watch. I almost didn’t want to put this movie on the list because, well, someone could really think less of me for this one.The movie is based on the real life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, who is probably the most ruthless serial killer ever.

This is a movie that when it was all over and the credits were rolling I just sat there in a trance from what I just watched.

The movie has that kind of impact on you. Henry, as well as IT are two movies I’ve only seen a couple times. This isn’t a movie you can watch more than two or three times because it’s just that horrifying. And that unto itself makes it onto my list.

I recommend it, but only so I can look at you and say “Wasn’t that shit fucked up?”

Movie Quote- “I never felt unhappy…because I have been unhappy all the time”

Asian directors are the only ones doing horror right these days. And Miike Takashi gives us this here gem. This isn’t one of the dozen dead Asian girl movies who haunt houses and crawl through TV sets for revenge.

This is pure brain torture, and you will love it. It’s hard to describe this movie without giving any of it away. I certainly would not want to do that with this film.

Let me just say this, Christopher Nolan of the Batman franchise is clearly influenced by Miike Takashi’s work because he took the idea of his Joke and look from Takashi’s film “Ichi the Killer”.

I’m not saying Christoher Nolan isn’t talented, but the point is, if Christopher Nolan likes this guy enough to lift some of his work, you know his films are something special.

Movie Quote- “We just cut up our girlfriend with a chainsaw. Does that sound fine?”

Evil Dead 2, is probably the most popular movie that appears on my list. A lot of people have had a chance to see this masterpiece. And if you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing this, have you ever heard someone say they didn’t like Evil Dead 2?

I didn’t think so, because it’s never happened. Bruce Campbell delivers one of the most memorable and funny performances in horror movie history and garnered the notoriety of being one of this biggest names in the genre. This film is the perfect mix of scary, gore, and funny.

I call it Scorny. I got nothing, I’m flaming out.

Movie Quote- “Filthy Billy, I know what you did nasty Billy!”

It’s hard to say exactly what the first slasher film was, but in most circles the common consensus is it’s 1974’s Black Christmas.I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t it Halloween? No, it is not. Alice in Chains is to Nirvana as Black Christmas is to Halloween.

Halloween put the genre over the top but certainly wasn’t the first and only successful slasher film. And I for one have always been an Alice in Chains kind of guy.This film is dirtier, more tense and a bit more violent. And ultimately superior in my humble opinion.

I’ve always said that if you take away the score from Halloween it isn’t nearly as effective. So if you want to sound smart like you are a horror geek like your boy. Give Black Christmas a watch and run around telling everyone that it’s better than Halloween.

You would be douchey, but hey, at least you would be correct.