Wednesday 29 October 2014
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| Photo courtesy of: Duncan Harris |
It’s that time of the year – Halloween, my fellow earthlings. One tradition we do during Halloween, no matter where we come from, is to watch good ol’ horror movies. That’s exactly why I’ve prepared this list of movies that I highly recommend you watch this Halloween season.
As an Asian, I know there is a stereotype that Asians make a mean... weird... sometimes, nasty horror movies. But let me be the one to tell you that they are indeed really scary, which is why I’ve included some of them in this list. However, most of the movies that I will recommend are English movies because, well, it’s a good way to learn the language (although foreign movies with subtitles also help you with spelling)! So let’s get this list started:
(In no particular order of scariness)
1. Insidious (Chapters 1 and 2)
Scariness: 9/10
I just watched this recently and man, I regret putting this one off. This is a story of a kid who has the ability to astral project and unfortunately, he got trapped in the further. I do not want to spoil anything and so all I can tell is this made me scream and scared of my own shoulder.
2. El orfanato (The Orphanage)
Scariness: 7/10
This is a Spanish horror film by the Guillermo del Toro, the same producer of Pans Labyrinth (I also recommend this movie). You know those movies with a sad ending that makes you hate the movie? Well, this one is different. I guess I already hinted that this movie will have a sad ending, but like I said, this one is extraordinary. This is a story of a family who moves into an orphanage house and turns it into their home. One day their son goes missing and a mystery of the mother’s past plays into this accident. After I watched this movie, I literally felt sad for at least a solid 2 hours. That’s why I recommend this! Not that I want you guys to feel sad. Maybe I want you guys to feel sad so you will know how it feels like to lose a son.
3. Shutter
Scariness: 9/10
So this one is a Thai movie. And if you ask me which one of the Asian countries makes the meanest scary movie, I’d say Thailand for sure. This movie is so scary the US decided to make an American version (so you can watch that one too), though I really recommend the original because of all the elements. Anyways, this one is a story about a couple who become hunted when ghosts started showing up in the photos they take.
4. Phone
Scariness: 6/10
This one is a Korean movie and I think they go second after Thailand when it comes to scariness of horror movies. Phone is a movie about, and I quote wiki, “a complex and disturbing love story that involves possession and ghosts.” Sorry, I don’t even know how to summarise this for you. Even Wikipedia says it’s “complex”. I’ll tell you one thing though, moments near the ending you’ll be like “whaaaaaaat??”
5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Scariness: 5/10
I’ve only seen the 2003 version and not the 1974 one. This is a slasher movie and if you’re not into that, you can still watch this. Because, well, this is far from being gore. In my scale anyways. This is a really sad and just...sad movie to watch. Couple of friends got massacred. I guess people like me watch it for the adrenaline! But hey, there’s a few screams in this movie.
6. Silent Hill
Scariness: 7/10
I watched this one when I was a kid and so it was pretty scary for me. Till now though, I would not watch it by myself. This movie is based on a video game, but I’m telling you this one is really scary. A woman brings her daughter in a town called Silent Hill in hopes of curing her daughter’s illness. After an accident, she awakens only to find out that her daughter is missing and the rest is ghost story for you to watch. Yeah, that right. I’m not telling you anything. I dare you to watch this and roam the hospital hallways. Alone.
7. The Conjuring
Scariness: Unsure
I’m a little unsure how to rate this one because everybody says this is one hell of a scary movie, so scary that people would have to talk to priests or would need a bible on their bedside table after watching the movie. I’m not saying that it’s not scary. It is, because I really remember myself not being able to go to the bathroom alone. Hehehe. Anyways, you can watch this one alone (if you have the guts) but it won’t linger like others have proclaimed. Right, back to the summary. This one is about a family who are terrorized by ghosts in their house so paranormal investigators come to help them. Oh, and Annabelle is a doll form this movie who is getting her own movie this October! I think this will be a good one because it’s a real doll. Dun.dun.dun.
A list with seven movies is a little odd (pun intended). However, I ran out of good scary movies to list (please don’t judge my definition of “good”). I just don’t want to list some scary movies here that do not have a good plot. And a lot of the scary movies I know are either psychological thrillers or super duper gore ones. You can also notice that The Grudge and The Ring are not on the list. That is because I do not wish, even on those people that I dislike, to get traumatized. Yes, the grudge and the ring are really scary for me that I wasn’t able to sleep silently after watching it. I even know people who won’t really watch it because of how scary it is.
And so that’s it my fellow earthlings. Go ahead and at least watch one from this list! Make you sure you watch it at night and get some home buttery popcorn ;)
- Anonymeh
“A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
