My Top 10 Horror Movies (1-5)

by Dave Squires
(Surrey)

1. Halloween...'The blackest eyes, the devil's eyes' for a start, and the most terrifying music f any film. Once a normal six year old boy, Michael Myers kills his sister. On Halloween night, Michael is back in Haddonfield to kill his younger sister, Laurie Strode. The sight of Myers stalking houses on Halloween plus the scene in which he is standing in a doorway covered in a sheet...very creepy.

2. Scream...'Don't kill me ghost face, I wanna be in the sequel'. Perhaps not and out and out horror movie, but there are many reasons to love this film. The ghost face mask, the opening scene in which the biggest name in the film (Drew Barrymore) gets terrorized and killed. From that moment on, we know that all bets are off! The references to other horror movies, hidden or otherwise. The absolute genius of 'the rules of how to survive a horror movie'.

3. Dawn of the Dead...'When there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth'. What makes a great horror movie? Well, the first time you see it, it should scare the heck out of you, and this one will. It is without a doubt the best zombie film ever made. A brilliant follow up to Night of the Living Dead. Most of the action takes place at dawn in a shopping mall where our survivors are safe from the living dead until a large group of redneck bikers turn up and ruin everything. The film doesn't really have an ending, which makes Day of the Dead even more disappointing.

4. Candyman...'What's blood for it it's not for shedding?' Again, the first time I saw this film I found it very scary. The Candyman is an urban legend, son of a slave, but the legend appears to let us know he was real! The creepy buildings in the projects add to the tension. Can you look in the mirror and say 'candyman' five times?

5. The Mist...'There's something in the mist'. You can't have a horror list without a Stephen King film in it. This is my favorite and in my opinion the most underrated. What's more frightening - the monster in the mist, the mist itself or the self-proclaimed prophet and her group of followers who have sided with the monsters. The choice of music for the final few minutes of the film couldn't be better. Then there's the ending that will leave you shell shocked!