A bit of a mini-essay here, sorry.
As horror is a genre that relies so much upon ‘the unknown’, I think there is a lot of well-regarded ‘suspense filled’ horror that is actually quite boring on a rewatch when you are very familiar with it. For example, The Shining. Also, to a lesser extent, The Thing. Yeah, I said it. Come at me, bro! Every time I watch both I must confess that I find myself craving for the good bits... and I know you all think the same, don’t lie to me!! A lot of modern horror is therefore
more rewatchable, even thought it’s
less suspenseful. I only mention this as I think it affects what I would chose to watch during the Halloween season. I seriously doubt that many people that put themselves through watching The Shining every year and not get bored of it.
A lot of well-regraded horror is also extremely outdated. I finally got round to seeing Don’t Look Now (a supposed classic) and was so underwhelmed. The most notable thing about it was an unexpectedly raunchy sex scene.
The point I’m making is, effectively,
don’t just stick to the ‘classics’.
Similarly, I think a lot of people would enjoy the genre a lot more if they were honest with what they wanted out of it. Do we really always want to be really scared? For most of us... no, not really. We are there to be entertained, principally, but also there for a
good time. There is so much fun to be had if you loosen your parameters of what makes a good horror.
For example, I recently watched Wishmaster (1998) and think that is exactly the sort of ridiculous film that makes for a fantastic Halloween horror. It was
hilarious. You could tell they had an absolutely super time making it. I really don’t care what anyone else thinks, Wishmaster gets two thumbs up from me
Scream (1996) is a forgotten great horror film. Yes, it’s been parodied beyond belief by films like Scary Movie but if you go back and watch it again, you’ll realise that Scream
itself is a very smart parody of the slasher genre whilst also succeeding as a slasher film in its own right. There’s a fair bit of dialogue where the cast are discussing what they should and should not do if they
were actually in a horror film, which all flew right over my head when I watched it as a nipper. The intro scene with Drew Barrymore is also highly memorable
Other examples of playful horror include Cabin in the Woods, The Return of the Living Dead (easily the best zombie film IMO) and Trick R’ Treat. Light up your pumpkins and give them a whirl!
For those that insist on watching something with a bit more edge, then the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre is surprisingly chilling/disturbing.
Other excellent horror films off the top of my head:
The Grudge (American remake)
Hereditary
The Conjuring Universe films (all very watchable - except the first Annabel film which was poor)
Insidious
Saw (the original film - the sequels are merely ‘fun’)
The Sixth Sense
The only sub-genre I don’t really like are those with shock sexual/rapey violence or that are unnecessarily depraved. I remember getting hold of a copy of Cannibal Holocaust and watching it with a bunch of university friends with a bunch of beers. You know, in the usual ‘let’s all have a laugh’ way. Well, it was just a thoroughly depressing/miserable/upsetting watch, in the worst way. Completely the opposite of what we were looking for and one to avoid. If you must satisfy your morbid curiosity, be aware that it has a lot of upsetting footage of slaughtering real animals for the ‘lolz’. As in, not fake / special effects, but real recorded death. It’s worse than it sounds.
All of that nastiness aside, horror is a great genre as a whole and perhaps my very favourite. All hail horror
Edit - ooo I can definitely recommend the TV show the Haunting of Hill House on Netflix. That’s great!
