Trever's Halloween movie list

Just posted this on another forum, so I may as well copy it here too! Here's my recommended viewing list for seasonal October entertainment.

(I should note that my preferences in scary movies is that they actually be scary, rather than stomach-churning, so my favorites list is biased towards older haunted house movies instead of modern gore fests)

The original black & white, 1963 film "The Haunting" is one of the scariest flicks ever made. It is rated G. There is no gore, no profanity, and virtually no special effects of any kind. Nonetheless, I can safely promise that it will freak you out if you watch it in a dark room.

Once you have experienced "The Haunting", you will never again be able to hear its absolutely perfect literary introduction without having all the hair on your arms prickle:

Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone

The first comment on IMDB sums it up:

There is no blood, there is no slashing, today this would be rated "G." But, this is the scariest movie, ever. Every time I watch this masterpiece (and I have watched it over 50 times), I see or hear something new.

The density of the black and white is incredible. The camera angles and reflection shots are unsettling. The score is appropriately terrifying, from the ringing of tiny bells to the cannon ball rocking down the hall.

The cast is excellent. The direction superb. This is horror at the peak of perfection--it is in your mind. The only thing better is to read the book by Ms. Jackson on a dark night when you are all alone, and "far from town." As Stephen King said about Shirley Jackson, "She never had to shout." Mr. Wise is to be credited with bringing her whispers to the screen.

Rent this for Halloween. Or, own it forever. I still have trouble getting to sleep after I watch this.

If you want other great haunting flicks that are big on the freaky and low on the gore, I can strongly recommend:

The Changeling

The Legend of Hell House

Scream of Fear

Night of the Demon

Haunted

Carnival of Souls

The Uninvited

I wish I didn't have to go back twenty to forty years just to find movies that could be scary without buckets of blood and SPFX.