Tips for picking the best movies for Halloween
By Ruby Perez
Special to the Pinnacle
Halloween is one of the most favored holidays, filled with trick
or treating, carving pumpkins, attending costume parties and
visiting
”
haunted
”
houses, telling scary stories, and best of all, watching scary
movies.
Mixtures of feelings erupt when it comes to watching these
thrillers. Some love the adrenaline rush that comes with a good
scary movie, while others hate how their pulse begins to increase
when an axe-wielding maniac is chasing an hysterical girl.
Sometimes viewers are in the mood for a movie that will make them
laugh or one that will make them cry. But sometimes they just want
to watch scary movies for their suspense and nail-biting scenes.
Scary movies are watched for their fear factor.
Tips for picking the best movies for Halloween
By Ruby Perez
Special to the Pinnacle
Halloween is one of the most favored holidays, filled with trick or treating, carving pumpkins, attending costume parties and visiting “haunted” houses, telling scary stories, and best of all, watching scary movies.
Mixtures of feelings erupt when it comes to watching these thrillers. Some love the adrenaline rush that comes with a good scary movie, while others hate how their pulse begins to increase when an axe-wielding maniac is chasing an hysterical girl. Sometimes viewers are in the mood for a movie that will make them laugh or one that will make them cry. But sometimes they just want to watch scary movies for their suspense and nail-biting scenes. Scary movies are watched for their fear factor.
When surveyed a majority of people – or at least the high school students interviewed – said they experience feelings of fear, excitement, suspense, and adrenaline when watching scary movies.
For some, the draw of horror flicks is that they offer a glimpse of something out of the ordinary. Jasper Falmog, a senior at San Benito High School, said he finds the idea of taking something simple such as a doll, and turning it into something evil and outrageous is completely amazing, referring to the “Chucky” series. Falmog said it takes a lot of imagination to achieve something “very different from just a normal genre.” However Falmog also said some movies become just “too much” when factors such as gore get out of hand and the film just becomes cheesy and slightly disgusting.
While Falmog analyzes the artistic value, others just enjoy the movies. Cameron Angelo, a senior at San Benito High School, said thrillers are “fun to watch because it’s fun to see people killed and tortured because you don’t see it everyday.” Angelo said he loves the suspense that he feels when watching scary movies, and likes the out of the ordinary plot lines.
San Benito High School Senior Shaely Chakarum also finds scary movies enjoyable.
“I think they’re great,” Chakarum said.
Chakarum finds movies such as “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” fun to watch because they get her heart racing. Though she does not necessarily care for scary movies, Senior Christina Garibay says the scariest movies are those that are more relatable to life. Movies such as “When a Stranger Calls” are what make her most frightened because she believes that while babysitting something like that is possible.
Personally those based on true stories are what scare me the most such as “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” or “The Strangers” because those are the ones based on true events. But how does someone pick the perfect scary movie for Halloween night? There are so many horror or Halloween films to choose from, viewers could easily end up with a movie that’s cheesy or a plot that isn’t as exciting as expected, or one they just don’t like. I’ve compiled a list of personal picks with input from other horror fans that I hope offers something for the scary movie viewer in us all.
“Halloween Series” (1978)
The posters on John Carpenter’s horror film warned “The night HE came home.” This truly disturbing film centers on a 6 year old who brutally murders his sister, then gets institutionalized and locked up. Now the boy is all grown up and seeks revenge on Halloween in the same town and on the same street. This movie is named Halloween and is born for the part of being THE MOVIE to watch on Halloween, the classic has the right amount of suspense and Carpenter knows how to bring chills.
“Texas Chainsaw Massacre” Remake (2003)
A group of young people are driving to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert in Dallas, Texas when they encounter a girl so disturbed she shoots herself. Traumatized, they stop in bumpkin Travis County to find help, and eventually they are picked off by a cannibalistic chainsaw-wielding maniac. Though not better than the original, it has the gore factor many find entertaining and like when watching horror films.
“The Shining” (1980)
Based on the book by the man who is the King of horror, Stephen Kings’ “The Shining” centers on a family of three who move into the Overlook Hotel as caretakers. Here at the Overlook Hotel the last caretaker was known for brutally murdering his two daughters and wife. The movie is a psychological thriller that leaves one wondering who is a reliable observer in the story – and what is true and what is fiction.
“Carrie” (1976)
The Shining was not Kings’ first book to be adapted for the big screen. That honor goes to “Carrie” The film focuses on outcast Carrie White who becomes telekinetic when angry. Always being tortured at school by the popular girls, White is the ultimate outcast at school and struggles to keep her powers at bay. Her anger keeps growing until a prank is pulled during her prom, leaving her humiliated. Soon her anger becomes uncontrollable and she makes sure everyone pays. This movie shows the true cruelty of high school and is a modern-day tragedy.
“The Others” (2001)
Though this film is not full of blood and gore, “The Others” is truly a great thriller film where the suspense never stops coming. The story centers around a woman named Grace and her two children who reside in a creepy mansion that is always kept dark due to her children’s rare disease. After hiring new caretakers because the previous one mysteriously disappeared, Grace and her children begin encountering strange things.
