31 Movies in 31 Days

Host: Lauren

Prompt: 31 Horror Movies in 31 days

Recommendations of Horror Movies.

Okay, so I’m going to keep to the 31 rules by listening franchises as one and not 2 or 4 separate movies. These recommendations are in no particular order.

Full Disclosure – I would probably die first in all these horror movies. No doubt about it. I’d see something, scream and nope so hard the movie would just stop right there.

I’ve always loved horror movies – my sister and I watched tons as kids (back when age restrictions weren’t so rigid and everything). We used to walk to the dvd store, pick out a few, maybe scrounge up a few extra coins to buy a packet of microwave popcorn and then watch the movies in our room. I know – super old-sounding or whatever.

There’s a few staple things I like in horror movies:

• Creepy kids or creepy things happening to the kids
• An innocent family moves into a haunted house and things™ happen to them.
• Kids’ songs being used creepily. Especially if the trailer has a kid’s song with actual kids singing it gives me all the heebies jeebies and the possibility of my watching the movie triples.
• Mythology or some background/plot that you can tell has been researched fully and not just thrown in.
• Jumpscares!!
• Music scores!! Done right!!

 

1. Insidious franchise
   • Even though The Last Key wasn’t as good as the others, the entire Insidious franchise is pretty excellent. I mean, Lin Shaye is fantastic and then you have a bit of Barbara Hershey too?? And then there’s astral projection involved – which has always both freaked and intrigued the heck out of me.
   • And the song – Tiptoe Through the Tulips – creeped me out to the nth and then my fantastic sister went and played the song loudly right next to my ear when I went to sleep.
   • And the music – or the soundtrack that went with the movie is fantastic – like all that creepy, eerie loud music whenever something scary happens will send a chill down anyone’s spine.

 

2. The Haunting in Connecticut franchise
   • My sister and I actually watched the second movie (Ghosts of Georgia) before we watched the first one and I enjoyed the second one more than the first one. But both are pretty good. I swear, I could watch like a hundred movies about a family moving into a nice house, not knowing the horrors that await them and then throughout the first half hour of the movie they get these little nudges of weirdness – doors opening and closing randomly, cold spots, things like that.

 

3. IT old and new
   • I’ve watched the original, and while that one was big creepy – the whole spider scene and Pennywise in the library – which I remember I saw in another movie I watched after that but can’t remember it (the library).
   • And the new one was fantastic!! Those kids were amazing and I can’t wait for the second half – especially since I know Isaiah Mustafa will play Mike. And if the first half (of the new movie) scared the crap out of me – first of all that first Pennywise scene and then that room full of clowns, the second one is bound to scare me a whole bunch more.

 

4. Rose Red
   • Now I remember taking this movie out when my sister was at a friend’s house – probably my third or fourth time watching this. I’d buy some popcorn, close my door, close the window shutters, and turn off the lights. Why? Because I was that weird of a child. It absolutely freaked us out as kids.
   • Rewatching this mini-series now, it’s not as scary as back then. I can understand why I thought it scary as a kid. But having grown up and watched tons and tons of horror movies, this movie doesn’t even seem that scary.
   • Also, I really want to read this book (or books like this) as the mini-series is giving me extreme vibes for a paranormal team investigate haunted houses. But I read that it was only ever a script, so that’s just sad.

 

5. Annabelle franchise
   • This one is more about the second one than the first one. I was disappointed by the first one but delighted to see the second one made up for it. Also thrilled that Miranda Otto was in it – did you guys know I’m a huge Lord of the Rings fan?
   • The first one flopped due to the plot but the second one brought the franchise back – adding extra scares and actually fleshing the plot out, even linking it back to the first one.

 

6. Orphan
   • I watched this one without knowing what it was about – like I didn’t read the synopsis so I literally went in blind. And man, am I glad I did. This is definitely one you could watch without reading the synopsis.

 

7. The Midnight Man
   • I watched the trailer for this over and over again and the movie lived up to the trailer – and it had Lin Shaye in it, so I was happy.
   • Also, do these idiotic teens have nothing else to do than play a game they found in a box? Like if you find a paper that has old bloodstains on it, I think that’s a pretty good reason to put the stupid thing back in the box????

 

8. The Exorcism of Emily Rose
   • I’m pretty sure my sister told me not to watch this as a kid, but I’m a rebel and decided to anyway.
   • The movie had a lot of what happened after Emily died, with flashbacks and court evidence allowing us to see what happened to her – which is an interesting take on a movie, rather than starting with the person as a normal person and then following them as they become possessed.

 

9. The Skeleton Key
   • This movie is so good – it’s set in New Orleans and it has the culture seeped into the movie.
   • It’s definitely a good movie if you like endings with a plot twist that’ll leave you with a wtf face at the end.

 

10. The Grudge franchise
    • I suppose you can’t really talk about horror movies without talking about this throat-screeching (or whatever you call it) movie.
    • I remember the first time we watched the first movie it was on TV and my sister and I were so scared at the ending that we ran to the lounge where my dad was also watching it and finished it with him.
    • And then I remember with the second movie – even now I don’t like to look under the covers – just in case.

 

11. The Veil
    • I don’t think this one is really mentioned when you talk about horror movies – but I quite liked it. And it’s got whoseherface from The Whispers and Fringe. And Jessica Alba.
    • Anyway, so it’s about this woman who goes back (with a documentary team) to where she grew up. Sounds simple, right? Nope. Turns out she grew up in a cult! And I know that makes me sound weird – but cults are interesting from a psychological point of view – charismatic leader and so on and so forth.
    • And their leader, Jim Jacobs, created a drug and forced 47 people to commit suicide to, I dunno, ascend or something. Let their souls flow or whatever. Which obviously makes for a whole bunch of angry ghosts. But the girl – the main character, didn’t die, soul survivor and all that.
    • So, they all go back to the area to see if they can find out what truly happened – and of course creepy things go down.

 

12. The Conjuring franchise 
    • I watched the first movie with my friends at a sleepover. My one friend had a cousin and the cousin’s friend over too. Now I didn’t know them from a bar of soap but by the end of the movie we were holding each other from the fear!
    • The second movie, while good, didn’t hold the same thing as the first movie. But it did add some build-up to the spin-off (The Nun) – just as the second Annabelle did.

 

13. The Boy
    • The trailer for this looked so good I couldn’t wait to watch it. Creepy kid? Check. Creepy doll? Check. Creepy doll whose parents act like its their kid? Check check.
    • I haven’t watched this in a while but I still remember that it’s a good movie. Definitely worth a rewatch.

 

14. Mama
    • I don’t know who the first person was who decided creepy kids were the perfect add for the horror genre, but we applaud you.
    • I like the fact that we didn’t really see the entity until late into the movie – rather we saw the kids ‘playing’ with Mama or maybe a shadow or a moth, representing Mama. Built up a lot of suspense, though.

 

15. The Village
    • My sister and I watched this one as kids and I think I had to watch it maybe three times and have it explained to me by my sister before I sort of fully understood it. But what a plot twist it was! The story’s, of course.

 

16. Grave Encounters
    • I definitely prefer the first one to the second one, mostly because both take place in the same setting and the guy who plays The Ass Formerly Known As John Murphy is in the second one, so meh for that I guess (I’m also still in the 3^rd season so I’m not sure if Murphy redeems himself).
    • Now, obviously the characters in these movies do not understand the concept of haunted building, right? Well, they find that out!

 

17. Hide and Seek
    • I remember this one as a kid. De Niro and our kid favourite Dakota Fanning.
    • I also watched this recently and realised I probably never understood the ending as a kid – probably the same with nearly all of the horror movies I watched growing up.

 

18. Sinister franchise
    • Anything to do with creepy kids is the kinda movie I wanna watch.
    • But really, these kids aren’t only kids that weird things are happening to them, they’re kids who have done creepy things themselves!!

 

19. The Shining
    • Even though Kubrick was a bit of a d-bag to his cast, the movie’s still good. There’s a reason why Nicholson is the best (movie) Joker and he shows why he’s so fantastic in this movie.
    • Creepy to the bone, mysterious enough to keep you on your toes and more than enough scare factor to keep you awake and away from hotels for a good few months.

 

20. The Mist
    • I watched this one in the lounge, with headphones on because it has a lot of swear words (like a ton) and I was sobbing at the end – like a full-on sobbing session that lasted ten or so minutes. And I’ve never wanted to watch it again. I know there’s a mini-series, so maybe I’ll try that.

 

21. Paranormal Activity franchise
    • Sure, there’s like 5 or 6 movies and basically all of them tie in with each other (but just like a faint of a tie at the end – which doesn’t make sense as to how they all tie in but I suppose it makes for a fun ‘wtf face’ on the viewers faces). And it’s really fun to sit there and watch hours of footage (mostly sped up) just to see a glimpse of a shadow or something.

 

22. The Ring franchise
    • I remember when this came out I was so scared of the TV, DVD player, and the VCR for like 2 weeks – I literally thought the chick would come out of the VCR like a piece of slime and then rematerialize on the carpet. Wild imagination, I know.

 

23. Cabin in the Woods
    • First of all, Chris Hemsworth and Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) is in this so that’s all fantastic.
    • This movie plays up on the stereotypes you usually find in a slasher film – jock, nerd, virgin, pretty boy, etc – which is what makes this movie good.

 

24. The Others
    • This has Nicole Kidman in and I just love her (or more accurately her voice). Kidman gives such a fantastic performance in this, definitely something to make me watch again.
    • It’s peppered with just enough mystery and a few smalls twists to the story that’ll make you go ‘wtf?’
    • I just finished this movie (as I’m busy writing this) and if you haven’t watched this movie, you definitely have to now!

 

25. 1408
    • This has Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack and sure, that’s incentive enough to watch the movie.
    • It’s also about this true crime writer who visits haunted buildings and finds out whether they’re haunted or not.
    • It’s got a The Shining vibe to it which is pretty cool.

 

26. Carrie (1976) and (2013)
    • I dunno which school these girls went to but while girls do walk around in their underwear in the locker room after P.E., we don’t throw things at each other?
    • The mom is just a tiny bit too much, but I suppose it makes you feel for Carrie.
    • So this movie is all about finally knowing what people mean when they say Carrie at the prom – I mean, that’s what I thought when I finished it.

 

27. The Babadook
    • I remember watching this movie, not knowing at all what it was about…and then I got to the mom reading the book (like the story of The Babadook, or you read it and he’s summoned, I guess) and I knew I was hooked.
    • The Babadook is pretty similar to the Boogeyman, something else that is creepy – done right in Sinister.

 

28. Final Destination Franchise 
    • I’m not sure if these are true horror movies or just scary movies but they’ll go in here.
    • It’s all people who cheated death and now death finds a way to kill them in all the most gruesome ways – so make sure you’re not eating or drinking anything while watching this, otherwise you’ll be put off your food/drink.
    • My favourite death is the gymnast in The Final Destination (2009)

 

29. Get Out
    • Movies like this are why I’m glad I don’t date – just imagine if something like this happened to you? And I’m sure there have been cases like this before!
    • I did love the music in this – the instrumental score – on par with my needs for horror movies (i.e. they need to sound scary, need to lift the very hairs on your arms and back of neck, you know what I mean?).
    • I liked how they added hypnosis in it – and by doing so probably made the viewer tired/groggy too.

 

30. The Open House 
    • I liked the song in the trailer and Dylan Minette is cool so I added it but beyond that I don’t understand the concept of the movie?
    • This movie sets a creepy tone because it revolves around the idea of an intruder – much like Hush, another one I enjoyed – and of course that’s just messed up – the idea of an intruder in your house. And the intruder’s moving things around which probably wouldn’t even work with me as I don’t remember where I put things – so if I found something of mine in another place I would just think I left it there.
    • Though it’s good, most of the movie seems to be slow. There’s tons of build-up, though, which can be good as it builds a lot of suspense for the end – but then that end needs to deliver. And it did – the end, it did deliver.

 

31. Pan’s Labyrinth
    • I don’t think this is classified as horror but it’s definitely on the verge which is why I’m adding it. The dialogue and story’s in Spanish, but it’s just so hauntingly beautiful. And also scary – the Pale Man used to haunt my dreams after watching that.
    • I remember watching the special features on the dvd and Del Toro said the main theme’s meant to be a lullaby – something to soothe one to sleep. And he’s right. Sure, you’ll have the weirdest dreams, but you’ll be out for the count.

 

That’s my list of horror movies (so far). Sure, there’s tons that I haven’t watched and there’s tons that haven’t come out yet that I really really wanna watch, but that’s the case for another day.

What are some horror movies that you’ve watched you wish you hadn’t? Or some you wish you could watch for the first time again? Tell me in the comments!

 

So Long and Thanks For All the Fish