What’s Wrong With Having a Little Horror-Fun?
Instead of going to see the latest Saw film this weekend I decided to re-watch the film Drag Me to Hell. I preferred to watch a film I had already seen over one I hadn’t because I felt like it’d be more enjoyable. After watching Drag Me to Hell with my roommate I asked him what he thought. He told me he did not like it. I was surprised by this as it was one of my favorite films of the past year. I asked him why and he told me it was because it was not what he had expected. He expected a scary horror film,and this was more of a “fun” horror film. I wondered what was wrong with a fun horror film since, truth be told there is nothing I enjoy more than a fun horror film.
Horror films like Saw and Hostel (two films of which I am a fan) have their place, but they are so grim that I find watching them to sometimes be a chore. Horror films don’t have to be scary and depressing, like most “torture porn” these days. Horror films can be exciting, funny, and allow you to leave the theater in a better mood than if you saw a good comedy. I thought back to Rob Zombie’s recent remake of Halloween and remembered how depressed I felt afterwards. I missed John Carpenter’s version because it was a spooky good time about a killer, not a look into abusive families and the how horrific events destroy lives.
So I have listed ten horror films I have had the most fun watching over the past thirty years. (I chose the last thirty years as I am still under thirty and do not know enough about classic horror movies like the William Castle and Roger Corman types to do them justice). These are films that left me giddy and excited, and sometimes made me wish I could be in the movie (no one ever wants to be in a “torture porn” film, at least no one I want to know). Some worthy films like Re-Animator had to be removed from my list of ten. These films may or may not be very scary, but to me they sure are fun. I think of Halloween as a fun holiday, so if you haven’t seen these films and are looking for a fun time then check these out.
10. Trick ‘r Treat- It’s a shame that Michael Dougherty’s directorial debut had to be dumped straight to DVD because this film is a blast. Several interlocking stories create an intriguing Halloween mythology. Great performances from classic character actors like Dylan Baker and Brian Cox mix in well with surprise plotting and clever writing. This film doesn’t take itself too seriously and is all the better for it. This film seems more concerned with leaving a smile on your face than scaring you. Hopefully this will find a cult following on DVD.
Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney in Robert Rodriguez' "From Dusk Till Dawn."
9. From Dusk Till Dawn- Let’s admit it, we are all a little sick of the modern, brooding sensitive vampires. Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino make sure to give us some ugly and sleazy vampires who we gleefully see get picked off in extremely gory detail. Few films are as fun as when a group of characters have to standoff against impossible odds using only what they have at their disposal to survive. Mix that with vampires and you can’t miss. This film also has the added benefit of some of the most creative weapons in horror history. A stake stuck on a drill, bullets with crosses on the tips, and condoms filled with holy water are just a few of the techniques used to dispatch the vampires. This film is pure B grade heaven. Too bad the sequels weren’t any good.
8. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon- This mockumentary takes every slasher film cliché and turns it on itself. This film is aware that we know the rules of every slasher film and uses it to mine comic gold. The audience gets to see all the conventions we have seen before, except this time from the view of the killer as a documentary film crew follows around wannabe serial killer Leslie Vernon. It’s a hoot watching Leslie and his mentor explain how he plans everything in advance and is able to slow his heart down just enough to make kids think he is dead through sensory deprivation practice. Nathan Baesel gives a wonderful performance as Leslie alternating between vulnerable, goofy and funny, and scary, sometimes all at once. When the tables are finally turned on the documentary crew, and in turn us, we for the first time don’t know what is going to happen. Even though we know the rules of Leslie’s game, he still is able to surprise us.
7. Shaun of the Dead- Genuinely scary one moment, then fall down funny the next, Shaun of the Dead is simply a great zombie movie. Shaun spends as much time paying homage to the great Romero films as it does mocking the humdrum grind of daily life. The chemistry between stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost benefits from their previous work on Spaced and you get a real feeling that these two characters are great friends and play well off one another. Director Edgar Wright’s swipe cuts and music help keep the pacing swift, and the smart British humor mixes well with sophomoric sight gags. Shaun of the Dead is the best Rom-Zom-Com ever made.
6. Drag Me to Hell- Sam Raimi came back with a vengeance this year when he made this funny exciting film. The jumps don’t feel cheap in this, making this feel more like a funhouse ride than a movie. Seeing Alison Lohman get thrown around and have to face all different kinds of hell is funny and actually makes you jump. Her transition from a sweet farm girl to someone who will do whatever it takes to survive is a wild ride. Raimi uses all of his camera tricks to keep things visually exciting, and this has a great sense of humor (just look at the talking goat demon!). Watching this you don’t know if you should laugh, be disgusted, or jump. That and it has one of the best horror endings in years.
5. Scream- A dream movie for horror geeks. Hits the important horror movie strides with tongue planted firmly in cheek, without a feeling of being self aware. Wes Craven plays with our expectations and manages to surprise us by killing off a star in the first scene and a genuinely surprising reveal.
Drew Barrymore in Wes Craven's "Scream."
The dialogue was snappy and funny, including some great references to films that came before. Although this film lead to countless knockoffs, it felt fresh when it came out. This film showed that a filmmaker can take an old formula and make it feel alive.
4. The Thing- You could put countless Carpenter films here, but this is my favorite. Carpenter focused on making his horror films enjoyable along with scary. Carpenter’s true excellence comes with creating atmosphere and he has never been better at that than he was here in his telling of John W. Campbell, Jr’s “Who Goes There?” An arctic setting creates a sense of foreboding almost the minute the screen comes up. The audience has to keep guessing who may or may not be an alien. The film throws countless red herrings at the audience but they don’t feel cheap. But what really makes the film are the gory special effects. The effects have held up well and are extremely creative. Best of all, Kurt Russell feels like the John Wayne of the snow, fighting enemies at every corner.
3. Dead-Alive- It’s funny to hear people talk about how Peter Jackson is their favorite director when they haven’t seen his early work. Prior to making The Lord of the Rings films Jackson was a mischievous filmmaker who pushed the limits of violence in movies. However, the violence here is so over the top it almost feels like a human cartoon. Although slow in the beginning, the last half is perhaps the most violent bit of cinema ever. Sure it’s gruesome, but how can you take a film seriously in which a character is attacked by a human colon. This becomes an almost live action “Itchy and Scratchy” cartoon, and all you can do is laugh.
2. An American Werewolf in London- This film could be on this list for the werewolf transformation scene alone. But this film has so much else going for it; great European locations, great humor, surreal moments, and a very funny Griffin Dunne as a decaying ghost. This film works wonders as a comedy (the adult theater scene is hilarious), but is great at switching into a top notch werewolf film. Rick Baker’s werewolf makeup shows that perhaps advances in technology hurt special effects instead of aiding them. The traditional effects on display in film here are mind boggling in their complexity and are more convincing than any other werewolf transformation in screen history, even with all of today’s technological achievements.
1. The Evil Dead Trilogy- It’s too hard to pick just one Evil Dead film as the best as all three have their charms. Put together they encompass all that is funny and exciting about horror movies with some of the coolest low budget filmmaking ever put on screen. These films have so much energy they practically jump off the screen. The film has the perfect protagonist in Bruce Campbell’s Ash, who veers from cowardly to brave with a turn of the head. His reactions to the horrors unleashed on him are wonderful and he has some of the most quotable lines in cult movie history.
The comic timing in these films is perfect and slapstick humor mixed with humor may never be topped by this. This film shows all that is good about low budget cinema, and how a lack of resources can lead to creativity. The film’s effects even have a great Ray Harryhausen feel, and provide the ghouls and creatures their own distinct personalities. In these films Raimi not only acknowledged many of the great horror and sci-fi films of the past, like The Day the Earth Stood Still, he also managed to inspire a whole generation of filmmakers and define the cabin in the woods film.
Let me know if I missed some. What are you favorite fun-horror films?
Brendan Cassidy is a contributing writer for The Film Crusade.
Hola , Happy haloween!!