Scary Movies For Halloween

The month of October is associated with many things. The baseball playoffs, football, leaves changing colours, Thanksgiving (in Canada) and Halloween. And what goes along with Halloween…scary movies of course.

This started me thinking about what movies I thought were frightening. It seems what was considered scary when I was a kid isn’t thought to be as terrifying by today’s kids. I suppose the same can be said about me with my dad’s generation.

My father has told me the story of him going to the movie theatre as a young lad and being scared while watching Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. By today’s standards, or even 70’s & 80’s standards, that movie isn’t creepy at all but at the time it probably kept kids up at night.

Of course during my youth and even as a younger adult I enjoyed the odd chilling flick from time to time, although it isn’t my favourite genre.

I decided to give it some thought and I’ve come up with my personal list of scary movies of all-time. Some are full-fledged horror movies while others are more suspense flicks that kept me on the edge of my seat. Oddly enough, as scary and creepy as it was, Weekend at Bernie’s didn’t make my list.

Bundy’s Top Ten Scary Movies

10 – The Mist (2007)
Stephen King isn't the master of horror for no reason. Never has a foggy day been more terrifying. The ending alone was worth the ride. Well, the ride wasn't great for some.










9 – The Shining (1980)
This movie freaked me out and when you add in a Jack Nicholson's "Here's Johnny" or "All work and no play" lines, it made for a great movie. Oh ya, another movie based on a Stephen King novel.









8 – The Ring (2002)
I dare you to watch this movie and then pick up the phone when it rings. I bet you can't. Of course having the beautiful Naomi Watts starring in the movie helped to ease my suffering.









7 – Psycho (1960)
Norman Bates taught me to never stay at a family run motel or leave the door unlocked when taking a shower. Just ask Janet Leigh. Alfred Hitchcock set the bar high and is rarely topped.










6 – The Thing (1982)
As a youngster watching this movie, I was terrified. The film follows a crew stationed at an Antarctic base stalked by a shape-shifting alien. The guys head that sprouts legs was a bit unnerving.









5 – Silence of the Lambs (1991)
I don’t know what terrified me more…the cannibalism or never agreeing to put lotion on when asked to by a psychopath. If I didn't like eating liver before I watched this movie, I certainly woulnd't want to eat it after.








4 – Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
I still remember watching this movie in the theatre as a teen and not wanting to go to sleep that night. Freddy might have come for me with his metal knife claws. This was no Edward Scissorhands. Wes Craven at his best.







3 – Alien (1979)
I’ve had an upset stomach before but nothing has ripped open my belly from the inside…yet. Do you think they have problems like this on the International Space Station and they just don't tell us?









2 – Jaws (1975)
This movie kept us from going in the water all summer in 1975. My dad assured me there were no fresh water sharks in Canada. It also produced one of the best lines in movie history, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”








And my Number 1 Scary Movie of All-Time…



1 – Exorcist (1973)
I thought I was having a bad day until I saw that poor girls head spinning, the vomit and Priests freaking out. Of course I watched it all from under my blanket. Pea soup anyone?

So there you go, my choices for scariest movies of all time. Enjoy the movies!

I Miss Scary Movies

Do you remember a time when you could actually be scared watching horror movies or suspense movies?

I have a hard time recalling the last time I watched a movie and was genuinely frightened and found myself looking over my shoulder or under the stairs when it was done.

Perhaps you grow out of it as you get older and your brain tells you that there’s just no way things that used to shock you are real.

I suppose times change and as technology changes so do our ideas of what’s terrifying. My dad tells the story of the time he went to the movies as a young lad and saw a film that scared the living bajeezus out of him. The movie he saw that day was “Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein” which came out in 1948.

The first thing I have to question, were movies actually around when my dad was a kid? The second is how could a movie about two comedians meeting a monster be scary? Perhaps I could convince my dad to take some time to elaborate on that some day. Now "Psycho" was a classic thriller but other than the shower scene...I don't think it was all that scary.

Some movies that scared me when I was younger just don’t have the same influence on me anymore. One picture that comes to mind is “The Exorcist” from 1973. When Linda Blair’s head twisted all the way around while she was possessed by the Devil, I have to admit I was peaking out from under the blanket. Today, knowing what I know about special effects, it just doesn’t have the same effect.

As a kid I can remember plenty of movies that freaked me out. Those flicks include “Nightmare on Elm Street” (the original), “Poltergeist”, “Carrie”, “Jaws”, “Alien”, “Friday The 13th” and “Halloween” to name a few.

I think sometimes the movie makers get too caught up in using special effects to try and create scary creatures when most times the fear comes not from seeing something scary but rather the anticipation and build up to a chilling moment.

Sadly in the last 20 years there hasn’t been one movie that has just terrified me like the good old days. That’s not to say there haven’t been some interesting horror movies that I thought were well done and provided some suspenseful moments. “Silence of the Lambs” and most of the movies about Hannibal Lecter were very good. He is just a great character.

“The Blair Witch Project” was probably the movie that has freaked me out the most since I was a young lad. When the kids started banging on the tent and the main characters went running into the dark, it frightened me a little and that was awesome. Of course I should mention that I watched this movie by myself late at night on Halloween. The best time to be scared.

There are some more recent movies that I’ve seen that have tried to keep the horror genre alive and succeed to some degree. “The Mist” based on the Stephen King short story was very well done and I would recommend it. The ending in particular is shocking. I won’t ruin it for you.

“Cloverfield” is another movie that kind of takes us back to the days of Godzilla without the Japanese style of humour and cheesy special effects of a guy in a costume devastating a small fake Tokyo. The movie is entirely from the perspective of a guy filming the events with a home video camera as they happen. It’s really quite well done and they don’t overdue it by mostly hinting at the presence of the monster.

It’s too bad movies today just don’t seem to have the same impact when it comes to fear. To be honest, the most horrifying movie anyone could make today would be if they filmed the signs at the local gas station as the price continues to rise. Now that’s a terrifying story with no end in sight.

For fun, here are a couple of movie trailers of scary or not so scary movies.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein


Carrie