Makes you jump out of your skin. Review on Five Best Hollywood Horror Films

Well it is Halloween so hear they are as ever in no particular order. Once again these are my views and so no offense to anyone who doesn't share them.

1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

This film by Tobe Hooper is the tale of several college students who while wandering round the country side fall into the clutches of Leatherface and his infamous chainsaw. Once you've seen this film you will realise that Leatherface was the inspiration for several modern day slasher villains and that TCM was one of the first of the genre of the slasher film. Although not as gory as some of todays films (mainly due to the lack of special effects available in those days) it still has some good examples of slicing and dicing and the actually movie does have some good moments of tension.

2. Halloween

This is the film that introduced Mike Myers, no not the comedian, but Michael Myers the serial killer. Like Leatherface above Michael is the epitomy of pure evil. Michael begins his life in the movie as a young boy who one halloween murders his sister and her boyfriend. He is then sentences to an asylum from which he escapes 21 years later and on halloween goes on a murderous killing spree. This film is another good example of one of the first slasher films and what makes it stand out is the cinematography and the background music that really does create a very scary atmosphere. Halloween also gave rise to a number of sequels some better than others and made a household name of Jamie Lee Curtis.

3. The Shining

Based on a novel by Stephen King this is the tale of a boy, Danny, who is a ''shiner'' i.e. he is psychic. His father jack takes Danny and his mother Wendy to a remote hotel for the winter where the father has a job as a caretaker. There is something very evil in the hotel which is picked up by Danny. The hotel has an interesting effect on Jack who essentially starts changing into this really evil character and then the race for survival is on. Made by Stanley Kubrik this film isn't actually very gory but is extremely scary. Jack Nicholson has given a truly great performance as Jack and you actually think he is as evil as he looks. This is one film that truly scare me.

4. The Exorcist

The Exorcist is supposedly based on a true story. The film tells the tale of a girl called Regan who is possessed by the demon Pazuzu and the efforts of two priests Father Karras and Father Merrick to exorcise her. This is probably the definitive film on possession and almost all other films on the same subject draw heavily from it. Although some of the effects are now quite laughable it is still a very disturbing film and one which does make you sleep with the lights on.

5. Scream

I like scream not because it is scary because it really isn't but because it turns the entire genre on its head and laughs at it. Scream essentially came around when slasher films had been reduced to the many many poor sequels of Halloween, Friday the 13th etc. Scream invented the modern slasher movie by giving us victims who essentially know the rules and sometimes get one up on the killer who is not always as adept as he should be. The story is about a killer targetting a girl Sidney and literally killing anything else in its path. The ending is quite unpredictable and Wes Craven has done and excellent job in reinventing the slasher film

Also worth a mention is

Rosemary's Baby

Made by Roman Polanski this film is the story of a young married couple who move into an apartment block where they become friends with their neighbours who are a nice elderly couple. One night the women has a dream where she finds herself making love to the devil and becoming pregnant. Over time she becomes convinced that her husband and neighbours are all devil worshippers and that they plan to use her baby as part of their ritual sacrifices. Whether this is true or she is just very paranoid is not explained until the end which is very good. There is no gore in this film and all the horror is purely psychological. A must see for all horror fans.

These are just a few which I personally like. There are others too which should possibly be up there and which deserve a mention. These are

John Landis's An American Werewolf in London

Friday the 13th

The Evil Dead

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (not the remake)

Nosferatu

Also a mention must be given to Hammer films who in the 70s and 80s churned out some real classics of the genre such as the Brides of Dracula, Twins of Evil and the Devil Rides Out.

Enjoy your Halloween and don't get too scared.