Films that frighten

At WEEKEND we love three things: Halloween, lists and creepy children. And anytime we can combine those three things, we just have to do it. Thankfully, a list of the best horror/scary/Halloween/whatever else you want to call them films does the trick. Below, WEEKEND staffers give their two cents on cinema’s scariest.

“Psycho” (1960) - Arguably the greatest psychological thriller of all time, this Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece based on real life serial killer Ed Gein has the same effect that it had during its release nearly 50 years ago. – Doug Evans

“The Shining” (1980) - The very definition of “psychological horror”. Stephen King’s sometimes boring novel was perfectly adapted for the screen by a renegade Stanley Kubrick who is at his most creatively vital here. Not only the greatest horror movie of all time, but a candidate for the greatest movie. – Brad Sanders

“Let the Right One In” (2008) - In a decade when Edward Cullen and the men of True Blood are dominating the main stream as today’s perception of vampires, the Swedish film “Let the Right One In” challenged American audiences by being a film that took being a vampire seriously. Some remarkable special effects and even an eerily touching romance will make this film one of the all-time greats. – Brian Welk

“The Exorcist” (1973) - Um, it’s a fucking exorcism. – Adam Lukach

“Night of the Living Dead” (1968) - Walking zombies seem so commonplace today, but if it were not for this George Romero classic, there would probably be no walking dead. This movie gave us the formula for how many times you need to kill someone before they are really dead: twice. – D.E.

“Halloween” (1978) - This movie is fantastic because there’s ultimately very little to it. There’s barely any origin story. We don’t know much about Michael Myers. What we do know is he kills teenagers. Turn up the awesome. – B.S.

“Blair Witch Project” (1999) - Maybe it’s because the kids I went and saw it with convinced me that it was real, but this movie scared the hell out of me. The amateur documentary style was really original and helps to lend a more real, close to home element to the movie. – A.L.

“Rosemary’s Baby” (1968) - Roman Polanski showed what will happen if you make a pact with the devil: you will have his baby. – D.E.

“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974) - Trumps every other backwoods redneck murder movie by a long shot, a truly terrifying genre masterpiece. – B.S.

“Poltergeist” (1982) - Directed by Tobe Hooper, this film exemplifies haunted house horror. A family is tormented by ghosts, and their only savior is a midget woman who is just as scary as the spirits she tries to rid. – D.E.