QUITE FRANKLY DOES HORROR FILMS

Getting in the spirit of Halloween, we’ve conjured up our selection of favourite horror films and scenes for your viewing pleasure.

Bobby

‘The Conjuring – James Wan (2013)’

“Horror films give me nightmares. I don’t like nightmares and I don’t like horror films. But on a recent masochistic dip into the genre I watched three films. All of them gave me nightmares. The first was the best: The Conjuring. Tongue firmly in cheek it makes you smirk, makes you laugh and then makes you jump out of your seat, spilling your beer all over your girlfriend’s lap.”

Lucy

‘The Others – Alejandro Amenábar (2001)’

“I’d have to go with The Others. I’d choose a good ghost story over classic ‘horror’ any day and this is my favourite! I was living in Spain when this came out – it was shot almost entirely out there and comes from a Spanish director, so maybe that’s part of it’s appeal for me. Everyone I know likes this one!”

Andrew 

‘Don’t Look Now – Nicolas Roeg (1973)’ 

“A Nicolas Roeg thriller set in the dark and moody streets of Venice starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, with a particularly scary achondroplasic. It’s haunted me for ages!”

Claire

‘Rosemary’s Baby – Roman Polanski (1968)’

“A true classic in every sense of the word. Ruth Gorden plays the scary neighbour, it’s such a great film.”

Jez

‘The Shining – Stanley Kubrick (1980)’

“The Shining is pretty strong.”

Lies & Sitara

‘The Omen – Richard Donner (1976)’

Lies: “The Omen! Directed by Richard Donner, just thinking about Damien makes me shiver! I am not a horror fan but this film is brilliant… What makes you uncomfortable is what you don’t get to see. Your imagination fills in the gaps with more horror than what the film is able to!”

Sitara: “I’m with Lies on this one, I think for me it would be The Omen that scares me the most. I find the underlying suggestions or theories more scary than gruesome horror films!”

Ben

‘Disturbia – D.J. Caurso (2007)’

“I’m not a huge horror movie fan, which is really down to my overactive imagination! I end up creeping myself out for days after when walking along, so if I can avoid them, I try to. Plus, I’m not great with blood, ha! I’m much more of a thriller fan, and one of the best I’ve seen is Disturbia with Shia Labeouf. I’ve seen it a good few times now, and each time it never fails to put me on edge. Last time I was on a long-haul flight, I thought it would be a great idea to put it on, save to say it didn’t help catching up with any sleep on the plane! The scene where they’ve broken into the house and the radios go down is so tense!”

Lora

‘Carrie – Brian de Palma (1976)’

“I have always loved a really good scary film – but monsters, aliens and zombies just make me laugh, so it has to be more along the lines of the supernatural for it to genuinely frighten me. I accidentally watched Carrie when I was about 9 or 10 – don’t call social services, Mum and Dad were working in the restaurant downstairs thinking I was fast asleep! Little did they know that as soon as I could, I’d get out of bed to watch TV. To this day, it’s one of the most terrifying films I’ve ever seen. I remember not sleeping well for a long, long time, but I couldn’t tell anyone else I’d have been in trouble! The Prom scene has some deeply questionable effects and split-screen editing, but it’s still very scary!”

Sam

‘The Witch – Robert Eggers (2015)’

“For a long time horror was very much my go-to genre when it came to film. Nowadays it’s very rare that a scary film comes anywhere close to the classics like The Birds and Psycho, but The Witch, directed by Robert Eggers is one of my more recent favourites and I’ve watched it a few times already. Rural America in the 1600s sets a very eerie stage and though it lacks typical jump-scare moments, the tone of the film is very unnerving and keeps you locked in and unsettled throughout.”

Alex

‘Candyman – Clive Barker (1992)’

“My favourite horror and one that still gets me they way it did when I was 13 is Candyman. Countless times I stood in front of the bathroom mirror at sleepovers showing my friends how you contact the Candyman! Then chickening out at the end when it all became a bit too real

My favourite scene is when Helen meets Candyman for the first time in a car park. I love it when horror unfolds in the daytime, it’s so much scarier. “Be my victim, I am the writing on the wall, the whisper in the classroom.” I still can’t say it five times in the mirror!!”

Ben P

‘Evil Dead II – Sam Raimi (1987)’

“Unlike the others (and almost everyone I know), I have never been big on horror films. My favourite horror film is something a little bit out of left field as it is not really scary, but I enjoyed it immensely when I was young and even played a video game based on it all the time. Although I hugely appreciate the classics such as The Shining and Halloween, I’m going to have to go with The Evil Dead 2 (1987, Sam Raimi). The first movie in the trilogy really started off this cult classic series but I feel like they honed this unique style of horror/comedy in the second one, with Bruce Campbell being absolutely fantastic throughout the trilogy.

The laughing scene where Ash breaks into a psychotic laughing fit, together with all of the cabin’s furniture and ornaments is a great example of this over-exaggerated comedy style mixed with some really twisted imagery and over-the-top gore.”