10. The Thing (1982):

Trailer: The Thing

Based on a short story by John Campbell, and the 1951 Howard Hawk’s film, The Thing is a delightfully terrifying alien movie that is a must watch! The story revolves around a group of scientists in a camp in Antarctica who chance upon an alien spaceship next to which is lying what looks like the frozen body of an alien. They bring back the body to their camp, and thaw it . Big mistake!
Once unfrozen, the rather unpleasant alien starts to transform itself one by one into each of the scientists. The main task now (left to R.J MacReady) is to identify who is human, who is not and to destroy the thing before IT can destroy mankind!
The movie comes from a time where technology did not allow extraordinary special effects but it looks like Rob Bottin has done an incredible job! The cast also performs very well. Carpenter is a brilliant director and story writer and The Thing proves that he truly deserves the title of master of horror!

9. Rosemary’s Baby (1968):

Rosemary's baby- trailer

Rosemary’s baby is a classic twisted horror tale that plays on the psyche of the viewer rather than using gory visual effects to leave a mark! Much of the fear that this movie evokes is psychological and that is the worst kind of fear. The fear of what if…
The movie tells the story of a young married couple, Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and her struggling actor husband, Guy Woodhouse (John Cassavetes) who move into a lovely apartment in New York. The next door neighbours Roman (Sidney Blackmer) and Minnie Castavet (Ruth Gordon in an Oscar-winning performance) befriend the young couple and Rosemary starts to notice that these neighbours are way more friendly than needed. Shortly after a woman commits suicide in the building, Rosemary starts to get disturbing and violent dreams. She discovers that she is pregnant and falls seriously ill and soon finds out that her overtly caring neighbours are infact members of a witches’ coven. Who are these neighbours? Who is this baby who they seem to care so much about?
Lets face it, any director who can take the idea of something as pure as motherhood and transform that into a **spine-chilling tale **deserves an applause! Roman Polanski has created a classic masterpiece that I promise will leave you seriously affected!

8. The Descent (2005):

The descent: Trailer

In an era, where horror movies cease to be innovative and follow age-old story lines and tried and tested methods, The Descent comes as a breath of fresh air. Ironic, considering it is based on life deep deep below the earth’s surface where fresh air is a faint possibility .
It begins by introducing a group of female friends who are, let’s say extremely athletic and indulge in adventurous activities together. This one involves going down a** gaping tomb** where one disaster after another, leaves the girls desperately trying to find a way out. So where is the horror you ask me? Well, The Descent also has some very menacing but believable **monsters **that the girls encounter down there.
All the actors have done a brilliant job and most of the scenes are very well shot giving you an extremely real sense of claustrophobia and despair. The Descent is one movie that has plenty of twists and turns and sudden occurrences that will keep you on the edge of your seat! Trust me when I say this movie will make you scream!

7. Dawn of the Dead (1978):

Dawn of the dead- trailer

The tagline of the movie reads, “When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.” Need I say more? Dawn of the Deadis a gore fest from start to end. And if you love zombie movies, this one is going to be a treat for you.
The movie starts off where its prequel Night of the Living Dead ended, with the dead walking on earth. The movie starts at a television station where we are introduced to Stephen (David Emge), a helicopter pilot, and his girlfriend Fran (Gaylen Ross), both employees at the station, both planning on escaping! Scene two introduces us to Roger (Scott Reiniger) and Peter (Ken Foree), two S.W.A.T. members who after securing an apartment building overcome with flesh-eating zombies decide that they have had enough and want out! Roger happens to know Stephen and thus the four of them head off on a helicopter! They eventually find a mall with supplies that could last them a very long time but …you guessed it…the mall is infested with zombies of all kinds. What follows is a never ending, futile war **between humans and zombies and plenty of **blood and slaughter!

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Dawn of the Dead was responsible for making zombie movies a **full fledged genre **that people started to love. This movie is everything that its prequel was and so much more!

6. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984):

A nightmare on Elm Street: Trailer

“One, two Freddy’s coming for you…three, four better lock your door…five, six bring your crucifix…seven, eight gonna stay up late…nine, ten never sleep again.”
What I personally love about A nightmare on Elm Street (besides Johnny Depp ofcourse) is the unique storyline. The movie tells the story of four regular teenagers in Los Angeles who suddenly all start to have the same nightmare. They see a repulsive, terrifying man with a striped shirt, a brown hat, a scarred face and razor sharp blades for fingers who terrorizes and hurts them in their dreams. The freaky part? The injuries are very very real. Apparently Freddy, played by Robert Englund (the man in the dreams), is a ghost of a child murderer who was killed by the parents of these teenagers and who now wants revenge! The only way to avoid him is to not sleep at all! Because this nightmare is becoming real…
The movie is original, very unique and extremely hair-raising. There have been a couple of sequels but th is undoubtedly the best! It will make you think twice before you fall asleep.

5. Alien (1979):

Alien: The trailer

If you are into sci-fi flicks, this one is definitely worth a watch. Alienis classic science fiction blended with just the right amount of tension and thrills thereby also making it a wonderful horror flick!
The film tells the story of a spaceship, Nostromo travelling in space heading for earth when suddenly they receive a faint SOS call from a deserted planet. Three of the crew members head to the planet and on investigation find a crashed vessel with what looks like no survivors. Instead they find strange looking pods, one of which releases a strange creature that locks onto Kane’s (John Hurt) face. The three rush back to their own spaceship and inspite of the fact that Ripley** (Sigourney Weaver) is against the idea of letting them back in, Ash (Ian Holm) the ship’s doctor allows them to come in. That is pretty much the beginning of the end. What follows is a struggle for survival. And the hope that the humans will emerge victorious! **
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Kudos to Ridley Scott for being the mastermind behind such a masterpiece. Just remember that this movie was created in an era when CGI did not exist. Everything you see is the result of meticulous makeup, set creations and filming technique! And therefore this movie deserves a **pat on its back! **Let me also mention that sequels that followed barely live up to the original. If you like good old school horror, this one is for you!

4. ** Halloween (1978):**

Halloween: Trailer

Halloweenessentially is a low-budget horror flick but that does not stop it from being one heck of a rollercoaster ride! It was the first of its kind to introduce the concept of a slasher, the evil man with or without a funny mask on who basically walks around slashing people.
The protagonist of the movie, Michael Myers starts off young (6 years old) when he stabs his sister to death one night and then spends 15 long years of virtual silence in an insane asylum. What happens next? Michael Myers escapes! He returns to his hometown and goes on a killing spree. Will his psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) stop him in time? Well you’re just gonna have to watch the movie to figure it out.
So if you love slasher movies and mindless multiple killings, rent this movie right now! And really….what better day to watch this movie on than Halloween itself :)

3. Psycho (1960):

Psycho: Trailer

Hitchcock was an inventor, a creator if you may. He loved to experiment, to disregard what society thought normal and introduce them to the new. He was pure genius. And Psycho is one of those movies that bears testimony to the prodigy that Hitchcock was.
Psycho tells the story of a young woman, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) on the run after having stolen $40,000 for her lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin) who is in debt. A night of wanting to rest turns tragic when Marion finds a little motel where she meets a strange shy man Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Norman is extremely controlled by his mother who disapproves of Marion. What follows is one of the spookiest scenes in horror film history. Yes, I am talking about the shower scene, where Marion gets stabbed to death by the crazy, jealous mother. What follows is a twisted, terrifying tale that must be watched to be believed.
This was the first time that the “evil” element in a horror movie was not of another world. It was the first time that the villain was a very real, normal looking human being. Psycho was **revolutionary **in that sense! The shock may wear off with time but I never cease to get amazed at the pure technique of the film! It is a true classic!

2. The Shining (1980):

The Shining: Trailer

The Shining, an adaptation of a Stephen King novel of the same name is one of the few movie adaptations that in my opinion actually does the book some justice! It is the story of a family of three stuck in a beautiful but eerie mountain resort in the winter with no communication with the outside world. As the weather gets worse, Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) starts to act a little evil and then some more till he becomes completely insane and homicidal. The Shining is not one of those movies that will make you scream but is rather a** crazy, disturbing story** that will leave you sweating till the very end!
Stanley Kubrick is a genius and has done a fabulous job of bringing some disturbing yet powerful images to the audience that will leave an impact. There is also some fantastic cinematography by John Alcott.
The movie is frightening in an eerie way. It shattered the notion that your family is your safe haven. Jack Nicholson is extremely convincing as the deranged homicidal character who wants to kill his family. I mean seriously, no one plays crazy like him. Shelley Duvall who plays his wife also does a decent job. But the little boy, Danny Lloyd with psychic powers, takes the “chill factor” up a notch. What is it about little children that makes a scary movie scarier? We will never know!

1. the Exorcist (1973):

The Exorcist: Trailer

Most of you have probably already watched The Exorcist. Maybe even more than once! It remains one of my favourite horror movies of all times simply because none of the exorcism movies that followed ever felt the same.
The story line, by itself for the unaware is not grand , a sweet 12 year old girl (Linda Blair) suddenly falls ill and starts acting strange….(Read: speaks in foreign languages and starts to float in the air). Her worried mother (Ellen Burstyn) takes a while to believe that maybe her daughter has been possessed before calling onto a young skeptical priest for help (Jason Miller) who must then perform an exorcism on the child. What follows is simply put madness! Scary, bone-chilling madness!
What makes this simple story an awesome watch is the cinematography, the visual effects (the staircase scene still gives me the goosebumps!) and sound effects which were spectacular! Also there was some brilliant acting involved. But personally, I believe that besides everything else, what makes the movie probably the scariest movie Hollywood ever saw, is the fact that concepts like demon possession and exorcism are things that many of us do believe in. The possibility that this movie could be a depiction of something very real scared the hell out of people!Overall, a powerful, **dark **movie that you absolutely have to watch (even if you have already!)

So there you have it, our 10 picks for must watch Horror movies this Halloween! We hope you enjoy watching them and have a fantastic Halloween!

Photocredits:

www.allmoviephoto.com
https://movies.yahoo.com

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