9 of the Best Films to Haunt Your Holidays With
Scott Hallam
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The 2015 holiday season is upon us. Which means we’ll soon be visited by friends, family, and the ghosts of times gone by…
To celebrate, here’s a list of 9 of the Best Films to Haunt Your Holidays With. But first, per usual, we’ve got some great honorable mentions for you. Some little beasties that go bump in the night include the monsters in Gremlins, Puppet Master, and little Gage Creed in Pet Sematary. There are plenty of ghostly terrors in The Shining and “American Horror Story: Murder House.” Real-life human monsters are on the prowl in A Clockwork Orange and the classic slasher The Prowler, not to mention the insanely creepy Spanish film Sleep Tight. And as far as just ghastly monsters in the night, Midnight Meat Train is tough to beat.
Now, on to my picks for 9 of the Best Films to Haunt Your Holidays With!
Poltergeist (1982)
There are plenty of things that go bump in the night in Poltergeist, but there’s one specific beastie that we’ve mentioned time and time again when it comes down to insanely scary horror moments. Of course that’s the off-the-charts creepy clown doll that attacks young Robbie in his bedroom as Poltergeist really hits high gear. We have no doubt that this clown single-handedly destroyed any chance an entire generation of children had of loving those goofy circus jesters that had been so popular in the past. This clown is an absolute terror and the inspiration for countless nightmares throughout the years.
Paranormal Activity (2007)
So you’ve got about 15 grand lying around; what do you want to do with it? You can buy a decent used car, a cool motorcycle, or completely fund a horror movie about a couple dealing with a suspected haunting in their house. Take our word for it; buy a bicycle and pedal wherever you need to go and spend the money on the movie. In 2007, Paranormal Activity took the world by storm and completely stunned audiences with some truly scary moments. Katie and Micah became the horror couple of the decade, and the box office money just rolled in. Fans were simply blown away, enough so that the fifth offering of the series was recently released. Did you dig in for another round of spectral surprises?
The Babadook (2014)
The feature film directorial debut of Jennifer Kent (who also wrote the script) was one of the most celebrated films of 2014, and the main reason for that was the absolutely chilling vibe of The Babadook. As far as a haunting creature of the night goes, The Babadook was brilliant. With his gruesomely long fingers, stylish stovepipe hat, pasty white skin, and an uncanny ability to hide in the shadows, The Babadook was the best imagining of The Boogeyman since Michael Myers. The mysterious nature of the character added even more to his dark aura. An instant classic, The Babadook knew just how to make your skin crawl in the dark of night.
Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
James Wan turned up the heat when he returned to direct the sequel to his hit film Insidious. As if the first film didn’t get enough things right, including the Darth Maul-ish beastie known as the Lipstick-Faced Demon, by the time we got around to Insidious: Chapter 2, the bar was raised to an entirely new level with The Black Bride/Parker Crane. The advertising campaign revolved around the simple image of this insanely creepy looking veiled bride holding what appeared to be a candle on the opposite side of a mirror, and goddamn! Just that one image alone was enough to drive audiences to the theater in droves. And Wan & Co. did not disappoint as they put a great back story behind this visually stunning character and threw in plenty of scares to keep audiences jumping out of their seats.
