An updated Halloween movie list.

Back in 2010 I made a list of movies to watch for every day leading up to Halloween. Since then I have seen some things that have become worth noting. So here is the 2012 version that includes some totally new movies to the list.

1.       Nosferatu- A silent classic of German expressionism and nightmarish imagery.

2.       The Phantom of the Opera- This silent film features Lon Chaney displaying some amazing talent.

3.       Frankenstein-The movie that spawned a thousand clichés. It’s got great acting and featured Boris Karloff who has become a cemented horror icon.

4.       White Zombie- This horror film staring Bela Lugosi as a Voodoo master in Haiti is both creepy and memorable.

5.       Godzilla- The terrors of nuclear war are told to us by the Japanese.  This monster movie is a tale of devastation and a warning of the power of nuclear arms.

6.       The Tingler- A William Castle movie starring Vincent Price as a coroner who discovers that human beings have creatures that live in our spines and feed off our fear.  The only way to stop them from getting too large and killing us is to scream.

7.       The Birds- Thousands of birds swarm a small California coastal town.  They kill many and cause much devastation for reasons unknown.

8.       House of Wax- Vincent Price plays a brilliant wax sculptor who loses his ability to sculpt in a fire.  He devises a new plan of using real dead bodies and posing them as his wax sculptures. 

9.       Horror of Dracula- A Hammer Horror movie starring Christopher Lee. This re-vamped Dracula themed movies to have more blood and more violence. 

10.   Rosemary’s Baby- A brilliant psychological thriller about a woman who believes her pregnancy is part of a massive satanic conspiracy.

11.   The Raven- A Roger Corman movie starring Vincent Price as a sorcerer that must face off against another sorcerer played by an aging Boris Karloff.

12.   Countess Dracula- A Hammer film where an aging countess finds she can become young again by bathing in the blood of young maidens. 

13.   Tomb of the Blind Dead- A Spanish horror about the Knights Templar killing all that disturb them. The ending is what makes this really thrilling.

14.   Something Wicked this Way Comes- A Disney film based on a Ray Bradbury novel.  A creepy carnival comes to a small town.  The carnival offers to grant wishes for people of the town, but they find it comes with a price.

15.   The Evil Dead- A fun and gory tale of a group of friends in a run-down cabin. The gang finds an evil book and spends the movie surviving the demonic spirits it summons..

16.   The Howling- A clan of werewolves are running a retreat; murder and hijinks ensue.

17.   Sleepy Hollow- A Tim Burton film that takes a detour from the original story, but is still very fun to watch.

18.   Day of the Dead-A bleak tale of humanity where a small group of humans live in a military bunker while trying to avoid hordes of undead.

19.   Halloween 3: Season of the Witch- A story of a corrupt corporation that has a massive agenda to kill kids on Halloween night.

20.   Dead Alive- By far one of the goriest movies around. This film is about a monkey biting people and spreading a zombie plague.

21.   Ginger Snaps-A story about werewolves being used as a metaphor for girls experiencing puberty.

22.   Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer-One of the more eerily scary portrayals of a serial killer on screen.  Henry is somewhat likable but also insane and without remorse for what he does.

23.   Candyman- An urban legend comes alive and starts a string of murders; spooky and very well made.

24.   The Devil’s Rejects- Three violent criminals are on the run from the law who, it turns out, are just as violent as they are.

25.   Slither- Alien slugs cause a strange monster and zombie to take over a redneck town.

26.   Thirst- An Asian horror movie about a priest that gets a blood transfusion and becomes a vampire which causes all sorts of problems.

27.   Trick ‘r Treat- A series of stories about the horrors that can happen on Halloween night.

28.   [REC]- A Spanish movie about an apartment complex that gets quarantined when zombies start attacking folks inside.

29.   House of the Devil- A broke college student looking for work finds herself in a house that is not exactly on the up and up.

30.   Insidious- A ghost story about a family trying to save their son who has astral projected and fallen into the ghost lands.

31.   The Cabin in the Woods-A hilarious movie with a Lovecraft feeling that honors and enjoys many of the clichés that scary movies give us.

I hope you all enjoy the updated list and use it to see some good new movies this Halloween holiday.