In descending order:
5. Rosemary's Baby
Disconcerting, paranoid, a world spiraling out of control. Every time I watch it, I see or hear something new. This movie unfolds like a horror onion, every layer smarter and sharper and pungent than the one before it. Until the final crescendo: "God is dead!"
4. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Terror distilled to its purest essence. Screaming, revving chainsaws, bugging out, constant fear and no balance or safe place to run to. There's nothing in this film to give you a second to catch your breath and say it's okay. Unrelenting.
3. The Thing
My God, a tidal wave of horror. Creatures taking over our bodies and then shaping them however they want. The enemy is within and we don't even know if we're infected with it until it's well-too late. Ultimate claustrophobia. And that head tearing itself off and then sprouting legs...
2. The Exorcist
Probably the scariest movie ever made. Normal life subverted from beyond. A nice girl twisted and torn by a demonic entity that not only affects her, but everything around her. A movie that asks a lot of tough questions and gives no comforting answers. It could happen to any of us, whether you believe or not.
1. Night of the Living Dead
Pure nihilism. The world is falling apart and mankind runs like panicked rabbits, eventually turning on each other. All the while, the mass of the living dead shuffle just outside your door, waiting to come in and dine on your innards. The only thing is, they decide eventually they're tired of waiting. They're coming, to make you one of them. "They're coming for you, Barbara." Indeed.
Happy Halloween!
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