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I spent ten years of my life doing movies reviews and I have seen a crap ton of them.  And I love a good horror film and I am making these recommendations because I stand behind this list.  These movies still give me the creeps today.

A couple of nights ago, Kevin and I rewatched the latest Halloween remake starring Jamie Lee Curtis.  That movie, in case you haven't seen it, is really good.  It basically wipes away all the other Halloween sequels and picks up decades after the 1978 original when Laurie Strode faced off with Michael Myers in Haddonfield, Illinois.

I'm not sure about you, but I love this time of year because it gives me the chance to go back and watch classic horror films.  Here are my five favorite of all-time and the ones that I think every scary movie fan should own and watch each Halloween.

CHAD'S TOP FIVE HORROR MOVIES OF ALL-TIME

#5- The Omen

See, this would be my luck if I ever decided to raise a child.  I would wash his hair, find "666" carved into his skull and learn he was actually the Antichrist.  Richard Donner directed this 1976 horror film, which, by the way, was the fifth highest grossing movie of that year.  It spawned sequels and remakes that completely missed the mark.  But the original film, which introduced the world to a devilish little kid named Damien, is a haunting psychological thriller.  Scream it with me, People . . . DAMIEN!!!!!!!

Purchase the original HERE!  And, don't worry.  It won't cost you $6.66.

#4- Carrie

Sure, Carrie was odd.  I mean, it's rare to have a classmate who can telepathically set the high school gymnasium on fire.  But, the scariest thing about this Stephen King classic is the mother.  Can we take a moment and talk about that whack job?  As Margaret White, Piper Laurie just ripped into every single scene she had with unmatched vigor and zealotry.  And while it's a scary enough image to see Sissy Spacek's Carrie drenched in pig's blood at the prom, nothing's scarier than watching Piper Laurie torment and terrorize her daughter in the name of faith.

"They're all going to laugh at you!  They're all going to laugh at you" . . . if you don't add this to your collection.

#3- The Silence of the Lambs

This could easily have been called CSI: Jodie Foster.  There's a reason Silence of the Lambs swept the Academy Awards in the five biggest categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay.  It's a riveting procedural and takes us along on the journey into the mind of not one mad man . . . but two.  There are so many iconic scenes, images and pieces of dialogue from this film that horror fans reference and recite to this day.  Now, quit reading this and go rub some lotion on your skin . . . or else you'll get the hose again!

If you want the lambs to stop screaming, Clarice, watch it by CLICKING HERE.

#2- Halloween

The movie that set and maintains the bar for relentless serial slasher films.  It made a legendary scream queen out of Jamie Lee Curtis, a movie icon out of the brilliantly frantic Donald Pleasence and featured a mask that still sends shivers through my spine.  And let's not forget John Carpenter's expert direction and that pulse-pounding soundtrack.

#1- The Exorcist

My first introduction to this movie was an edited television version that a babysitter (she knows who she is) forced my sister and me to watch in 1980. Needless to say, it scarred me for life.  No horror film in history has been as terrifying visually and as stimulating intellectually.  The Exorcist is an master class in tension.  It challenges us to confront more than just a demon named Pazuzu.  It forces us to confront our notions of religion, fame, parenthood, modern medicine and faith.

Get the Director's Cut, which features the infamous "spider walk", HERE!

 

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