Josh Falcone – General Assignment Reporter –
To answer Ghostface from “Scream,” I don’t like scary movies, I love them. The following are a smattering of my favorite scary movies. They are must-see horror films that’ll give your vocal chords a good scream. The next time you’re in for the night with a couple of your friends head over to Best Video in Hamden and check out a few of these movie titles:

The first movie is “Child’s Play.” This movie terrified me when I was a child; the story of a deranged serial killer possessing a children’s doll “Chucky” and continuing his murderous way was extremely scary to me. When I was younger, I had a “My Buddy” doll, which is what the line of dolls in the film were based on. Years passed and I had no idea what happened to the thing, and after seeing this film, my brother Jay told me that the doll must of came to life and was hiding out somewhere in the house, waiting for the moment to come and kill me. So every night for two years, I was sure that “Chucky” was under my bed waiting for me to fall asleep, to get me. Come to find out, big brother Jay found the “My Buddy” doll, took it to the movie theater when “Child’s Play” was playing, waited ‘till Chucky first came to life in the film and threw it at some girls sitting a few rows in front of him. Which in hindsight is absolutely hilarious; I just wish he told me about it when I was nine and waiting for Chucky to attack me from under the bed.
John Carpenter’s “Halloween” has to be mentioned when discussing horror movies, due to the fact that this film began the legacy of Michael Myers. It’s thrilling from the unforgettable theme song to the terrifying scene where the “Boogeyman,” after taking a round of bullets to the chest and falling some odd feet, gets up and disappears.
One film that still scares the hell out of me today is “The Exorcist.” The possession of a little girl by a demon, who might be Satan himself, and the struggle to regain Reagan’s soul by two priests while she levitates and spins her head around is just damn frightening.
The original “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” is another amazing scary film. The film opens up with a narration that the events were based on a true story, which is partly true, the house in the film was based on real life serial killer Ed Gein’s house, which included furniture made out of human remains. The film deals with a demented family that murders people traveling through a small Texas town, led by the ancient Grandpa. The main antagonist is Leatherface, a chainsaw wielding behemoth who wears his victim’s faces. Sounds cute, right? For such a graphic sounding murderer, the film is great because it is not really gory the carnage is subtle, yet scary.
One of the best scary movies, and one of my favorite movies is “The Shining.” It’s about a hotel deep in the Colorado wilderness that is possessed by evil spirits who cause the latest caretakers to slaughter their families and then kill themselves. It is just a good uplifting story, I know. Jack Torrance, the latest caretaker is a struggling writer who is a recovering alcoholic, takes the job and moves in with his wife Wendy and young son Danny. Danny has the ability to “shine” which means he can read minds and mentally converse with others who have the ability.
As the winter season goes on, Jack’s mind deteriorates, and comedy ensues. No, he goes crazy and tries to murder his family. The movie has numerous scary scenes including two creepy twin girl ghosts that Danny rides up on while cruising around the large hotel on his Big Wheel, and the woman in room 237 who is taking a bath and goes from a beautiful young goddess to an old cackling woman whose flesh is rotting off. It is full of horrifying images, but it’s an absolutely fun 142-minutes.
This is just a select few of the films that will put a shiver down your spine. So grab the popcorn and enjoy!

Jack Nicholson plays in The Shining released in 1980.