One of the best ways to spend a night with friends, no matter what age you are, is watching horror movies. A night of popcorn, screams and laughter can make for great entertainment, especially if you have a great home theater system.
Many great classics have been re-released in High Definition on Blu-ray Discs, but there are also many available on the internet, so you can even make a list, and let your friends choose on the night. Many televisions now have internet access, so you can watch the films directly on the TV. Or you can hook up a projector to your PC and make your very own little theater in your living room.
These five movies are the perfect recipe for a great night of horror movies. It is a selection of titles that have been made over the last fifty years, showing that great horror never dates. Not only were these great scary movies, but they were also just great films, being nominated for awards, and in many cases winning. While many may stick their noses up at horror movies, these are five films that everyone should see at least once.
The first movie to put on your list should be the Alfred Hitchcock classic, Psycho. Made in 1960, it is still as eerie and shocking today, with a brilliant performance from Anthony Perkins. Bates Motel is always worth a visit, unless of course you are Janet Leigh. Do not make the mistake of getting the re-make which starred Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates and is not nearly as scary. Psycho was nominated for 4 Oscars.
In 1973 William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist was released on the big screen. Ever since it has been scaring folk around the world, and this story of a possessed teenager played by Linda Blair, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her role, is guaranteed to send chills down your spine. The Exorcist won 2 Oscars, for Best Sound and Writing, and received 8 other nominations.
Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1975, was an instant classic. Yes, it may not live up to the technology of today, and the shark may be a little cheesy, but it still makes people scream and jump just the same. It won 3 Academy Awards, including one for the unforgettable original score by John Williams.
Stephen King has been the master of horror writing for the better part of four decades and picking one of the film adaptations of his books can always add to a scary night. Kathy Bates won an Academy Award in 1990 for her role as Annie Wilkes in Misery, a chilling tale about an obsessed fan who rescues a famous writer after a motor accident.
With 6 Oscar nominations in 1999, The Sixth Sense is a modern masterpiece. While many of his other movies have fallen short of being great, M Night Shyamalan hits every note perfectly in this one. Haley Joel Osment delivers one of the best child performances ever as the boy who sees dead people, and Bruce Willis and Toni Collette support him brilliantly.
If you have not seen these movies, get to it now, as they are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the horror genre. Of course if you love horror you will know there are thousands of other movies out there, from the Japanese classics to the independent gore flicks.