Here at Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, we love a scary movie, especially around Halloween. The scariest thing that’s ever happened around here was when we ran out of sour cream that one time. We’ll never make that mistake again.
Though a host of new horror movies preview each year, we think some of the oldies but goodies rise above the rest. Scare us all you want, Hollywood, but these flicks still have us sleeping with the lights on and are not recommended for kiddos.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
“I see dead people” became an iconic phrase once this movie hit theaters in the late ’90s. A young boy encounters dead people who don’t realize they’re ghosts everywhere he goes—in his kitchen, under the bed, in his pillow fort. Come on M. Night, not the pillow fort!
Saw (2004)
If you didn’t scream during this horror mystery, you are either a little twisted or you’re lying. A deranged lunatic forces two people, one of which is that guy from Robin Hood: Men in Tights and Princess Bride, into deadly games. Oh, and there’s a clown puppet riding a tricycle. That’s an ingredient for “nightmare” if there ever was one.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Cannibals are pretty terrifying, especially when they pair a human liver with “some fava beans and a nice chianti.” This movie not only makes you jump, but also has parts where you’re sitting there thinking, “Who the heck thought of this?” Still, we can’t help but love a horror movie that’s also a suspenseful crime thriller, which happens to feature one of the most deranged serial killers in movie history. Hint: He’s not the cannibal.
The Birds (1963)
It may not seem that scary compared to the graphic scenes we’re used to nowadays, but it’s certainly a horror movie classic. You’ll think twice about birds for a while, especially after seeing them peck some guy’s eyes out. No biggie.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Your bed is supposed to be a safe place, even in horror movies. Not so in this ’80s flick in which knife-fingered Freddie Krueger cuts people to bits in their dreams (nightmares?). The film is based on a string of reports in the Los Angeles Times about the death of young, healthy Cambodian immigrants, who died in their sleep after dreaming of something terrifying. Apparently it’s a common occurrence in East Asia? Okay, see now that’s scary.
The Evil Dead (1981)
Five friends head to a cabin in the woods and unleash flesh-possessing demons. Even the trees rip teenagers apart in this NC-17-rated pic. Camping in the ’80s, are we right?!
Poltergeist (1982)
Back when static on TV was a common occurrence (millennials are like, “Wait, what’s that?”), evil spirits used it as a weapon of mass destruction, moving a home’s inhabitants through different dimensions and exercising a misguided sense of feng shui. The movie also gave new life to thunderstorms as an object of terror.
Halloween (1978)
John Carpenter’s slasher film made us retire from babysitting. The camera’s perspective puts viewers right in the action and had us fearing the name “Michael Myers”—at least until Wayne’s World came out.
The Shining (1980)
It’s a slow build, but once crazed novelist Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson, attempts to kill his family with an axe in a haunted Colorado hotel, things get real. Fast. This one is as creepy as it is downright terrifying.
The Exorcist (1973)
It was the first (and last?) movie in which certain theaters provided the audience with barf bags. Terrifying things happen to a little girl, her head spins around like a top and demons are exorcised. Yeah, check, please.
