Talkin' Bout Scary Movies Part I: Kat & Ava Pick the Best of the Best

 What's my favorite part of Halloween-- the costumes, the candy, or the nice autumn weather?  Actually, none of the above.  In my house, the month of October is marked by late-nighters watching Chiller channel specials and SyFi movie marathons, by plenty of screams and popcorn being thrown. Yep, I confess to being a major horror movie buff.  I've seen them all: the chilling, the gory, the downright ridiculous.  In fact, the only person I know who has seen more horror movies than me has done me the most spectacular honor of appearing as a guest blogger at A Myriad of Books today... *drumroll*... Could we have a warm round of applause for my most delightful sister, Ava?

Yep, she's herrree.

Today and tomorrow, we're excited to be posting about our favorite scary and Halloween movies.  But, since a gory movie is far from everyone's cup of tea (my cup of tea included) and not everyone wants to be kept awake at night by the threat of ghosts lurking in their bedroom, we've decided to split our movie recommendations up into **categories**.  To make things extra interesting, Ava and I didn't consult each other on our choices for each category-- I sent her the list of movie categories and we each picked our favs separately.  (Note: If we both picked the same movie for a category, then consider it to be doubly-recommended.)  The results are in, and they are *spooky voice* verrryy interesting...

#1: Best Spooky or Sorta-Scary Movie: 

Kat:                                                                Ava: 

Kat: Poltergeist (1982):  Poltergeist is the classic spooky movie.  It's not so scary or otherwise inappropriate that kids can't enjoy it as well, yet there are some definitely creepy moments.  The one that made me afraid to look under the bed for years: the scene where the creepy Raggedy Ann doll comes alive in the little boy's bedroom.  Um, yikes!

Ava: Carrie (1976): Based on the Stephen King book with the same name.

#2: Best Vampire Movie (Horror or Otherwise):

Kat:                                                                Ava:  

Ava: The Lost Boys (1987).

Kat: The Lost Boys (1987): This movie is such a favorite in our family.  These vampires are pretty, alright (ie teenage Kiefer Sutherland!), but they are far from sparkly and peace-loving.  This movie is classic 80s with a throwback feel, an awesome 80s soundtrack, and a lot of great humor.  Honorable mentions: Let Me In; Fright Night (2011).

#3: Best Haunted House Movie:

Kat:                                      Ava:

Kat: The Amityville Horror (2005): This remake of the old Amityville is probably my favorite haunted house movie.  It revolves around a very eerie premise and is absolutely packed with creepy happenings and moments of terrible, exhilarating suspense.  This house has to got be the most haunted cinema house of all time.  My honorable mention is The Messengers.  

Ava: The Shining (1980): Best haunted hotel movie.  My honorable mention: Insidious.

#4: Best Halloween Movie for Kids:

Kat:                                  Ava:

Ava: Beetlejuice (1988): Cult classic hilarious and feel-good spooky movie by Tim Burton.  My honorable mention-- The Nightmare Before Christmas!

Kat: Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas (1993): Awesome movie, catchy soundtrack, beautiful animation, and an incredible cast of characters.  All of Tim Burton's stop-motion animation movies are great (like Corpse Bride, a runner-up), but this one is a cult classic.  So, so good!  Another honorable mention: Coraline.  And I also love the book Coraline.

#5: Best POV or Mockumentary Horror Movie:

Kat:                                                     Ava:

  

Kat: Paranormal Activity 3 (2011): All of the films in the Paranormal series are fantastic sleepover movies.  In my opinion, #3 takes the cake: it is absolutely the scariest and most compulsively-watchable of the bunch and the way the cameras were used is absolutely genius.  Creepiest moment: when the babysitter is sitting at a table in the kitchen and a ghostly sheet is standing silently and sinisterly behind her-- we viewers scream, and the camera pans away, leaving us in suspenseful agony!  Strange coincidence that we both picked the same movie from the series as the best.

Ava: Paranormal Activity 3 (2011)-- Once again, we are in uncanny agreement. 

#6: Worst/Most Ridiculous Scary Movie You've Ever Seen:

Kat:                                                           Ava:

Ava: The Devil Inside (2012): Bad version of the better Anthony Hopkins horror movie, The Rite.

Kat: The Blair Witch Project (1999): I guess I am that one person who really was disappointed by The Blair Witch.  I know, it's supposed to be a classic, but I thought it was a let-down.  The ending... I mean, come on!  I did see the sequel and thought it, unusually enough, to be much better.

#7: Best Ghostly/Supernatural Movie:

Kat:                                                 Ava:

Kat: The Woman in Black (2012): As Ava well knows, this movie scared me half to death!  Movies with plenty of "jumpy" scenes and vengeful ghosts are absolutely the most frightening kind to me (I startle easily and am a little superstitious).  Ava and one of our friends actually played a very nasty, but very funny, prank on me which is related to this film... but it's too long to go into here.  Ask me in the comments if you really want to know.  ;)  The book on which the movie is based is very creepy, too, and a good quick read for October.  Honorable mentions: Insidious, The Shining, The Haunting, Dark Remains, Stephen King's Bag of Bones.  This is the genre which scares me the most, but also my favorite. 

Ava: The Others (2001):  Freaky movie with Nicole Kidman.  My honorable mention: An American Haunting.

That wraps up all the categories for today!  Tomorrow, we'll pick our favorite movies about monsters, serial killers, the best scary movie franchise series, and you'll get to find out what horror movies are the Absolutely Most Terrifying Movies We've Ever Seen In Our Lives.  And I know exactly what movie I'm going to pick... Hope you have enjoyed our post today, and we'd love to hear what scary movies you love or hate!