Scary Movies Perfect for Halloween and Beyond

The Halloween season is the time when many of us start to think about scary movies, to get into the spirit of things. I am no exception. There are the classics such as the Frankensteins, the Draculas, the Halloween movies, to name a few examples. But horror films are still highly subjective. One person's scare is another person's snore.

Below are a few movies that made an impression on me over the years. All are available in DVD format, on Amazon.com, for starters. In no special order:

Häxan, or Witchcraft Through the Ages: The 1921 (or 1922, according to some sites) Swedish/Danish flick made one heck of an impression on me. It was written and directed by Benjamin Christensen, and is based in part of the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th century guide for witch hunters and inquisitors. Some have written that the film tries to argue a link between Middle Ages witchcraft and modern (for 1922) hysteria. The imagery of black masses, grave robbing and witches flying and kissing the devil's ass mainly stand out as horrifying vignettes to me. It's a bit fake looking in parts, too, but it looks like a wild documentary. Very frenzied with bizarre imagery, I feel like I'm catching a peek of something terrible when I watch it.

Freaks: In 1932 Tod Browning followed up his classic Dracula with this oddity. A beautiful circus woman marries a little person who is infatuated with her. She only feels affection for his fortune, and once her true feelings are revealed, the freaks in the carnival exact a creepy revenge. It was so shocking at the time that it killed Browning's career, but the movie still gets shown around every Halloween. Even the Simpsons TV show has made reference to it: "One of us. Gobble, gobble. One of us." The flick features real-life oddities of the time: pinheads, Siamese twins and more. Disturbing and totally riveting.

The Gate: This one came out in 1987, starring a young Stephen Dorff. The premise I think is fantastic. Two kids start goofing around with the ins and outs of a hellish legend tied to a heavy metal album. Instead of just spooking themselves for the night, they open a gate to hell. The effects are a bit dated, but when I saw this as a teenager those little white demons scared the crap out of me. I could imagine one of them grabbing at my ankles if I needed to get up in the middle of the night for a bathroom break or a glass of water. Even now, I have to admit, I feel a slight twinge of relief that the bed my husband and I sleep on has storage drawers underneath. No room for chalky white demons. I hope.

Dolls: This 1987 movie in some ways isn't that creepy, but if you always thought dolls were a bit off-putting, then this is pretty scary stuff. It starts out conventionally enough: Several people end up stranded for the night at an elderly couple's spooky old house, including a family with a nasty stepmother; two punk-rock chicks; and a salesman. All the nasty people who aren't in touch with their inner child meet grisly ends. Some chilling imagery and, quite frankly, I don't ever want dolls on display on top of dressers and in curio cabinets. This movie deserves at least some credit for that.

Suspiria/Inferno: Two by Dario Argento. The first released in 1977, the second in 1980. Parts one and two of a trilogy that was recently completed in the last couple of years. In the first an American ballet student goes to Italy, and things do not go well. In the second movie, a young man tries to find out what happened to his missing sister. In the New York City building she lives in there are red- and blue-lit tunnels and an underwater ballroom. Basically, beautiful young women in danger in a tense world accented with candy color hues. So pretty and so disturbing. Watch a bit of either of these two and try not to be on the edge of your seat. The plot is hardly worth mentioning, but the imagery and the terror are unforgettable.

Prince of Darkness: This was another 1987 movie I saw as a teen. John Carpenter's horror flick is about some ancient satanic force trying to escape its confines. Scientists are in a church researching some odd phenomena, trying to stop Old Scratch's return. A swirling green jar of dayglow goo in the basement somehow contains this satanic entity, which is now working its way out. A bit odd but totally compelling and very creepy. The imagery freaked me out, and so did the striking bit at the end with the mirror. Alice Cooper has a creepy cameo, to boot.

Shock Waves. I used to see this 1977 good-bad movie (or bad-good movie?) on the local affiliate when I was 8 or 9. The premise: A few people get shipwrecked on an island. They find an eccentric old scientist who happens to be an SS officer (years after World War II ends). Part of his mad experiments: Nazi zombies. Amphibious ones at that. I don't remember a whole lot about it, but I do remember those zombies snatching at a young woman's ankle as she was swimming. I still don't like swimming in murky water to this day. I can do it, but I'll still have this flash of terror that something is going to grab me.