Get your fear on with these recommended scary flicks

Published 5:00 pm Saturday, October 29, 2011

Horror movies.

You’re not going to get through Halloween without an endless parade of movie marathons featuring our favorite frights or those movies campy enough to be considered B-movie favorites.

Everybody likes a little scare around Halloween, and we at the Austin Daily Herald are no different. Here are our staff picks to maybe help you get your fright on.

Amanda Lillie

Email newsletter signup

“The Shining,” 1980

What better way to celebrate Halloween than with Jack Nicholson peeking his head through a broken door and announcing, “Here’s Johnny!”? I can hardly change the channel in late October without running across “The Shining,” with those two creepy little girls standing at the end of the hall, staring at me through the television.

I watched the Stanley Kubrick classic for the first time at age 16 while home alone. Perhaps someone should have warned me that was a bad idea. Either way, it has become my tradition to watch the psychological thriller when Halloween approaches each year. I still get chills every time the little boy (Danny) chants, “Redrum, redrum, redrum,” while watching his mother sleep. Note to self: Never take a job as a caretaker for a haunted hotel.

 Rocky Hulne

“Cabin Fever,” 2002

While “Cabin Fever” isn’t really a scary movie, it shows the lighter side of horror films and explores some pretty complex human emotions.

It’s interesting to watch how people react with their friends, and even total strangers, when they fear they are on the verge of a deadly flesh eating virus. Survival comes first in most situations and trust is thrown out the window.

The star of the show goes to the town cop, who is still trying to live out his high school days through all of the locals and tourists in his town.

“Cabin Fever” is campy horror at its best and is always a good watch.

Matt Peterson

“The Thing,” 1982

Though it’s a little tacky, like most old-school horror films, “The Thing” is one of the best scary movies of all time and fitting for Halloween.

It has suspense, conflict, mystery, setting and keeps the viewer guessing — even at the end. The plot works well with the setting, as the characters are stranded on an arctic outpost and have no way to escape the mysterious alien creature that seemingly never shows itself, but hides inside human bodies.

Aside from Tombstone, this movie is arguably the only other significant role Kurt Russel has been in; and who can forget about Wilford Brimley? The movie is even a little comical, especially when “The Thing,” showcases itself on the operating table with its mouth as the patient’s chest.

Eric Johnson

“The Amityville Horror,” 1979

Being an avid horror movie fan there are several movies I could stand to watch on Halloween. “Hellraiser,” “The Exorcist,” and even the movie adaption of the video game “Silent Hill,” but for my money, nothing sums up the holiday like a good old haunted house.

There is plenty of evil at 112 Ocean Avenue and unlike today’s movies, it needed very little production to make happen.

The movie did more with simple camera angles and the actors talent to ramp up the tension than many of today’s movies.

Believe me, when the house says, “Get Out!” you take it at its word. Great flick for a dark and stormy night.

 Adam Harringa

“The Silence of the Lambs,” 1991

“The Silence of the Lambs” isn’t your typical horror flick, and there’s a reason it took home Oscar hardware for best picture, best actor, best actress and best director in 1992.

In the age of over-the-top blood and guts, it’s not gory; it’s a perfectly haunting, psychological thriller.

From Hannibal Lecter’s description of what he likes with fava beans and “a nice chianti,” to Clarice Starling’s trip through Buffalo Bill’s home in pitch black, the film is just as creepy 20 years later.

 Jason Schoonover

“Donnie Darko,” 2001

A troubled high schooler with visions of a giant rabbit and a countdown to the end of the world isn’t the typical Hollywood plot.

“Donnie Darko” centers around Donnie Darko’s unwinding life after he narrowly escapes a bizarre accident. Donnie starts routinely sleepwalking and having visions of a rabbit named Frank. This isn’t a horror movie, but it’s filled with suspense, mystery and just enough humor to supplement the building tension.

Jake Gyllenhaal is likable, but disturbed in the title role, and he’s backed by a strong supporting cast that includes Maggie Gyllenhaal (his sister in the film and real life), Patrick Swayze, Jena Malone, Noah Wyle and Drew Barrymore.

“Donnie Darko” is a puzzle of a movie that gradually unfolds with each scene. It keeps you guess the whole way through, and it’ll leave you thinking after it’s over.

Trey Mewes

“The Exorcist,” 1973

“The Exorcist.” It’s the only movie I’ve watched with friends where everyone got scared.

Someone threw up during the crucifix scene and we were all too scared to go to sleep afterward. There’s something truly frightening about demons and possession, and having no control once your soul possessed.

Movies you can’t go wrong with: “Alien,” “Friday the 13th (1980),” “Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)” “Dracula (1931),” “Silent Hill,” “Hellraiser,” “The Others,” “The Strangers.”