VIDEO: Stephen King reveals best horror movie of all time
The King of Horror has some wonderful insight into the movie genre.
Warning: these videos are not for the faint of heart.
October is about all things spooky and scary.
It's the perfect month for binge-watching horror movies as Halloween creeps closer.
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Critically-acclaimed author Stephen King is known for writing some of the greatest horror novels, many of which have been adapted for film.
It's fair to say that King has exceptional knowledge of the genre and knows a thing or two about what makes a good horror movie or book.
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For 2024, King has written an essay for Variety
https://variety.com/2024/film/features/stephen-king-night-of-the-living-dead-favorite-horror-film-1236171690/
listing some of his favourite scary movies that will get your heart racing.The writer starts by saying that he had to truly think deeply about the question and that he has (obviously) seen many in his life.
He also notes how scary a movie is depends on a viewer's age.
At 16 years old, the 1963 Robert Wise movie, 'The Haunting', was the scariest he had ever seen.
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The movie follows Dr John Markway and a team he has assembled as they set out to investigate the Hill House, which has stood for 90 years and appears haunted.
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'The Blair Witch Project' is his adult pick saying "with that building sense of doom and those truly horrible last 35 seconds" are what make it so terrifying.
The IMDb synopsis reads: "Three film students vanish after travelling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind."
At the time of its release, many viewers were led to believe that the movie was made using real footage.
Watch the trailer here:
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If he only had to pick one, he does think one movie deserves the top spot.
According to King, the best horror movie has to be "George A. Romero’s low-budget masterpiece", 'Night of the Living Dead'.
The premise of the movie is nothing new.
"A ragtag group of Pennsylvanians barricade themselves in an old farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls that are ravaging the Northeast of the United States."
Spoilers ahead!
I’ll never forget the smarmy older brother doing his bad Boris Karloff imitation — “They’re coming to get you, Barbara… there’s one now!” He’s pointing to the elderly wino stumbling among the gravestones, only the elderly wino turns out to be a reanimated corpse, and when Barbara locks herself in her car, she discovers that the smarmy brother — Johnny — has taken the keys. Meanwhile, the old man is trying to get at her, and the viewer understands he will not stop. It’s a moment of pure atavistic terror. Barbara puts the car in neutral (probably impossible without the key, but that’s movies for you) and rolls it down the hill, getting away… temporarily.
The horror writer also notes that 'The Blair Witch Project' and 'Night of the Living Dead' share several similarities.
Both movies featured a cast of unknown actors, little to no music, and very low-tech special effects.
There have been many remakes and versions of 'Night of the Living Dead', but the original still reigns supreme.
While it might seem that the movies can't be that great if they lack these aspects, King says that they "work not in spire of those things, but because of them".
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Main image courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailer/YouTube