Topic Tuesday where I refused to decide

This week's Topic Tuesday post, as suggested by Kage Alan, is an either/or kinda deal. The topic is "What 5 Halloween films are your favorite and why" or "Which 5 Halloween films scared the bejesus out of you and how"? I decided to do both. I could pick, but why should I?

Halloween is probably my favorite holiday, or season, or whatever you chose to call it. I don't have the money to do what I'd really like...you know, go batshit crazy with decorating and such. My kids would love it if I could, I'm sure. I'd love to have a haunted house. Not a "haunted" house...I already have one of those, but a Halloween haunted house. My kids would love that, too. LOL

Anyway, back to the real reason we're here...Topic Tuesday.

What 5 Halloween films are your favorite and why?

(In no particular order):

1.  Salem's Lot (1979)--I loved the novel, adore King, and what more do you need in your scary movie? It's got the creepy house at the top of the hill overlooking the town, the servant of the dark lord willing to do the dirty work while he waits for his master to arrive, and the towns people who fall like Lemmings under the vampire's sway. Two thumbs way, way up for this one!

2.  Rose Red (2002)--This was a TV mini-series, but it rocked! Once again a Stephen King creation written specifically for television. Rose Red is a house with a long, convoluted history of deaths and disappearances with the premise of the film being an unorthodox college psychology professor, along with a group of psychics, gaining access to Rose Red for a weekend in an attempt to prove the existence of paranormal activity. Yeah, this can't go wrong, right? It's a King, and he spins a tale of creepy and "what if" in a basis of reality with his house being modeled after the Winchester Mystery House in California. It combines several of my favorite things--creepy, mystery, and a touch of an actual haunted house.

3.  The Changeling (1980)--After the death of his wife and daughter in a horrible accident, composer John Russell rents a mammoth house in an attempt to write and overcome his grief only to discover he is not alone. The spirit of a murdered child haunts him, trying to revel the circumstances around his death decades previously. If you haven't seen this one, I think you need to check it out. The plot has the right amount of creep to have it on the "scare the bejesus" list with the seance playback, the ball on the stairs, and the wheelchair scenes, but I can watch it after dark and alone, so it can be on this list instead.

4.  The Other (1972)--Set in summer 1935, 9-year-old twins, Holland and Niles, live with their family on a Connecticut farm. When deaths begin to occur with the twins seemingly at the center, their grandmother takes matters into her own hands. It's a classic tale of creepy, and the epitome of good and evil. As you move farther into the story, you discover nothing is as it appears, and things are about to get real.

5.  The Haunting (1963)--Based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, the movie follows the book surprisingly close. An eighty-year-old house with a history of violent death and insanity is the setting for a researcher, a psychic, a shy woman with paranormal history, and a relative set to inherit the property. The inhabitants experience supernatural occurrences with Eleanor, the shy woman, becoming the increasing focus of the house and the forces at work there. I love this movie. It's a 1963 release, but the creep factor is off the charts. When the...whatever it is...tries to get into the bedroom where Eleanor is, that is freaky! It might be a 1963 release, but the cinematography and camera angles make this movie.

This concludes my favorite five Halloween movies. Now, on to my list of scare the bejesus out of me.

Which 5 Halloween films scared the bejesus out of you and how?

(also, in no particular order):

1.  Hostel (2005)--This film is one I watched with a look of horror. The plot is three guys backpacking across Europe get more than they bargain for when they are kidnapped and taken to a factory to be the human specimens in a macabre business of torture and mutilation. I watched this film once. I couldn't stomach more than that. It was a combination of "HOLY OH MY JESUS. WHAT IF THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED?" and "OH MY GOD, I'M GONNA BE SICK." It is the height of blood and gore, and this could happen. That's enough to scare the hell outta me.

2.  The Exorcist (1973)--Ah, what to say about this film? As a person raised as a Catholic, this movie is THE movie I will not watch at night...alone...with my back exposed. Not happening. No way. Ever. I know it's the special effects which make this movie frightening for me. I've read the book. It didn't scare me. The movie? Every time. I'm not going to summarize this one. It's been around a while now, and most people know this one.

3.  The Conjuring (2013)--Okay, this one is a new release (out on DVD today, as this will post on Tuesday). It had just the right amount of creepy to make me jump in the theater, and the right amount of creepy to make me sleep with the light on. I have plans to purchase the DVD  but it's gonna go into the watch it only with others, in the daylight, with my back against a wall category.

4.  Event Horizon (1997)--This is a combination of gore and "oh *&^%".  The Event Horizon is an experimental spaceship capable of opening worm holes to travel through them. It disappeared on its maiden voyage and returned after a seven year absence bringing with it more questions than answers, and no crew to speak of. This one has a major creep factor for me for two reasons. One, the gore. Lots of blood and nasty business. Two, the "life-force". The idea of this intelligence being able to manipulate and control the members of the rescue ship is just plain freaky.

5. 

I've thought about this, and I can't come up with a number 5 on my scare the bejesus outta me list. I've tried. It's not working. There are none I can think of that fall into the category with these four movies which keep me awake, with the light on, and only able to watch them every so often. So, for now, my list will have to be a top four.

I've enjoyed this topic, and I have to say Thank You to Kage for the suggestion. I hope you enjoy my list and maybe you'll check out these shows if you haven't seen them already.

Be sure to check out the lists of the other usual suspects here, and see what their top fives are.