As a moviegoer for more than 70 years, I’ve seen some great movies, some not so great, some really bad ones, some trying but failing to be deep and meaningful, some reveling in their shallowness. I was born the year The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind were released. My mother started taking me to the movies shortly after that. I saw some movies that were definitely not PG rated. I can still remember being afraid of The Thing.

Many times I disagree with the critics. I don’t call them and tell him what I think of their reviews, so now that there is an internet for anyone to babble on, I add my voice. I’m sure there are many of you who will disagree with my assessments. Some of you will agree.  I hope to hear from all of you.

Cover your eyes. Grab a loved one’s hand. Clutch your teddy bear. We’re tiptoeing through some of the great, all-time chilling movies. What scares us? A very good book by Stephen King called Danse Macabre provides some answers. Do you make sure your closet door is shut before you go to sleep? Do you not allow your leg to drift off the edge of your bed? Do you not venture into an old, dark house alone—without a flashlight? If this describes you, you are aware of the dangers that lurk in our lives. There are those who love to be scared. These movies are for you.

The Shining (1980): Writer Jack Nicholson drags wife Shelley Duvall and son to a remote lodge for the winter so he can write undisturbed. Unbeknownst to him, this is a Stephen King novel and all sorts of mayhem ensue. Pretty scary stuff.  Nicholson is delightful.

Jaws (1975): The ocean as a place to swim lost its appeal this year. I suspect most of you know why. Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss head the cast as intrepid fishermen. I can hear that unforgettable theme.

The Changeling (1980): This movie was about as scary as I want to see. I can still remember scenes more than 30 years later. George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas and Jean Marsh star. Scott tries to discover truth about a boy who haunts a secluded house.

The Exorcist (1973): This is a famous film about possession, priests and pea soup. I found it more amusing than scary, but I think I was in the minority. Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair and Max Von Sydow star.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968): I loved this movie. Based on an Ira Levin book, the story revolves around Rosemary, who is pregnant. Boy, is she in for a surprise. What the devil? Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon and Ralph Bellamy costar.

The Thing from Another World  (1952): James Arness as the Thing is truly scary to a 12-year-old  girl. Arctic scientists Margaret Sheridan and Kenneth Tobey find a spaceship and man buried in ice. Oh, oh, he’s thawing out.

Carrie (1976, 2002, 2013): I liked the ’76 version with Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, and John Travolta. An unpopular girl with special talents gets revenge when a cruel joke is played on her. Way to go, girl.

 

The Silence of the Lambs (1991): Cannibal Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter is truly scary in this adaption of a Thomas Harris novel. Jodie Foster, a young FBI agent, is chosen to try to pick his brain, so to speak.

Halloween (1978): Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance star in this granddaddy of slasher films. Curtis must have taken screaming lessons from her mom.

Psycho (1960): This movie scared me so much that I have resisted seeing it again. I remember being scared every time I took a shower for months after I saw it. Anthony Perkins is perfect as the dutiful son. I don’t know who played his mother. Janet Leigh could scream with the best of them. John Gavin, Vera Miles and Martin Balsam costar.

Alien (1979): This is a sci-fi flick that really is chilling. There were parts of it I watched through fingers. The monster was disgusting but Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skeritt, John Hurt and Ian Holm were not.

Night of the Living Dead (1968): George A. Romero’s iconic zombie film is scary and gross.

Cape Fear (1962): The original film stars Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen and Martin Balsam. Mitchum plays the crazed ex-con looking for revenge. Peck plays the prosecutor who put him in jail. Obviously, the sentence should have been longer.

Night of the Hunter (1955): Mitchum again plays the crazed ex-con. This time he’s looking for money. I found this movie to be really scary. The image of Shelley Winters underwater with her hair floating with the current has haunted me. Lillian Gish plays the voice of reason.

Cujo (1983): Who will ever look at a Saint Bernard in same old way? Dee Wallace plays a mother who is caught in a car with her son while her normally friendly family pet, ravaged by rabies, keeps them hostage.

Deliverance (1972): Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds and Ned Beatty play city boys on a canoe trip from hell. All the while, banjoes duel in the background. If you’re a guy, this could be really scary.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956): The original film stars Kevin McCarthy as a doctor who sounds the alarm against aliens who replicate people in a small town in California. This film is downright creepy.

The Birds (1963): Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller is about birds (of the title) organizing and attacking humans. Tippi Hedren, Suzanne Pleshette, Rod Taylor and Jessica Tandy star in this scary film. The music is particularly good.

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962): Bette Davis and Joan Crawford play actress sisters stuck in a crumbling old Hollywood mansion. Baby Jane (Davis) is accused of being responsible for putting her sister in a wheelchair. This is a creepy, scary revenge movie.

Seconds (1966): This is a John Frankenheimer film that explores the bad choices made during a mid-life crisis. John Randolph, Rock Hudson, Will Geer and Salome Jens co-star.