Horror is a genre which has created uninspired works which fail to elicit more than a bored yawn to works which elicit chills, tears, screams and children and even men covering their faces with their hands, not wanting to witness the fear translate from the screen to its audience. Below, we take a look at some of the best films in the genre of horror that you can watch on Direct TV in Hillsborough or other places in NY and feel the fear seep into you.
The Thing
John Carpenter’s 1982 exploration of paranoia and survival is a classic. Kurt Russell plays a scientist among a group other scientists who fight to survive an extra-terrestrial infection which grabs a hold of its victims with unparalleled brutality. The protagonist’s are faced with an unnamed and faceless enemy which eats them from within the mortal fear that they stays with them till the end.
The Shining
Directed by the legendary Stanley Kubrick in 1980, the Shining has become a favorite amongst lovers of cinema, not just lovers of horror movies. It’s an art form, not a film. From Jack Nicholson’s performance as a deranged and violent alcoholic to the bleak and surreal settings of the impeccable tracking shots which grace the film, Kubrick’s The Shining raised the bar of horror cinema to a level of genius which can only be matched by Hitchcock’s Psycho or Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby.
Rosemary’s Baby
Roman Polanski’s 1968 effort is perhaps the most psychological of all horror films. The film is about a pregnant mother who is convinced that she is part of a Satanist cult who has designs to bring harm to her child. Her husband, in an effort to further his acting career, apparently makes a pact with the devil to rape her. What follows is a confounding and chilling tale of deceit and demonism which is brilliantly captured on screen by Polanski. The acting in the movie is also what gives it is haunting appeal with the supernatural elements seeming very plausible due to the wonderful acting by the cast, which included Mia Farrow playing the role of Rosemary.
Carrie
Released in 1976, Carrie is the story of a person who tries to face and live with the cynical and unkind world around her but is rebuffed into unleashing a fearsome rage destroying everything her path. Brian De Palma’s Carrie is a film which is not only horrific, but also emotional, dealing with issues such as abuse, isolation, mistreatment and ostracization. The film is notably bare of gimmicks which are present simply to shock the audience, instead, the audience is enraged and then made to cower with fear. Carrie is also the first adaption of a published Stephen King, which have inspired more than a hundred works of film and television.
Peeping Tom
Michael Powell’s 1960 film was so disturbing, that initially, even critics felt perturbed enough to write scathing reviews which effectively ended Powell’s directorial career in England. However, if you’re a horror movie fan living in any corner of the world such as Hillsborough, NY, you have to catch this on Direct TV. The film documents a reclusive man’s obsession with filming and killing people. The protagonist, Mark Lewis, is a man who kills women and then uses a mirror to show them their own looks of fear as they are confronted with their death. A camera is used in order to make sure Lewis has footage of the film and then he obsessively watches the films in the isolation of his home. Disturbing and portraying the many faces which voyeurism takes, whether morbid, erotic or horrific, the film has now been rated as one cinema’s greatest works of art. Martin Scorcese has said that along with Federico Fellini’s Eight and A Half, Powell’s work can let the audience know all that is involved with the art of direction.
Bio:
Ricky Johnson is a movie critic who spends the time he isn’t watching movies, rating and reviewing them. Helped with an unbelievable amount of celluloid knowledge, Ricky is your best bet as you wonder which horror movie to watch on your DirecTV in Hillsborough, NY.
