October is my favorite month. I love the “otherness” of Halloween. It’s neither Pagan nor Christian nor a corporate creation but a combination of all three. It’s the one time of the year where dark thrills are du jour and people are more comfortable admitting they have a fondness for the twisted.
Don’t believe me? Why is the most popular musical of all time not a frothy Rogers & Hammerstein piece but Phantom of the Opera? Why did Aronofsky’s creepy little art house flick Black Swan become an Oscar contender? And how many of you really wished the Beast hadn’t transformed back into the Prince?
I was one of those kids whose teachers liked her but wondered if she would grow up to be a psychopath. Part of it comes from my fave films, which I never had any reservations about sharing.
If it’s dark and twisted, I’m automatically intrigued. If it’s well-written I’m smitten, and if it’s the caliber of Pan’s Labyrinth, I’m swooning.
So, in honor of October, I want to share all of my favorite dark films. Some of them are comedies but nonetheless they have a morbid streak. There’s no better time to check ’em out than Halloween, so get those Netflix accounts queuing!
[REC]
28 Days Later
A Clockwork Orange
A History of Violence
Alien
American Werewolf in London
Army of Darkness
Black Death
Black Swan
Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte des Loups)
But I’m a Cheerleader
Dark City
Dawn of the Dead
Dog Soldiers
Dracula (1931 and 1992 versions)
Edward Scissorhands
Evil Dead 2
Fargo
Four Rooms
Harold and Maude
Heathers
Hocus Pocus
It
Jawbreaker
Labyrinth
Let the Right One In
Night of the Living Dead
Nightmare Before Christmas
Nightmare on Elm Street
Nightwatch/Daywatch
Pan’s Labyrinth
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Psycho
Rosemary’s Baby
Saw (first only)
Se7en
Shaun of the Dead
Shutter (THAI VERSION!)
Silence of the Lambs
Sleepy Hollow
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tale of Two Sisters
The Company of Wolves
The Crow
The Descent
The Devil’s Backbone
The Howling
The Mummy (1999)
The Orphanage
The Others
The Prestige
Titus
Triangle
Trick R Treat
Underworld
Gingersnaps 
There are some of my favorite dark movies in there too!
I would have put the “Labyrinth” in for good measure. And maybe Donnie Darko, just because I’m a geek… And of course the hunt of the red october, which is not dark, but it has October in its title and I don’t need an excuse to watch a film with Sean Connery…
You have exquisite taste in movies, but I would have suspected as much 🙂
I was one of ‘those’ kids too, for sure. I was obsessed with the Tim Burton Batman when I was eight, though didn’t get to see it in its entirity until I was ten (only caught snatches and odd scenes – my parents thought it wasn’t really suitable for someone as young as I was). Been a Burton fan ever since though. And yes, twisted though it is I would have married the Beast because he was so much better looking, (and a much more tortured and thus intriguing soul) than the Prince. Inter-species attraction? Perfectly normal, I say. In fact the Beast and Edward Scissorhands were my childhood ‘crushes.’
I also love your definition of Halloween: a celebration of Otherness is indeed a welcome change from the general attitude of society, and I’d like to add that Dexter is hugely popular, despite some people seeing the need to apologise for watching it, as if it makes them morally deviant or something *rolls eyes*.
I wish I had a film to add to that list, but you’ve listed almost all of my favourites anyway! Aside from the Burton Batmans, that is.
xxx
P.S I’m glad I’m not the only one with a fondness for The Prestige!
I now have a fabulous list of movies to watch this month! I really haven’t seen many of these, although Heathers will always remain one of my favorites!
Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!
i LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Hocus Pocus. Its my fave every year 🙂
I also like practical magic! have a great weekend
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Great list! Oh boy, I think I’ll have to open a Netflix account again…
Fall is growing on me, but I love December the best. 😉
Haha I was never one of those kids 😉 but I’ve been trying to get the boy to watch a scary movie with me!
The captain In Pan’s Labrynth is usually a comedic actor in Spain, and almost was not cast because they didn’t think he could play it seriously enough.