During the writing phase of
Enter the Dark, for more than a year I watched tons of haunted house and ghost movies, along with endless episodes of Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Paranormal State, Destination Truth and countless other copycat paranormal shows on tv.
I was trying to immerse myself into the world of ghosts, demons, EVPs, and apparitions and wanted to precisely examine just how the scariest scenes are set up and how they actually work to elicit the highest levels of terror. I tracked down every film I hadn't already seen and re-watched those I already loved.
It has always been my belief that preparation and research are essential ingredients to producing successful art. What comes off as effortless to the viewer inevitably has hours and hours of practice and study behind it. There's no getting around doing the hard work.
Of everything that I've seen, these are my
top 10:
The Haunting
(the original of course)
The Shining
The Devil's Backbone
Sixth Sense
The Ring
The Orphanage
El orfanato
Poltergeist
Amityville Horror
(again, the original, I mean c'mon really...)
The Entity
Paranormal Activity
Honorable mentions: 1408, The Others, The Mothman Prophecies
(which I love, but I'm not sure I would categorize as a ghost movie).
Lot's of people loved The Changeling, The Sentinel and Ghost Story but they just didn't do it for me. Also, of the newer indie horror films, Session 9 and Lake Mungo got lots of buzz, but also felt kinda flat.
UPDATE 8_25_10
Ah yes, the beauty of top 10 lists is that everyone has an opinion - as it should be. My list is just that, my humble opinion, shaped by my own preferences and prejudices. For instance I'll let you in on a secret - I actually don't find traditional ghost stories to be that scary.
Movies like
The Changeling follow a predictable story arc that is more like a mystery than a horror film. Something spooky is going on and if the protagonist can just follow the trail of clues and find out what terrible thing previously happened in the house, then the "spirit" can be released and all will be at peace.
Boring. And not particularly scary either.
Movies like
The Ring (and of course
Ringu) interest me because they start off feeling like traditional ghost stories but then twist it at the end to leave you feeling that yes, there is true evil in the world.
Now that's scary.
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, The Commune tells a tale of entrapment, sacrifice and familial dysfunction. It premiered at Dances With Films Film Festival and has received multiple awards.
