A couple of years ago, I wrote a list of Top 10 Overlooked Scary Movies that got spread around the Web quite a bit. Best of all, the comment section became a great place for people to recommend other horror flicks that may not have received the attention they deserve. Today’s new list is kind of a companion piece to that one. If you are tired of renting the same stupid remakes and played-out franchises every Halloween, try some of these suggestions on for size. Some are scary (even though they may not be traditional horror movies) and some are campy, but each one of the films below has something special about it. You should seriously consider renting any of the following that you haven’t seen this Halloween.

If you have your own idea for a Top 10 list, email me at eric@scene-stealers.com.

10. Opera (1987)

This certainly isn’t the most solid movie of Italian giallo master Dario Argento’s career, but it contains two of his most visually impressive set pieces. Not known for concise (or even rational) plotting, some of Argento’s movies work better as rough frameworks that only exist to showcase a couple of inspired scenes of murder and mayhem. In this case, the central premise is based on something Argento used to joke about doing to audiences that wanted to turn away from the intense gore in his films: taping needles to their eyelids to force them to stay open. A killer stalks the movie’s heroine and does just that, forcing her to watch as he kills her friends. This movie really is all about the spectator and the eye itself. Set piece one: A flashy crane shot follows crows as they fly over the audience during an opera and descend upon a killer’s eyes. Number two: A slo-mo close-up of a bullet as its fired through a peephole in a door and–you guessed it–into someone’s eye! Yikes.

9. Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Loosely based on Washington Irving’s classic “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” this dark and funny Tim Burton movie finds the director and his favorite star (Johnny Depp, of course) having a ball upending conventions. Depp plays Ichabod Crane not as a standard hero but as an outsider–a nerdy, frightened man of science who can’t quite fathom the fact that the decapitations he’s come from New York City to investigate seem to be supernatural in nature. Christopher Walken portrays the Headless Horseman (when his head is visible), and the Oscar-winning art direction creates a spooky, mist-filled tangle of trees and forced perspectives. It may not be Depp’s funniest Burton role (that distinction belongs to “Ed Wood”), but the star’s quirky take on Crane make it loads of fun. In addition, “Sleepy Hollow” is a surprisingly violent and gorgeous movie to look at.

8. Near Dark (1987)

Unless you already knew going in, you’d likely never guess that the same woman who directed this year’s Iraq bomb-squad drama “The Hurt Locker” also helmed this twisted little vampire family story back in the late 80s. Kathryn Bigelow has always been interested in characters who crave danger (see “Point Break”), but Bill Paxton’s performance as psychopathic vampire Severen is so over-the-top cruel that he’s as funny as he is threatening. When a young cowboy in Oklahoma (Adrian Pasdar) gets turned into a vampire by a sexy young drifter (Jenny Wright), he is forced to “meet the parents,” so to speak, and enters the dangerous world of a group of vamps who live in a camper. The ending is kind of a cop-out, but Bigelow’s combination of the Western and the vampire movie has as many memorable landscape shots as it does moments of genuine tension and funny dialogue.

7. Magic (1978)

Speaking of people who you wouldn’t think would be working in the horror genre, this movie is full of prestige Hollywood personalities. Anthony Hopkins plays a creepy magician-turned-ventriloquist named Corky who spends almost as much time killing people as he does talking to his dummy Fats. Adapted by William Goldman (”Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “All The President’s Men,” “The Princess Bride”) from his novel and directed by Richard Attenborough (”Gandhi”), “Magic” is a true oddity. It starts off as a low-key (but still off-kilter) psychological examination of a person with multiple personality disorder. As Corky’s madness progresses, however, so does his temper. The scenes between Hopkins and Ann-Margret (who is the object of Corky’s unhealthy obsession) are a weird mix of tenderness and nail-biting restlessness. Burgess Meredith is also on hand to play Corky’s slimy but effective manager.

6. Slither (2006)

Sexual frustration manifests itself in the form of slimy little slugs that come from outer space in this sly and campy horror film from director James Gunn. Like a mash-up of David Cronenberg (”Dead Ringers”) and the Troma studio (”The Toxic Avenger”), “Slither” combines the desires of the flesh and the absurdity of campy horror into an inspired concoction. Nathan Fillion is the small town sheriff who must make sense of it all while still pining for his high school sweetheart (Elizabeth Banks). She’s unfortunately married to Grant Grant (Michael Rooker), the richest man in town, whose sudden ravenous desires lead to the disappearances of local pets and some strange physical deformities. “Slither” successfully combines fast-moving CGI elements that true B-movies can’t afford with the more traditional lumbering (and often hilarious) creature effects that can make them so fun to laugh at. The whole thing is  put together with a smart and silly sense of humor.

5. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Director Philip Kaufman (”The Right Stuff”) directed this sci-fi/horror remake, which is unique because it’s one of the rare remakes that’s actually better than the original (Don Seigel’s 1956 film of the same name). Replacing Seigel’s Cold War metaphor with a satire of the “me” decade and all of its excesses, Kaufman peppers his movie with hippies, poets, and an evil pop psychiatrist played by Leonard Nimoy. As Donald Sutherland and Brooke Adams try to uncover the truth about an alien race that’s replacing humans with unfeeling duplicates, Kaufman lays on the paranoia as thick as the parody. The result is a movie that is by turns genuinely creepy and clever.

4. An American Werewolf in London (1981)

John Landis pulls off the same feat here. Besides the Oscar-winning werewolf transformation scene by legendary make-up artist Rick Baker, this movie has a lot of other shocking and sometimes very scary moments. But it also features some of the funniest bits in any horror movie ever, as a graphically decomposing Griffin Dunne continues to haunt his old pal David Naughton (who is turning into a werewolf now) and annoy the living crap out of him. Landis mixes up fantasy/nightmare sequences to catch the audience off guard, and the gory scenes are few and far between, but this also heightens their effect.

3. Videodrome (1983)

Universal is set to remake this unsettling David Cronenberg movie (Why oh why?) that features James Woods as a public-access TV channel owner who programs a mysterious show that mesmerizes viewers by showing scenes of torture and murder. He has higher aspirations than using the snuff film for cheap entertainment, however. Cronenberg was way ahead of the curve in predicting the huge volume of TV screens that would be available and the enormous influence they would have in the future. He may not have predicted that we’d be watching tiny screens on our cell phones, but his perverted take on media had video physically melding with people’s bodies, resulting in the cult movie’s catch phrase “Long live the new flesh!” A remake that updates the technology won’t have the time-specific cultural references and may just miss the point altogether. See the original soon.

2. Eyes Without a Face, or Les yeux sans visage (1960)

Even though this disturbing French flick is widely considered a classic now (it’s available on Criterion DVD after all), I talk to people all the time who have never seen it. Georges Franju went from documentaries to directing this controversial horror film about a doctor who kidnaps young women and surgically removes their faces in an attempt to graft them onto his daughter’s, after hers was mutilated in a car accident. The psychological complexity of the three lead characters is rare for a horror movie, as is the beautiful black-and-white cinematography and the matter-of-fact handling of the plot’s more sordid details. Besides retaining much of its original shock value almost 50 years later, “Eyes Without a Face” also burns its haunting images into your brain forever. The young daughter’s white, expressionless mask was the inspiration for John Carpenter to similarly hide Michael Myers’ face in the orginal “Halloween.”

1. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

It may not be considered a strict horror movie, but it’s certainly the most terrifying film on this list. Especially when viewed in the same faux-documentary light as “Paranormal Activity,” “Henry” renders the act of murder in a far more banal and realistic manner. John McNaughton loosely based this harrowing no-budget film on real-life killer Henry Lee Lucas. Although it isn’t designed to make you think it’s a documentary, the dispassionate acting and lack of a budget make it sometimes feels like one. Michael Rooker portrays Henry as an aimless, soulless man whose existence is so dulled that he finds a purpose in life only after he begins to murder others and videotape it. The movie was considered so gruesome that it sat on a shelf for three years gathering dust before Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris dusted it off to sponsor a showing at the Telluride Film Festival. Since then, the unrated movie been the subject of much debate due to its startlingly violent palette and authentic style. Warning: Do not watch this one alone.

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The score to a horror movie can be the most essential thing sometimes. It sets the mood, the pace, everything. A great score can even make a bad horror movie seem semi-decent if the music is scary enough. Try putting these themes on a Halloween mix for trick-or-treaters this year if you want to keep all your candy. Next week, we’ll do another user-submitted Top 10 (email me your idea at info@scene-stealers.com if you got one!), but for now, enjoy my list of the Top 10 Scariest Movie Themes. Links to related lists: Top 10 Overlooked Scary Movies, Top 10 Movie-Inspired Halloween Costumes, Top 10 Slapstick Horror Movies, Top 10 Giant Monster Attacks! Movies, Top 10 Movie Monsters

10. Rosemary’s Baby (1968), composed by Krzysztof Komeda

Director Roman Polanski hit the zietgeist with this psychological horror classic, in which Mia farrow gives birth to the spawn of Satan. Polanski may have hit a nerve with parents who couldn’t understand what had happened to their sweet children in the late 60s, but it was Polish jazz pianist and composer Krzysztof Komeda who set the mood with his creepy theme music, using a lilting lullaby voice and a string-led waltz to suggest both child-like wonder and sinister goings-on at the same time.

9. Friday the 13th (1980), composed by Harry Manfredini

Do the whispered sounds of “ki-ki … ha-ha-ha-ha” count as a musical score? When they are as memorable as this one they do. Listen below to the original theme song from the very first “Friday the 13th” movie (Part 200 is due out next Spring, in a reboot produced by Michael Bay): the familiar refrain is jammed in between tons of driving “Psycho”-like strings and sound effects that are reminiscent of a steel blade being unsheathed. Chicago-born composer Harry Manfredini has contninued to work steadily on the “Friday the 13th” series and other B-movies such as “Zombie Island Massacre” and “Wishmaster.” Somehow, he also found time to write and bring to Broadway a country/western musical titled “Play Me a Country Song” that opened and closed after one performance in 1982.

8. Suspiria (1977), composed by Goblin

The only Italian prog-rock band on this list, Goblin made a name for themselves scoring director Dario Argento’s horror hits “Deep Red” and “Suspiria.” For a band that looked up to mentors Yes, King Crimson, and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, it’s a bit ironic that their sole claim to fame comes from performing galloping, spooky little numbers to watch young women be murdered by. These days, Goblin’s “Suspiria” theme certainly sounds a little dated and cheesy, but that’s also part of what makes it sound so cool. Supposedly, the soundtrack was written before the film was completed; allowing Argento to blast the score at his actors—full volume—to get better, more terrifying performances out of them.

7. “The Shining” (1980), composed by Krzysztof Penderecki

The theme to director Stanley Kubrick’s Steven King adaptation is by Wendy Carlos (who, before sexual reassignmen—and billed as Walter Carlos—played synthesised Beethoven all over Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange”), and it’s a fine piece of work. But most of the disturbing and truly memorable music in the movie comes from Polish modern classical composer Krzysztof Penderecki. The insane dissonance of pieces like “Utrenja Kanon Paschy” and “Polymorphia” (part of which was also used briefly in “The Exorcist”) serve to unsettle Shelley Duvall as she tries to deal with the fact that her husband, played by Jack Nicholson, is losing his grip on reality and breaking down the bathroom door with a very large axe. Start about two minutes in and listen to the unsettling string noise.

6. The Exorcist (1973) “Tubular Bells,” composed by Mike Oldfield

First released as a two-song LP (Part One on side one, Part Two on side two), Mike Oldfield’s album “Tubular Bells” was quickly seized by director William Friedkin to become the theme song to his demon-possession tale “The Exorcist.” As a direct result, the album—a progression of that familiar theme that lasts for almost 49 minutes total—became a sensation, selling more than 17 million copies worldwide and spawning a series of album “sequels.” Ironically, it took Oldfield almost twenty years of disappointing record sales to finally, inevitably return to the well with the creatively named “Tubular Bells II” (1992), “Tubular Bells III” (1998), and finally—to cash in on the impending Y2K doom—“Millennium Bell” (1999). In 2003, Oldfield said goodbye to all credibility and actually re-recorded the entire album, calling it—wait for it—“Tubular Bells 2003.” Regardless, the four-minute-something version that was appropriated as “The Exorcist” theme still retains its inherent spookiness.

5. The Omen (1976), composed by Jerry Goldsmith

The bombastic choral explosion of “Ave Satani!,” from the third devil-child movie on this list, features a chant of the song’s Latin title, which translates to “Hail, Satan!” Jerry Goldsmith won the only Oscar of his long career for this miasmatic Gothic score, which pummels you with screaming highs every time the bad stuff is about to go down. Without Goldsmith’s music, Damien—the little antchrist tiny tot—might not have seemed so scary. Of course, chants of “Sanguis bibimus, corpus edimus, tolle corpus Satani” (”drink the blood, eat the flesh, raise the body of Satan”), also help out.

4. Taxi Driver (1976), composed by Bernard Herrmann

This may not technically fall into the category of a horror film, but I challenge you to listen to this theme, used in the opening and closing moments of Martin Scorsese’s chilling urban saga “Taxi Driver” and not feel the chill. The rising, sinister orchestral tones remind me of the slo-mo above shot of aliented vet Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro)’s carnage, and the jazzy interlude is the perfect soundtrack to the scummy streets of New York City, infested as they were with the lowlife scum of the Earth that Bickle so fiercely despised. Sadly, this was last score Bernard Herrmann (“Citizen Kane,” “Vertigo”) would ever work on, since the legendary film composer died shortly after its completion.

3. Halloween (1978), composed by John Carpenter

In order to cut costs on his low-budget slasher pic “Halloween,” director John Carpenter just decided to do the music himself. What resulted is one of the most iconic movie themes around, horror movie or not. The creepy, simple piano run gets lodged in your head after multiple refrains and all I can think of is a masked killer stalking the suburbs with a big butcher knife, looking in all the windows for some fresh meat. Just as the endless amount of slasher movie imitators have caused the film to lose some of its original charm, the music loses a little edge in its production, too. Yet while it may be dated, there is nothing quite like it for immediate shorthand. You put this on, and people know something bad is about to happen.

2. “Psycho (1960) composed by Bernard Herrmann

Using only the string section of an orchestra (the instruments usually used to play a sweeping romantic melody), Bernard Herrmann put together a jarring and terrifying score that sounds like someone jabbing a knife over and over again. Director Alfred Hitchcock originally was going to leave the music out of the infamous shower-murder scene, and it’s a good thing he didn’t stick with that decision. The liner notes of the soundtrack explain: “Several musicians and informed cinemagoers have referred to ‘bird-shrieks’ and ‘distorted, screaming bird cries’ in this connection. There are none. All we hear when Marion is killed are the shrill, stabbing thrusts of the strings in their topmost registers. Herrmann was once asked what thought was uppermost in his mind when creating this unique and hair-raising cue. He replied in one word: “terror.”

1. Jaws (1975), composed by John Williams

“Da-da .. da-da,” it starts out slow. “Da-da ..da-da ..da-da,” speeding up now! “Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da” really fast, “Da-da-da-da,” it’s right on top of us! That two-note motif from John Williams’ masterful score to Steven Spielberg’s scream-inducing shark tale, is the key to the entire film. Without the foreboding theme to illustrate that something wicked this way comes, Spielberg has got nothing but an animatronic shark that keeps breaking down on set. With the theme’s rhythmic buildup, Williams made us all feel like there was terror lurking just below the surface of the water, where our legs were kicking back and forth, completely open to attack from a giant shark. Forget that I’m swimming in a swimming pool. The moment I hear those notes, I know what’s coming.

Tags: 10, film, halloween, horror, movie, music, scariest, scary, scores, ten, themes, top, Top 10 Lists, top ten

Every Halloween, video stores are bombarded with the same question:

“Do you know any good horror movies I haven’t seen yet?”

Believe me, I know– I used to work at one. Unfortunately, most of the people that are looking for a new scary movie to rent stick with the tried-and-tired franchises like “Friday the 13th,” “Halloween,” “Children of the Corn,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” etc. and have very little or no adventurous bones in their bodies. For them, a scary movie has a lot of gore and a high body count. For me, anything that creeps me out and keeps me there for two hours is a scary movie. The 10 movies on this list do just that. You may have heard of some or all or none of them, but these are 10 scary films that I think are too often overlooked. When you go to the rental store this weekend, try one of these. Links to related lists: Top 10 Scariest Movie Themes, Top 10 Movie-Inspired Halloween Costumes, Top 10 Slapstick Horror Movies, Top 10 Giant Monster Attacks! Movies, Top 10 Movie Monsters

1. Sisters (1973)

A reporter believes she’s seen a hot young actress (Margot Kidder) commit a murder (“Rear Window” anyone?), but there are more surprises in store when it is discovered there are separated Siamese twins involved. Brian De Palma is at his crazy best in this disturbing bloodbath with one of the most terrifying murder sequences (in split screen, no less!) ever. A showy camera zoom into an eye brings on some insane hallucinogenic asylum thrills, and Bernard Herrmann’s horn and synthesizer score keeps the trashy story in check.

2. Martin (1978)

A young man descended from East European immigrants in a crumbling steel town named Martin is so certain that he’s a vampire that he subdues women, slashes them with razor blades, and drinks their blood. George Romero shot this one, like always, on a shoestring budget—which makes Tom Savini’s bloody SFX all the more convincing. What’s really creepy, though, is the sense of inevitability Martin feels about his calling. Romero slips in his usual amount of social criticism as well. When things get tough, Martin reaches out to a local radio talk show and becomes a minor celebrity. “Martin” is a chilling and surprising vampire flick with more depth than a million “30 Days of Night”s combined.

3. Peeping Tom (1960)

One wouldn’t think that a movie about a man who murders women in front of the camera and then views his act again to study their every reaction to death would be directed by one of the most respected filmmakers of its time, but it was. British director Michael Powell’s reputation was ruined when he released this tale of voyeuristic perversion. It was labeled by one critic as “the sickest and filthiest film I remember seeing.” Perhaps the most shocking was that Powell overtly pointed out the moviegoer’s own voyeurism by turning it around on us. He made the viewer guilty by having us identify with a psychopath. After all, isn’t that what we are doing—watching people get murdered while we sit in the dark?

4. Frailty (2001)

Speaking of unlikely circumstances, actor Bill Paxton directed this spooky little movie that fills me with dread just thinking about it. Paxton plays a father who burdens his two young sons with a horrible dilemma, telling them that God has charged him to slay demons on Earth in human form. When he starts murdering people in the tool shed with an axe, things get really tense. Having current heartthrob and romantic comedy stalwart Matthew McConaughey tell the entire story in flashbacks makes this strange film even more idiosyncratic. Yes, there is a plot twist (that annoying convention that marks it as a post-“Sixth Sense” thriller), but there’s also tons of psychological terror and an abnormal amount of audacity to make up for it.

5. Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)

Werner Herzog’s re-imagining of the silent F.W. Murnau classic casts Klaus Kinski (who else?) in the title role and makes the beast more vulnerable and pathetic than horrifying. Creepiness abounds, however, in the hypnotic movements of the characters, the eerie score by Popol Vuh, and the close psychological link between the Harker character (Bruno Ganz) and the vampire. Is the Count a projection of Harker himself? Is he an outcropping of his inner self? There is an unhinged, sexual side of his and Lucy’s being that is gnawing at the edges, dying to be released. Herzog’s version is a descent myth – the journey from innocence to a terrible underlying reality which either destroys the character or makes them wiser.

6. Freaks (1932)

Special effects can never beat the real thing, so when Tod Browning filmed this circus nightmare, he cast Randian the “living torso,” the legless Johnny Eck, two real conjoined Siamese twins, two “little people” and the simple-minded “pinheads” (who later became mascots for The Ramones).Betrayal and revenge are the order of business, as a cruel trapeze artist taunts and ridicules the sideshow freaks after pretending to fall in love with one of them. The reality of the freaks’ situation is constantly staring you in the face, as they aren’t really acting, so it is hard to feel pity for the “normal” humans who get so much pleasure out of torturing them. What’s truly great about this movie is that it still shocks after 75 years.

7. Dead Ringers (1988)

Just one look at Jeremy Irons’ insect-like gynecological tools in David Cronenberg’s warped twin brother tale is enough to make you squirm. Though it may not be straight horror, this may be the most intense movie on this list. Elliot and Beverly Mantle are twin doctors who share everything, including their women. Their real conflict comes when a woman comes between them. A slow, deliberate pace gives one plenty of time to ruminate over the film’s themes of sexual panic, deformity, addiction and paranoia, all while staring in amazement at the towering performance of irons as both twins.

8. Fright Night (1985)

Like De Palma’s “Sisters,” this underrated teen horror entry borrows from the “Rear Window” template. Charley is convinced his next-door neighbor (a perfect Chris Sarandon) is a vampire, but nobody believes him. In desperation, he turns to late-night horror-TV host Peter Vincent (a nod to Cushing and Price played by with great sympathy by Roddy McDowall) for help. The genial old man is happy to have some attention, so he offers his “expertise.” What follows is a near-perfect blend of suspense and comedy that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It’s a bit dated now, but “Fright Night” does that rare thing that so few horror movies do—it makes you care about the characters.

9. Seconds (1966)

This new spin on the “fountain of youth” myth involves rich people who are able to get a complete reboot of their life. With the help of major plastic surgery and a rejuvenated body, these “seconds” have their old identities killed and get to start their lives over while they look and feel younger. Rock Hudson is one of those young-looking bodies, but he discovers some terrifying truths and begins to feel more trapped than ever in John Frankenheimer’s overlooked paranoid nightmare. The free love ways of the late 1960s have never seemed as selfish as they do here. “Seconds” was calling these motives into question pretty early on in the game.

10. Trick or Treat (1986)

When I was growing up, a friend of mine used to give me cassette tapes from his church of a minister playing records backwards and talking about how the devil had taken over rock music. It was a special kind of hysteria, but one that I kind of wanted to believe in, having become so enthralled by rock at such an early age. When Skippy from “Family Ties” played his Sammi Curr record backwards in this low-budget horror flick and the dead rock star talked to him, it was like my biggest fantasy/nightmare come to life. Although most of the plot is pretty terrible and special effects laughable, there are some very potent scenes that take me back to a time when I wanted my rock n’ roll evil and my rock stars bigger than life. Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne are on the cover of the really crappy-looking DVD, but are only in the film for a total of about five minutes.

Tags: best, films, horror, movies, overlooked, overlooked horror films, overlooked scary movies, scariest, scary, Top 10 Lists, top ten