Payneful Top 10 *New Feature*

In an effort to make your reading experience more exciting and varied I am debuting a new regular feature every Wednesday called the Payneful Top 10. Each week I will give you a top 10 list (as long as I don't run out of topics) and for the first one I thought I would share my list of favourite Horror flicks. One of my favourite pastimes is to sit and watch a scary movie, and for the best experience I recommend watching them at night, in the dark, preferably in a house that is far away from the lights of the city, so you can imagine all sorts of evil things when you go to bed after. There are so many good ones, here are my top 10

10)Return of the Living Dead, While this movie is essentially a comedy the premise is a little scary. A bumbling pair of employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to re-animate as they go on a rampage through Louisville, Kentucky seeking their favorite food, brains! Zombie flicks rule. Also note a fairly risque dance scene by a punk rock girl in the graveyard.

9)Alien, Sigourney Weaver is almost a pioneer with her role as the main protagonist in this sci-fi/horror film. The crew of the deep space mining ship Nostromo are awaken from hypersleep to investigate a strange signal from a nearby planet. While investigating the signal, they discover it was intended as a warning, and not an SOS. What follows are some grisly and inventive special effects based on the work of H.R.Giger including an oft-immitated gore scene that was a surprise to the cast during filming to get a better reaction.

8)An American Werewolf in London, Excellent make up effects and a spooky setting out on the moors makes this one of a kind. Two American students are on a walking tour of England and are attacked by a Werewolf. One is killed, the other is mauled. The Werewolf is killed, but reverts to it's human form, and the townspeople are able to deny it's existence. The surviving student begins to have nightmares of hunting on 4 feet at first, but then finds that his friend and other recent victims appear to him, demanding that he find a way to die to release them from their curse, being trapped between worlds because of their unnatural death. The transformation from man to beast was the best special effects scene of the day.

7)Pet Sematary, Most Stephen King novels that get adapted for film are terrible, this one was excellent. The Creeds have just moved to a new house in the countryside. Their house is perfect, except for two things: the semi-trailers that roar past on the narrow road, and the mysterious cemetary in the woods behind the house. The Creed's neighbours are reluctant to talk about the cemetary, and for good reason too. The young kid turned bad is one of the creepier characters in movie history.

6)Friday the 13th 1-3, Ok I admit the most famous movie maniac of all time, Jason Voorhees is a joke now but when he debuted in 1980 for the first movie it was frightening, and for the first 3 movies he was huge. As far as I'm concerened the rest of the movies should be ignored.

The first movie is about a doomed kids camp (Camp Crystal Lake) that closed after a camper (Jason) dies and two counsellors are murdered. A couple of decades later the camp is reopened and the counsellors setting up the camp (and making out) are killed in many gruesome ways. Has Jason come back? Or is it his Mom?

The 2nd movie picks up where the first finishes, with the survivor of the first film who is quickly snuffed by the goalie mask-wearing undead villain. More counsellors, more nudity, more gore...

Originally filmed in 3-D, Friday the 13th Part 3 takes place on a farm where Jason takes out his aggression on a gang of bikers, more creative deaths and Jason dies in the end again, only to be resurrected for 6 more bad movies + 1 with Freddy Krueger from "A Nightmare on Elm Street"

5)Sixth Sense, The first major film for director/writer M Night Shamalyan (His friends call him Night) was a different kind of movie with a spooky vibe. The twist at the end caught me by surprise and was fantastic! Bruce Willis plays Malcolm Crowe, a Child psychiatrist who is confronted one night by former patient Vincent Gray who he failed to help. After Vincent shoots Crowe in the stomach and kills himself, Crowe can't stop thinking about it. A few months later he is hired to help a troubled boy named Cole Sear,(Haley Joel Osment) who has many of the same problems Vincent had. Crowe sees a chance to redeem himself, but doubts his ability to reach the boy, particularly when Cole claims to see ghosts who don't know they're dead.

4)Blair Witch Project, This film is one of those that you either loved or hated. I loved it and thought that the best part was the unknown. Anyone that's ever been lost in the woods knows how spooky it can be. There were some other neat things about this movie, it's documentary feel, it's low budget, and the fake 'truth' about the story. Three film students travel to Maryland to make a student film about a local urban legend... The Blair Witch. The three went into the woods on a two day hike to find the Blair Witch, and never came back. One year later, the students film and video was found in the woods. The footage was compiled and made into a movie. The Blair Witch Project.

3)The Thing, I watched this movie again recently and it still freaks me out. Kurt Russell displays his acting chops playing the role of a Helicopter pilot with an American scientific expedition to the frozen wastes of the Antarctic. the expedition is interrupted by a group of seemingly mad Norwegians pursuing and shooting a dog. The helicopter pursuing the dog crashes leaving no explanation for the chase. During the night, the dog mutates and attacks other dogs in the cage and members of the team that investigate. The team soon realises that an alien life-form with the ability to mutate and take over other bodies is on the loose and they don't know who may already have been taken over. The best special effects before the advent of digital.

2)28 Days Later, Filmed on a fairly low budget this film was hugely successful and depending on the ending you saw (they released two different versions in the theatre and three on DVD) There could be a sequel. A powerful virus escapes from a British research facility. Transmitted in a drop of blood and devastating within seconds, the virus locks those infected into a permanent state of murderous rage. Within 28 days the country is overwhelmed and a handful of survivors begin their attempts to salvage a future, little realising that the deadly virus is not the only thing that threatens them. In this film the 'zombies' are not undead so they actually can be killed by conventional means making for a more 'realistic' feel, if there is such a thing. One early scene in the film is amazing as they shut down and cleared out various sections of downtown London to make it look deserted.

1)Land of the Dead, One of a long line of legendary Zombie master George A Romero's 'dead' films, the latest is my favourite. Big budget, with a much more serious tone, this movie with legitimate actors like Ving Rhames, Sarah Polley and the legendary Dennis Hopper is a new take on the standard zombie film. In this installment, the world is full of zombies and the survivors have barricaded themselves inside a walled city to keep out the living dead. As the wealthy hide out in skyscrapers and chaos rules the streets, the rest of the survivors must find a way to stop the evolving zombies from breaking into the city. Some interesting features add even more fun if you get the DVD and it was successful enough that a sequel is in the works! What can I say...I love zombie flicks.

There you have it, my top 10 favourite horror movies. As far as I'm concerned, nothing beats a good horror flick with zombie movies being the best! I hope you've enjoyed my top 10 list and I have ideas for many more but I always look forward to input from you so if you have an idea for a list or anything else, let me know, I'll even give you credit. Check in tomorrow for my CFL week 3 predictions (hopefully I can pick at least one right!)

Until next time remember, no Payne no gain!