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If you want more info on any of the horror movies featured on my countdown, then please visit: http://www.imdb.com/. Anything you want to know about these movies, or any other movie, can be found at IMDB.com. It's one of my favorite websites. It has all of the information you could possibly want about a movie; cast list, synopsis, video clips, pictures, filming locations, reviews, discussion boards, and so much more. I highly recommend it!

1.) Halloween

Here it is, my number one favorite horror movie! John Carpenter's Halloween is by far the greatest horror movie of all time. What sets this movie apart from all other horror films is the fact that it doesn't rely on over-the-top scares and mass amounts of gore, but rather it's the simplicity of the film that makes it so creepy. I think one of the major driving forces behind this film and whats makes it so scary is the music that they use in each scene. I'm sure almost everyone has heard the Halloween theme and has been creeped out by it. I know it's creeped me out on more than one occassion. But anyway, the music is extremely haunting and just fits each scene so perfectly. The music really adds to the tension and builds up the suspense.

This movie is also simple in the sense that the plot it very basic, yet scary, the killer, Michael Myers, doesn't usually run after his victims, he sort of just watches them from a distance and approaches slowly (VERY creepy), and also there is probably only one scene in which blood is shown. Oh, and the killer never talks and we never see his face, which only makes him more mysterious and more terrifying. I love the fact that this movie can be so scary without even having to try.

So, for those of you who have never seen Halloween, first of all, shame on you, and second of all, here's what it's all about...

The storyline is very simple. The movie opens with a young boy in clown costume on Halloween night who is being babysat by his older sister. While the sister is upstairs in her bedroom, the young boy grabs a very LARGE knife from the kitchen and proceeds to walk upstairs with it. You can probably guess what's going to happen next, but I'm going to tell you anyway. Yes, he kills his sister. Why? I don't really know. All I know is that he is a very young boy with A LOT of pyschological issues.

Flash forward about 15 years and we're introduced to Michael Myers' doctor, Sam Loomis. Dr. Loomis is having Myers transferred to a maximum security prison because he is still extremely dangerous. Before Loomis can take him anywhere, Michael somehow manages to escape the facility, steal Loomis' car and drive away before anyone can stop him.

Then the movie takes us to Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween day. We're introduced to Laurie Strode, a 17 year old girl who also happens to be Michael Myers' half sister. Laurie doesn't know she's his half sister, but she will soon find out. Basically, the majority of the movie revolves around Michael Myers stalking Laurie Strode. He kills a bunch of her friends, and poor Laurie doesn't have a clue as to why this is all happening to her. By the end of the movie Dr. Loomis comes to her rescue and ends up shooting Michael six times, which causes him to fall out a second story window. Then Laurie asks Dr. Loomis, "What's the boogeyman?" to which he replies, "as a matter of fact, it was." Loomis goes over to the window to look below, BUT he sees in horror that Michael is gone.

Halloween 2 picks up right where Halloween left off, so if you want to find out what happens then you'll have to watch the original and then the sequel. Halloween 2 is probably one of the very few sequels that I actually like. It's almost as good as the original. I also really like Rob Zombie's remake of the original. He stays true to the storyline, while adding his own personal touches to it and elaborating more on Michael Myers' background, so we get a better understanding of why he turned out the way he did. However, Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween 2 was absolutely HORRIBLE. It's not even worth mentioning beyond that.

So, to sum it all up...Halloween is the best, classic horror movie ever. Plain and simple. End of story. Thanks for reading!

2.) The Shining

"Heeere's Johnny!" The Shining is so much more than just a simple horror movie. It is a psychological thriller that will have you engrossed in the film and thinking about it during and long after the movie has ended. I've seen this movie numerous times, and even though it's one of my favorites, I still find myself asking questions about it. The story goes so much deeper than what is seen on the surface. There are a lot of little details, mostly in the dialogue, that you need to pay attention to during the movie in order to formulate an understanding of the film's underlying concepts. The Shining may seem straightforward on the surface, but there also exists quite a bit of ambiguity within the storyline, which allows the viewer to form their own interpretation of what's really going on. When Stanley Kubrick created The Shining, he not only created a movie, but a masterpiece as well.

The Shining is based on a novel written by Stephen King, but it was Stanley Kubrick who wrote the screenplay and directed the film, thus giving King's novel a vision. The movie focuses on the Torrance family and their time spent at the Overlook Hotel. Jack Torrance, the father, takes on the task of being the hotel's caretaker during the long winter months, while the hotel is closed for the season. His wife, Wendy, and his son, Danny, accompany him to the hotel. Things start out alright and the Torrance family seems to adjust quickly to life at the hotel. However, Danny starts to see very disturbing visions of the hotel's gruesome past through a telepathic gift known as "The Shining."

Meanwhile, Jack Torrance finds himself slowly slipping into a world of isolation and insanity caused by cabin fever. He also starts having conversations with the ghosts of former hotel guests and staff. Jack's poor wife, Wendy, is trying to make sense of everything that is happening to her son and husband, but things only go from bad to worse. Wendy comes up with the logical solution that the family should leave the hotel immediately, but at this point Jack has gone completely insane and has become extremely violent. He refuses to leave the hotel because he "likes" it there and doesn't see anything wrong with this current behavior. Jack's violence and insansity culminates at the end of the movie in a series of scenes in which he chases his family around the Overlook Hotel with an axe. The Overlook Hotel's haunted, disturbing past consumes the Torrance family and turns them against each other...but are they able to escape the insanity before it's too late? Watch The Shining to find out! It's the type of movie you'll have to watch over and over again in order to fully understand it, but it's so good that you'll want to see it again.

Also, Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the disturbingly insane Jack Torrance is one of the most kick ass performances ever! He is totally mesmerizing; it's scary how convincing he is in this role. His acting is absolutely perfect in this film.

3.) A Nightmare on Elm Street

If I had to pick my favorite horror movie villian I would definitely go with Freddy Krueger. He's undeniably creepy with his burnt skin, sharp knives on his hand, and the ability to haunt/kill his victims while they are sound asleep. He may be creepy, but he also possesses a very dark humor that makes him very entertaining to watch onscreen. Freddy Krueger may be my favorite villian, but he is not the only reason I love A Nightmare on Elm Street. I find the entire story very intriguing. I wouldn't be a true horror fan if I didn't include this classic among my all time favorites.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is the creation of Wes Craven (the director of another one of my favorites, Scream). The story centers around a young girl named Nancy, and her three friends. They soon discover they have all been having similar dreams, in which they are stalked by a creepy guy who has knives for fingers. Unfortunately, their nightmares quickly become reality when the friends start dying off in their sleep. They are killed while they are in their most peaceful and vulnerable state, and they can't do anything to stop it. Nancy and her boyfriend, played by Johnny Depp in his first ever movie role, have to figure out who is killing their friends and why they are doing it before they become the next victims. Nancy figures out that the man that has been terrorizing their dreams is Freddy Kreuger, a child molester that was killed in a warehouse fire started by an angry mob of parents. But what does that have to do with Nancy and her friends? Well, Kreuger was killed by the parents on Elm Street, aka Nancy's parents and the parents of her friends. So Kreuger is out to get his revenge on those parents by killing their children...in their dreams. A Nightmare on Elm Street will definitely leave you creeped out and afraid to go to sleep. Luckily, it's only a movie!

Many sequels followed in the success of the first film and there is also a "remake" set to come out in early 2010. But no matter how many sequels or remakes are made, there won't be one that can surpass the greatness of the original. A Nightmare on Elm Street will forever be a classic.