Screams to Remember

1 November 2020

(including a tribute to Sir Sean Connery)

In my movie watching, I don’t enjoy enough of the horror/thriller genre. Over the years, I add film gems directed by visionary artists. In 2013, “Prisoners” topped my favorites of the year. Last year, “Midsommar” rose to my top favorite. Horror films push film to new heights every year in their exploration of psyche, motivation, conflict, fear, tension, action, drama, love, technology, and mystery. As hard as they are to view, horror movies often illicit some of the greatest excitement.

There are famous directors who created famous horror films such as John Carpenter, Wes Craven, George A Romero, Sam Raimi, Gaspar Noe, Tobe Hooper, Quentin Tarantino, Hideo Nakata, Yeon Sang-ho, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and Rob Zombie. Up and coming directors dipping into the horror genre include Ari Aster, Jordan Peele, James Wan, Robert Eggers, Karyn Kusama, Bong Joon-Ho, Jennifer Kent, Mike Flanagan, and Julia Ducournau. I admire directors who make horror and thriller films because their creativity exploration is infinite.

What are some of your favorite horror films?

Horror Movies Seen in 2020 (in order of viewing) Count: 52

Raising Cain (1992) John Lithgow

The Invisible Man (2020) Elizabeth Moss

The Wicker Man (1973) Edward Woodward

Doom: Annhiliation (2019) Amy Manson

Pretty Little Stalker (2018) Nicky Whelan

The Lure (2015) Marta Mazurek

The Perfection (2019) Allison Williams

Wolf Cop (2014) Leo Fafard

Overlord (2018) Jovan Adepo

Leviathan (1989) Peter Weller

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974) Horst Janson

Red Riding Hood (2011) Amanda Seyfried

Maniac (1980) Joe Spinell

Friday the 13th - Part 2 (1981) Amy Steel

Friday the 13th - Part 3 (1982) Dana Kimmell

Friday the 13th - The Final Chapter (1984) Erich Anderson

C.H.U.D. (1984) John Heard

The Fourth Kind (2009) Milla Jovovich

Saturday the 14th (1981) Richard Benjamin

Climax (2019) Sofia Boutella

Terror Train (1980) Jamie Lee Curtis

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) Chris Massoglia

Count Dracula (1970) Christopher Lee

Crawl (2019) Kaya Scodelario

Eaten Alive (1976) Neville Brand

Ganja and Hess (1973) Duane Jones

Assassination Nation (2016) Odessa Young

Hollow Man (2000) Elizabeth Shue

Phantasm (1979) A. Michael Baldwin

Beowulf & Grendel (2005) Ingvar Sigurdsson

The Tingler (1959) Vincent Price

Q (1982) David Carradine

Parasite (1982) Robert Glaudini

The Car (1977) James Brolin

Villains (2019) Bill Skarsgard

Once Bitten (1985) Jim Carrey

DeepStar Six (1989) Greg Evigan

Horror films Seen in October 2020 (in order of viewing)

Shirley (2020) Elisabeth Moss

Club Dread (2004) Jay Chandrasekhar

The Summer of Fear (1978) Linda Blair

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) Richard Carlson

The Killer Shrews (1959) James Best

We Summon the Darkness (2019) Alexandra Daddario

I Bury the Living (1958) Richard Boone

The Addams Family (1991) Angelica Huston

Call Me (1988) Patricia Charbonneau

When a Stranger Calls (2006) Camilla Belle

Vampires (1998) James Woods

Peeping Tom (1962) Karlheinz Böhm

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) Dennis Hopper

Inseminoid (1982) Robin Clarke

Sir Sean Connery

Last Sean Connery film I saw (2020):

A Bridge Too Far (1977) Directed by Richard Attenborough

RIP, Sir Sean Connery. Your dedication to film will always be amazing.

My favorite film featuring Sean Connery is “From Russia with Love” (1963). I love it because it features one of the most memorable villain duos: Rosa Klebb (played by a brilliant Lotte Lenya) and Donald “Red” Grant (played by the fantastic Robert Shaw). An action story is memorable, not only because of the hero, but also the villains. Connery vs Shaw & Lenya created crisp tense scenes in a suave spy thriller.

What is your favorite Sean Connery film?