As we get further into the month  of October, the temperature has slightly (emphasis on slightly) cooled from a warm 90 degrees to a bitter 80, and world of the most popular costumes and parties have begun to circulate campus. While it may be easy to get caught up in superficial Halloween culture, we should never forget to embrace the horror content produced by the film industry, especially during this month. So, if you are in search of a good scare this Halloween season, let’s bring it back to the classics.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

Debuting in 1984, Wes Craven’s original rendition of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” left ‘80s kids sleepless for weeks. This is no surprise considering that the main attraction and antagonist of the movie is a serial killer who sports severely burned, distorted flesh, and deadly sharp claws. This monstrous character—the infamous Freddy Krueger—capitalizes on the nightmares of high schoolers and has the ability to murder his victims in their dreams. To give a backstory, Fred Krueger, also known as “The Springfield Slasher,” terrorized many children and committed several murders. When he was found not guilty in trial, a band of angry parents viciously murdered him, locking him in a boiler room. In seek of revenge, Krueger’s ghost lurks in the dreams of the children whose parents were responsible for his death. From the haunting melody of the theme song to the increased terror associated with the antagonist, this classic is definitely not something to skip out on if you are in search of a thrill.

Halloween

In 1963, on a Halloween night, 6-year-old Michael Myers stabs his 15-year-old sister to death, resulting in his admittance to an asylum, the Smith’s Grove Sanitarium. Under the care of doctor Sam Loomis, Myers spends 15 years in facilitated care, during which Loomis labels him as what IMDb calls “the personification of evil.” Fifteen years after his admittance and the night before Halloween, Myers pulls off an escape and heads back to his hometown of Haddonfield. Having a hunch about Myers’ plans, Loomis sets off to Haddonfield to warn the people of the danger of Michael’s return. Setting a standard that many films of the same genre tried to meet (unsuccessfully), “Halloween” was one of the first of the genre to truly create the classic psychopath stereotype in the world of horror movies. With a substantial building of suspense and all the gory details that many moviegoers live for, “Halloween” is considered among the best.

The Shining

Released in the year 1980 and adapted from the novel by Stephen King, “The Shining” is a film that is inevitably mentioned when it comes to classic, must-see films. In the film, Jack Torrance takes a job as a custodian at the Overlook Hotel in Colorado. During the winter, Torrance, his wife, and his son are the only inhabitants of the hotel. With a son who possesses supernatural abilities and discovers the terrors within the overlook Hotel, Jack begins to drive himself closer to the edge of insanity, becoming an unpredictable threat to his family. Every individual shot and sound was crafted carefully by director Stanley Kubrick to evoke sheer terror from the audience. This consistent rush of adrenaline is one of the movie’s main appeals and surely has a role in both the novel and the movie’s ability to stand the test of time.

Psycho

Among Alfred Hitchcock’s most successful blockbusters, “Psycho” is a revolutionary film in the horror genre. “Psycho” redefined the boundaries of the stereotypical horror plotlines of the early to mid-20th Century. The fear conjured in the 1960s film was much more impactful than the tales of “Frankenstein” or “Mummy”; the story is not too far from a reality. Norman Bates, a lonely motel owner with a noticeably strange relationship with his mother, was the precedent for  a large variety of slasher films. He is considered one of the most famous, if not the most famous, psychopath in cinematic history. It’s unpredictable, leading the audience in false directions and keeping them involved in the disturbing plot. Its deeply developed characters make the film attract conflicted feelings from viewers from sympathy to utter disgust with Bates’ gruesome murders.