On Films & Film-Watching: Chills, Thrills, and Creepy Things that Go Bump in the Night

Posted byAlex Diaz-GranadosPosted in4K UHD Blu-rays, Blu-ray Box Sets, Blu-ray Collection, Films by Steven Spielberg, Jaws (1975), Movies, Paramount Home Media Distribution, The Stand (1994), The Stand (2020)Tags:, , , , , , , , , , ,

My collection does not have many horror movies in it. And, unfortunately, it includes Needful Things.

October is, of course, the month that ends with Halloween. Since that holiday is only 11 days off (as I write this), it’s a good excuse opportunity for me to tell you about my favorite horror films and TV miniseries.

Of the 414 Blu-ray titles – including ones that I have multiple versions of – in my collection, horror is one of the “under-represented” genres of which I have movies or miniseries. According to my Collection page on Blu-ray.com, I have 19 Blu-ray sets (mostly 2K, but some 4K UHD) full of creepy things that “go bump in the night.”

And since I’ve been a Stephen King fan since I was in junior high school in the late 1970s, eight of those 19 titles are either adaptations of King’s novels or short stories or, in the case of Creepshow, original written-for-the-screen stories.

Come with me into the dark, Dear Reader, as I pick my Top 10 Horror Films in my video library. Just be sure to bring a flashlight…and beware of the odd velociraptor, great white shark, or haunted 1959 Plymouth Fury!

  1. Jaws (1975), written by Peter Benchley & Carl Gottlieb, based on the novel by Benchley; directed by Steven Spielberg
  2. Alien (1979), written by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett; directed by Ridley Scott
  3. IT: Chapter One (2017), written by Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman, based on the novel by Stephen King; directed by Andy Muschietti
  4. IT: Chapter Two (2019), written by Gary Dauberman; directed by Andy Muschietti
  5. The Stand (1994), teleplay by Stephen King, based on his novel; directed by Mick Garris
  6. Jurassic Park (1993), written by Michael Crichton and David Koepp, based on the novel by Crichton; directed by Steven Spielberg
  7. The Shining (1980), written by Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson; directed by Stanley Kubrick
  8. Creepshow (1982),written by Stephen King; directed by George A. Romero
  9. Christine (1983), written by Bill Philips, based on the novel by Stephen King
  10. Dreamcatcher (2003), written by William Goldman and Lawrence Kasdan, based on the novel by Stephen King; directed by Lawrence Kasdan

Bonus Trailer:

I have, so far, only watched two of the nine parts of Paramount+’s 2020-2021 remake of The Stand, so I can’t give the new miniseries an honest evaluation. Ask me about how I would rank it next year, Dear Reader…that is if the boogeyman doesn’t get you!

Published by Alex Diaz-Granados

Alex Diaz-Granados (1963- ) began writing movie reviews as a staff writer and Entertainment Editor for his high school newspaper in the early 1980s and was the Diversions editor for Miami-Dade Community College, South Campus' student newspaper for one semester. Using his experiences in those publications, Alex has been raving and ranting about the movies online since 2003 at various web sites, including Amazon, Ciao and Epinions. In addition to writing reviews, Alex has written or co-written three films ("A Simple Ad," "Clown 345," and "Ronnie and the Pursuit of the Elusive Bliss") for actor-director Juan Carlos Hernandez. You can find his reviews and essays on his blogs, A Certain Point of View and A Certain Point of View, Too.

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