With Halloween coming up, I thought I’d list four adult horror movies that are good to watch in the daytime and will scare you properly at night. Let me clarify something up front. These movies are not the typical “blood & spilled guts” that are found in many of the new movies released in the last 10 years. The movies on this list have very little, if any, blood, but they all work on a primal level with their audience and generate fear and apprehension which is what a good horror movie must do.
Also note that I have purposely not included many of the classic 1930’s Universal Pictures movies such as Frankenstein, Dracula, The Invisible Man or The Wolf Man on this list because you should have seen them by now. If you haven’t seen them, well shame on you, because those movies set the standard for all that followed and many are available on Netflix. I also didn’t include movies like the 1982 Poltergeist or the 1968 Rosemary’s Baby because they should be standard fare at this time of year anyway. So let’s get started, shall we.
– Nosferatu (1922) – This silent German motion picture is the unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It is now in the Public Domain and can be seen for free on YouTube or 
at Archive.Org (better quality). It is also at Netflix as Nosferatu: Original Version (1929). Actor Max Schreck creates a version of Count Dracula (originally called Count Orlok at the movie’s release) that is believable and terrifying. His Dracula is as ugly as Bela Lugosi’s was polished. How good is this movie? Here’s a fact you can take to the bank: Every Dracula movie you will ever see in your lifetime was inspired by this one’s visual interpretation of the Stoker novel including Lugosi’s 1931 classic.
Please note that whether you watch the film on YouTube or at Archive, you will not see the movie as originally released. The movie as released was tinted so that daytime scenes were yellow or sepia toned and the night scenes were blue. It’s impossible to tell this in either film at YouTube or Archive, but just remember whenever you see the Count moving around, it is night. (The Netflix version is correctly color tinted.)
– The Mummy (1932) – What would happen if your lover from your previous life pursued 
you in this life attempting to rekindle that love. Fans of DC Comic’s Hawkman/Hawkgirl need not answer because you already know that that scenario always ends badly. Anyway, this is the plot from this 1932 Universal Pictures movie in which an ancient Egyptian priest seeks the reincarnated soul of his ancient lover. Boris Karloff is the ancient priest and he is scary and determined to have his bride even if it cost her her life. The movie can be found at Archive.Org for free or at Netflix.
– The Haunting (1963) – What happens when paranormal investigators can’t agree on the 
phenomenon they witness in a haunted house they spend several nights in? The answer is a stellar performance by Julie Harris as Eleanor Lance. You fear for her as she fears for her sanity. You watch Eleanor go mad as the house, yes the house, tries to claim her soul. It’s a ghost story without the ghost because it is the house itself that will scare you. The movie was remade in 1999, but pales in comparison to the original black & white one. The movie is available at Amazon. The trailer is below:
– The Entity (1982) – There is no escape from something you cannot see. Supposedly based 
partially on a true story, a woman is tormented and sexually molested by an invisible demon. When an invisible attacker beats and rapes Carla Moran (Barbara Hershey), the mother of three seeks comfort from her friends and family, who dismiss her story as insane. But a psychiatrist (Ron Silver) and a team of paranormal experts come to believe Carla and try to help her survive this nightmare. This is the only R rated movie on my list (for the sex scenes) and it is the most unnerving of all on this list. Barbara Hershey is fantastic in this film and you end up applauding her determination as she tries to take her life back. The movie is at Amazon. Here’s my warning to you – don’t watch it at night. It will invade your dreams. The trailer is below:
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Now if these four movies are just too scary for you, I have something from television which is very lighthearted and I think you’ll enjoy. From the fourth season of Lois and Clark – The New Adventures of Superman comes a really nice ghost story. The name of the episode appropriately is Ghosts. This fun-filled story was written by Michael Gleason who was the creator of the TV series: Remington Steele. It tells a story of a con artists who tries to scare Lois and Clark with fake hauntings in an attempt to buy their house. The ghost of a dead woman who lived in Lois and Clark’s house years ago enters Lois’ body, and she wants to have Lois’ life and her husband. In addition to Dean Cain as Clark Kent/ Superman and Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane, this episode stars Drew Carey and Kathy Kinney. It can be found on Amazon.com and is well worth the $1.99 if you’re a fan of the series.