The people behind some of the scariest movies of the past year have revealed their favourite scary movies.
JOE has had the privilege of interviewing the stars of and the filmmakers behind some of the biggest horror movies released in the past 12 months.
And every time we did, we were sure to ask them what their favourite scary films of all time were.
Of all the answers, the most common was The Exorcist, with Dave Bautista and M. Night Shyamalan (Knock at the Cabin), Nicolas Cage and Nicholas Hoult (Renfield) and Russell Crowe (The Pope’s Exorcist) all singing its praises.
While admitting that he was not generally a fan of scary movies, Crowe recalled a funny anecdote of seeing The Exorcist at a cinema in Auckland, New Zealand when he was 14.
He told us: “One of the ushers in the theatre halfway through the movie thought it was a really funny idea to bang the roof of the cinema with a broom. I don’t think any of us in the audience agreed with him.”
Most of JOE’s interviewees named The Exorcist as one of their favourite scary movies
As well as The Exorcist, Nicholas Hoult named The Omen as a scary favourite, while his Renfield co-star Cage also praised the 1920s’ silent horrors The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu, as well as 1998 Japanese film Ring.
Speaking of Ring, M3GAN actress Alison Williams named its American remake The Ring as the scary movie she loves the most, telling JOE:
“For reasons I don’t totally understand, I watched The Ring as if it were part of my chores.
“I watched it a lot when it came out and I was terrified of it. It ruined drains and wells and girls combing their hair.
“It just made a permanent impact and it was a favourite but it was also terrifying.”
Meanwhile, Scream franchise star Jenna Ortega named Child’s Play as her favourite but said it was too scary for her, explaining:
“I was terrified of Chucky. He turned me off of horror films for a really long time actually. He made me a big scaredy cat so I don’t have nice things to say about the doll.”
Ireland’s own Lee Cronin – writer-director of Evil Dead Rise – singled out seeing The Blair Witch Project in the cinema as a pivotal horror experience for him.
“I knew it wasn’t real anymore but I wanted to believe the hype and I still struggle to watch that movie on my own,” he told JOE.
Other classics mentioned were the original Scream by Knock at the Cabin’s Ben Aldridge and Jonathan Groff; The Shining by Infinity Pool star Mia Goth; and The Silence of the Lambs by Insidious: The Red Door’s director and star Patrick Wilson.
Last but not least, David Gordon Green – the co-writer and director of the currently in cinemas The Exorcist: Believer – said his favourite scary movie of all time was not a horror, choosing ’70s thriller Deliverance.
Speaking about it, he said: “It scares the crap out of me. I think about it every day since I saw it when I was 13 years old.
“It’s haunted me. It’s haunted my dreams. It’s haunted every camping trip and canoe trip I’ve taken in my life.”
You can watch a compilation of JOE interviewees talking about their favourite scary movies right here:
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