Personally I love being scared silly and a spine tingling ghost movie works for me. Of all the top horror movies genre out there like; vampires, zombies, killer tomatoes, the eerie, transparent ghoul that is floating around the room and whispering warnings to you in the dark, ghost movies are the best!
The love for a good ghost movie came about for me at a tender young age...thanks to two cousins!
It was a crisp fall day when I, at an impressionable age of eight or nine was dropped off at my grandparent's farm for a weekend stay.
My bratty two older cousins were staying there also. For sleeping, the three of us shared two feather mattress beds in the open basement of the old farmhouse.
That was where I experienced my first ghost story. In the silent darkness my cousins told me a spine tingling story that "actually" happened not too far away. A tale worthy of being one of the top horror movies ever. They began in detail, a story about a kid, my age, getting his head chopped in half with an ax by his crazy grandfather. The poor ghoulish kid with half a bloody head now roams the countryside.
I never slept a wink that night. In fact it was a good while before I slept at my grandparent's farmhouse again.
Halloween is near, enough of the vampire genre! That is why this article is about the eeriest, scariest ghost movies, twelve of them! Put in chronological order from oldest to newest and worth watching in this order. Notice how the older ghost movies were remade.
1) The Uninvited (1944)
A brother and sister move into an old seaside mansion. Bought very cheaply and came with a sinister past is now haunted.
Starring: Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey, Donald Crisp, Gail Russell.
2009 - The new ghost movie has a very different storyline. Hair standing straight scary never the less.
Starring: Emily Browning, David Strathaim, Elizabeth Banks.
2) House On Haunted Hill (1959)
Eccentric multimillionaire and his wife invite five unrelated strangers to a huge, isolated mansion. They offer 10,000 dollars to each guest if they make it through the night (12 hours). All five arrive by hearse and in the morning all five will be leaving by hearse, one-way or the other.
Starring: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long.
The new 1999 movie has the same story line, slightly altered like one million dollars instead of 10,000 and of course better special effects.
Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Famke Janssen, Taye Diggs, Chris Katten.
3) 13 Ghosts (1960) Out of all the top horror movies this ghost movie is one of the best. Uncle Zorba, an occultist, wills a huge unusual house to his needy nephew Cyrus and his family. This house came with three surprises; treasure, thirteen ghosts and special goggles to see these ghosts.
Starring: Charles Herbert, Donald Woods, Jo Morrow.
2001 version has the same story line, with creative well done effects and Cyrus is the uncle's name.
Starring: Tony Shalhoub, Shannon Elizabeth, F. Murray Abraham.
4) Carnival Of Souls (1962)
A ghostly man appears through mirrors at first only to an innocent church organist. Did someone or something at the deserted carnival prompt this ghoulish image which keeps appearing to this poor girl? Even though this is a low budget movie it still merits a decent level on the fright meter.
Starring: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger.
1998 version was much more brutal with a not so funny circus clown.
Starring: Bobbie Phillips, Shawnee Smith.
5) The Haunting (1963)
An old mansion called Hill House gives paranormal proof to Dr. Markway and his invited guests. The good story line made this a spooky movie.
Starring: Julie Harris, Richard Johnson, Claire Bloom.
1999 movie has the same story line only its Dr. Marrow, a high standard cast and great movie magic.
Starring: Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, Lili Taylor.
6) The Fog (1980)
One hundred years ago a ship carrying lepers purposely crashed drowning all on board. Now the ghoulish lepers are back for revenge and coming through the fog. John Carpenter can certainly put together a great ghost movie, not only once but twice.
Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, John Houseman.
2005- Very similar to the 1980 version but with better effects. Mr. Carpenter has also become more successful in the last twenty five years.
Starring: Tom Welling, Maggie Grace, Selma Blair.
7) Witchboard (1986)
College students start playing with an Ouija board that becomes evil. Meanwhile they were all thinking it was the spirit of a nice ten year old boy.
Starring: Todd Allen, Tawny Kitaen, Clare Bristol.
8) The Sixth Sense (1999)
In this subtle ghost movie, nine-year old Cole Sear can see, hear and talk to dead people right after they pass on. Dr. Crowe, a child psychologist tries to help Cole with these...hallucinations. I love movies that have a good twist ending and this is one of them. Definitely one of the top horror movies.
Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette.
9) The St. Francisville Experiment (1999)
In a little town in Louisianna is a known haunted house. The house is haunted by the ghosts of slaves who died enduring horrible torture.Four people are unprepared for the horrors that are about to occur.
Starring: Tim Baldini, Madison Charap, Paul Palmer.
10) What Lies Beneath (2000)
The wife of an university scientist begins to see apparitions. Her husband thinks that she is nuts until he sees the images for himself. Now, they must both uncover the truth and find out what lies beneath.
Starring: Michelle Pfeiffer, Katharine Towne, James Remar.
11) Ghost Ship (2002)
This is a 'better get ready to hang on to something' ghost movie. I would consider this as one of the top horror movies. A 1962 elite passenger ship was suddenly found floating adrift by a salvage crew, forty years later. Old, rusted, deserted, full of gold and ghosts.
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margulies, Ron Eldard, Isaiah Washington.
12) The Ring (2002)
A strange video tape with eerie footage that seems to kill the viewer in seven days. Seconds after the video ends, a phone call, one week later you die a horrible death. Originally a 1998 Japanese film called 'Ringu". I had to add this flick to the top horror movies list.
Starring: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Jane Alexander.
You want to be frightened this Halloween season? My recommendation for a great scary ghost movie is any one of these twelve films. They are all worthy to be on the 'top horror movies' list.
So after the costumed kids are done ringing your doorbell and threatening you for treats, grab a pillow to hang on to, turn off all the lights and put on one of these scary movies. Great way to end Halloween.
Happy Halloween, Cinema Serge.
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