The month of October brings thoughts of Fall, cooler weather, fall festivals, change of seasons, and of course Halloween and horror movies.
As someone over the age of 50, I can honestly say they do not make good horror movies like they used to. Yes, sure on occasions we may be treated to a really good horror movie every so often, but young people today don’t know what great horror movies look like.
Here is our list of the 31 greatest horror movies for those over the age of 40. Yes, 31 movies for 31 nights. Click the titles and check out the trailers on IMDb.
After making your choice, click here to test your knowledge of Horror Movies from the 70s & 80s.
Be sure to let us know what your favorite horror movies are.
Oh, and just one more thing, don’t turn off the lights!!!
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Our List of the Best Horror Movies for Those Over 40
1. Alien – 1979
Famous Quote – Ash: “I can’t lie to you about your chances, but… you have my sympathies.”
2. Aliens – 1986
Famous Quote – Newt: “They mostly come at night, mostly.”
3. A Nightmare on Elm Street – 1984
Famous Quote – Nancy: “Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep.”
4. An American Werewolf in London – 1981
Famous Quote – Jack: “The wolf’s bloodline must be severed; the last remaining werewolf must be destroyed. It’s you, David.”
5. Children of the Corn – 1984
Famous Quote – Malachai:
“Outlander! Outlander! We have your woman!”
6. Child’s Play – 1988
Famous Quote – Chucky: “Hi, I’m Chucky. Wanna Play?”
7. Friday the 13th – 1980
Famous Quote – Mrs. Voorhees: “You let him drown! You never paid any attention. Look what you did to him. Look what you did to him!”
8. Friday the 13th Part 2 – 1981
Famous Quote – Crazy Ralph: “I told the others, they didn’t believe me. You’re all doomed. You’re all doomed.”
9. Fright Night – 1985
Famous Quote – JERRY: “What’s the matter, Charley? Afraid I’d never come over without being invited first? You’re right. You’re quite right. Of course, now that I’ve been made welcome, I’ll probably drop by quite a bit. In fact, anytime I feel like it.”
10. Halloween – 1978
Famous Quote – Laurie: “It was the Boogeyman.” Loomis: “As a matter of fact it was.”
11. Halloween 2 – 1981
Famous Quote – Sam Loomis: Michael Myers was an extraordinary patient. There was a force inside him biding his time. He came accustomed to the inability and silence. In many ways he was the ideal patient he never talked he never cried he never moved. He just waited.
12. Hellraiser – 1987
Famous Quote – Pinhead: “We’ll tear your soul apart.”
13. Invasion of the Body Snatchers – 1978
Famous Quote – Dr. David Kibner: “We came here from a dying world. We drift through the universe, from planet to planet, pushed on by the solar winds. We adapt and we survive. The function of life is survival.”
14. Jaws – 1975
Famous Quote – Brody: “Your’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
15. Night of the Living Dead – 1968
Famous Quote – Newscaster:
“Kill the brain, and you kill the ghoul.”
16. Phantasm – 1979
Famous Quote – The Tall Man: “You play a good game, boy, but the game is finished. Now you die.”
17. Psycho – 1960
Famous Quote – Norman Bates: “Well, a boy’s best friend is his mother.”
18. Rosemary’s Baby – 1968
Famous Quote – Rosemary Woodhouse: Awful things happen in every apartment house.
19. Salem’s Lot – 1979
Famous Quote – Danny: “Open The Window, Mark. Please! Let Me In! It’s Okay, Mark, I’m Your Friend. He Commands It!”
20. The Amityville Horror – 1979
Famous Quote – Billy Lutz: “Why didn’t you tell us about the people who died here?”
21. The Blob – 1958
Famous Quote – Steve Andrews: “How do you get people to protect themselves from something they don’t believe in?”
22. The Evil Dead – 1981
Famous Quote – The Creature: (Singing) We’re going to get you. We’re going to get you.
Not another peep. Time to go to sleep.
23. The Exorcist – 1973
Famous Quote – Regan: You’re going to die up there.
24. The Howling – 1981
Famous Quote – Erle Kenton: “You can’t tame what’s meant to be wild, doc. It just ain’t natural.”
25. The Lost Boys – 1987
Famous Quote – GrandPa: “One Thing About Living In Santa Carla I Never Could Stomach…All The Damn Vampires.”
26. The Omen – 1976
Famous Quote – Caretaker: “Look at me Damien. It’s all for you.”
27. The Serpent and the Rainbow – 1988
Famous Quote – Dennis Alan: “Don’t let them bury me! I’m not dead!”
28. The Shinning – 1980
Famous Quote – Danny Torrance: “Redrum. Redrum. REDRUM!”
29. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – 1974
Famous Quote – Narrator: “The film which you are about to see is an account of the tragedy which befell a group of five youths, in particular Sally Hardesty and her invalid brother, Franklin.” … “The events of that day were to lead to the discovery of one of the most bizarre crimes in the annals of American history, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”
30. Trilogy of Terror – 1975
Famous Quote – Amelia: “This is Amelia, mom. I’m sorry I acted the way I did. I think we should spend the evening together, just the way we planned. It’s kind of late though. Why don’t you come by my place and we’ll go from here? No, I’m all right! Good. I’ll be waiting for you.”
31. Village of The Damned – 1960
Famous Quote – Prof. Gordon Zellaby: “A brick wall… a brick wall… I must think of a brick wall… a brick wall… I must think of a brick wall… a brick wall… brick wall… I must think of a brick wall… It’s almost half past eight… brick wall… only a few seconds more… brick wall… brick wall… brick wall… nearly over… a brick wall…”
Wrap Up
So, there you have it, our top 31 scariest horror movies for those over 40 to enjoy for the 31 days of October. It was tough to create a list of the 31 greatest horror movies made before 1990 because there are so many. Ranking our list of the 31 greatest horror movies would have been even more difficult, so we will leave that for another day.
The truth is that every once in a while, a really good horror movie will come along and remind us of why we love this genre. But unfortunately, there is not enough consistency and quality in today’s horror movies.
Now we want to hear from you, what are your favorite horror movies from our list and what horror movies did we miss that you would like to see added to the list?
Go to the comment section and let us know your thoughts.
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