Is your idea of a scary movie a tension-building nail-biter or something more like a visit to the butcher shop? Over the last decade or two, horror films have increasingly sacrificed more of their plots for excuses to show scene after scene of extreme gore. Personally, I'm not a blood-and-guts sort of guy and would take a quality psychological thriller over the torture porn that inevitably floods theaters every October. So, in the spirit of the witching season, the following are a few movies you can stay home and watch instead of venturing out for a showing of ""Saw VII: I Can't Believe You People Pay For This Crap"" (perhaps the saddest part is that even though the subtitle of that movie is fictitious, the ‘VII' isn't). While the following movies may be light on gore, they are still chock-full of scares and suspense.
""Funny Games"" (2008)
A shot-by-shot American remake of the 1997 Austrian film of the same name, ""Funny Games"" is a psychological thriller about three family members who are held captive in their country lake house by two clean-cut guys they encounter who just so happen to be psychopaths. It is an artistic accomplishment in its own right that explores the nature of violence in entertainment and manages to be damn scary too. The film uses implied violence—almost everything brutal happens off-screen—but gets its point across in a plethora of clever and unsettling ways. This is a movie that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
""The Blair Witch Project"" (1999)
The original shaky-cam fauxumentary, ""The Blair Witch Project"" is a testament to what can be done on a shoestring budget with talent and passion. With no gore, no monsters, no special effects and no tension-building music, the film does away with most of the defining features of scary movies. It is a purely psychological horror film that rests on your imagination. ""The Blair Witch Project"" is one of the most successful independent films of all time for just that reason.
""REC"" (2007)
Possibly the best shaky-cam descendent of ""The Blair Witch Project"" so far, this Spanish horror film follows a television reporter working on a documentary about a local fire station. An emergency call from a woman trapped in her apartment leads the reporter, her camera crew and the firemen into an apartment building where they make a disturbing discovery. If you don't mind the hand-held camera format, this movie has an abundance of scares to offer without much gore.
""The Orphanage"" (2007)
Another Spanish-language horror film, ""The Orphanage"" is considered by many to be one of the absolute best horror movies of the last decade. This movie follows Laura, Carlos and their adopted son Simon as they move into the abandoned orphanage Laura grew up in. When Simon informs his parents that he has a new invisible friend, Laura begins to unravel the mystery behind their new home. ""The Orphanage"" doesn't use cheap ""gotcha"" moments; instead it crafts an atmosphere of terror and despair with a basis in human drama. It is a masterfully told old-fashioned ghost story and one of the best crafted horror films in recent memory.
""Misery"" (1990)
Adapted from a Stephen King novel, the movie follows Paul Sheldon, a famous author who is rescued from a car wreck by Annie Wilkes (a role for which Kathy Bates won an Oscar). Coincidentally, Annie happens to be Sheldon's self-proclaimed number-one fan. However, after Annie reads the manuscript for Paul's latest book and finds herself unhappy with the book's ending, her true colors begin to emerge. Aside from one particularly hard-hitting scene, this film passes on the blood in favor of suspense. Reminiscent of Hitchcock's ""Rear Window"" with an invalid main character, ""Misery"" is part horror, part thriller and part mystery but 100 percent worth your time.
""The Shining"" (1980)
Another Stephen King adaptation, this time with Stanley Kubrick at the helm, ""The Shining"" follows the Torrance family as they work as caretakers in a secluded hotel that is closed for the winter. The trouble starts when the family's son, Danny, begins to see things in the hotel and Jack (Jack Nicholson) begins to break down, haunted by his own demons and by writer's block. Nicholson's performance as a writer descending into murderous madness is one of the most memorable performances in the genre's history. Kubrick also manages to make ""The Shining"" one of the most artful horror movies ever put to film.
""Halloween"" (1978)
Its place as a Halloween movie may seem obvious, but while many people know it as one of the godfathers of the slasher-movie genre, most don't realize that it actually skips on much of the gore. While it may have been the inspiration for swathes of bad '80s slasher flicks, ""Halloween"" is crafted with talent. It is a movie all about suspense rather than the torture of flesh. It is built like a Hitchcock masterpiece and has more in common with ""Psycho"" than with most of the other slasher films of its era. Before ""The Blair Witch Project"" came along, ""Halloween"" actually held the title for most successful independent film.
These suspenseful flicks may keep you up all night, but at least they won't make you upchuck your popcorn.
