20 Artists Share Their Favorite Horror Movies

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It’s that time of year again when horror films truly shine. We asked 20 artists to share their favorites, and you can let us know yours in the comment box below.

Photo by Rene Diwtam

9. Matthew Widener (Liberteer, Cretin, The County Medical Examiners)

Favorite Horror Movie:
The Exorcist

When did you first experience the movie?
I was 12 years old. I watched it through fingers over my eyes, in the dark, while my mom slept on the couch. Near the end of the movie, during the final exorcism scene, my mom jerked in her sleep and cried out and I almost made poo everywhere.

What’s the scariest scene in the movie?
Many contenders, but the one that kills me most is the crucifix masturbation scene. The unthinkable and grotesque rebellion, against God and mother, is horrifying in a fundamental way. I was an atheist even as a kid, but having gone to Catholic school, the imagery triggers so much.

Are there any personal fears that resonate with you in this movie?
Well, I don’t believe in demons or ghosts or anything. My personal fear is an unease that is tied into the absence of those things. The Exorcist is scary to me because it underlines the fiction of that worldview, reminds me of our lack of meaning, but at the same time slaps me around with the “what if” and assaults me from both sides. It’s terrifying imagining someone you know and love becoming like that.

Why is this better than any other horror movie out there?
It’s transgressive in a way that most movies never are. It feels like a documentary, but without the cloying pander of the modern found footage bullshit. The sound design, the acting, the writing, it’s all so perfect.

10. Marissa Martinez (Cretin/Repulsion)

Favorite Horror Movie:
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre(Original)

When did you first experience the movie?
It was the summer before starting my senior year of high school. So, either 16 or 17. Widener and I had been working on music for our band, when I told him that I had never seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The lyrical concept for Cretin was inspired by the characters in this movie, so I was told that it was required viewing. We immediately drove to the local video rental shop so I could see it.

What’s the scariest scene in the movie?
The scariest scene to me, is when Pam gets hung up on the meat hook by Leatherface. I constantly live with a fear of being manhandled by someone bigger than me. A fear of being at their mercy, being tossed around against my will. Unable to fightback to any effect, and then in the blink of an eye, finding myself in pain, bleeding and helpless.

The actress’ performance is extremely convincing. When she’s impaled on that hook and goes from hysterics, to stunned silence, with a look of shock on her face as she realizes what just happened. Then struggling to lift herself off of the hook, her screams reduced to strained, breathless, whimpers, trailing off until she surrenders to defeat… It’s really horrifying…

Are there any personal fears that resonate with you in this movie?
I grew up in the Santa Cruz, Calif., mountains which was home to a couple of serial killers back in the late ’70s. There were also secluded towns out there, which we all understood, through urban legend, to be very “backwoods” and frightening. Widener and I often imagined that these places played host to characters straight out of movies like Deliverance or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So, whenever we were out late at night driving through the mountains, our pulses would beat a little faster than usual. Our senses would be on alert as we feared for that inevitable moment where we were booby trapped by a cackling, feral, miscreant, and his gigantic, lumbering, friend.

Why is this better than any other horror movie out there?
The acting in this movie is really good. The terror expressed by all of the victims is so realistic it’s palpable. The cretanic performances of the murderous family are brilliant too. Plus, this movie has has it all! A creepy secluded shack, filled with furniture made out of people. A wild, scampering, cretin who plays with roadkill. Murder, meat hooks and mental torture, all building to a moving waltz between a monstrous, gender-bending, maniac, and his beloved chainsaw of death. It just doesn’t get any better than that…