Top 5 best haunted house movies part 2!

 Top 5 best haunted house movies part 2!

 Here are my next five top favorite haunted house movies! Films that honestly make the real-estate market an actual living HELL!

1) Amityville 1992 It's About Time

"It's about time, that's what."

- This is on the top of my list. Not only is it a really decent 90's straight to video horror movie, it's a strong 6th entry in a dying film series that needed some life breathed into it. If you know me, or follow this blog, you understand how much I love this movie. It's seriously one of my all time favorite films despite it's cheesy moments and at times low budget mistakes. This movie actually has a lot going for it, KNB effects, a really strong cast, and it switches up things. With part 4 (The Evil Escapes) it took the smart direction in using cursed objects from the original house, and showed the terror they brought wherever they went. First a lamp, in this a clock, and in the next entry a mirror. It switched the setting to a track housing community on the West Coast, where a land developer comes home with an antique clock from a house that was just torn down (the original house), he places it on the mantle, and in just days the clock begins to possess both him and his teenage daughter. Time begins to either slow down or speed up, a friendly neighborhood dog goes wild, freak accidents occur, and unexplained fires. It's up to the man's ex-girlfriend, and his teenage son to solve the mystery behind the clock before it's too late. This movie really is a prime example of why 90's horror actually wasn't that bad. I would like to think of myself as the world's biggest Amityville 1992 fan. I have an original poster from this framed at the top of my stairs so it's the first thing you see when you enter my house, a signed laserdisc from half the cast, a promotional video store button, VHS tapes, and original artwork from this movie. One of my favorite thing about this film is the twist ending, as well as clever filmed scenes, such as a tracking shot all done in one take that shows hours pass for a character when they enter another room, when it seemed just like seconds. Am I planning on getting a Amytville 92 tattoo someday? Maybe...

2) Amityville II The Possession

"You know my name, you very well know my name..."

- Whenever I talk to people who haven't seen the Amityville movies, I tell them I really do love the original, but it's pretty tame for newer audiences, even though I think it's a great slow-burn horror movie based off a frightening novel. If they are looking for scary, to go check out the sequel...or prequel as I like to call it. Loosely based off the actual murders that occurred in the 1970's, this tells the disturbing tale of a family, sadly living in terror by their abusive father, and how everything quickly falls apart as the house's evil spirits possesses their eldest son. We get incest, strange occurrences, and finally the son going on a rampage murdering his entire family (mother, father, sisters, and brother) one stormy night. The following morning, the boy claimed he had no idea what happened and is put on trial. Here the family priest does everything in his power to prove the boy was innocent, and that it was the house that caused him to commit these terrible crimes. Without going into major spoilers, clearly 90% of this really didn't happen. The murders tho, did. It's very disturbing when that fateful night happens. We watch as the teenage daughter is trapped inside her home, watching as her parents, and young siblings are killed before her very own eyes. This is a really decent possession movie. I feel The Exorcist raised the bar for these types of stories, and with this one it actually almost met the mark. We get a tale of possession as well as a haunted house film. The music is beautiful, the storylines disturbing, and of course the amazing makeup in the final act. Great stuff all around and one of the strongest entries in the entire series.

3) The Hearse 

"Who are you?!"

- The Hearse is another slow-burn decent horror movie with great atmosphere, that I've always really liked watching around spring/summer time. It tells the tale of a schoolteacher who's basically suffered a nervous breakdown after her mother passed away, and she got divorced by her husband. Needing a break from the city and everyday life, she goes out to the country to go live in her great aunt's house I believe, for the summer as a nice way to escape and relax. Once she moves in and starts getting settled, she notices everybody from town treats her strangely. They ignore her, are rude, and call her names, calling her a ghost. Trying to fix up her property, she hires a young man from the local hardware store to help her, before she meets a mysterious handsome man from town. As she starts dating him, she finds her great aunt's diary and reads an entry every night before bed. This is when things start getting strange. First she starts having strange nightmares, over and over again of seeing her own body laying in a casket at her funeral. Then she starts getting followed by a dark hearse at night, which even follows her to her house several times and vanishes as soon as she calls the police. Thinking she's going crazy, she tries to figure out who's driving this hearse, and what they want with her. I guess this movie just recently got the blu-ray treatment. I for one need an upgrade from my old VHS copy, but it's worth checking out 100%

4) Don't Go To Sleep

"Big slices for daddy, little slices for you and me!"

- This is another huge favorite of mine on the list. About 2 years ago my friend Jody and I were at work talking about creepy horror movies we remembered watching growing up. I told her how much I LOVE made for TV horror movies from the 70's and 80's. She instantly asked me if I had seen this movie and urged me to check it out ASAP. I found it on Youtube, and instantly I loved it. The house on the west coast, and creepy "accidents" Valerie Harper as the helpless poor mother, the little brother who played the son in Poltergeist, the scene where the daughter rolls under the bed to find the spirit of her sister waiting underneath smiling at her, the score, the pizza slicer scene, and yes in my eyes one of the scariest ending shots to a movie e-v-e-r. This will always be on the top of my list whenever I need to recommend a horror movie to someone. This is a favorite of mine, and I even own a bootleg copy of this. One of my new summer traditions is to pop some popcorn, and watch this movie. It's about a family who suffered a terrible tragedy the year before when their darling eldest daughter died in a car accident. A year later the father got a new job, and they move to a new house with their chain smoking old mother in-law, and two children. Right off the bat their surviving daughter clearly has some issues. She starts hearing noises at night, thinking something is after her. One night there's even an unexplained fire that happens nearly destroying her bedroom. Time passes, and suddenly she starts seeing her dead sister who claims she returned to play with her. Here she starts to convince her that her grandmother, brother, and other family members think she's crazy, and will lock her away. Here she needs to "take" care of them. Has the spirit of the sister returned for revenge? Or is it something worse. One of the best made for TV horror movies ever made hands down! 5 stars all around!

5) House

"I bet you! You Goddamn house!"

- These movies are so much fun. We have Fred Dekker and Steve Miner teaming up making a really cool movie. What I like is originally it was supposed to be a much more serious movie. Instead they went for a creepy, but fun movie with a little comedy, slapstick, and over the top moments. This is a film I remember watching ever since I was a little kid and absolutely loving. What makes it even better is that these films (all 4 of them that I love) are getting the blu-ray treatment, posters, pins, ect. They are finally getting the respect they deserve. All films are silly, scary, and a good time, but nothing beats the original. I LOVE this house (my dream is to someday find that massive video store display of the house that was given to rental stores back in the 80's.) I love the practical effects (Big Ben, the puppets, the giant ghouls and monsters) Seriously it's like a never ending list of amazing creatures all brought to life. We also have some killer scenes (the mirror that opens down to an endless abyss, the pool, the fish coming to life, ect) It's like an amusement park ride. We follow a writer who's moved into his late aunt's house after she hung herself in her bedroom. Here he decides to focus on his next novel (He's written all highly successful horror novels and now wants to switch gears and writes about his time in the war nearly 10 years ago) Here he tries to focus, but we see all isn't what it seems. A year ago his young son vanished in the backyard of this house without so much as a trace. This resulted in his marriage to his beautiful actress wife to end, and him trying to breathe life into his career. Here he starts to understand that maybe his aunt wasn't crazy, and maybe this house had something to do with his son's disappearance. This is a lighter haunted house movie, but if you want darker, check out part III the horror show!

So there you have it! My favorite haunted house movies! Great for any marathon!