DECEASED’s King Fowley offers his Top Ten Favorite Horror Films for Halloween

As Halloween is just around the bend, who better to help set the mood for a macabre weekend than a man who has been bleeding the worlds of horror and metal into one another for over twenty years! King Fowley, front man, drummer, and ringleader of stalwart metal band Deceased is a walking encyclopedia of horror movie knowledge, which leaks out now and again into the band’s album. And although Deceased’s latest release, SURREAL OVERDOSE is rooted in the horror found in reality, Fowley continues to create a mood that forces you to leave the lights on! Read on, as the man recounts some movies to give your holiday an extra edge!

PHANTASM (1979) - My all-time favorite horror film! Why? Is it the town that seems to be in nowhere? Is it the young boy and his fears of everything in life unfolding? Is it the way out there total nightmarish delivery in the film? It’s all of that and so much more. From a spooky soundtrack to a script so far-fetched and out of the norm it had to either work completely or fail miserably. To me it's brilliant. The Tall Man character is the shape of evil. The 'good guys' try to make light of things, but in the end there's nothing but dread and doom to take them. This one plays the ultimate nightmare with all that a nightmare can give you - oddities, strange, out of natural thinking rhythm, it's all here! Absolute perfection!!!
THE EXORCIST (1973) - The Mike Oldfield “Tubular Bells” music rings out and the little girl Regan becomes possessed by the devil. Still the spookiest film ever made to me. All of the spiritual angles spiral at you - the loud, sudden noises in the soundtrack. A cute little girl falls prey to the evil of the world and her family and love ones are at wits end to end this hell on earth. Every trick and gadget is played out without seeming out of place. Inner demons amongst the young priest pull at him. Religious belief is questioned; a disturbing film that delivers every time.
BURNT OFFERINGS (1976) - City folks rent a summer getaway at the most beautiful home ever built. It’s dirt cheap for the entire season. The catch? Please watch mother for us, she's much too old to travel away from home. A family slowly becomes unraveled. Childhood nightmares return. And a strange aura overtakes them all. For me, the ultimate haunted house film…with no happy ending!!! Karen Black, Oliver Reed and the great Bette Davis lead the cast. A must own!
BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) - This one has a madman hiding in the girls’ sorority house attic at Christmas time while the girls seem to disappear. There’s no hint of why this happening; no understanding, just pure terror. Calls come to the girls that slowly get more deranged. The police are brought in to figure it all out. But what is there to figure out? The finale is one of the absolute best ever in any horror film. The Christmas carols and music only add to the nerving anxiety of it all.
CARRIE (1976) - The poor ugly duckling at school! Picked on and pried at by the 'cool' kids. ‘Til a lil' library time with some books on mind expansion gives Carrie the upper hand. The prom scene in this film is among the most horror-filled celluloid ever laid down. Add in a creepy Jesus candle, a far-gone mom and the brilliant Brian de Palma at the director’s helm, and you've got the best Stephen King adapted film ever.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) - “They're coming to get you, Barbara!” Black and white cheap film stock lays the canvas of the dead coming back to life; a struggle of unknown to other folk trying to survive the night and how disaster always seems to bring out the worst in people. This one, while zombie-full, is more about the horror that lies inside the house! A masterpiece
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) - A very brooding and nonstop attack of the senses. Like a crazy tale told by the old-timers coming to life before your eyes - a deranged family, a lost bunch of kids, and a chainsaw! Still one of the best examples of pure horror ever put to the screen. Lead actress Marilyn Burns is the real scream queen!!!
LET’S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971) - Jessica is released from a crazy ward and sent back into society. Picked up by friends, they decide to move out into the countryside and away from all the city hoopla. From the get-go, they find it a bit strange and off kilter, but they manage. That is, until they run into a stranger who’s been shacked up in the house they now live in. Then it all really turns to insanity. Or does it????
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999) - Into the woods three people in search of a legend go; cameras in-hand and a mission to make a documentary on a supposed witch from long ago. Things unravel and their minds overtake them all. Lost in the woods, they haven't a clue what is happening. But that's only the bright side of things!
THE WOMAN IN BLACK (1989) - A UK TV-produced film from the late 80's now in a US production remake overhaul due out 2012. A ghostly tale of a man sent to investigate the house in which a woman died. Why will no one go with him to this place? Why does the town not speak of her? Dread, despair and sorrow all follow.