With the Halloween season quickly approaching, we thought it would be appropriate to reach out to “horror-core” band ICE NINE KILLS frontman Spencer Charnas for his Top 5 Essential Horror Movies for the Halloween season.
You can either keep reading or simply listen via the player below.
The known horror aficionado has written numerous brutal songs based on classic horror movies like “The American Nightmare”, based on the ‘Nightmare On Elm Street’ horror franchise, “Savages” based on ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “Stabbing In The Dark” based on the ‘Halloween’ series, among many others.
And we’re not talking the usual standards that make their rounds every year throughout October like ‘Halloween’ or any of the ‘Hellraiser’ franchise films. We went to Spencer for some of the more deeper cuts that you may not have previously seen to indulge yourselves in this holiday season.
ICE NINE KILLS are currently promoting their latest release and sequel to their 2018 album “The Silver Scream” with “The Silver Scream 2: Welcome To Horrorwood”. The follow-up album features 14 songs all based on horror movies just like it’s predecessor and is available now.
Decadent, devious, and fiercely insane, with sardonic wit to spare, ICE NINE KILLS celebrate pop culture’s darkest edges, mining a cinephile library’s worth of b-movie schlock and iconic horror on “Welcome To Horrorwood: The Silver Scream 2” and its prequel, “The Silver Scream”.
So without further adieu, we give you ICE NINE KILLS frontman Spencer Charnas’s ‘Top 5 Essential Horror Movies for Halloween’. You can check them out below.
Number 5. – SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT
Spencer says: “Well I think what I’m gonna do here is, obviously of course, it goes without saying ‘Halloween’ by John Carpenter and ‘Friday the 13th’, all those ones are very obvious because their the most iconic, great ones, but I’ll try to give you five that I don’t think that many people know about.
“One I would say would be ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’, which is actually a ‘Christmas themed’ slasher movie, but just a really fun horror film. So that would be one.”
‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’ came out back in 1984 and has gone on to become a classic in the American slasher film genre. Directed by Charles E. Sellier, Jr., the story concerns a young man named Billy, who suffers from post-traumatic stress over witnessing his parents’ murder on Christmas Eve by a man disguised as Santa Claus and his subsequent upbringing in an abusive Catholic orphanage. In adulthood, the Christmas holiday leads him into a psychological breakdown, and he emerges as a spree killer donning a Santa suit. Pretty cool, and surprisingly appropriate for Halloween or the Christmas season.
Number 4. – IDLE HANDS
Spencer says: “I would say ‘Idle Hands’…it’s just a really funny, horror-comedy. THE OFFSPRING are in it and BLINK-182 makes an appearance. It’s just a great…great movie with a great soundtrack.”
Idle Hands was released in 1999 as an American teen black comedy horror film directed by Rodman Flender and written by Terri Hughes and Ron Milbauer. The film stars Devon Sawa, Seth Green, Elden Henson, Jessica Alba, and Vivica A. Fox. The main plot follows the life of an average lazy stoner teenager, played by Sawa, whose hand becomes possessed and goes on a killing spree, even after being cut off from his arm.
Number 3. – MY BLOODY VALENTINE
Spencer says: “I would say ‘My Bloody Valentine, another holiday based film. The original and I love the 3-D one too! So either of those.”
‘My Bloody Valentine’ is a 1981 Canadian classic slasher film directed by George Mihalka and written by John Beaird. The plot tells the story of a group of young adults who decide to throw a Valentine’s Day party, only to incur the vengeful wrath of an assailant in mining gear who begins a killing spree.
A 2009 3-D remake was also released, yet nothing can compare to the strength of the original.
Number 2. – THE BURNING
Spencer says: “The Burning, which is a camp themed slasher movie that came out right after ‘Friday The 13th. Which you know…it’s an unknown gem…so to speak. A friend of mine actually has the hedge clippers used in the iconic canoe scene from that movie. Oh man that’s one of my most favorite kills. We named one of our first albums ‘The Burning’ because of that movie.”
‘The Burning’ arrived in 1981 and is a slasher film directed by Tony Maylam. It’s plot follows a summer camp caretaker who is horribly burnt from a prank gone wrong, where he seeks vengeance at a nearby summer camp years later. A definite slasher classic.
Number 1. – THE PROWLER
Spencer says: “And then I would say ‘The Prowler’, another Tom Savini (legendary horror make up artist who also did ‘The Burning, ‘Friday the 13th’ etc.) movie from the 80’s which just has amazing practical effects.”
‘The Prowler’ (also known as Rosemary’s Killer and The Pitchfork of Death internationally) came out back in 1981 and was directed by Joseph Zito. The film follows a group of college students who are stalked and murdered during their graduation party by someone wearing a G.I. uniform. The killer is depicted as a war veteran from World War II, and responsible for killing his ex-girlfriend in 1945. In 1980, he goes on a killing spree on the anniversary of her death.
