Ghostwatch - What's Your Favorite Scary Movie?

KILLIAN H. GORE...

What’s your favorite horror television show?

Well, I’m going to pick a TV special rather than a series because I believe it deserves to be mentioned here. That show was the BBC’s chilling Ghostwatch. I can still vividly recall watching it on that Halloween night back in 1992 when the BBC aired it for the first, and only, time. I should state that my brothers and I had worked out quite early on that it was a piece of fiction masquerading as fact but that did nothing to detract from the masterful way the rather disturbing material was played out on the screen. It still gives me chills watching it today, especially the “hidden” appearances of the ghostly and grisly “Pipes”.

Stephen Volk’s excellent script really creeps up on you as the show unfolds, becoming more and more disconcerting as the background to the depraved story of “Pipes” develops.

From initially finding the proceedings slightly amusing, as a result of the rather dubious performances from the “real” family at the focus of the program, my brothers and I became increasingly unnerved by what we were watching, beginning to question if what we were seeing was “real” or not. I think this is testament to the excellence of the whole production that it started out by failing to fool us and ended up scaring the bejesus out of us!

STEPHEN VOLK

Writer – Gothic (1986), The Kiss (1988), The Guardian (1990), Ghostwatch (1992), Octane (2003), Afterlife (2005-2006), The Awakening (2011), Midwinter of the Spirit (2015)

What’s your favorite scary movie?

Don't Look Now (1973). When I saw it in the cinema I was alone and the ending blew my mind - I hadn't seen that coming, and its blend of existential dread and believable, multi-layered characters in a vivid setting is to me, perfection.

Who is your favorite horror movie director?

Guillermo del Toro, right now - because he is thorough, visual, a supreme storyteller and is unapologetic about being obsessed by monsters and the horror genre. He is a constant inspiration and I have his book on my shelf nearby for that reason. On another day, Hitchcock - because you can never tire of the perfection of Psycho or the audacity of The Birds.

What’s your favorite type (sub-genre) of horror movie?

Paranoid horror, such as Rosemary's Baby or The Stepford Wives. I love it when one person knows what is really going on and nobody believes them and thinks they are crazy!

What’s your favorite “bad” horror movie?

Probably one of my own.

What would be your favorite horror double feature drive-in choice?

Hammer's Dracula (1958) and The Devil Rides Out (1968). I never fail to get a buzz out of those classics.

Who is your favorite horror movie killer?

I like black comedy and satire so as mass murderers go, Mickey and Mallory Knox in Natural Born Killers (1994).

What is your favorite horror movie creature/monster?

Frankenstein. Endless pathos, endless ways to tell that tale. It speaks of the human condition. It never goes away.

What is your favorite horror movie franchise?

I grew up with the Hammer Frankenstein and Dracula franchises and the Roger Corman Poe adaptations. I couldn't choose between them, they were all a massive influence, specifically on my screenplay Gothic, directed by Ken Russell.

What’s your favorite horror movie sequel?

Day of the Dead (1985).

What’s your favorite horror movie remake?

Philip Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He updates it brilliantly and the cast are superb.

What’s your favorite horror television show?

Hannibal. It is pure horror - like experiencing a nightmare, it is both insane and absurd - but also beautiful.

What’s your favorite zombie movie? 

Not a movie but The Walking Dead. I think it's superb, mainly because the writing is fantastic and like all zombie films it is never about the zombies it is about the humans. 

What has been your favorite Halloween costume?

I don't like dressing up. I don't even like answering the door on Halloween.

Taken from What's Your Favorite Scary Movie?

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Killian Gore asks over 100 horror filmmakers and fans from all over the world the same 13 questions regarding their favorite scary movies. Includes interviews with such horror legends as Joe Dante (Gremlins), Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes), Fred Dekker (The Monster Squad), Marcus Nispel (Friday the 13th), Bill Johnson (Texas Chainsaw 2), Jack Sholder (Nightmare on Elm Street 2), Rob Schmidt (Wrong Turn), Mark Shostrom (Evil Dead II) Richard Stanley (Dust Devil), John A. Russo (Night of the Living Dead), William Malone (House on Haunted Hill), Greydon Clark (Wacko), Jeff Burr (Leatherface), Chuck Parello (Ed Gein), Adam Marcus (Jason Goes to Hell), Tom Sullivan (The Evil Dead), Michael A. Simpson (Sleepaway Camp 2 & 3), Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut), Victor Garcia (Hellraiser: Revelations) and Sean Clark (Horror's Hallowed Grounds). Plus lots more from the makers of the Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hellraiser, Evil Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Child's Play, Gremlins, Phantasm, Sleepaway Camp and the Wrong Turn movies, as well as some of the most hardcore horror fans on the planet! Mr. Gore asks questions about favorite horror films, directors, sequels, franchises, monsters, remakes, TV shows plus favorite "bad" horror movies and Halloween costumes! "A Very Entertaining Book!" - Tim Ritter (Truth or Dare?" A Critical Madness)