Johnathan|Christian's Five Favorite Horror Films

Darkwave/rock duo Johnathan|Christian stops by and discuss their top five favorite horror films: 

CHRISTIAN GRANQUIST:

"Nosferatu" by F. W. Murnau

"Nothing will ever beat it. No hocus pocus, just sheer fear."









"Psycho" by Alfred Hitchcock

"I've must have seen it a dozen times, and I still don't know what frightens me about it. Maybe it's because you kind of understand Norman Bates, so you're actually afraid of yourself?"








"Let The Right One In" by Tomas Alfredson

"Let the right one in - maybe a bit biased here as the writer grew up in an adjacent suburb to where I grew up and it kind of describes my childhood in a fantasy-way.. But to me, this is how horror went socio-realism, a combo I never thought could exist."






"The Exorcist" by William Friedkin

"Boring choice but still frickin' good horror movie."








"Repulsion" by Roman Polanski

"The scene with the hands coming out of the wall is part of my recurring nightmares and I actually borrowed the theme for our song 'Private Room'. Again, who is Catherine Deneuve afraid of? Only herself..."






JOHNATHAN MOONEY:

"Prince of Darkness" by John Carpenter

"Just a great horror movie and Alice Cooper as a homeless zombie? Awesome. What really makes this one for me is John Carpenter's music. Sure  everyone can talk about the brilliance of Henry Mancini's "Jaws", but those droning notes on this one was just totally unnerving to me. It was like he was literally saying, 'Hey some really bad shit is going to happen, and just when you think it's bad, it's going to get worse."





"Chiller Theater"

"Okay so technically not a movie. As a matter of fact, it didn't matter what movie was on. If you were a young child in the tri-state area of New York and New Jersey in the 70's this was absolutely terrifying. A totally bare landscape except for that dead tree, the percussive tones over that  just haunting whistle and then this insane 6 finger hand comes out with that  voice completely dead of emotion.'Chiller'. Nothing scared me more. The craziest thing about it was it was supposedly done by Ranklin/Bass who gave us 'Frosty The Snowman' cartoon."

"Demons" by Dario Argento

"I love Italian horror, but Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava totally nailed it with a movie about going to see a movie. Looking back, it still holds up in my book for 80's awesomeness and best zit pop in movie history. No to mention some great metal tracks along with some pumping electronic music by Claudio Simonetti."





"Audition" by Takashi Miike

"I've heard about this one for years and finally made the mistake of watching it on a flight from New York to Los Angeles. Here I am watching this super touching story about this guy who's just trying to find new love after losing his wife. I'm getting teary and saying to myself, 'I just want him to be happy'. He finally meets this amazing woman who (spoiler alert) turns out to be completely nuts! By the last parts of the film I'm squirming in my seat trying to shield my laptop from other passengers so they don't think I'm watching torture porn."


"Halloween" by John Carpenter

"The ultimate in Carpenter. One of the hands down best in horror music. No one knows how to make a piano sound as scary. I was a latch-key kid raised by a single mother when my grandparents took me to see it. Huge mistake. Three days later I'm home alone at 9 years old and I'm convinced I'm seeing Michael Myers in the hallway. I ran out of the house screaming bloody murder. The police were called, my mom had to rush home, and it took a good couple of years before I would stay home alone again after that one."