11 Best New York City Horror Movies
Just in time for Halloween, we've put together our list of the best horror movies that take place in New York City! If you think we've overlooked a film, or disagree with our choices, battle it out in the comments!
Without further ado...
Evil Brewing in the City
Double Feature: Ghostbusters / Ghostbusters II
Does Ghostbusters really need an explanation? Though we've all seen it a million times, Ghostbusters is
endlessly rewatchable and an excellent group film (I've seen entire
crowds quote the dialog from start to finish). As for its New York
content, the movie gives viewers one of the best tours of the city ever
captured on celluloid, and as a plus, the geography of the movie
actually makes sense!
Watch For: a brief glimpse of Ron Jeremy in the crowd outside Dana's at the end of the film.
Say what you will about Ghostbusters II
- when I reference 1) Vigo the Carpathian or 2) the River of Slime, you
know exactly what I'm talking about, and that's gotta mean something,
right? (hell, chances are you even know what a "slime blower" is).
Though basically a carbon copy of the first in nearly every way
(underdogs become heroes, Venkman wins over Dana, a larger-than-life
icon brought to life in the finale, etc.), this one still has its
charms (New Yorker's immense hate and disdain manifesting itself into a
pink sludge? Brilliant!)
Watch For: Ray's Occult Bookstore, located at 33 St. Mark's Place
Rosemary's Baby
Another no-brainer. To those that see the film as being a bit dated and
campy, I feel they're missing the point. In my opinion, the characters
are among the most realistic ever to populate a horror movie. Rosemary
is both incredibly well-meaning and immensely naive, but she never
comes off as a horror movie ditz. In many ways, it is her unyielding
desire to please that causes her to ignore the obvious and get in such
deep trouble.
Her husband Guy, easily one of the sleaziest villains in film history (he lets Satan rape his wife - can you get any worse?), is not a one-dimensional antagonist; we see him change from loving husband to self-centered asshole as the film progresses, an organic shift for his character. And though very much over the top, the Castevets are perfectly believable as the kind of kooks who would try to bring about the return of Satan. For some reason, people tend to picture Satanists as being robe-wearing goth types. Imagine instead that the crazy aunt and uncle in your family accidentally stumbled upon some dark magic and used it to bring about Lucifer. If you were to walk in on the ceremony, the appearance would be comical, but the results horrifying - one of the film's juxtapositions that I love.
C.H.U.D. (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers)
You can stop worrying about the alligators in the sewers - it's the
CHUD's you've gotta watch out for! A schlocky B-movie, but a charming
B-movie at that. If you're looking to make fun of this MST3K-style, you
might find yourself surprised. Daniel Stern actually gives a decent,
non-hammy performance (a rarity!) as the head of a homeless shelter.
Not too many scares, but a lot of creepy fun.
Something's Behind You...
Cat People
If you've never seen it, do yourself a favor and rent Cat People. Directed by horror maestro Val Lewton, Cat People is
about...well, people that turn into panthers, and features at least two
masterful moments of suspense that have stayed with me since I first
saw the film (I'd mention more, but I don't want to ruin them). Though Cat People wasn't actually filmed in the city, look for a decent recreation of a Central Park transverse.
Wait Until Dark
I gotta be honest (and I know I'll lose a lot of you on this one): I'm not a Wait Until Dark fan. My parents hold it to be one of the scariest movies ever, but though I've seen it a number of times, I've never really understood the appeal. Ultimately, it feels to me like filmed theater, which I really, really dislike. If you're going to make a movie version of a stage play, just make sure to bring something cinematic to it. Instead, the camera is plunked down in practically a fourth wall position to film the proceedings (which at times are distractingly theatrical), and to me it feels hammy and flat. Yes, the finale in the dark is clever, but while I can imagine it having a great effect for anyone watching the stage play in a pitch black theater, on the screen, I feel it loses most of its impact.
But!
I know I'm in the minority on this one, and if I'm going to have CHUD on this list, I have to include Wait Until Dark too!
They're Destroying the City!
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms
One of the first monster movies, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms tells
the story of a hibernating dinosaur who, after being awoken by atomic
bomb testing in the Arctic, comes to New York and tears the place up.
The special effects, by master Ray Harryhausen, steal the show and are
definitely worth a viewing. In a way, the movie is basically the same
as...
Cloverfield
Though a bit overhyped when it first came out, Cloverfield is
a fun first-hand jaunt through New York City as a space monster wreaks
havoc. The geography makes no sense (they skip the Williamsburg bridge
and the Manhattan Bridge to take the (more photogenic?) Brooklyn Bridge
as an escape route, and somehow walk from Spring Street to 59th Street
in a matter of minutes) and the characters are especially unlikeable,
but the handy-cam nature of the filming is well-used with the special
effects to add a sense of realism to the whole thing...lending to some
decent suspense and jump moments.
Monsters on the Loose!
King Kong
Another no-brainer. What more can be said about King Kong? (though
nowadays, would Kong prefer to climb the Time Warner Center?).
Q: The Winged Serpent
The tag line for this film - "It's name is Quetzalcoatl...Just call it
Q. That's all you have time to say before it tears you apart!" - should
give you a very good idea of what you're in for. Regardless, it's a fun
monster movie featuring the winged Q, who has been busy snatching
people up throughout the city. Filmed on location at the Chrysler
Building, you get a look at the top-most floor of the spire (which
surprisingly looks like a wooden attic!).
Planet of the Apes
I stayed away from sci-fi for this list (Independence Day, Escape from NY, etc.), but I'll make an exception for Planet of the Apes. Not a New York movie, you say? Did you not see the ending? The whole thing was filmed in and around New York!
Movies to Avoid
End of Days, Dark Water, I Am Legend (CGI zombies are not scary, period; two hours of watching Will Smith get chased by cartoony pixels is mind-numbing), Gremlins II, and especially...
Friday the 13th: Pary VIII - Jason Takes Manhattan
Look, this might be great if Jason actually got to
Manhattan. Unfortunately, too much of the film takes place on a cruise
ship bound for Manhattan (Jason has hitched a lift from Crystal Lake
along with a high school senior class). Once he finally arrives, Jason
causes a bit of mayhem on the streets, but then disappears into the
sewers for the film's climax. Yeah, lots of fun and plenty of victims
in the New York's sewer system, right? Jason is ultimately killed by
"toxic waste" being flushed through the sewer.
-SCOUT
Follow Nick Carr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nycscout
Jamie Lee Curtis: Trick or Treat or Terrify?
Halloween is a breeding ground for a seemingly unending gruesome gore fest. Being a mother I've had to make the hard choices of what scary images my young children digested.
Lenore Skenazy: As Goes Halloween, So Goes Childhood
If you want to see what childhood is becoming, look how at what Halloween has already become: A parent-planned, climate-controlled, child-coddled, corporate-sponsored "event."
Paul McRandle: Scary Looks Without Scary Contents
This Halloween, use adult makeup on yourself or your children instead of cheap, costume makeup, which is more likely to contain toxic substances like lead or formaldehyde.
Gregory Daurer: It's the Great Pumpkin Beer, Andy Brown!
In general, pumpkin beers have similar flavors to that popular Thanksgiving Day desert: pumpkin pie. Beers brewed with pumpkin fly off the shelves at this time of year.
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The scariest New york movie was New York New York with Robert DeNiro and Liza Minnelli. Just the thought of that film gives me the willies.
"Rosemary's Baby" is truly a frightening movie and every bit as frightening as the book it was based on and especially for first time viewers. The scene where that scaly devil rapes Mia Farrow and Farrow eating raw meat when pregnant etc. Overall the film is subtle psychological horror at it's best. I thought the script writer was going to change the ending though and have Farrow take the kife she was holding at the end when she walks into the witch's coven's apartment and walk up to the crib and plunge the knife into the baby. That would have worked too and maybe to more effect.
Steamboater, if you are not a professional film critic, you should consider becoming one. Your views on the subject are always a great read. There will never be another horror movie like "Rosemary's Baby." In my opinion, the ending was brilliant just the way it was, but your idea would have worked too.
"The Planet of the Apes" and "Wait Until Dark" are not really horror films. "The original "King Kong" and Rosemary's Baby" are and are the best of the lot.
"Gremlins 2" was really funny!
hey, you forgot vampire classic The Hunger!
You must put Wolfen at number 1, first of all. Secondly, add Jacob's Ladder and take off the comedies and the sci-fi. Third, include Friday the 13th Jason Takes Manhattan. True, he's only in New York for a few minutes of the movie, but come on! It's the old Times Square, and he's there, messing with people. Besides, it's great how the city is depicted as having toxic sludge pumping just under the sidewalks like clockwork. Add also the movie 1408, where John Cusack stays in a haunted hotel room on Lexington.
All those other movies don't even come close to Rosemary's Baby. That is a classic.
Have to disagree strongly with the panning of I Am Legend.
An excellent movie, with some real feeling, a great performance by Will Smith, and some pretty intense scenes, if you ask me. It must be no fun to go to the movies and find yourself analyzing the effects and CGI rather than going with the story. Those zombies looked pretty terrifying to me. But then again, I'm just a movie fan, not a movie critic. I mean, I didn't even realize Ghostbusters was a horror movie. I thought it was teen comedy.
Not really horror but it is about a ghost and will send chills up your spine! ..... Portrait of Jenny. a 1948 b&w Classic!!!!! Not to be missed... Joseph Cotten, Jennifer Jones, Ethyl Barrymore and Lillian Gish. Really terrific!!!!!
I love Portrait of Jenny and it is spooky.
Spooky yes but more of a romance film.
What about "The Sentinal" http://www
Where is American Psycho?
Not a horror film.
Uh, it sure is. What else would you call it?
Where is the 1980 movie "Maniac?"
I saw the 80's version of "Cat People", with Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell and John Heard, and I found it terrific. Only this time it happened in New Orleans. I wish I could see it again.
What about Albert Finney in Michael Wadleigh's creepy "Wolfen"?
Rosemary's Baby is the most New York horror film ever. Set in any other city, it wouldn't have been as good as it was.
Jacob's Ladder deserved a mention, definitely.
And let's not forget that the opening scene in Rosemary--the vestibule to the Dakota--is where John Lennon would be shot a dozen years later.
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