Rent Scary Movies

Watching scary movies is a time-honored and venerable American tradition. Indeed, many people consider the first narrative motion picture--a train coming into the station--to be a horror movie. When The Great Train Robbery first opened, moviegoers literally screamed and ran from theaters when they saw the projected image of a locomotive barreling their way. Other early horror classics include the German expressionistic masterpiece Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and the Universal classic movie monster series. Since then, generations of filmmakers and moviegoers have been fascinated with the horror movie form.

In the 1950s, Alfred Hitchcock redefined the genre with terrifying thrillers like Psycho and Strangers on a Train. Stanley Kubrick, another of the all-time great directors, further enlivened the form through such masterpieces as A Clockwork Orange and The Shining. Today's filmmakers use computer-generated effects to create bewildering and terrifying scenes seemingly taken directly from the mind of HP Lovecraft. For instance, the box office smash hit The Ring--adapted from the Japanese blockbuster Ringu--brought screams of terror from audiences around the world thanks to its clever use of special effects to conjure primal fears.

Scary movies are best experienced in intimate contexts. When I first saw the classic horror movie Jacob's Ladder, a terrifying adventure about a Vietnam vet unable to emerge from a bizarre nightmare world, I was by myself in my darkened living room. Without anyone to anchor me in the here and now, I was completely gripped and engulfed by the cinematic horror.

Unfortunately, it is often difficult to get a hold of the best scary movies at your local video retail outlet. Most of the corporate movie agencies only stock a handful of mainstream classics. The good news is that you can now rent the best scary movies from online DVD stores and open yourself up to a whole world of terrifying features.