When most people think of horror movies, they usually think of lots of blood and a large body count: Friday the 13^th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Dawn of the Dead are good examples.  And while I am no shrinking violet and can watch bloody mayhem with the best of them (Ichi  the Killer is one of my personal favorites of this type), the films that creep me out the most are the ones that mess with your head.  They aren’t necessarily straight-up horror movies, but there are aspects of all of them that will give you the willies. So if you’re in the mood for a shudder-inducing movie to watch during this Halloween season, here are a few options:

Nicholas Roeg’s 1973 supernatural thriller Don’t Look Now stars Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie as John and Laura Baxter, a grief-stricken couple (their young daughter drowned) who go to Venice where John will restore an ancient church.  Roeg masterfully uses the Venetian alleys and canals to great effect, conveying a sense of dread that is always lying underneath the beautiful surface.   I won’t give it away, but the scene that affected me the most was when John realized that his daughter was in danger.  All I will say is that it involves a photo slide, a glass of water and a seeping red ink spot.

The Vanishing is a 1988 Dutch-French film directed by George Sluizer.  The story is very simple: while on a road trip with her boyfriend, a young Dutch woman disappears when they stop for gas at a rest stop.  The boyfriend obsessively searches for her for several years.  He finally makes a public appeal, saying he just wants to know what happened to her.  The abductor contacts him and agrees to meet.  I won’t tell you how it ends, only that if you’ve had the misfortune of seeing the 1993 American remake starring Jeff Bridges and Kiefer Sutherland, the finale of the original is far superior, and far more frightening.

The story was so good that Alfred Hitchcock wanted to buy the screen rights, but Henri-Georges Clouzot beat him to it, and in 1955 he released Diabolique, a psychological thriller starring Simone Signoret, Vera Clouzot and Paul Meurisse.  The plot focuses on three people: Michel Delassalle (Meurisse), his wife Christina (Clouzot), and his mistress Nicole Horner (Signoret).  Nicole convinces Christina to help her murder Michel because he is so abusive to both of them.  They drown him in a bath tub and throw his body in a local swimming pool.   When the body rises to the surface, everyone will think that it was an accident.  Only the body never appears—even after the pool is drained.

If I told you that a Japanese film based on a Buddhist parable was scary, you’d probably be thinking “Buddhist parable?  How can that be scary?”  Trust me, this movie will creep you out.  The name of the film is Onibaba and Kineto Shindo directed it.  Released in 1964, the film is set during the mid-fourteenth century and focuses on three main characters: an old woman (Nobuko Otowa), her daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura) and a neighbor who just returned from the war (Kei Sato).  The plot involves the women’s scheme of killing stranded soldiers for their armor and weapons, and a mask that, once worn, can’t be removed.  The film is stunningly shot in fields of tall, wind-whipped grass and the sound of the wind that accompanies most of the action is more unsettling than any mood music would be.

Audition is another Japanese film that you may enjoy… actually enjoy is probably not the right word here.  Let’s just say that you may enjoy squirming while watching it.  Released in 1999, and directed by “bad boy” director Takashi Miike (who by the way, also directed Ichi the Killer which I mentioned above), the film begins with widower Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) being convinced by his teen-age son to begin dating again.  A film producer friend sets up mock casting calls where young women will audition to become Aoyama’s new wife.  Aoyama is smitten by Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina), even though all of her references are unreachable.  He finally calls her at her home, where she has been waiting patiently by the phone for four days.  The only other object in the apartment besides the phone is a large sack.  What could it contain?  I must say that when I saw this film at a movie theater about 10 people got up and left– and it wasn’t because they were bored.  You have to have a bit of a strong stomach to watch this movie.  You have been dutifully warned.

Do you remember the director Adrian Lyne?  He directed some wildly over-the-top, trashy (though entertaining) films such as Flashdance, 9 ½ weeks and Fatal Attraction.   I think his best film by far is Jacob’s Ladder, a 1990 production starring Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello and Jason Alexander (yes, that Jason Alexander!)  Robbins plays Jacob Singer, a Vietnam veteran now working for the U.S. Postal Service.  He begins experiencing flashbacks and strange hallucinations involving demonic creatures.  When he talks to other men in his unit, they discuss an experimental drug that they may have been given.  Soon after, they all start to be killed off.   The ending of the film is not what you’d expect, though it makes perfect sense, and ultimately—unusually for an occult thriller—poignantly sad.

I'd be happy to hear what film (or films) give you the willies.  Let me know.