Top 10 Scariest Old School Movie Monsters

They’re the modern monsters invading our nightmares, courtesy of the Hollywood dream machine.

What about their predecessors?

This Halloween, let’s salute the old school movie monsters who made classic films such a blast. To do so, we’ll count down the top 10 monsters in descending order.

10. Werewolves — It certainly sucks to be eaten by a werewolf. It’s like being mauled by a big, angry dog. Best werewolf movies: “Brotherhood of the Wolf” and “American Werewolf In London.”

9. Mummies — An interest in mummies is really a fascination with ancient Egypt. You can’t have a good mummy movie without taking a trek to Egypt. Best mummy movies: “The Mummy” and “The Mummy” 1999, 1932 respectively.

8. Goblins — Goblins hail from Old Europe and tend to be depicted as tiny and human like, but with grotesque features. Best goblin movies: “Labyrinth” and “Spiderwick Chronicles.”

7. Frankenstein’s Monster — What makes Frankenstein’s Monster so scary, isn’t the monster himself, but rather it’s the golem-like tale of making our own creature. Best Frankenstein’s monster movies: Jeff Goldblum’s “The Fly,” “Young Frankenstein” and “Weird Science.”

6. Witches — Satan’s little helpers. Witches have been part of the “pantheon” of horror since way, way back. Witches can be good or bad, healers or fortune tellers, hovering around a black kettle or living next door. Best witch movies: “The VVItch,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Blair Witch Project” and “The Witches of Eastwick.”

5. Zombies — The original zombie comes from Haiti and isn’t anything like what we know today. They were possessed living people, forced to do the bidding of the “priest” who controlled them. Best zombie movie: “The Serpent and the Rainbow.”

4. Vampires — Okay, we kind of overdid the whole vampire thing. Before we drive a stake into the sub-genre, lets remember a time when vampires were still scary and cool. Best vampire movies: “Nosferatu” is still by far the best ever made and if you’re in the right mood, it can still bring plenty of chills down your spine. I first saw this film in Vienna, Austria in 1992 and it’s haunted me since. “Let the Right One In” is fantastic and “The Lost Boys” has aged, well, like a vampire.

3. Ghouls — Ghouls live in graveyards and inhabit the bodies of the recently deceased and walk about, mostly scaring the pants off of former loved ones. What’s scarier than some spirit using the body of your loved one as a puppet? Best movies about ghouls: “Fallen” with Denzel Washington and John Goodman, “What Lies Beneath” with Harrison Ford and Michele Pfeiffer and “The Conjuring” will scare you silly!

2. Ghosts — Ghosts are like witches, some bad, some not so bad, and others just hanging about. But ghosts can be absolutely terrifying. Best ghost movies: “The Shining,” “The Others,” “The Orphanage” and “13 Ghosts”(2001).

1. Devil & Demons — Nothing like demons and the devil in terms of pure scares. What makes them so frightening? They have a combination of malevolence and ability. They can be ghost like, seductive or cruel. They know your personal weaknesses and how to get in under that locked door, which makes them particularly hard to defeat. Best demon/devil movies: “Angel Heart,” “The Devil’s Advocate” and “The Omen.”