Spencer Charnas is a horror die-hard whose life has been forever altered by the bloodiest, spine-chilling-est of movie genres.
For more than three decades, the musician has been captivated by the gleaming blades and sheer terror of horror’s finest cuts — and has drawn inspiration from these gruesome films to create his visionary project Ice Nine Kills.
Charnas has been shouting out slashers since his band’s early Aughts origins. But it’s INK’s most recent breakthroughs — 2018’s The Silver Scream and its 2021 sequel, The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood — that reflect his cinephile tendencies the most, with each bombastic track of theatrical metalcore taking root in the plot of an iconic fright flick. And whether that’s meant getting into the silent wickedness of Halloween’s Michael Myers (“Stabbing in the Dark”) or the chilling delusion of The Shining’s caretaker, Jack Torrance (“Enjoy Your Slay”), you clearly need to adore the source material to stick the landing.
Of course, some horror films naturally haunt Ice Nine Kills’ mastermind more than others. From campfire massacres, to suburbia’s greatest boogeyman, to the freaky next face of slasherdom, these are the 10 horror movies that changed Spencer Charnas’ life.
Halloween (1978)
It was such a creepy horror film. Before Halloween, a lot of horror movies took place in Dracula’s castle, sometimes with Frankenstein. The surroundings didn’t remind you of your everyday life. Halloween brought horror into your backyard, because [the fictional location of] Haddonfield, Illinois, looked like Anytown, USA. It looked like Swampscott, Salem or Marblehead, [Massachusetts] — the towns I grew up in. That aesthetic really struck a chord with me.
When you’re watching the old Universal Monster movies, it just doesn’t seem like you’d see Dracula walking down a suburban street with his medallion and cape. But an escaped mental patient? That could happen!
Friday the 13th (1980)
This was the second horror movie I ever saw, after Halloween.
It’s extremely low budget. You can’t see much, especially in the nighttime sequences, and that only adds to how scary it is. When [Jason’s mother] Mrs. Voorhees emerges from the darkness [in the movie’s climax], she seems so sweet — a very Leave It to Beaver mother. Then she turns out to be this ruthless killer! I’d only seen Halloween, and the killer is obviously a man in that, so I thought that gender reversal was ingenious.
It doesn’t get the credit it’s due. The film was panned as a brainless knockoff of Halloween — but I think there’s more at play here.
The Burning (1981)
On the surface, you’re like, ‘This is just a Friday the 13th rip-off.’ But from what I understand, that script was already written before Friday the 13th came out. That said, Tom Savini, who did special effects on the original Friday the 13th, turned down Part 2 to do The Burning. It really comes down to how amazing the effects are — there’s a canoe massacre scene in The Burning that is one of the most unbelievable usages of practical effects that I’ve ever seen, especially for its time.
The Burning is comfort food to me. I actually just bought an original print of the poster from the early Eighties.
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
I was already a huge fan of the slasher genre — obsessed — but I have to give credit to the documentary Going to Pieces for introducing me to this movie. It told the entire history of the rise and fall of slashers. The section on Silent Night, Deadly Night talked about the controversy that surrounded the film: the PTA groups picketing in front of movie theaters [because of its portrayal of a killer in a Santa suit]. I had to see it.
It’s just the perfect blend of sleazy, mean-spirted slasher movies with hot ladies and a really twisted story. The negative publicity made this movie infamous and only helped its lore.
Scream (1996)
This was the first horror movie I saw in the theater. I was absolutely enthralled — and loved the characters. And that Ghostface mask was so scary!
My cousin and I were so terrified of that scene where Neve Campbell gets her first phone call [from Ghostface]. We were under our seats, so fucking scared. But Scream was funny, too, and you wanted to be friends with those kids. I also loved that reveal. When that twist came out at the end, where it’s two killers, I was just blown away. It’s still one of the most powerful moviegoing experiences I’ve had.
That movie took my love of horror from being 80 percent of who I was to 250 percent.
When a Stranger Calls Back (1993)
I saw this on cable in the mid-to-late Nineties, and as much as I love the first one [1979’s When a Stranger Calls], I think this is one of the most underrated horror movies, ever. Fred Walton, who directed the original, is back, and is at the top of his game. The opening [phone call] scene is right up there with the beginning of Scream. Without giving too much away, there’s really something special about this film and who the killer turns out to be.
I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
This is a highly controversial movie, because this woman is sexually assaulted. It’s terrible…you can barely watch the scene. But in terms of horror films, I think it’s an important because there’s such a great, empowering revenge element to it.
The movie got a bad rap, because people thought it was exploitative: Putting a damsel in distress was a hot thing at the time. I just don’t see it like that. It’s not like a Jason movie where you’re rooting for the killer; that’s fun and games. This is not campy; it’s dead serious. You sympathize with the victim and want to see [her attackers] get what’s coming to them.
Idle Hands (1999)
Idle Hands was like Half Baked meets slashers, The Evil Dead and zombie movies — combined with my other love at the time: punk. I loved all those actors, too: Seth Green, Devon Sawa, Elden Henson — and the fucking Offspring was in this! After seeing it in a packed theater, it seemed like a huge hit to me. Then it [received] all this negative publicity, and was essentially pulled from the theatres after a week.
What happened was 10 days earlier those schmucks in Columbine killed a bunch of people. It was a horrible situation, a horrible tragedy. Because of Idle Hands’ very unlucky release date, Columbia Pictures buried it. I’m very happy to see it’s become a bona fide cult classic since then.
The Shining (1980)
The Shining was like an arthouse movie. It was about using the most interesting shots and the camera to tell the story. The use of flashbacks and delusions: You don’t know if what Jack Torrance is seeing is really happening. It makes such beautiful and eloquent use of its location. You feel how claustrophobic one would get isolated in that hotel; how cold it is with all that snow. You really begin to drift into madness with Jack Torrance.
It’s also paced so well: When it finally explodes at the end, you’re on the edge of your seat hoping that it doesn’t take the turn that you know it eventually will.
Terrifier (2016)
Terrifier reminds me about what I loved about ’80s slasher films: It’s so violent, over-the-top and no-holds-barred. In my mind, the character of Art the Clown is already a modern icon; he’ll be up on the Mount Rushmore of horror.
Art has a unique luxury that’s rare for a silent slasher villain. Unlike Jason, Leatherface or Michael Myers, Art isn’t just a guy behind a mask. He’s able to emote and show you that not only is he killing people, but he’s relishing it. The entire aesthetic of the clown costume and the way David [Howard Thornton] portrays that character is brilliant — as crazy as that sounds when you’re talking about a movie where people are getting flayed and cut in half.
This list originally appeared in Revolver’s deluxe collector’s issue devoted to Ice Nine Kills, which is available now in our shop, along with limited-edition pressings of the INK catalog and exclusive merch. Order yours now.
