Don’t hand Halloween over to the candy corn eaters and bunny outfit wearers. This holiday is about darkness, mystery, and terror. Here are our top ten slasher movies - best watched in the dark behind locked doors. Feel free to add your thoughts and picks in the comments section.

10. Time After Time (1979)

When serial killer Jack the Ripper escapes 19th-century London in a time machine stolen from H.G. Wells, the author pursues him to 20th-century San Francisco. The fish-out-of-water scenario adds humor to this slasher flick.

9. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

Four tipsy teens smash a pedestrian with their car and, in a panic, dispose of the almost-dead body in the ocean. Big mistake guys… The following summer, the reunited group is stalked by a mysterious figure with a fish hook. An echo of screenwriter Kevin Williamson’s mega-hit “Scream,” substituting that movie’s inside-jokiness for genuine feelings of guilt and angst.

8. Black Christmas (1974)

A terrifying chain of murders occur in a sorority house. This tense film is a precursor to the slasher films that would come a half decade later, but it never relies on gore.

7. Scream (1996)

Someone in a Halloween costume is on a killing spree… This critically-acclaimed slasher flick has a witty, self-aware humor, but it’s just as suspenseful as the others on this list. It was responsible for something of a revival in slasher movies.

6. The Evil Dead (1981)

Why do college students always end up in isolated and abandoned places? Five students’ vacation in an isolated cabin in the woods turns into a nightmare when they find an audiotape that’s the key to unlocking evil spirits. A whole lot of graphic violence and gore ensues.

5. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

A hellish, razor-fingered monster enters the dreams of the teenage residents of a bucolic town and systematically slaughters them in their sleep. It’s one of the most popular horror movies of all time - and Freddy Krueger has become one of the most famous villains in cinema history.

4. Saw (2004)

A violent, bloody, psychologically exhausting and exhilarating exercise in terror. Some of the torture scenes are excruciatingly hard to watch.

3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

This cult flick is the granddaddy of all splatter films, and still gets remade, sequeled and prequeled regularly. A family of mass murderers is led by the gruesome, chainsaw-wielding Leatherface.

2. Friday the 13th (1980)

A group of fun-loving teenagers in a deserted camp that closed twenty years earlier after a series of unexplained deaths… Along with Halloween, this set the standard for the slasher flicks of the 1980s.

1. Halloween (1978)

Of course. This movie about a mad killer stars Jamie Lee Curtis in her first, star-making role and set the standard by which all modern horror films are measured.

And one bonus…

Scary Movie (2000)

So many disfigured, disguised, deranged, obsessive characters – they were bound to be mocked eventually. Scary Movie does it just right. A campy, riotous mash-up of everything from Scream and Halloween to non-slasher horror like Carrie and The Blair Witch Project. The film leaves no classic scene untouched and never passes up the chance for a joke, however crude. It was so successful that it became a franchise of its own.

Want more gore? Search on Jinni.com for -
Violence * Slasher * Halloween * Serial Killer * Groundbreaking movies * Gory * Psychological * Master villain * Nightmare comes true * Cult * In the woods * Violence spree * Witty * Mysterious character * Vengeance * Obsession * Gross-out humor * Gags * (and any combination from our Movie Genome)

Popularity: 10% [?]

While you’re waiting impatiently for Zack and Miri Make a Porno to open in theaters this Friday, let’s talk about director Kevin Smith. In the style of many geniuses before him, Smith dropped out of film school, worked as a video store clerk, and sold his comic book collection to make his first movie, Clerks, on a budget of $27,000. Flush with $3 million at the box office and critical acclaim, Smith went on to make Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jersey Girl, and  Clerks 2. What do nearly all these movies have in common? Slackers. So in honor of KS’s favorite character type, here’s our list of top cinematic slackers. Grab that dirty clothing off the floor, collapse on your ratty couch, stuff stale cheetos in your face, and get inspired…

1. The Big Lebowski, 1998

Jeff Lebowski, known as the Dude, is a cheerful burnout whose world turns upside down when he’s mistaken for a millionaire with the same name - and finds himself in the LA underworld. The plot is frenetic, the dialogue is hilariously absurd, and the soundtrack and acting are unexpectedly stellar.

2. Clerks, 1994

Chronicling a day in the life of a Quick Stop clerk, Clerks captures the hilarity of the humdrum even as it raises slackerdom to existential proportions. From behind his counter, Dante Hicks tries to bring some order to the crazy customers, his mixed-up love life, and his incorrigible friend and fellow clerk Randal.

3. Knocked up, 2007

Lazy, immature 23-year-old Ben sporadically works on a pseudo-porn website in between smoking up with his roommates - until a one-night stand with Alison, a glamorous career woman, leads to accidental pregnancy. The parents-to-be have practically nothing in common, but they decide to keep the baby and give their relationship a chance.

4. Clerks 2, 2006

In this funny, very raunchy sequel to Clerks, it’s been more than 10 years but Dante Hicks and Randal Graves are still working at the same Quick Stop video and convenience store in New Jersey – until it burns down and they find jobs at Mooby’s, a nearby fast-food joint. The film features cameos from Jason Lee and Ben Affleck and a soundtrack ranging from Smashing Pumpkins to Alanis Morissette.

5. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, 2001

Kevin Smith’s fifth and final installment in his New Jersey Chronicles is a chance for scene-stealing stoner Jay and his taciturn sidekick Silent Bob to carry their own movie. It’s a lovingly crude comedy rife with celebrity cameos, slapstick movie spoofs, and clever jabs at Hollywood.

6. Dazed and Confused, 1993

Stoners, jocks, and snobby sorority girls wait for classes to end with drugs and parties. Richard Linklater’s movie is a comic, nostalgic cross-clique look at high school, with a painfully familiar and unforgettable cast of characters.

7. Billy Madison, 1995

To gain control of his family’s billion dollar business, a slacker must go back to school and get through grades 1-12 again in 6 months. The fact that he’s a hopeless goof who failed it all the first time doesn’t help.

8. Mallrats, 1995

When a couple of well-meaning slackers lose their girlfriends, they set about trying to reclaim their pride - and their women - in the most obvious place: the mall. The film marked Jason Lee’s debut as a leading man, and though it failed in theaters, it became a cult classic on video.

9. Big Daddy, 1999

Adam Sandler stars as Sonny Koufax, a perpetual adolescent whose girlfriend gives him an ultimatum: take some responsibility or kiss her goodbye. Magically, his roommate’s child turns up on his doorstep, and Sonny decides to care for the child and prove his maturity.

10. Slacker, 1991

Texan filmmaker Richard Linklater’s debut indie feature takes an original approach to narrative, creating an entirely new form of cinema in the process. Shot at a leisurely pace with a style similar to Robert Bresson, Slacker follows the unmotivated inhabitants of Austin, Texas over one day as they waste their time talking about politics, philosophy, and pop culture.

Want more? Search on Jinni for –
Slacker * Buddies * Stoners * Dropout * Indie * Life turned upside down

Popularity: 7% [?]

This campaign season has unquestionably been a media circus. With characters and stories overshadowing real issues, sketches and parodies racing around the Internet, it sometimes feels like we’re watching a movie and not a serious political event. Or rather several movies, each candidate starring in their own version of events. If so, which movies do we feel we’re watching? And more than that, which movies do the candidates think they’re starring in? Below is my take. Feel free to add yours in the comments!

Barack Obama starring as… Harry Potter in Harry Potter

He’s the boy wonder who rallies those around him in the fight for good. He stirs hope in the tired elders and malice in his many enemies. He’s got a whole lot of new spells to learn, but his bravery and dedication will win in the end.

John McCain starring as… John McClane in Die Hard

A tough guy and maverick, with a history and a set of principles – and a wife who’s a whole lot more glamorous than he is. Now the world needs him once more – and he will save the day at any cost.

Sarah Palin starring as… The Bride in Kill Bill

Life’s given her some hard knocks…and made her stronger. She’s not kind to her enemies (actually she likes to impale them) but her ruthless skills wow everyone. And she’s a mother too.

Joe Biden starring as… Will Hunting in Good Will Hunting

He’s a blue-collar lad with some traumas in his past. He can be too direct - and he and his friends sometimes disappoint each other. But he’s smart and might just know how to win love.

What do all these movies have in common? Based on the Movie Genome that powers our website, Jinni.com, they all have themes of Underdog or One Man Army or both. Now who gets to play Rise to the Top (and a whole new batch of movies) on November 4…? Feel free to add your take below!

Popularity: 4% [?]

A European TV operator noticed that when they increased the size of their video-on-demand (VOD) catalogue, usage went down.  They slowly reduced the number of the titles – and usage went up.  It’s not just the Europeans. “Less is more” is a well-known marketing concept. For an elegant explanation, I recommend the book The Paradox of Choice.

Of course, slashing the catalogue isn’t the only option. If the titles are easy to navigate and the recommendations are reliable, people can find what they want to watch without all having to watch the same thing. That’s our philosophy at Jinni.

Popularity: 8% [?]

It seems likely that in an economic downturn, we’ll buy fewer theater tickets. Instead, we’ll rent more DVDs and continue to watch more online, free as well as pay-to-stream or pay-to-download. We expect that smarter tools for choosing what to watch will be especially important in huge DVD and online catalogues.

But what will we watch? These kinds of things are hard to predict, but here are a few highlights of what Americans enjoyed during hard economic times in the past.

1929: Stock markets crashed worldwide and the U.S. entered the Great Depression.
Top-grossing movie (courtesy of The Numbers): The Broadway Melody

The Broadway Melody had many firsts: MGM’s first musical film, one of the first musicals with a color sequence, and the first sound film to win Best Picture at the Oscars. A backstage show biz love triangle starring two sisters, it’s a light melodrama with plenty of Broadway clichés.

1973: Quadrupling of oil prices by OPEC alongside government spending on the Vietnam War led to stagflation.
Top-grossing movie: The Exorcist

What are those noises in the attic? A young girl is possessed and her desperate mother enlists the help of two priests to exorcise the demon… Very graphic for its time, it was dismissed by Rolling Stone as “nothing more than a religious porn film” – but terrified audiences made it one of the top-grossing horror films of all time.

1987: Black Monday (October 19 1987) was the largest one-day percentage decline in stock market history.
Top-grossing movie: 3 Men and a Baby

Three bachelors find themselves forced to take care of a baby left by one of their girlfriends. With the tagline “They changed her diapers. She changed their lives,” this goofy, feel-good movie was a big hit.

1990: The early 90s recession began as industrial production and manufacturing-trade sales fell off.
Top-grossing movie: Home Alone

An eight year-old is accidentally left behind when his family leaves for Christmas vacation, and has to defend his home against bumbling burglars. A feel-good family classic. Those who remember the early 90s recession also remember Macaulay Culkin back when he was young and cute.

2001: The collapse of the Dot com bubble, along with 9/11 and corporate scandal, led to economic contraction.
Top-grossing movie: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

The first movie about the boy magician, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the fight against Voldemort and the forces of evil. The books became an international obsession among children and adults alike, and the movies stuck close to the original stories and rode the wave to box office success.

There are some notably similar themes among these hits, based on our Movie Genome.

Young heroes * In danger * Feel good * Goofy heroes * Good vs. evil * Sibling relations * Friendship * Lighthearted * Supernatural ability * Mother and daughter
- Inspired? You can search any or several of these on Jinni.

What’s your favorite in this list? And what types of movies do you predict people will choose in the current financial crisis?

Popularity: 11% [?]