7 New York City Horror Films - United States of Horror

Three years ago the family and I packed up our things and moved out to the Midwest after working in New York City for close to 13 years. For the first 6 months, I pretty much cried my eyes out every time I thought of pizza, a usable subway system and temperatures above -20​​° in mid-February. Eventually I got over it, but around this time of year the Mrs. and I still get a little misty when we think about Christmas in the city. Want to know why New York City is still the greatest town in the world? Check out these 7 films that highlight all its beauty, wonder and filth:

1. Basket Case (1982)

As a kid growing up a mere two hours from New York City, this is pretty much how your parents described what you’d find if you landed in the center of Time Square: Hookers, hobos and random knife fights on every corner. Also, a weird mutant twin brother that kills people. I’ve watched a lot of documentaries about the city in the 80’s and I’m 99% sure that last one might not be a real thing.

2. American Psycho (2000)

There’s a part of me that still likes to daydream and think that the New York of $300 lunches, high class hookers and piles of blow as big as your house still exists. Truth be told, it probably does, but I could never afford to be a part of it so it might as well be a thing of the past. Come to think of it, a really well dressed murderer is probably not something I’d want to get involved with either.

3. Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Sure, most of this movie takes place in an apartment building, but it’s one hell of an iconic one. The Dakota is famous for housing folks like Judy Garland, Maury Povich and John Lennon. Lennon was also famously shot outside of this building in 1980. In that tradition, Polanski made Mia Farrow walk into oncoming traffic for one scene which is kind of the best way to experience the city. I only wish she had punched a cab and said “I’m walkin' here!”.

4. Mimic (1997)

Genetically engineered insets that have now turned into giant man-bugs that roam the streets of New York City killing anything they come in contact with? Yup, that's a thing. On the plus side, they've also helped to cut down on the roach problem. I say we can call this one a draw.

5. Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

I hesitated putting this one on the list because honestly when it came out I was so excited to see Jason run around the streets of New York that I almost wet myself. When I finally did see this movie on VHS, I watched him ride a boat for about an hour and then run amuck in Time Square for about twenty minutes. Still, when he gets on the subway, and it’s most likely not the strangest thing those passengers had seen that day, it doesn’t get much more New York than that.

6. C.H.U.D. (1984)

I don’t know how these underground beasts were running around the sewers with all the Mimic roach people living down there, but my best guess is they formed some sort of bond and eventually made little "Rhud" babies. I bet they were adorable. Fun fact, Daniel Stern’s character in this movie looks almost exactly like our very own Mark did seven years ago when we started the podcast.

7. King Kong (1933)

There have been so many remakes and reboots of King Kong but to me, the original black and white is the best. As kid I would watch this and then beg my parents to take me to the Empire State Building. The closest I came was seeing the NYC skyline from the car window as we jetted past on our way out to Long Island, never to set foot on the mean streets of New York.

After all, that place is filled with giant bugs, hobos, hookers and ax wielding yuppies.