Now who doesn’t love the 4th of July? It’s the time of year where we can light up the BBQ, shoot off some fireworks, and scream at wonderfully patriotic, or patriotically tinged films. We know what scares you. We also know that this holiday is all about celebrating our country and the freedom to scream, cringe, and laugh at what fights against our ability to let freedom ring. In horror that could be anything from a shark, to a deranged rapist, to, say, aliens.  We offer you a 4th of July themed list of movies that you can choose from to celebrate the holiday in screams.

Jaws

Jaws terrified millions of moviegoers for years, making going to the beach a terribly unpopular choice for outdoor activities. Taking place over a big holiday weekend on a small island town, this movie has one of the very best opening scenes of any film, horror or not (Although it IS scary as hell). Uncle Mike already wrote how deep this film effected him and we recommend reading his write up.

“In my humble opinion, Jaws is almost a perfect film.  There are some very funny parts to the movie (a nice counterpoint to the scares), but it never feels forced, it always flows naturally as an extension of the characters themselves.  The scene at dinner with Brody’s younger son mimicking his exhausted father is a great example of this, where the love they have for each other comes through from their silent interactions.”

Uncle Mike’s story here.

Independence Day

It’s not a good film, but Roland Emerich’s special effects extravaganza is as fun as any movie about an alien invasion can be. The film tells the story not just of American independence but that of the world’s as mankind is attacked by an extraterrestrial force. The film grossed over $817.4 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1996, and briefly, the second highest-grossing film worldwide of all time behind 1993’s Jurassic Park. As of June 2016, it ranks 55th among the highest-grossing films worldwide, and was at the forefront of the large-scale disaster film and sci-fi resurgence of the mid-1990s. While utterly schlocky, asking us to believe that two earthlings could use a Macbook to hack into alien technology on a spaceship, it did win the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing.

Uncle Sam

Desert Storm vet who was killed in combat rises from the grave on July Fourth, to kill the unpatriotic citizens of his hometown, after some teens burn an American flag over his burial site. With a script firmly planted in the 80’s sub-genre of slasher horror, this patriot piece of blood-soaked mayhem is deliciously silly.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

I Know What You Did Last Summer attempted to get a little cerebral by basing this  slasher film on the 1973 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan. The  film changes many aspects of the book, which was not originally a murder novel. Summer stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze, Jr., at the height of their CW glory and attempts to tell a morality tale glazed with congealed blood and holiday insanity. I Know What You Did Last Summer follows four teens who are being stalked by a killer, one year after covering up a car accident in which they were involved. What could be more patriotic than a cover up?

The Purge

What could be more patriotic than making ANYTHING legal for a 12 hour period? The Purge imagines a world where, on one day a year, all crime is legalized for a 12 hour period. A wealthy family is held hostage for harboring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, and the fight for survival is on.  With its tinge of forced patriotism and a reluctance to enter a brave new world, this film asks if the future of this country is safe. Hospitals suspend help. It’s one night when the citizenry regulates itself without thought of punishment. On this night plagued by violence and an epidemic of crime, one family wrestles with the decision of who they will become when a stranger comes knocking. When an intruder breaks into James Sandin’s (Ethan Hawke) gated community during the yearly lockdown, he begins a sequence of events that threatens to tear a family apart.

Cape Fear

Cape Fear is a masterful homage to Hitchcock from one of the other masters of cinema, Martin Scorsese. Robert De Niro was nominated for best actor playing Max Cady, a convicted rapist, released from prison after serving a fourteen-year sentence. Cody stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him with a disturbing pleasure that is a delight to watch. What makes this film so utterly wonderful is the pleasure with which each and every single member of the production is taking in the proceedings. Nick Nolte plays Sam Bowden, the failed lawyer who is defending his family from a maniac, Jessica Lange plays Leigh Bowden, the wife of said Lawyer. It was Juliette Lewis, however, that stole the show as Dannielle Bowden, going toe-to-toe in a creepy scene with De Niro, famously done on the first take.  Her turn as the underage damsel earned her a best supporting actress nom and shot her to stardom.

Blow Out

Blow Out is a fascinating thriller written and directed by the always-interesting Brian De Palma. The film stars John Travolta as Jack Terry, a movie sound effects technician from Philadelphia who, while recording sounds for a low-budget slasher film, serendipitously captures audio evidence of an assassination involving a presidential hopeful. The movie has the typical DePalma sheen and includes the usual ensemble including Nancy Allen as Sally Bedina, a young woman involved in the crime. The film climaxes in a Liberty Day parade and has one of the more Hitchcockian plots in any DePalma film. Of course, we have to give credit to John Lithgow  and Dennis Franz for filling in the rest of the cast.