Horror movies are best viewed in the dark. Projectors work best in the dark. So it’s a no brainer that the best way to watch a horror movie is on a projector screen.
With a home theater projector you can capture the terrifying essence of a horror film in ways no TV can. The sheer size of the monster or killer on the screen adds an extra layer of extreme fright. There’s something extra terrifying about having a lifesize nightmare in your home
Combine that with the vibrant colors and deep contrast a projector offers along with the immersive nature of a large projector screen in a dark theater room and you have a recipe for the most terrifying movie watching experience possible.
Here are our picks for the 5 best horror movies to watch on a projector screen.
IT (2017)
The movie: Banding together over the course of one horrifying summer, Seven young outcasts in Derry, Maine, must face and overcome their own personal fears to battle the murderous clown known as Pennywise, an ancient, shape-shifting evil that emerges from the sewer every 27 years to prey on the town’s children.
Why it’s best on a Projector Screen: Unlike many horror movies, Stephen King’s It tells its story with vibrant colors like the red balloon and Georgie’s yellow raincoat. These bright colors are best experienced on a projector capable of capturing these bright colors contrasted against the dark tone of the film.
Pennywise is one of those iconic horror monsters. Seeing his creepy smiling face stretched across a giant 120-inch projector screen just adds to the overwhelming horror.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The movie: A group of hippies traveling through 1970’s Texas fall prey to a trio of murderous brothers and their cannibal grandparents.
Why it’s best on a Projector Screen: Not a drop of blood or gore was needed on-screen in the original film, but the effects are still so grisly and real because the audience here is almost “tricked” into being able to imagine and really feel the same pain and fear of the actors.
By delivering an immersive cinematic experience, watching the original on a projection screen emphasizes the feel and smell of the stench and rot of the slaughterhouse, the victims’ terror, and the total madness of the movie.
The Descent
The movie: A group of friends spend time exploring some caves in North Carolina, only to discover that they are not alone down there. Underground predators inhabit the crevasses, and they have a taste for human flesh.
Why it’s best on a Projector Screen: It’s ironic that a movie that relies heavily on claustrophobia and enclosed spaces, would play better on a large screen with significantly more space on it. But it is that immersive cinematic experience that makes The Descent such a perfect film to watch on a projector screen in your home. The deeper and deeper you’re absorbed into the movie the more trapped you’ll feel as the walls close in on you.
Jaws (1975)
The movie: When a man-eating shark unleashes chaos on a New England beach community, it’s up to the local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down and kill it.
This movie features one of the most terrifying elements of all: small town government politics!
Why it’s best on a Projector Screen: The best way to bring the shark from Jaws to life is to experience the terror of this iconic piece of filmmaking on a lifesize scale. You won’t truly appreciate the sheer size of this aquatic killer without a 120-inch projector screen. Watching it on a tiny TV will make you say “I think we’re gonna need a bigger screen.”
With its bright colors and quick-paced cuts, watching jaws on a projector is truly the best way to experience this horror film.
The Shining (1980)
The movie: Writer Jack Torrance becomes winter caretaker with his family at the isolated Overlook Hotel and brings his wife and son who are plagued by psychic premonitions. Jack uncovers the hotel’s dark secrets and begins to spiral into a homicidal maniac hell-bent on terrorizing his family.
Why it’s best on a Projector Screen: Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror film was made to be shown on the big screen in a theater. A 4K home projector encapsulates the immersive cinematic essence intended for the silver screen.
With a vivid psychologically provoking color palette like the blood red flood from the elevator and sky blue dresses of the ghostly twins, a digital cinema projector brings out the striking colors in ways that can only be experienced on a big screen.
There are few moments more terrifying than seeing Jack Nicholson’s crazed face bust through the door yelling “Here’s Johnny!”, 5ft tall splashed across a 120 inch home cinema screen.
