Best Horror Films Set In The Tri-States

Happy Halloween! It's my favorite holiday. I just love all the horror movies that networks air, and horror is so easy to find on Netflix. Scary movies are such fun. And there have been some great horror films set right here in the Tri-States. Here are my favorites.

Illinois - Halloween

The granddaddy of all slasher films (ok, there are a few earlier films who could technically take that title, like Psycho, but Halloween is when the subgenre really started gaining traction). The film is upper-echelon of horror, and for very good reason. The film's director, John Carpenter, is a master of tension and unease. His killer, Michael Myers, is perfectly terrifying because he's a mostly unknown entity. Not knowing his true motives or full backstory adds to his menace. Halloween is set in the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois, in the real Livingston County, putting it in the middle of the Peoria-Joliet-Champaign triangle. It's even more believable as small town Illinois if you ignore all the palm trees in the background.

Iowa - The Crazies

Despite my best efforts, I was overruled in declaring Field of Dreams a horror film (IT'S ABOUT GHOSTS COMING FROM THE CORN FIELD, SAM! HOW IS THAT NOT HORROR?!), I landed on The Crazies, the 2010 remake of the 1973 George Romero original (which took place in Pennsylvania). The zombies in this film come via a virus contaminating the water supply. It plays to the classic of this small-town friendly charm being upended by this weird invasion, and it's actually a lot of fun. Most of that is supported by the solid performances from Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell and Joe Anderson. Unlike Halloween, this was actually partly filmed in Iowa, with the setting in the fictional southwest Iowa town of Ogden Marsh. Also: Children of the Corn was filmed in Iowa, but set in Nebraska.

Missouri - You're Next

Shot and set in Columbia, Missouri, Adam Winegard's fantastic home invasion horror ramps up the action in what one friend described as "Bloody Home Alone." I haven't sat down to watch this one since it came out in theatres, but I do remember quite enjoying madcap violence. And it gave us last year's surprisingly solid Blair Witch sequel (also directed by Winegard), so there's that to be thankful for, too.