My Top 20 Horror Movies:
20. MAY (2002)
Director: Lucky McKee
Cast: Angela Bettis, Jeremy Sisto, Anna Faris
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: visuals, music, obsession
IMDb Plot Summary: "Psychological horror about a lonely young woman traumatized by a difficult childhood, and her increasingly desperate attempts to connect with the people around her."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303361/
This is one movie that made me love the horror genre. It isn't really scary. Lucky McKee and the amazing Angela Bettis together made a freaky character who was nevertheless sympathetic. "If you can't find a friend...make one." Shudder.
19. THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: lots of ghosts
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A boy who communicates with spirits that don't know they're dead seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/
This film is worth much more than the infamous twist. Expertly made, with amazing performances throughout (especially the mother-and-child pair of Collette and Osment), it's a legitimate spine-tingler that deserves its Oscar Best Picture nomination (perhaps even a win) and so much more.
18. DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)
Director: George A. Romero
Cast: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
Scare Meter: 9/10
Scare Tactics: lots of zombies, with some nifty surprises
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "Following an ever-growing epidemic of zombies that have risen from the dead, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter, and his television-executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077402/
As good as the remake is, nothing beats the original in terms of sheer grit, rawness, intensity, and novelty. "When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth." Phenomenal.
17. HALLOWEEN (1978)
Director: John Carpenter
Cast: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics:
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A psychotic murderer institutionalized since childhood for the murder of his sister, escapes and stalks a bookish teenage girl and her friends while his doctor chases him through the streets."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077651/
The ultimate slasher film. Michael Myers is an unstoppable, relentless force of pure evil: no ifs and buts about him. Awesome musical theme, too. This is where Jamie Lee Curtis's "scream queen" career was born. Well, you'd be screaming, too if you were chased around by an essentially invulnerable murderer in a weird mask.
16. ANTICHRIST (2009)
Director: Las von Trier
Cast: Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: talking foxes, nature, body horror
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A grieving couple retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0870984/
One of the most controversial films to come out a Cannes. Then again, what Lars von Trier film isn't? The visuals here are jaw-droppingly beautiful--particular highlights being the opening sequence with the child and the walks in the woods. But the beauty easily extends to even the most gruesome scenes, which are exactly that: GRUESOME. The squeamish will not be able to tolerate this film, but those who can will as a whole be generously rewarded. What does the fox say? "Chaos reigns."
15. LET ME IN (2010)
Director: Matt Reeves
Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Chloe Grace Moretz, Richard Jenkins
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, visuals
IMDb Plot Summary: "A bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1228987/
Stephen King has called it "...the best American horror film in the last 20 years" when it came out, and he may have been right. It doesn't matter that it's a remake; even the author of the source material praised it to high heavens and said that it is special on its own merits. It's an excellent, tense, beautiful film.
14. INSIDIOUS (2010)
Director: James Wan
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins
Scare Meter: 9/10
Scare Tactics: visuals, music, spirits
IMDb Plot Summary: "A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1591095/
The best horror films stay with you for quite some time afterward. You hesitate to look at mirrors or out windows or through doorways because what you've seen in the movie is haunting your mind. That's what Insidious did to me, and it's been a long long time since a movie has done that. It's this film that made me realize that great legitimately scary movies can still be made in this day and age. James Wan would prove me right again.
13. [REC] (2007)
Directors: Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza
Cast: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano
Scare Meter: 9/10
Scare Tactics: fast rabid zombies, lost footage, atmosphere, claustrophobia, sound
IMDb Plot Summary: "A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1038988/
A true assault on the visual and aural senses. This fantastic zombie movie is not as appreciated as it should be. The monsters here are downright scary, and added to that is the claustrophobic tightness of the space in which the characters have to move, dodging rabid maniacs out for blood. The "lost footage" style works really well, especially in the closing sequence.
12. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (2008)
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Cast: Kare Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, visuals
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "Oskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/
Until now, I still cannot say if this is a better film than the remake. Like Ajvide Lindqvist (author of the Swedish source material) said, both are excellent. But of course, sentiment has to go the way of the original. Hauntingly gorgeous. Subtle, but really gets under the skin. That scene about testing the "myth" on vampires having to be invited in is phenomenal. So is everything else about the movie.
11. THE OTHERS (2001)
Director: Alejandro Amenabar
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston, Fionnula Flanagan
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, visuals, sound
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A woman who lives in a darkened old house with her two photosensitive children becomes convinced that her family home is haunted."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0230600/
Talk about atmosphere! In The Others, the setting is as much a character as the human players. The country home and its woods in Jersey are shrouded in mist, literally and figuratively. Nicole Kidman is luminous; easily one of her best performances. Twist or no twist, the film is one of the all-time best ghost/haunted house movies.
10. SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004)
Director: Edgar Wright
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: Romero zombies and gore amidst the comedy
IMDb Plot Summary: "A man decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365748/
Isn't this a comedy? Of course it is! But take a long good look at the zombies. They are, simply put, terrifying. Romero has given his thumbs up and essentially made this part of his canon, for good reason. Amidst all the laughter, of which there's a lot, is a commitment to showing the nastiest undead on film. What this film is is the perfect combination of comedy and horror. There's no better hybrid film out there.
9. THE OMEN (1976)
Director: Richard Donner
Cast: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Stephens
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: music (that Ave Satani song!), tragedies
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "An American ambassador learns to his horror that his son is actually the literal Antichrist."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075005/
This film has taken quite a bit of flack over the years for its crazy setpieces and for not aging well. Whatever. For me, it has aged quite well, and the sequences all work. Portraying the Antichrist in a film, especially when he's a child, can be messy, but with such a fine cast and truly diabolical score (an Oscar winner), how can it go wrong? A true pleasure to watch.
8. THE EVIL DEAD (1981)
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor
Scare Meter: 9/10
Scare Tactics: gore, demonic possessions, animated forests...evil everywhere
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083907/
The legend of Ash and his chainsaw is born here, when Raimi's series was still serious in trying to scare movie fans. And it works. Lustful forest vines, deformed possessed bodies with demonic voices, the Necronomicon...it's a practically non-stop attack from all directions. The remake is sick fun, but it comes nowhere close to the sheer intensity of this original.
7. THE CONJURING (2013)
Director: James Wan
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor
Scare Meter: 9/10
Scare Tactics: imagery, atmosphere, sound, a pastiche of many horror film elements
IMDb Plot Summary: "Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/
James Wan is a true master of horror. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to top Saw and Insidious. But he did. Not necessarily in scares (Insidious is still scarier, in my opinion), but in just making a great film overall. The Conjuring is a more tightly constructed and more grounded film than its predecessors, and of course it's pretty darn terrifying. What's great about it is that the film throws practically every horror genre fixture at you, but you'll relish it. Outstanding on all levels.
6. THE DESCENT (2005)
Director: Neil Marshall
Cast: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, claustrophobia, imagery, sounds, cave monsters
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435625/
The relatively lacklustre 90s and early 00s was jolted awake by this British import, which is simply exceptional. An all-girl spelunking team (no damsels in distress here) in the tight dark corridors of an unknown cave, assaulted by creatures shaped by evolution in the subterranean realm. It's as delicious as it sounds. It has a fair bit of human drama, too. A harrowing film from start to finish.
5. THE THING (1982)
Director: John Carpenter
Cast: Kurt Russell, Wilform Brimley, Keith David
Scare Meter: 9/10
Scare Tactics: body horror, atmosphere, music, paranoia
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084787/
Body horror at its finest. Here, the human body is taken over, destroyed, and morphed into the craziest configurations that an insane mind could come up with. And all around, the paranoia is a crushing weight. So is the isolation in that cold dark place miles away from civilization. It's a true battle for humanity, both on the individual and on the species levels.
4. SUSPIRIA (1977)
Director: Dario Argento
Cast: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: psychedelic colors, atmosphere, music, imagery, gore
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A newcomer to a fancy ballet academy gradually comes to realize that the school is a front for something far more sinister and supernatural amid a series of grisly murders."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076786/
This is the masterpiece of the Italian master, Dario Argento. The splashes of color, the weird sets, the gruesome murders (some of the most memorable in the genre), the witches and undead, and the ultra-memorable score by the band Goblins...all come together like a witch's brew, decadent and horrifying. You have to see it to believe it.
3. THE SHINING (1980)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd
Scare Meter: 9/10
Scare Tactics: claustrophobia, atmosphere, imagery, weirdness
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/
"Here's Johnny!" Jack Nicholson is aces here as Jack Torrance, whose mind is taken over by infernal forces in the loneliest, scariest, most claustrophobic ski-lodge that you can think of. This film strangles you mentally and emotionally. And then there are the visions, which are some of the creepiest in the genre. The signature touches of Stanley Kubrick's genius can be found all throughout. It's no surprise that many consider this the best horror film of all time.
2. RINGU aka Ring (1998)
Director: Hideo Nakata
Cast: Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatani, Yuko Takeuchi, Hiroyuki Sanada
Scare Meter: 9/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, music, Sadako
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A mysterious video kills whoever views it, unless that viewer can solve its mystery."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0178868/
A perfect film to watch with your closest friends, when you're all huddled together and screaming in the right parts. That's how I first watched it, which is why this film will always have a particularly special meaning for me. But on top of that, it's just simply phenomenal. No wonder it started a whole revolution of Asian horror films and Hollywood remakes. It's a really simple premise, but the atmosphere of this classic proves that in the horror genre, you can elicit so much with so little. Of course, there's nothing "little" about the big reveal near the end, that scene that shook everyone to the core and had us forsaking television sets for a while. One of the most powerful horror films ever.
1. THE EXORCIST (1973)
Director: William Friedkin
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Jason Miller
Scare Meter: 10/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, music, sounds, visuals, Regan/Pazuzu
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "When a teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070047/
Speaking of sheer raw power, nothing holds a candle to my favorite horror film of all time (a sentiment shared by many all over the world). When it came out, audiences were revolted, angered, upset...but they came in droves and made this a box office hit. After all, the film was as much an attack on the spirit and faith as it was on the mind and emotions. What other film could claim as much? No possession film before or since has come anywhere close to the audacity, boldness, and in-your-face brutality of the McNeils' harrowing spiritual battle. Truly the standard against which all other horror films will forever be set.
SOME STATISTICS:
Number of Films Per Decade:
1920s - 1
1930s - 1
1940s - 0
1950s - 4
1960s - 13
1970s - 20 (with 5 in the Top 20, including #1)
1980s - 14 (with 3 in the Top 20)
1990s - 12 (with 2 in the Top 20)
2000s - 30 (with 7 in the Top 20)
2010s - 5 (with 3 in the Top 20)
*For the record, the general consensus (and I agree 100%) is that the 1970's is the best decade for horror movies.
The 15 Scariest Films (9-10 on the Scare Meter):
10/10:
The Exorcist (#1)
Ju-On: The Grudge (#23)
Shutter (#25)
9/10:
Ringu (#2)
The Shining (#3)
The Thing (#5)
The Conjuring (#7)
The Evil Dead (#8)
[Rec] (#13)
Insidious (#14)
Dawn of the Dead, 1978 (#18)
Alien (#26)
The Blair Witch Project (#44)
28 Days Later... (#45)
Paranormal Activity (#64)
Most Represented Directors:
John Carpenter - 3
George A. Romero - 3
Janes Wan - 3
Dario Argento - 2
Wes Craven - 2
Joe Dante - 2
Terence Fisher - 2
William Friedkin - 2
Lucio Fulci - 2
Takashi Miike - 2
Roman Polanski - 2
Sam Raimi - 2
M. Night Shyamalan - 2
Jan Svankmajer - 2
#s 21-60
#s 61-100
60. THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977)
Director: Wes Craven
Cast: Suze Lanier-Bramlett, Robert Houston, John Steadman
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere and crazy hillbilly mutant killers
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "On the way to California, a family has the misfortune to have their car break down in an area closed to the public, and inhabited by violent savages ready to attack."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077681/
Thankfully, watching the vapid remake before the original didn't discourage me from trying it out. It is a deserved classic, truly terrifying, savage, and abominable. Probably the ultimate warning against long travels into unknown roads.
59. BUG (2006)
Director: William Friedkin
Cast: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jr.
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, paranoia
IMDb Plot Summary: "An unhinged war veteran holes up with a lonely woman in a spooky Oklahoma motel room. The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470705/
This film is criminally underrated. It's easily one of the most disturbing horror films that I've seen, and it has topnotch performances from Judd and Shannon.
58. CUBE (1997)
Director: Vincenzo Natali
Cast: Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint, David Hewlett
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, mind-numbing (and killing) mazes, paranoia
IMDb Plot Summary: "7 complete strangers of widely varying personality characteristics are involuntarily placed in an endless kafkaesque maze containing deadly traps."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0123755/
The 90s is not generally credited as the most fertile of decades for the genre, so something as creative and innovative as the chilling Cube got a lot of deserved attention. It's mesmerizing.
57. PITCH BLACK (2000)
Director: David Twohy
Cast: Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Vin Diesel
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: tension, darkness, monsters
IMDb Plot Summary: "A prisoner transport ship and its crew are marooned on a planet full of bloodthirsty creatures that only come out to feast at night. But then, they learn that a month-long eclipse is about to occur."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134847/
It's a science fiction actioner, of course, but when you have a planet whose darkness spawns bloodthirsty creatures, that's horror territory. And it's very effective. Plus it's one of the most fun that you'll have while getting the pants scared off you.
56. DAY OF THE DEAD (1985)
Director: George A. Romero
Cast: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Howard Sherman
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: claustrophobia, zombie hordes
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A small group of military officers and scientists dwell in an underground bunker as the world above is overrun by zombies."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088993/
The world has been overrun by Romero zombies. What could be worse? How about being locked up in a bunker with not only zombies that are getting smarter but also living humans who may be even worse than the undead?
55. PHANTASM (1979)
Director: Don Coscarelli
Cast: A. Michael Baldwin, Bill Thornbury, Reggie Bannister, Angus Scrimm
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: a really tall man with dwarf minions and a murderous silver sphere
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A young boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber known only as the Tall Man, who keeps a mysterious arsenal of terrible weapons with him."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079714/
With so many elements going on in this film, it could have strayed into corny territory. Well, it is slightly that, but the subtle sci-fi aspect of interdimensional horror has an iconic and frightening visage in the Tall Man and his killer sphere.
54. BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (1992)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Anthony Hopkins
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, music, downright scary vampires
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "The vampire comes to England to seduce a visitor's fiancée and inflict havoc in the foreign land."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103874/
Before vampires became cool, they were SCARY. Few mainstream horror movies showcase scarier vampires than Bram Stoker's Dracula. Gary Oldman turns in an astounding performance as the legendary Count. The Oscar-winning costume design by the late Eiko Ishioka are glorious. The only false note: Keanu Reeves's perplexing performance as a Brit.
53. OTESANEK aka Greedy Guts/Little Otik (2000)
Director: Jan Svankmajer
Cast: Veronika Zilkova, Jan Hartl, Jaroslava Kretschmerova
Scare Meter: 5/10
Scare Tactics: a creepy wooden creature with an insatiable appetite
IMDb Plot Summary: "When a childless couple learn that they cannot have children, it causes great distress. To ease his wife's pain, the man finds a stump in the backyard and chops it and varnishes it into the shape of a child. However the woman takes the root as her baby and starts to pretend that it is real. When the root takes life they seem to have gained a child; but its appetite is much greater than that of a normal child."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0228687/
Little Otik could have been a cute plant-child, but instead we have a freakish entity reminiscent of David Lynch's titular Eraserhead that hungers for human flesh. Svankmajer's characteristic artistry gives the creature an otherworldly aura of mindless destruction.
52. THE CALL OF CTHULHU (2005)
Director: Andrew Leman
Cast: Matt Foyer, John Bolen, Ralph Lucas
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: the Elder God Cthulhu, atmosphere and sound
IMDb Plot Summary: "While sorting the affairs of his late Uncle, a man accidentally stumbles across a series of dark secrets connected to an ancient horror waiting to be freed."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478988/
It took a group of devoted Lovecraft fans, the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, the produce the definitive Lovecraft adaptation. The lack of color (it's in black-and-white) only adds to the sinister dread that only a true Lovecraftian tale can invoke. Amazing.
51. THE GIFT (2000)
Director: Sam Raimi
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Katie Holmes, Keanu Reeves, Giovanni Ribisi, Hilary Swank, Greg Kinnear
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: psychic visions, imagery, sound
IMDb Plot Summary: "A woman with extrasensory perception is asked to help find a young woman who has disappeared."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0219699/
It's not really much of a horror movie, but I found more than a few scenes genuinely scary, even if they didn't involve Cate Blanchett's character's visions. Keanu Reeves turns in an effectively brutal and frightening performance as the violent redneck. And of course, any film is elevated by the ethereal Blanchett and her characteristically strong performance.
50. THE HUNGER (1983)
Director: Tony Scott
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, Susan Sarandon
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, music, ancient undead
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "The Egyptian vampire lady Miriam subsists upon the blood of her lovers. In return the guys or girls don't age... until Miriam has enough of them."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085701/
The whole thing plays like a 97-minute glam rock music video, and not just because David Bowie stars in it. The effect is a hypnotic plunge into the dark side of senescence and immortality, anchored by an uncanny performance by the luminous Deneuve.
49. ...E TU VIVRAI NEL TERRORE! L'ALDILA aka The Beyond (1981)
Director: Lucio Fulci
Cast: Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: gore, imagery, rotting zombies
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where after a series of supernatural 'accidents', she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082307/
Widely recognized as Italian horror master Lucio Fulci's true gem, this film is relentless in its almost gleeful showcase of gore and decay. A lot of the images here will stick with you long afterward.
48. ZOMBI 2 aka Zombie (1979)
Director: Lucio Fulci
Cast: Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: more rotting undead and gore!
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "Strangers looking for a woman's father arrive at a tropical island where a doctor desperately searches for the cause and cure of a recent epidemic of the undead."
Both the gore and decay of The Beyond take a backseat to what this oddly titled (it's an unofficial sequel to Romero's Dawn of the Dead, whose Italian title was Zombi) has to offer. Watch for an eye impaling and a zombie-shark fight as highlights, though the intensely rotting zombies are of course the true stars. They're among the most frightening ever committed to film.
47. THE BROOD (1979)
Director: David Cronenberg
Cast: Oliver Reed, Samantha Eggar, Art Hindle
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: mutant kids and body horror
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A man tries to uncover an unconventional psychologist's therapy techniques on his institutionalized wife, while a series of brutal attacks committed by a brood of mutant children coincides with the husband's investigation."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078908/
David Cronenberg is king of body horror. He has many other fine examples of it in his ouvre, but this is easily my favorite because of its gruesome concept and those mindless deformed children.
46. SAAM GAANG YI aka Three...Extremes (2004)
Directors: Fruit Chan, Takashi Miike, Chan-wook Park
Cast: Miriam Yeung, Bai Ling, Byung-hun Lee, Kyoko Hasegawa
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: multi-directional and multi-cultural assault on sense and sensibility
IMDb Plot Summary: "An Asian cross-cultural trilogy of horror films from accomplished indie directors."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420251/
Asian culture provides some of the most horrific environs to work from. That isn't reflected much here (except for maybe the dumplings), but the three accomplished directors bring a genuinely creepy tone to each of the three segments. The highlight: easily Fruit Chan's disturbing "Dumplings."
45. 28 DAYS LATER... (2002)
Director: Danny Boyle
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston
Scare Meter: 9/10
Scare Tactics: ultra-fast ravenous rage "zombies," ultra-fast infection rates
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
IMDb Plot Summary: "Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289043/
Their status as zombies is debatable, but that they're absolutely terrifying isn't. Relentless, tireless, and ravenous, they're what introduced us to the anti-Romero zombie and confirmed that yes, fast zombies can be awfully scary, too.
44. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999)
Directors: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez
Cast: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard
Scare Meter: 9/10
Scare Tactics: lost footage, atmosphere, sounds
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "Three film students go missing after traveling into the woods of Maryland to make a documentary about the local Blair Witch legend leaving only their footage behind."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185937/
How this revolutionary film had so many fooled! It not only started a trend (the "lost footage" subgenre, which has never matched this yardstick) but was genuinely creepy, more for what it didn't show than for what it did, though that last sequence was positively horrifying.
43. DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004)
Director: Zack Snyder
Cast: Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: zombies on steroids
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman, and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363547/
It's that rare remake that does justice to the original. The zombies here are jacked-up and still terrifying. Aside from that, the film makes other revisions from the original, all of which are much appreciated.
42. RINGU 0: BASUDEI aka Ring 0: Birthday (2000)
Director: Norio Tsuruta
Cast: Yukie Nakama, Seiichi Tanabe, Kumiko Aso
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: Sadako
IMDb Plot Summary: "In this prequel to Ring, a young Sadako becomes an actress in hopes of escaping her troubled past. But strange visions and terrifying powers begin to manifest..."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235712/
It is nowhere near as effective as Ringu, but there are enough genuine chills and jolts in this one to make it a favorite. Plus, it has the ethereally beautiful Yukie Nakama as Sadako...before she became the stuff of our collective nightmares.
41. VARGTIMMEN aka Hour of the Wolf (1968)
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Cast: Max von Sydow, Liv Ullman, Gertrud Fridh
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, strange imagery
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "While vacationing on a remote Scandanavian island with his younger pregnant wife, an artist has a emotional breakdown while confronting his repressed desires."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063759/
It figures that I'd love a horror movie by my all-time favorite director Ingmar Bergman. Like all Bergman films, it's deeply personal, psychological, and chock full of interesting imagery. But here, the imagery is also frightening. It's a nightmare caught on film.
40. SCREAM (1996)
Director: Wes Craven
Cast: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette
Scare Meter: 6/10
Scare Tactics: serial killer, a play on horror film rules
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A killer known as Ghostface begins killing off teenagers, and as the body count begins rising, one girl and her friends find themselves contemplating the 'Rules' of horror films as they find themselves living in a real-life one."
This film single-handedly rejuvenated the tired "serial killer" subgenre with a simple but creative concept that used the genre itself, clean execution, and a creepy villain in the form of Ghostface.
39. CARRIE (1976)
Director: Brian De Palma
Cast: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: psychokinesis, atmosphere, sound
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A young, abused and timid 17-year-old girl discovers she has telekinesis, and gets pushed to the limit on the night of her school's prom by a humiliating prank."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074285/
Any film with a character who has powerful telekinetic abilities is almost instantly cool. When you have fragile Sissy Spacek playing it to the hilt, and a scary zealot of a mother played with utter conviction by Piper Laurie, you have an instant gem. Oh, and lots of fire and blood, too.
38. NOSFERATU: PHANTOM DER NACHT aka Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Director: Werner Herzog
Cast: Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, imagery, the Vampyre
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "Jonathan and Lucy live in Wismar and the Count wants a house there. Varna is a port on the Black Sea, close to Dracula's castle."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079641/
This remake is hypnotic, ethereal, dream-like...truly beautiful. Its mists and pale colors and lonely silences make this one of the most visually appealing vampire movies of all time.
37. BATORU ROWAIARU aka Battle Royale (2000)
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Cast: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Takeshi Kitano
Scare Meter: 6/10
Scare Tactics: violence, desperation
IMDb Plot Summary: "In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary 'Battle Royale' act."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266308/
It has an absurd premise, but that doesn't make it any less disturbing or terrifying. This highly original film shocked audiences with its audacity and wit. It's Hunger Games on steroids.
36. CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954)
Director: Jack Arnold
Cast: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning
Scare Meter: 6/10
Scare Tactics: the monster from the deep
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A strange prehistoric beast lurks in the depths of the Amazonian jungle. A group of scientists try to capture the animal and bring it back to civilization for study."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046876/
It's truly a fascinating creature feature. It's probably the least appreciated out of all the staple Universal Studios monster movies, but it's an exercise in restraint and cinematographic beauty, utilizing the creature's aquatic habitat masterfully. The humans are sympathetic, particularly the scientist. The Creature: a sad, regal creature brought to life through astounding costumes for the time.
35. THE HAUNTING (1963)
Director: Robert Wise
Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, sound
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "Dr. Markway, doing research to prove the existence of ghosts, investigates Hill House, a large, eerie mansion with a lurid history of violent death and insanity. With him are the skeptical young Luke, who stands to inherit the house, the mysterious and clairvoyant Theodora and the insecure Eleanor, whose psychic abilities make her feel somehow attuned to whatever spirits inhabit the old mansion."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057129/
Quite simply, this is THE king of all haunted house movies. It's the eeriest, the most mesmerizing, and the most memorable. Practically every major scene of terror here will latch onto your mind. Haunting indeed.
34. ITIM aka The Rites of May (1977)
Director: Mike De Leon
Cast: Tommy Abuel, Mario Montenegro, Charo Santos
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, imagery
Plot Summary: A photographer returns to his home town to take pictures of the traditional Holy Week rituals. He experiences strange visions and encounters with a restless spirit that has dark secrets to expose.
This is for me, hands down, the best of all Filipino horror movies. It uses religious ritualism, quite prevalent in local culture, to eerie effect. The blackness permeates almost through every nook and cranny in this masterful film by a true master of cinema.
33. LE PACTE DES LOUPS aka Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
Director: Christophe Gans
Cast: Samuel Le Bihan, Mark Dacascos, Vincent Cassel
Scare Meter: 6/10
Scare Tactics: the beast, atmosphere
IMDb Plot Summary: "In 18th century France, the Chevalier de Fronsac and his native American friend Mani are sent by the King to the Gevaudan province to investigate the killings of hundreds by a mysterious beast."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0237534/
This is another straddler, this time of the fantasy-horror divide. It's great fantasy, and one of my favorites even in that genre, but it strays into horror territory with the restrained and chilling depiction of the "beast." Underrated.
32. MISERY (1990)
Director: Rob Reiner
Cast: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: the obsessed fan
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A famous novelist is 'rescued' from a car crash by an obsessed fan."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100157/
I spoke too soon with Perfect Blue (#63 on the list). THIS is of course the definitive "obsessed fan horror." Those who don't consider this a horror film should lock themselves in a room with his/her own Annie Wilkes. It's true horror in a none-too-convincing disguise.
31. THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)
Director: Roger Corman
Cast: Vincent Price, Hazel Court, Jane Asher
Scare Meter: 6/10
Scare Tactics: imagery, atmosphere, the colored Deaths
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the 'Red Death' plague that stalks the land."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058333/
A truly beautiful film, with its vibrant splashes of colors, including the always colorful personality of Vincent Price, perhaps never better. Plagues are a common horror trope, and here, with the multi-hued avatars of Death, it's used spectacularly. Grotesquerie at its most fanciful.
30. THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974)
Director: Tobe Hooper
Cast: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger, Gunnar Hansen
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: gore, a monster family
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "Five friends visiting their grandpa's old house are hunted down and terrorized by a chainsaw wielding killer and his family of grave-robbing cannibals."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072271/
As relentless and vicious as Leatherface (iconic) himself, this film takes no prisoners. It's so raw and in-your-face that it will make you absolutely fear long travels into isolated places. And chainsaws. This is as intense as home invasion and slasher movies can get.
29. THE BIRDS (1963)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Cast: Rod Taylor, Tippe Hedren, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy
Scare Meter: 6/10
Scare Tactics: a flock of killer birds, atmosphere
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
Perhaps not the scariest of the "ecological horrors," of which Jaws likely takes the cake, but Hitchcock's distinct direction flair and Tippi Hedren's presence make this film my favorite. All the shots of the malevolent birds as they swoop down and attack whole towns, or as they rest in victory over fallen humanity, are absolute winners.
28. ALIEN (1979)
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skeritt, John Hurt
Scare Meter: 9/10
Scare Tactics: claustrophobia, atmosphere, sound, the alien
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "The space vessel Nostromo and its crew receive a distress call from an alien planet. After searching for survivors, they head back home only to realize that a deadly alien life form has joined them."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/
"In space, no one can hear you scream." The Nostromo is the dark, constricted womb that births alien horrors that clamp onto faces and burst out of chests. The Xenomorphs are as sleek and lethal as beautiful black blades and truly the stuff of cosmic nightmares. And of course, Sigourney Weaver's immortal Ellen Ripley is a heroine for the ages.
27. ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968)
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
Scare Meter: 6/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, music, paranoia
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A young couple move into a new apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins controlling her life."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063522/
The film begins with one of the eeriest movie theme songs, a sort of sinister lullaby, over shots of the apartments where the story will take place. Mia Farrow's luminous Rosemary becomes more and more unhinged every moment, and who can blame her? An overly ambitious husband and annoyingly sweet neighbors, who may actually be satanists of the highest order, are a recipe for paranoia. Or for carrying the Devil's child in your womb. Whatever works.
26. THE DEVIL RIDES OUT (1968)
Director: Terence Fisher
Cast: Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Nike Arrighi
Scare Meter: 7/10
Scare Tactics: imagery, the horned Devil and other demons
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "In the countryside of England, the Duc de Richleau a.k.a Nicholas welcomes his old friend Rex Van Ryn that has flown to meet him and Simon Aron, who is the son of an old friend of them that had passed away but charged them the task of watching the youngster. Nicholas and Rex unexpectedly visit Simon that is receiving twelve mysterious friends."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062885/
Christopher Lee plays a champion of the light this time, and to great effect. This is an excellently made film, perhaps the best in the "Satan worship" subgenre. The visions, while not absolutely horrifying, are certainly diabolical. The preposterous ending can be easily forgiven.
25. SHUTTER (2004)
Directors: Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom
Cast: Ananda Everingham, Natthaweeranuch Thongmee, Achita Sikamana
Scare Meter: 10/10
Scare Tactics: relentless spiritual attacks
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A young photographer and his girlfriend discover mysterious shadows in their photographs after a tragic accident. They soon learn that you can not escape your past."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0440803/
While probably not as wholly effective as other horror films, this packs quite the scare. It easily has some of the scariest scenes committed to film, and the ending sequences are exquisite.
24. THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (2012)
Director: Drew Goddard
Cast: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: a whole LOT of monsters
IMDb Plot Summary: "Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259521/
What horror film fan won't be won over by a movie that 1) plays with conventions of the "slasher" subgenre (the "final girl" myth) and 2) features a battalion of cinema's iconic horrors? It's a nighmare come true.
23. JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (2002)
Director: Takashi Shimizu
Cast: Megumi Okina, Misaki Ito, Misa Uehara
Scare Meter: 10/10
Scare Tactics: those damn ghosts, atmosphere, sound, music
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A mysterious and vengeful spirit marks and pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364385/
If this were a list of the scariest films ever, this film would easily make the Top 5. The film is as unforgiving and indelible as the spirits that latch on to whoever happens to even just step into that miasma of a house. Absolutely horrifying.
22. KOKUHAKU aka Confessions (2010)
Director: Tetsuya Nakashima
Cast: Takako Matsu, Yoshino Kimura, Masaki Okada
Scare Meter: 5/10
Scare Tactics: revenge, atmosphere
IMDb Plot Summary: "A psychological thriller of a grieving mother turned cold-blooded avenger with a twisty master plan to pay back those who were responsible for her daughter's death."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1590089/
Absolutely arresting film. Dark, complex, disturbing, emotional. A true achievement. It's easily one of the best movies in this entire list. If it were any scarier, it would be in my Top 10. As it is, not many would even consider it a horror movie.
21. JANGHWA, HONGRYEON aka A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
Director: Kim Jee-Woon
Cast: Kap-su Kim, Jung-ah Yum, Su-jeong Lim
Scare Meter: 8/10
Scare Tactics: atmosphere, imagery
*Listed in 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die (Schneider, ed. 2009)
*Listed in Horror! 333 Films to Scare You to Death (Marriott and Newman 2010)
IMDb Plot Summary: "A family is haunted by the tragedies of deaths within the family."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365376/
Also a complex, layered horror film that relies on subtlety more than outright scares, though it also has enough of the latter. One of the most intelligent and most elegantly crafted films of the genre. Your effort to get through the sometimes plodding pace of the film will be extremely rewarding.
My Top 20 will be posted here tomorrow.
Here's #s 61-100.
