Wednesday, October 30, 2013

100 Horror Movies: Top 20

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

No comments: