#20. Cabin Fever
- I know what some of you may be thinking, "not a good start to the list", well this is where opinions differ. Cabin Fever is the third most recent horror flick that's on this list. To me it was one of the best that was released in the last decade. A newcomer to the horror genre was Eli Roth at the time, he directed and wrote this film. One reason I liked this one is because of the REAL old school horror vibe to it. You have your cliche teenagers looking for a good time so they rent out a cabin in the forest where a flesh eating virus has occured. The make-up and more importantly gore effects are brilliant. The scene where Jordan Ladd touches her leg under a blanket and we hear a disgusting, vile sound is one of the best recent scenes in horror that I've seen. You squinch when you hear it and it sticks with you throughout the rest of the film.
#19. An American Werewolf in London
- My favorite werewolf film ever made. This is one instance where Nicholson can't compete. David Naughton solidified his place in film with this role. It is one of the best horror/comedy films ever made, a true classic. Don't believe me? Check out the subway scene.
#18. Henry: Portait of a Serial Killer - The only serial killer film that graces my list, although there have been some good ones, Dahmer (with Jeremy Renner, a brilliant performance), and Bundy, but none can compare with Henry, and I wouldn't consider Zodiac a horror flick (but it remains as one of the best films of 2007 if you ask me). Michael Rooker is as eery as a killer can get. He's no movie magic monster because unlike those, he's for real. A sick and twisted look at a real life man, one of my favorites.
#17. Candyman
- We all remember this one. This is the film that drove us to the bathroom mirror, daring our friends to say his name 5 times, Candyman. Tony Todd has one of the best voices in the movie business. It's incredibly frightening, deep, and down right disturbing. It also helps that the film stars talented actress Virginia Madsen, who really wasn't even noticed until Sideways. Her performance in Candyman was great, overlooked because of its genre.#16. The Re-Animator
- The Re-Animator, what else can be said about this cult classic. Jeffrey Combs is the king of b-rate, period. He plays a crazy-fun scientist that re-animates human tissue to bring the dead back to life. This is quite honestly a graphic piece of film, but it just has that unique quality, especially at the time, to catch our attention and laugh at all the madness that's before us. Also, fun note, the story was written by H.P. Lovecraft, and just recently BaO writer D.W. sent a bait about the man behind the madness.
#15. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- Just to clarity, I don't consider this a serial killer movie, although it was loosely based off one, and also to clarify, I'm not talking about the WB casted remake. Simply put, low budget horror, and great horror at that. The film almost has a documentary vibe which adds more to the scare factor. At the most unexpecting moments we have our scare scenes, a true quality in horror films. It's a very unsettling film, that defines the true meaning of "dysfunctional family".
#14. Hellraiser
- The cenobites, one of the most terrifying species that has ever graced film. Wow, I really don't know what else can be said. This film is very bloody, violent, and down right disguting. The story, however, is quite unique in a sense. The story is about Larry who has discovered a doorway to hell, yet he gets more then he bargained for and is captured by the dreaded cenobites, more importantly, Pinhead. He escapes their hell and tries to return to his wife Kirsty, while being hunted down by the cenobites. Larrys decomposed body is so disturbing it's hard to look at. A true underrated classic.
#13. The Hitcher
"I want you to say 4 words....I....want...to...die."
- No, not that whale dick of a remake. This film is another case where you don't need blood and guts to make a horror film. In fact, one of the most disturbing scenes is a death scene, and not one ounce of blood shown, where our hitcher John Ryder ties poor Jennifer Jason Leigh between two trucks as he proceeds to rip her body in half, the death isn't shown, the scene fades out and the next scene tells us what happened. A true landmark in horror. Speaking of landmark, this film has one of the best opening scenes in a horror film that I've ever seen. Rutger Hauer's lines are truly bone chilling, the Academy could have easily given this demented psycho a Best Supporting nomination, that's how convincing and brilliant he was. Of course this is one of the many horror films that is taken advantage of these days to attract boys and their simple minded girlfriends to the movie theaters to see a full frontal gorefest with more violence and less dialogue. No real "creepy" factor to it. Truly sickening.
#12. The Fly
- Truthfully I saw this film a few years ago and I wondered why I didn't see it earlier.
This film is disturbing, period. If you havent seen it I recommend it to the fullest. Goldblum, while having a distasteful acting style (in my opinion), does a fine job in this film and his transitions as a fly throughout the film is groundbreaking. This film isn't "gory", but it's more disturbing, and disgusting. Put it this way, it won best make-up at the Academy Awards, that should tell you how good of a job they did. There are so many memorable scenes in this that it's hard to name them all. A few however cannot go unmentioned. The scene where Goldbum picks off his finger nails, the "acid" scenes, and the "birth" scene, all of which will make you squirm at any age. Cronenberg rules. #11. The Omen
"Look at me, Damien. It's all for you."
- Yikes, you know the scene I'm talking about, not only was that scene great shock value, but basically an "omen" of things to come. I'm usually not one to buy into the whole "kids are creepy", angle. It doesn't work for me, however this film is different. The kid, played by Harvey Stephens, is the creepiest looking kid I've ever seen in film. This film has a strong cast and strong performances, led by Gregory Peck, he brings such devotion to his character that it was definitely "Oscar worthy" for sure.
#10. Death Proof
"Because it was a fifty fifty shot on wheter you'd be going left or right. You see we're both going left. You could have just as easily been going left, too. And if that was the case...it would have been a while before you started getting scared. But since you're going the other way, I'm afraid you're gonna have to start getting scared...immediately"
- Perhaps the other wild card that you didn't expect. I'll tell you know, I'm so high on Tarantinos "Death Proof" that I had to put this in my top 10. This is just another case that Tarantino can do anything he puts his mind too. In general, this film is brilliant. Tarantinos bread and butter is creating real life characters and real life dialogue, this film is no different. We're introduced to the first 4 girls and get a feel for them, we see what their like, how real girls talk. Then they are introduced to Stuntman Mike (an absolute BRILLIANT performance from Kurt Russell), and we get a sense that Stuntman Mike is just a regular guy, but continues to get ridiculed by his hideous scar and ridiculous outfit. He takes all his aggression out in his ride and this is where the fun begins. Russell is clever, funny, scary, disturbing, and masterful. Not to mention this film has one of the best car chase sequences I've ever seen....yes, I mean that. I do believe this was one of the best horror films ever made with a true Grindhouse effect, unlike Planet Terror.
#9. Last House on the Left
- One of the most disturbing films I've ever see. This film was truly before its time and opened the door for many, many horror films. This was Wes Cravens hay day, and this was one of his masterpieces. Here we have real life torture, forget that shit you see in the Saw movies, some of their brilliant fans like to say Saw is unique because it's "realistic", no kiddies. A man decomposing from cancer who apparently has an engineering degree cannot make those stupid, unrealistic devices that all end in bloodshed to keep your simple minded audience entertained. Last House on the Left is the true meaning of real life torture and captivity. David Hess plays one of the villians, his expressions are flawless, hollow, and deeply demented. Our atmosphere is simple, yet terrifying.
#8. Black Christmas
- In my opinion this is the most underrated horror film ever made. This is one of those films where we don't need a story on our notorious villian. Simply put, the guy is insane, and we don't know why. All we know about this man is he refers to himself as "Billy". He calls a sorority house, leaving obscene and haunting comments. His cries, screams, moans, and pig noises leave chills down your spine. The worst part about this is, he's calling from the upstairs attic. Logically, he murders the girls one by one. The tension can't get any better and it's supported by great acting as well. One of the best horror films ever made, period.
#7. The Devil's Rejects
- My final surprise. I can honestly guarentee no one thinks as highly of this film as I do, atleast out of all of the authors. "#7? That's pushing it", well, no. I don't think I'm pushing it at all. This film had all the elements to be a great horror classic. It's gritty, disturbing, dirty, vulgar, comical, and quite frankly a brilliant portrayal on character development. We have our deadly trio, the Fireflies, Captain Spaulding, Otis, and Baby who go on a killing spree to escape the law and the people that want them dead. One of those people include Sheriff Wydell, played
by William Forsythe. Truthfully, there is no protagonist in this film, you just sit back and watch utter HELL break out in front of you. The killers, while horrible human beings, were unique, interesting and fun to listen to. Even though we hated them, we were intrigued by them. Rob Zombie wrote and directed this modern day masterpiece and shows great directing skills. It has quite the 70's style to it. More importantly, the last 10 minutes of this film is some of the best film making I've seen in the genre, and honestly it's one of my favorite endings of any film, ANY film. Not many people have given this movie a chance, hence I remind everyone that Roger Ebert himself gave this film 3 Stars. It is what it is, but more. One of my favorite films of 2005.
by William Forsythe. Truthfully, there is no protagonist in this film, you just sit back and watch utter HELL break out in front of you. The killers, while horrible human beings, were unique, interesting and fun to listen to. Even though we hated them, we were intrigued by them. Rob Zombie wrote and directed this modern day masterpiece and shows great directing skills. It has quite the 70's style to it. More importantly, the last 10 minutes of this film is some of the best film making I've seen in the genre, and honestly it's one of my favorite endings of any film, ANY film. Not many people have given this movie a chance, hence I remind everyone that Roger Ebert himself gave this film 3 Stars. It is what it is, but more. One of my favorite films of 2005.#6. Nightmare on Elm Street
"This....is god"
- This is where the poll begins to become quite standard. These last 6 films probably grace about 63% of horror fans top 6. So I begin with Nightmare on Elm Street, Cravens best film and masterpiece. One of the best monster villians (my favorite actually) and a decent story makes this film one of the cream of the crop. The story is about a child killer that gets burned alive by the parents of children of the neighborhood. He comes back as an evil demon that haunts the dreams of children on the street he was killed on, Elm Street. Not only does he haunt them, he kills them. The film starts with the very scary theme music in the background and you see a mutilated pair of hands create a glove with sharp knives attached to it. This is just the beginning of whats to come. While the sequels made Freddy a more humorous killer (pretty much making him a joke), this is the film that started it all. There is no nonsense with Freddy, he's as evil as a villian can get, and a frightening one at that. The make-up is astonishing. A classic slasher with a good story and frightening elements.
#5. Halloween
And the award for best horror theme music goes to.....Jaws. Just kidding, it's
actually Halloween. Put that music on when you're by yourself in the dark, you're in for a rude awakening if you believe you can't be scared by anything. Halloween is a rare movie. First, it is rare because of the effectiveness of the shots. Nowhere else will you find such amazing and terrifying shots in a movie. The suspense is perfect and performances from Jamie Lee and Donald Pleasence could have been up for some Academy nods but unfortunately, yet again, the Academy doesn't see these things. Bottom line, Halloween is a must see horror film. Watch "the night he came back". #4. The Exorcist
- There is a reason why this horror classic was one of the few that was nominated for Academy awards. It is THAT good. Great cinematography darkens the atmosphere and a superb screenplay enhances the dialogue. The ensemble is classic. Jason Miller excels as Karras, a man who must defeat his own demons before battle the external evil. To this day this film still scares me. For me, I have to be by myself and in the dark for any movie to truly "scare" me, and when I watch this film with that atmosphere it's almost difficult to watch. No matter what your beliefs are to the subject matter, this film should stand as one of the best horror films ever made to ANYONE.
#3. Jaws
- Duh-num......duh-num....duh-num duh-num....NNNUUUUUUH. Ugh, still gives me chills to this day. This film is the single reason why I'm afraid of the ocean. And that's not joke, I'm terrified of it, and quite frankly I'm traumatized by this film. The score is brilliant, the performances are perfect, the humor is clever, and the horror is real. Quints speech is somewhat more terrifying then the shark itself! And that's what makes his and the other performances basically perfect. An edge of your seat horror film that with witty dialogue. A weak story turned into brilliance.
#2. Alien
- Oh my. The suspense, the element of surprise. The mysteries of the unknown, all great additions to horror films. "Alien" has it all. Of course, by now everyone knows what the alien looks like, but when he inadvertently started the series Scott made the wise decision of keeping it mostly unseen: the ghastly creature is almost never shown in its entirety, preferring to lurk in the shadows as the unaware human characters gradually realize what's happening. It's freakish art direction increase the tension and terror. Like Spielberg with Jaws, Scott realizes that what is unseen is always more terrifying. Most of us have seen the scene...the supposively "rape" scene. We don't see this happening, but we hear the screams. Also give credit to Ridley Scott, this was one of the first horror films that had the main character a woman, the hero. Simply put, this film is not about a crew in space that team together to fight off a monstrous creature, but it's more focused on true fear, they're tired, stressed out, rude and bitchy and they spend a good lot of time griping and snapping at each other. A defining film of its time and it still holds strong.
#1. The Thing
In my opinion, the grand daddy of them all. Director John Carpenter earned a place in history when he directed Halloween, where suspense and atmosphere were above gore and shock. "The Thing" could be seen as an evolution of that style, as even when Carpenter makes great use of Rob Bottin's special effects (which were labeled by critics as "repulsive" on its day), the film still focuses more on atmosphere and suspense rather than in the violent (and very well-done) displays of gore. He crafts a suspenseful guessing game that grows more complex and more 
frightening with every new twist, and it helps to have some very cool effects and a very scary creature. The cast is very effective, and their performances as a whole so effective that one can almost feel the bad feelings between their characters as real. As a dog lover, the dogs scene is so difficult to watch, sometimes I have to fast forward it depending on my mood, regardless it's effective. The feeling of paranoia, helplessness, brutality and tense and original score by Ennio Morricon makes The Thing one of the most intense and entertaining movies ever made. In my opinion, THE best.
frightening with every new twist, and it helps to have some very cool effects and a very scary creature. The cast is very effective, and their performances as a whole so effective that one can almost feel the bad feelings between their characters as real. As a dog lover, the dogs scene is so difficult to watch, sometimes I have to fast forward it depending on my mood, regardless it's effective. The feeling of paranoia, helplessness, brutality and tense and original score by Ennio Morricon makes The Thing one of the most intense and entertaining movies ever made. In my opinion, THE best.Now is the time where I get to answer questions that I'm sure some of you viewers have.
#1. "Where is Psycho?" or "No Hitchcock?"
- I'll just be frank with you, I'm not a fan of old horror. In my opinion, Psycho is not a great horror film. But again, this is because of how old it is. To me, an old, black and white style horror film is not suspenseful, nor tense. While the acting is great in Psycho, I just didn't see the suspense in it. At the time it was risky and great I'm sure, but to me, overhyped. Also, I don't think it can hold a candle to Rear Window, which in my opinion is Hitchcocks best film, and one of the best films ever made.
#2. "Where is The Shining?"
- The honest truth? I hated this film. I just couldn't get into it folks. The film is way too long for it's own good, creating a boring and dry atmosphere. Nicholsons is HUGELY miscasted, while he okay when he's insane, it's his sane performance that is not acceptable, considering he LOOKS INSANE before he even turns insane. And just to add on to the mess, I don't know how anyone could watch this film and not be irritated by Shelly Duvall, one of the most annoying characters I've EVER seen in film, and this is going up against Ginger from Casino. Her performance alone takes away the suspense and tension this film didn't even have to begin with. It's overrated and a stinker. And it's a shame, I love Kubrick, I love Nicholson, but this was just a mess.
#3. "No George Romero?"
- Romero is a good filmmaker and basically launched the zombie genre, however, in my opinion he cannot hold a candle to Craven or Carpenter (in their prime of course). But if I were to make a top 25 horror list then the original Dawn of the Dead probably would have graced that list, unfortunately it's only 20 and no Romero film made the final cut. I am sorry for this.
#4. "No Vincent Price, Lon Chaney, Boris Karloff, or Max Schreck"?
- As I've stated before, while I'm aware films that included these acclaimed famous people in film were inspirational to the horror films we have today, does not make them suspenseful, tense, and especially scary. I do not enjoy them, nor can I get into them.
#5. "Where is Silence of the Lambs, Se7en, and The Sixth Sense"?
- While all good films, (Silence and Se7en being brilliant), I don't consider them horror.
On that note, I have one more thing to say. I've noticed that most the films on my list have been remade into a modern day, new age travesty. Shitty directors that want to make some extra dough by taking someone elses idea and making it into a senseless piece of garbage that is only appealing to meatheaded teenagers that don't appreciate great film. I'm not talking about films such as The Thing, The Fly, etc that were remade in the 80's, at this time there was still taste in films and they provided actual HORROR, I'm talking Black Christmas, The Omen, The Hitcher, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and just recently, Halloween, all films that have been taken advantage of by these new age assholes. They think if you add excessive gore and less intelligent dialogue you get a more scare factor, yeah, maybe if you're 12.
Now, let me clarify what I'm sure you're thinking now. "The remake of Halloween? Didn't you just praise Rob Zombies film making skills?". Yes, I did. And yes, Rob Zombie falls into the category of the assholes that take advantage of classics. However, to Rob Zombies credit it wasn't his idea to make the film, the company had the idea, proposed it to Zombie, and he did it, it is also his favorite horror movie of all time. Who could resist? However, it's not Zombies STYLE. Halloween was based off its suspense, while Zombies thing is taking advantage of the REAL gore factor, making over the top films. It's just not his style.
And you know, it's not only the films I have in my list, there are countless others. When a Stranger Calls, The Fog, The Amityville Horror, The Wicker Man (hysterical though), The Hills Have Eyes, among others have also been robbed of their own respectful dignity. It's sickening, truly sickening. There are also rumors that Last House on the Left is going to be remade, more low standards in todays horror genre. I think there is one last thing to be said about the people involved with these movies...and excuse the language...FUCK THESE PEOPLE AND FUCK THEIR MOVIES.
