10. The Phantom Of the Opera (1925)
This was the first film adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel of the same name. By now, we're all familiar with the story of the Phantom, who uses mayhem, fear, and murder in order to manipulate the management into making the woman he loves a star. It's generally considered to be the most faithful of the adaptations, but there's one big difference. This difference is so wonderfully, well, Hollywood, that I can't help but love it. Instead of a history of studying in Persia, the Phantom is instead an escapee of Devil's Island and is skilled in the "dark arts."
The most memorable part of the move is Lon Chaney's self-applied and grotesque make-up. The make-up had been a studio secret until the premiere of the film, and I imagine that the 1925 audience must have been pretty horrified at The Big Reveal. Words don't do it justice. Sometimes, you just have to watch it.
9. Alien
Ridley Scott's 1979 film is classified as both science fiction and horror. I think there are many films that marry the two genres, but there are not many films that do so with such skill and subtlety as Alien. The setting could not be more isolated--a ship floating through space with only seven crew members and a cat. The best horror movies encourage that sense of isolation and claustrophobia, pulling in tighter and tighter until there's nothing left in the world except the looming danger around every corner. Effective horror films are frightened of silence, of suspense, and even fake-outs (how many times does that damn cat jump out at the camera anyway?).
Roger Ebert wrote of the film:
One of the great strengths of Alien is its pacing. It takes its time. It waits. It allows silences (the majestic opening shots are underscored by Jerry Goldsmith with scarcely audible, far-off metallic chatterings). It suggests the enormity of the crew's discovery by building up to it with small steps: The interception of a signal (is it a warning or an SOS?). The descent to the extraterrestrial surface. The bitching by Brett and Parker, who are concerned only about collecting their shares. The masterstroke of the surface murk through which the crew members move, their helmet lights hardly penetrating the soup. The shadowy outline of the alien ship. The sight of the alien pilot, frozen in his command chair. The enormity of the discovery inside the ship ("It's full of ... leathery eggs ...").
8. Nightmare On Elm Street.
The other scene that terrified me and made me never want to sleep again, was when Johnny Depp’s character dies. He fell asleep, and Freddy’s hand pops out of the bed, and pulls him down into it. After he’s pulled down, a fountain of blood starts spurting out of the bed and it seems endless. It is one of the bloodiest scenes in a horror movie, and it totally makes it worth watching. Also, Johnny Depp was very young and pretty. Another fine reason to view it.
7. Evil Dead 2
Editor's Note: The Shining and Night Of the Living Dead were contributed by Jasie Stokes.
6. The Shining Although The Shining had mixed reviews and only moderate success at its release in 1980, the film has become iconic, not only in the horror genre but also in cinematic history. The film tells the story of a writer, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), who accepts the job of the winter caretaker at a hotel deep in the Rockies. He and his wife and son will be snowed in for five months and it is during this time that the hotel begins to take over Jack’s soul and convinces him that he must kill his family. While based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation avoids many of the supernatural elements of the book and instead maintains itself as a psychological horror film. Abandoning the subplots and many of the themes found in the book, Kubrick distilled the story into a single plot line and used stark lighting, harsh, bright blocks of color and stylized camera angles to realize an iconic vision of psychological horror. Additionally, in his exploration of an insecure father spiraling into insanity in an empty and remote hotel, Kubrick achieves a tremendously disturbing and disconcerting affect, one which has resonated with audiences for almost thirty years. 5. Night of the Living Dead Although not the first zombie film, Night of the Living Dead is the progenitor of the contemporary zombie apocalypse subgenre. Filmed on a budget of only $114,000 the film has grossed over $42 million dollars since its release in 1968, both domestically and internationally. The film is the first of Romero’s Dead series and has generated two remakes and countless copies, setting forth the conventions of one of the most prolific subgenres in the history of horror. In this cult classic, George Romero reinvents the zombie movie and makes the living dead one of the most horrifying cinematic monsters in history. Night is not only innovative in redefining the zombie, the film also explores the social, religious and cultural tumult of the late ‘60s and features the first African American leading actor ever seen in the horror genre. The plot is basic: a small group of people are trapped, hiding from a horde of living dead who feasts upon the living. However, Night of the Living Dead explores the psychological aspect of the group dynamics within this scenario. The zombies could really be any kind of natural disaster; the important, and often the most horrifying, thing however is how the people respond to the zombies. In this way the film is hypercritical of humanity’s lack of compassion as well as its cruelty and selfishness. For the last forty years Night of the Living Dead has stood as a paragon for terrifying, disturbing and socially impacting horror films and will do so for years to come.
4. American Werewolf in London
When John Landis wanted to make American Werewolf in London, he was told by a number of people that it was an awful idea. Too funny to be a horror movie, too horrifying to be a comedy, it was deemed a financial disaster waiting to happen. Landis funded it himself and in 1981 it was released alongside The Howling and Wolfen, two far more standard takes on werewolves.
But, it was American Werewolf in London with its campish delight, ironically lighthearted songs, and lingering, painful shots of the werewolf transformations that remains a classic. Aside from simply becoming a cult favorite, the film's look was so influential that it inspired the Academy Awards to institute an entire new category, Outstanding Achievment in Makeup. It also so impressed Michael Jackson that he sought out Landis to direct his groundbreaking music video Thriller.
In some ways, the comedy of American Werewolf in London is what makes it so haunting. If you spend an entire movie waiting for bad things to happen, there's little surprise when the heroes all die and blood is spilled from one end of the set to the other. A sprinkling of comedic moments and upbeat songs (all of which contained the word "moon" in their title) at odds with the horror on the screen alters things, though. The viewer doesn't know what to expect. Leaving the audience unsure of what to expect next is one of the finest ingredients of any horror film.
3. Silence of the Lambs
Though everyone remembers the revolting insanity of Buffalo Bill ("It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again!"), it was the mad genius of Hannibal Lecter that truly took center stage in this movie. If it had been nothing more than the hunt for Buffalo Bill, it would have been your standard crime drama or thriller and easily forgotten.
Instead, Lecter toys with Clarice. As she's attempting to use him to pick apart the mind of a serial killer, he's taking her apart. He'll give her a hint, but only at the cost of a childhood memory. It seems like a bizarre game, but every bit of information she gives him is another tool in his hands.
The haunting, sick charisma of Lecter and the strange chemistry between the two as he uses her mind like a lockpick is something few other films have been able to capture.
2. Psycho
Psycho came out in 1960, nearly fifty years ago. It's hard for audiences today to truly grasp the impact it had at the time. With Hitchcock's reputation and the film starting out like a crime thriller, most viewers at the time were expecting a story about Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) on the run after embezzling from her employer. Perhaps she'd suffer a downward psychological spiral, as indicated by the film's title.
Imagine their shock when, instead, she was brutally murdered halfway through.
If a first time viewer already knows that this twist is coming, it's robbed of some of its impact. But unlike many more modern films, it doesn't rely on shock value. Even knowing what's to come, it still thrills and haunts audiences to this day.
Editor's Note: To me, the most fascinating thing about Psycho isn't the film itself. That same year, 1960, British director Michael Powell released Peeping Tom. While Psycho was widely celebrated for its suspense, horror, and even the goriness, Peeping Tom was a dismal failure. Not only did it turn off the British public, it effectively (and unfairly) destroyed Michael Powell's career. If you enjoyed Psycho, I would strongly suggest watching Peeping Tom, which is a superior film in many ways.
1. The Exorcist
The Exorcist came out in 1973 and became one of the most profitable horror films of all time, grossing $402,500,000 worldwide. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won two. It has been, time and again, named as the scariest movie of all time.
But what makes it so scary? The story itself is a relatively simple one. There aren't any horrific plot twists. Even when no character can explain the cause of Regan's symptoms, the title of the film itself has made it clear what's wrong and what needs to be done.
The idea of losing control of oneself is an old one. As long as man has feared the ghosts in the dark, he's feared them controlling him as well. The horror of The Excorcist borrows from that primordial terror, but with a twist: we do not fear ourselves being in Regan's place, but of being in the place of those around her. Who hasn't watched their children and worried about losing control? No parent can prevent a child from ever causing herself harm, or of making the wrong decisions in life. It's the constant parental worry, exploded into a horrific drama that goes beyond childish smoking behind the school. Regan's very soul is at stake.
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