The 10 Best Horror Movies of All Time --- The Scariest Films Of My Lifetime
Oct 01 '05
The Bottom Line Here is the list of what in my opinion represent the 10 Best Horror Movies of my lifetime, if not all time.
Horror movies, more than any other genre, are ready dependent on the psyche of its viewers. To come up with a "best of" list, there are a lot of things to take into consideration, and there are a lot of factors, which can make a specific film scary to one person, yet comedic to the next person. It's also debatable what makes a horror film, and where the line between dramatic film and horror actually occurs. Films such as The Shining, Silence of the Lambs, and Misery could make a list of dramatic scary films, but when it comes to horror there are a few key elements that I went with. Two made my list simply because of the nail-biting aspect, and the "holding your breath" while a scene played out factor: Final Destination and Scream. Being someone quite young to the movie industry, some of the older black and white films that I may have found scary back then, just haven't done it for me, and thus The Blob or Frankenstein will not be seen on this list.
An eclectic bunch of films that made the list for one reason or another, my top 10 probably has no duplicate reviews out there, simply because of my realized statement, that we all find different movies scary for different reasons. You won't find Halloween and Friday the 13th on here, because there impact was long since gone when I started watching films of this genre. Maybe scary for people who watched them when they first came out, they became the definition of cheesy films when I came across them.
Without further explanation, here is my personal list of the 10 Best Horror Movies of All Time.
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Critters (1986) --
This was actually the first film to give me nightmares, and I was probably way too young to be seeing a movie like this when it first came out. Set in the Midwest, it is about a set of renegade aliens who have crash-landed their ship on Earth. They are no larger than a cat, and have backs that are covered in spikes. Walking around on their two legs, they are vicious little creatures that curl up and roll around as a ball of fur that shoots poisonous spikes at its victims. In the movie, they end up taking roots in a family’s farm, and it becomes a night of terror as the family tries to fight back against these invading Critters. Looking back 20 years later, the special effects are quite cheesy, and its hard to think how these little guys were able to actually pick up the speed to roll across the floor at will, but nonetheless it was quite scary to me at the time. It still holds up as a scary film, and one that I will for sure watch again.
Poltergeist (1982) --
They're herrrrreeeeeeee... Steven Spielberg wrote this film starring JoBeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson as parents to a family moving into a new home. The only problem is that there is more beneath the surface than anyone would think or want to believe. A ghost story to say the least, Poltergeist showed two different sides to apparitions, starting first with "fun" or playful ghosts that evolved into life-threatening beings wanting to remove the family from the house and life itself. Taking place in an average home, in an average town, on an average street, the thing that makes a film like this so scary, is our ability to put ourselves into that situation. I could actually picture myself being in a house like that being terrorized by entities that I couldn't really see. The film did a great job at keeping the suspense as a reality, and keeping the fear of the unknown very real. By taking the route of having to fear something we couldn't actually see, Spielberg scored huge points for the film he assisted during his own filming of E.T.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) --
Directed by Wes Craven, this was one of the films that anchored him as a force in the horror genre. The tagline itself helped show just how scary the film was going to be: "If Nancy Doesn't Wake Up Screaming She Won't Wake Up At All." That says it all right there, as we have a serial killer that strikes while you are asleep, rather than coming after you during the day. Freddy Krueger is a child murderer that is burned to death when a city takes justice into their own hands and kills him. Only this ends up making him much stronger, and he is able to get at people in their dreams now. Lacking the ability to rest the main characters of the film must fight back against a demon that only gains strength through the fear that people have of him. It was really an innovative idea in the genre, and rather than give people nightmares, it made us afraid to go to sleep at night instead. It spawned a host of sequels, but nothing could hold up to the original ‘Nightmare’, which brought about a revolution in playing with our psyches.
Ringu (1998) --
This is the Japanese version of "The Ring" that hit American theaters a few years later, but was far better than its copy. The basic stories are the same, which involves a videotape, which if watched, limits a person to 7 more days of life before they meet a mysterious demise. Anyone who watches it has been given a death sentence, and the main characters of the film must find a way to save themselves before their own time runs out. It is a taught, scary film, which does a lot to insure that you are freaked out, and at the very least, disturbed by what you see on screen. The videotape itself can be seen as scary, but the results of someone watching it are flat out morbid. I thought the idea of the film was very good, and the way it was carried out was equally strong in presentation. To have a sequel and an American remake means that you are doing something right, and I think Ringu proves itself to be a great entry in the horror genre.
Scream (1996) --
Wes Craven came back with Scream as his latest endeavor to scare the teenagers of America. I actually was in a test audience before the film came out, and it was shown to us at Washington State University in 1996. There hadn't been a 'slasher' film like this out in a while, and it freaked out nearly the whole audience. What it left us with, was a strong will to spread the word about what was a really good film. In fact my friend (who has written on Epinions under Glock40) watched the film 11 times in theaters. In small town America, a killer is on the loose, scaring a lot the young people that live there. Oblivious to what is going on around them, the killer has been picking people off one by one without ever revealing to the audience or the characters who the killer really is. The film makes my list, because it scared its intended audience, and even after a bunch of years, it is still one that I will sit down with some popcorn to watch again. Drew Barrymore, Neve Campbell, and Rose McGowan are just a few of the young cast, which make the film interesting from beginning to end.
Final Destination (2000) --
The reason this film makes my list, is two-fold. First when you have death chasing after you in a movie, it is going to be classified as a horror movie. Second of all, when you have me gasping and trying to anticipate (yet failing) what the next sequence will reveal in the film, you are going to be listed as a scary or taught film by me. Combined, you end up making my list of one of the better horror movies that I have seen, based entirely on the premise and how the story was carried out. When a teenager going on a class trip dreams about a plane explosion that will occur the following day, he and 5 others are expelled from the plane. When the plane explodes mid-air, they find that death is still after them, and it would seem that each one of them is going to be picked off by the end of the film. The sequences are dramatic, and it is tense throughout the entire film, as you try to think ahead of the characters.
Gremlins (1984) --
A boy receives a pet from his father that is more alien than anything else. Called a "Mogwai" this creature comes with warnings about feeding him after midnight, putting him in sunlight, and getting water on him. Named Gizmo by the main character he is a cuddly little guy, until the rules are broken, and bad things end up happening as a result. When splashed with water, Gizmo multiplies, but his clones are not as kind as he is, instead wanting to destroy the entire city. Centered around Christmas, the town is in upheaval as these little terrors run through the streets with no fear of anything. It is up to the main character Billy to put a stop to the problem he has created. Though the enemy is small, they are nonetheless scary in everything that they do through the movie. With great special effects for 1984, Gremlins was as frightening a film as you could see. Unfortunately, the sequel removed a lot of the fear, and installed comedy instead, but I think the original still holds strong.
The Blair Witch Project (1999) --
This is one of those films that was either a big hit with a viewer, or a complete miss. For me, I had done a lot of research prior to going to see the film, and had found myself already nervous about coming across the Blair Witch. So, when it was on the big screen, it had a larger impact on me, and the non-stop camera movement added to the feeling that you were not in control within the film. A lot of people got sick from the camera filming, let alone the plot itself. I didn't but I was absorbed by a story that at first, I thought to be entirely true, so when it got to the ending, I was left sitting in my chair, frozen by the ending scene of the movie. For me, this was a huge hit, and I was very glad that I had taken the time to give it a chance. Not a film you could watch twice whether you liked it or not, it has all of the core elements that make a great horror film. The movie is all about a group of 3 friends who search out the Blair Witch, and shown as a documentary as they go about the search. It is interesting in premise, and the idea was such an original for an independent film, that it will always garner high marks from me.
Pet Semetary (1989) --
What horror list could be complete without a Stephen King mention in it? This story by the King of Horror, centers on a family of 3 moving into a new house where they come in contact with something beyond our world. A cemetery lies just beyond their property, and it is a place of mystery and intrigue that nobody living around it wants to talk about. They will soon discover its secrets though, as something goes terribly wrong. Pet Semetary is very interesting in its presentation, and you are left with a sense of not knowing exactly what is going on, or what will happen next. They explore the possibility of life after death in the film, and scare you out of your mind with some great writing by King. It makes my list because of the scaring it was able to do to me when I first saw it, and that I remember it very vividly.
The Mothman Prophecies (2002) --
True-Life Horror? A tense movie loosely based on a true story about the "Mothman" who contacts people about disastrous events that are to come, The Mothman Prophecies works entirely on your subconscious rather than your sight. You are left wondering about events taking place, and indeed you are allowed to form your own opinion of what is taking place in front of you. Richard Gere and Laura Linney both are great in their roles as an out-of-towner and the local sheriff, who cross paths in a small West Virginia city. All signs have been pointing to something terrible taking place, and Gere starts to believe that he could be the key to figuring it all out. The movie has a few intentional scares that help to keep you tense, and some great supporting characters that help keep it very interesting. All of the build up does make it worth the wait to me though, and the fear of the unknown is what really makes this a great horror film.
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