Rating the Genre: My Top 10 Horror Films of All Time
May 15 '00
Before we plunge into the list, I want to say a few things.
First off, I love top 10 lists. There’s nothing more fun than sitting down and looking at what people think constitutes the "10 best" of any given category. And since this particular list deals with the 10 best horror films of all time (with horror films being my area of expertise), it’ll be even more interesting to see what others think.
There’s no real scientific criteria behind choosing my list…I simply sat down, thought about the gazillion genre films I’ve seen over the years, and choose the ones that scared me, disturbed me, or simply grossed me out. So, like all top 10 lists, this one is fairly personal. There are several noteworthy films that don’t make the list (such as William Friedkin’s The Exorcist). The fact that they’re not included doesn’t mean they’re not fantastic films—just that there are 10 other genre films that I enjoy more.
Finally, it’s impossible to break down a genre as huge as horror into one top 10 list. I just can’t do it…there are too many fantastic films, too many subgenres, to make one all encompassing list. Therefore, I’m planning on doing several of these lists—one for each subgenre that intrigues me. Keep an eye out for my Top 10 lists of best slasher films, best gore films, best zombie films, etc. Anyway, enough rambling from me—onto my top 10 horror films of all time—presented in no particular order.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho—Perhaps the most infamous and seminal genre film ever made, Psycho is essentially the grandfather of whole slasher subgenre. This twisted little film is brilliantly conceived, artistically executed, and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. The shower scene alone makes this one a classic.
Tobe Hooper’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre—Easily the most famous exploitation film ever made, TCM put young genre director Tobe Hopper on the map. The film itself is one of the most intense, harrowing things ever committed to celluloid. Leatherface and his cannibalistic clan of Texas rednecks became genre icons after this films release (which can be good and bad—sure, you earn the love of the fans, but it also means they’ll sequelize the characters to death). If you’ve never seen TCM, allow me to recommend it. It’s not the all out blood bath that the title implies—it’s something even more disturbing: A balls out horror flick that looks like documentary…a film that goes for your throat and never lets go.
George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead/Dawn of the Dead—I’m cheating here, and I know it. Still, these two films are Romero’s masterpieces—his magnum opus on zombies, if you will. Made in 1968, NotLD is your classic "siege" film. 7 disparate strangers wind up in a deserted house fighting off hordes of the undead. What makes the film stand above its brethren is the complex interactions between those characters. Romero uses the humans as archetypes, illustrating the societal differences that were prevalent at the time. Dawn is equally impressive, with four survivors holing up in an abandoned shopping mall. Romero lampoons society’s fascination with shopping malls and consumerism here, leading one to wonder just who the real zombies are.
Steven Spielberg’s Jaws—This one always brings on a lot of debate because a lot of folks don’t consider it a horror film (it’s usually filed under Action/Adventure for some reason). Still, Jaws is a horror film—it’s got a huge monster that eats people. For my money, this is Spielberg’s greatest accomplishment. Shot at sea (with a great deal of difficulty) this updating of Moby Dick is an incredibly tense film that managed to become part of the collective consciousness. Everyone knows what Jaws is about…and it’s impossible to go to a beach in this country without hearing someone mention it. Jaws is certainly a genre classic.
John Carpenter’s Halloween—If Psycho is one of the grandfathers of slasher cinema, then 1978’s Halloween (and, to be fair, Bob Clark’s Black Christmas) are the modern day father’s. Halloween is a deceptively simple tale about a group of babysitters menaced by the boogeyman on Halloween night. Carpenter’s stylish direction and haunting, minimalist score make this low-budget shocker stand head and shoulders above just about everything else in the slasher subgenre.
Dario Argento’s Tenebre—This film marked Argento’s return to his giallo roots. After making the supernaturally themed films Suspiria and Inferno, Dario returns to the form that launched his career. Tenebre is a mystery/thriller about a famous writer visiting Rome. While there, he draws the attention of a psycho killer—a killer who murders using the methods explained in the author’s novel. Like most Argento fare, the story is less important than the visuals. Argento’s stylistic flourishes are in full bloom here, with all the weird camera movements, incongruous cuts, and pounding Goblin soundtrack present and accounted for. If you’re a slasher film fan, check out this superior giallo and see where your favorite subgenre gets most of its inspiration.
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining—There’s no way this Kubrick fanboy was leaving this film off the list. Kubrick takes King’s novel, jettisons everything that doesn’t interest him, keeps the rest, and adds his own personal touches to create one of horror’s greatest films. Jack Nicholson turns in an outstanding performance as Jack Torrance, a man being used as a pawn by a haunted hotel. Kubrick’s direction is fantastic—he uses lots of low angle shots throughout in order to make the hotel seem large and menacing, then he pulls us into a tight, cramped shot to make us feel claustrophobic and trapped. All in all, The Shining is an intense experience.
John McNaughton’s Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer—This low-budget masterpiece benefits from several things. First, it’s got an incredibly bleak, bordering on nihilistic, worldview. Second, it’s got an almost documentary style feel to it. McNaughton’s use of grainy film stock makes everything on the screen look far more real than it would in a big—budget serial killer flick. Finally, it’s got the performance of Michael Rooker. Rooker is Henry Lee Lucas, one of America’s most predatory madmen. Add all of these things together, and you get what is perhaps the best serial killer film ever made—a film that’s definitely worthy of inclusion on any top 10 horror list.
Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust—This is the king of cannibal flicks. A group of documentary filmmakers wander into the Amazon in search of real-life cannibal tribes. When they find none, they attack a peaceful group of jungle dwelling natives—killing several, raping one, etc. Pushed to the breaking point, the tribe reverts back to their old cannibal ways, and young white folks are the day’s main course. A year later, an anthropologist recovers the footage—catching the last days of the film crew’s lives (The Blair Witch Project would borrow this set-up). Deodato’s film is extremely disturbing. The gore is intense, real animals are killed on camera, and everything’s handled in a very heavy-handed, moralistic way (the film’s driving theme is an exploration of who the real monsters are—us or them? One character actually asks this aloud at one point. How’s that for subtle?). Deodato had to endure an obscenity trial in his native Italy for this film—and he lost. He couldn’t convince the authorities that the footage was indeed fake. He did, however, eventually get the ruling overturned. Cannibal Holocaust isn’t for everyone, but if gore’s your bag, track down a bootleg and prepare to be entertained.
Dario Argento’s Suspiria—Another of Dario Argento’s masterpieces, Suspiria was the director’s first film to break away from the giallo subgenre and explore some supernatural themes. At a dance academy in Germany, young girls are dying gruesome deaths. When young American Suzy Bannion arrives, she gets caught up in a mystery that involves real life witches—and one of the infamous "three mothers" first mentioned in a Thomas de Quincey essay. The story itself is fairly convoluted, but the murders are brutal, the Goblin soundtrack rocks, and Argento makes the film so visually intriguing that you won’t care.
Honorable Mentions:
Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace—early giallo about a madman stalking young models. This is a great film on its own, but it’s also important because of the influence it had on Dario Argento’s films.
HG Lewis’ entire filmography—HG is the godfather of the gore flick. Blood Feast, Color Me Blood Red, 2000 Maniacs, etc. are all low budget trash classics. Without HG Lewis, there might not be any gore films around today.
Michele Soavi’s Cemetery Man—This one should be in the top 10. Take whatever film you found on the list that you know you didn’t like and replace it with this hyper-stylized zombie flick.
Thanks for reading.
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