Best Horror Movies of All Time

[Deset Gled]

This thread is inspired by this post in the Pineapple thread:

Oh my God.

The Sixth Sense is not a horror movie. It's a supernatural thriller. Please stop putting it at or near the top of every horror movie list.

I could argue either way whether The Sixth Sense is a horror movie or thriller (or if there's any distinction between the two). But the bottom line is that you need to stop putting it on lists of "Best Horror Movies" because it simply isn't that scary. I'll give you that it's pretty good; it's entertaining and well made. But it would struggle to get on my list of Top 100 Scary Movies of All Time.

So having said that, let's talk about the actual Best Horror Movies of All Time.

Here are the rules:

• Must be "horror". That means scary; inducing feelings of terror, fright, fear, and panic. You decide what that means, whether it's gore, suspense, psychological, etc.
• Must be "horror". Yeah, I'm using Fight Club rules for emphasis. We're talking about something actually scary. If you want to go non-traditional by arguing that The Lego Movie is a terrifying depiction of Lovecraftian horror, you need to be able to back it up with serious discussion about why is actually scares you, not just academic posturing. If you want to say "When Harry Met Sally" is #1 because there's nothing scarier than commitment, kindly go make your own thread.
• Must be the "best". You judge by your own standards. But the important thing is we're talking about horror based in some measure of quality. This is not just a discussion of your personal phobias presented in schlock movies; if you're coulrophobic, the expectation is "It" not "Killer Klowns from Outer Space".
• Must be a movie. No shorts, no TV shows, no books. Child's Play the movie, yes; Chucky the TV show, no. Pretty straightforward, right?
• 10 items or less, please.
• Single movies, not a series. If you want to have Nightmare on Elm Street 1-6, that's six movies, not a single entry, and please put them in an order. "Best Horror Franchise" is another thread for another time.
• No limits on language, time, or anything else.

With those rules in place, here's the definitive list.

10. Dead of Night (1945)
Okay, I'm going to admit that I'm starting with a little bit of a cop out. I love anthology horror movies. And there are just so many good ones. From Kwaidan to Creepshow to VHS, with everything from Cat's Eye to Trick'r'Treat in between. But Dead of Night, being both amazingly good and an early codifier, is the iconic "best" that I have chosen to represent the peak of the genre.

9. Ghostbusters
Comedy and horror have gone together since the earliest days of film, but Ghostbusters stands out (and earns a place on this list) because it's a truly great horror movie, even without the funny bits. It's a unique blend that may never be matched.

8. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Still holds up as a unique horror experience over a hundred years later. If you want to give credit to the original masters but don't enjoy the German Expressionist vibe as much as I do, I recommend the The Phantom Carriage (a major influence on The Shining) or the 1920 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as alternatives.

7. Night of the Living Dead
Pure excellence in low budget terror. So good it redefined the word "zombie" and created an entire genre.

6. Halloween
I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of "slasher" movies. They're a little bit basic, as horror goes. But this movie is absolute perfection of the art form. From the soundtrack to the shot composition to the editing, this is a masterclass in horror film making.

5. The Orphanage
Not just scary, but also emotional and beautiful. Criminally obscure to American audiences. Yeah, I love Pan's Labyrinth too. But that's fantasy and this is horror.

4. The Ring
A visual masterpiece in horror. The fact that this movie didn't get an Oscar nomination for Cinematography is proof that the Academy is a bunch of prudes who don't give the horror genre its due. Having re-watched both the US and Japanese versions recently, I'm going to confidently say that the US version is better. The minor improvements to pacing and just a little more polish make a notable difference.

3. The Thing
Body horror, suspense, and special effects that many have tried to copy, but none have managed to even approach. Also, proof that remakes can be good (even if the original was high quality).

2. Alien
Okay, we've argued about the Alien films enough on the boards recently. If you want to discuss this, revive one of those threads. Or just accept that it belongs here.

1. Hereditary
Just barely making it into the #1 spot is this modern masterpiece. DO NOT READ ABOUT THIS MOVIE BEFORE WATCHING. Go and experience it for yourself. It is more than just a horror movie, it's a journey. No un-hidden spoilers in this thread, please.

Honorable Mentions:
The Shining
Hellraiser
It (1 and 2)
Get Out
Troll Hunter
Unfriended
Event Horizon
Dreamcatcher
Paranormal Activity
The Strangers

Now that all that's settled, what are your Best Horror Movies of All Time? If your answer is The Exorcist, Jacob's Ladder, or Lake Mungo, I'm sorry to inform you that those movies are a good but vastly overrated. And if your answer is mother! you just have bad taste in movies.

 

[Older Beholder]

My Fave:
Let the right one in

This Year:

Strange Darling
Alien: Romulus
Late night with the Devil
Maxxxine
I saw the TV glow
Longlegs

Modern Classics:

Nope
Midsommar
Pearl
Hereditary
Under the Skin
Vvitch
Train to Busan
Barbarian

Classic:

Evil Dead 1
The Shining
Nightmare on Elm Street 1

(I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty, but this was just some off the top of my head)

 

[Older Beholder]

Just on the topic of horror, Smile 2 is out this week.
Casting Jack Nicholson's son is a smart way of getting that Nicholson grin into a horror movie...

 

[Tonguez]

So I'm not much of a Horror fan and my taste mainly go to classic Hammer Horror
For this I'm going to avoid the Hammer Horror list and go off the top of my head of movies I like


Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Grauens -The 1922 silent movie with its masterful use of shadows and Max Schreck performance still manages to be terrifying

Watership Down - this movie that still gives me nightmares, managed to make bunnies and bloodsplatter truely terrifying

Ghostbusters - agreed, its a great ghost movie that is also a great comedy

Gremlins - the little monsters genre has lots of schlocky movies, Gremlins manages to be a good example.

The Wicker Man 1973 - my first exposure to Folk Horror and a true classic

Evil Dead - I think this might be the reason I dont like body horror

Pin: A Plastic Nightmare 1988 - Canadian movie about a mentally disturbed boy and his Doctor fathers Anatomical Doll, the end was disturbing

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - agreed about this too, the German expressionist style really lends itself to psychological terror

Hellraiser - I like that Barker gave an alternative vision of 'hell' through the Cenobites embracing mechanical pain

Jennifers Body - This is a suprisingly clever movie, despite being standard campy teen horror.

 

[aco175]

Most terrifying movie I ever seen.

I was about 9 when it came out and was left alone watching it when my mother was pregnant with my little brother. I was so scared that he was going to be born a mutant and kill everyone. I have never seen it again.

 

[MGibster]

I could argue either way whether The Sixth Sense is a horror movie or thriller (or if there's any distinction between the two). But the bottom line is that you need to stop putting it on lists of "Best Horror Movies" because it simply isn't that scary.

When it comes to genre, I try to have a broad definition specifically to avoid boring coversations about whether or not a particular work belongs there. Does it have the trappings we expect in a horror story? Then it's horror. I'm not going to complain that Ghostbusters is on the list. And, really, after seeing a few scenes again for the first time in decades, I don't mind it being on the list. That cab driver was a little intense.

My choice is presented in no particular order and I am not claiming they are the ten best. I simply cannot list the ten best, so I'm just listing movies which I think are notable and should be watched.

• Night of the Living Dead (1968): This one seems rather tame by today's standards, though there are some intense scenes depicting ghouls eating human flesh, but it created the modern zombie monster we all know and love. After a somewhat slow beginning, director George Romero hits the pedal to the metal and non-stop go, go, go until the end. This movie terrified kids at matinees when it was released.
• The Changeling (1980): If you haven't seen The Changeling starring George C. Scott, do yourself a favor and rent it. After the death of his wife and daughter, composer John Russell moves into a haunted mansion in Seattle, WA and uncovers the mystery behind the restless spirit. There is a scene that gave me chills when I first saw this when I was a child that gave me chills once again as an adult. Be warned, this movie is very slow paced compared to what we're used to today.
• The Thing (1982): It's shocking to me how John Carpenter's movie was a box office disappointment and panned by critics when it's so damned good. The cast is great, the writing tight, and the special effects are horrifying. I cannot recommend this movie enough.
• Alien (1979): I think we all know about this one. Another movie where the cast was great, the writing tight, and the special effects were fantastic.
• The Devil's Backbone (2001): Set in Spain during the Spanish Civil War, this movie is about a boy left at an orphanage who is haunted by a dead child. Directed by Guillermo del Toro, it's a great movie in a setting and era most of us aren't familiar with. It's in Spanish, so either learn the language or use subtitles.
• A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984): We all know who Freddy is. This is the movie that kicked off a franchise with diminishing returns. So successful, people used to call New Line Cinema "The house that Freddy built." Robert Englund plays Freddy Krueger, a dead dude who has returned to take vengeance on the children of the townsfolk who lynched him. This was a somewhat low budget movie that was unexpectedly successful. Wes Craven did a great job here.
• Near Dark (1987): is one of the few vampire movie I can think of that never uses the word vampire. Lance Henriksen leads a hillbilly family of blood suckers feeding across American when his daughter adds a new member. Jeanette Goldstein and Bill Paxton are also members of this little family.
• Dracula (1931): The Bela Lugosi classic is almost a century old. It might seem quaint by today's standards, but it's a good movie and Lugosi set the gold standard for cinema vampires. If you've never seen it, I encourage you to give it a chance.
• An American Werewolf in London (1981): I saw this movie when I was six or seven because my parents didn't love me. This movie is about a tourist in England who is attacked by a werewolf and starts howling and killing people at night. It's actually a horror/comedy and Jenny Agutter has a shower scene that isn't scary but it did make me feel funny.
• Frankenstein (1931): Another classic that's nearly it's 100th anniversary. It's a good movie with some iconic scenes and Boris Karloff defined the look of Frankenstein for the last 90 years. Quaint by our standards, but a nice movie.

 

[MGibster]

I was about 9 when it came out and was left alone watching it when my mother was pregnant with my little brother. I was so scared that he was going to be born a mutant and kill everyone. I have never seen it again.

I saw CHUD when I was a child (again, my parents didn't love me), and I always liked referencing it growing up. Even today, my mother will tell me to watch out for the CHUDs when I leave her house after a visit.

 

[SlyFlourish]

Some great ones in this thread. Here are some off the top of my head with some recency bias.

• The Thing
• Prince of Darkness
• The Ritual
• Bone Tomohawk
• Midsommar
• Hereditary
• The Witch
• The Wicker Man
• Color Out of Space
• Hellraiser 2
• Dawn of the Dead
• Get Out

 

[Sacrosanct]

Most of my favorites have been listed already (Alien, The Thing, American Werewolf in London), but I don't think I saw anyone else post Serpent and the Rainbow. It would be a crime to leave that one off.

 

[Sacrosanct]

• An American Werewolf in London (1981): I saw this movie when I was six or seven because my parents didn't love me. This movie is about a tourist in England who is attacked by a werewolf and starts howling and killing people at night. It's actually a horror/comedy and Jenny Agutter has a shower scene that isn't scary but it did make me feel funny.

Funny, because Jenny Agutter made me feel funny watching Logan's Run when I was about 10 or so...