The 20 Greatest Horror Films of All time.
My Personal 20 Favourites from about about my personal 2000 favourites. It's not definative as lists seldom are but i'm content with my choices.
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20 titles
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsDavid EmgeKen ForeeScott H. ReinigerDuring an escalating zombie epidemic, two Philadelphia SWAT team members, a traffic reporter and his TV executive girlfriend seek refuge in a secluded shopping mall.George Romero's Follow up to the groundbreaking 'Night of the Living Dead' is the benchmark for all zombie movies that followed. Ironically a movie about the undead with a pulse. Often imitated but never bettered.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsJessica HarperStefania CasiniFlavio BucciAn American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a series of grisly murders.Argento's masterful psychadelic trip into the world of witchcraft still dazzles the eye and astounds the brain. Doesn't make much sense but it's not trying to. When horror looks this good, who needs coherence.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsMarilyn BurnsEdwin NealAllen DanzigerFive friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.Put away the remakes & sequels and go back to the original and only entry in the franchaise that bares repeated viewings. Tough, nasty & brilliant. This is not torture porn but those movies wouldn't exist without it.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsSheryl LeeRay WiseMädchen AmickLaura Palmer's harrowing final days are chronicled one year after the murder of Teresa Banks, a resident of Twin Peaks' neighboring town.'Not a horror film?' watch it again, lynch's severely under-rated shocker is his most perversely sinister film and features some hair-raising moments as terrifying as anything put on screen in the last 100 years. The word genius is over-used but for this guy, it's reality.
- DirectorKim Jee-woonStarsLim Soo-jungYum Jung-ahKim Kap-suAfter being institutionalized in a mental hospital, Su-mi reunites with her sister, Su-yeon, and they return to live at their country home. But strange events plague the house, leading to surprising revelations and a shocking conclusion.Ji-woon Kim's beautiful and unsettling folk tale is by far the most startlingly original post-ringu horror movie. It's shifts in narrative between characters whilst unmasking the twisty turny plot keeps you glued to the screen whilst it's shock moments have you reaching for the nearest pillow. Everything a good horror movie should.
- DirectorDaniel MyrickEduardo SánchezStarsHeather DonahueMichael C. WilliamsJoshua LeonardThree film students vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind.Love it or hate it, nobody of sound mind can deny the power that this film had when it first surfaced. Although borrowing elements from arguably better films 'cannibal holocaust' & 'The Last Broadcast', blair witch really does nothing more than set the audience up with the joke and lets you deliver the punchline. The less is more theory really doesn't get any better than this.
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsJeffrey CombsBruce AbbottBarbara CramptonAfter an odd new medical student arrives on campus, a dedicated local and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue.If you were a child of the eighties then chances are this would appear in any of your 20 best horror films. Jeffrey Comb's deliriously mad 'Herbert West' a modern take on the mad scientist fable 'Frankenstien', Barbara Crampton getting a-head!, excuse the pun and a stack load of zombies & gore. Who say's all the best horror films can't have a touch of humour. Essential viewing for any discerning horror addict.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsCatriona MacCollDavid WarbeckCinzia MonrealeA young woman inherits an old hotel in Louisiana where, following a series of supernatural "accidents", she learns that the building was built over one of the entrances to Hell.Lucio Fulci's zombie masterpiece is probably the most unsubtle horror film of all time and all the better for it. Always reviled by critics who seemed to want more from his movies, Fulci throws in the kitchen sink as far as body violence goes but unllike alot of his work that was to come, the ambience & dream like quality of all this stuff going on on-screen takes the film to a different level. Alot more than just a video nasty, the Beyond is the cherry on the bakewell of Italian gore movies. Eat it and savour it.
- DirectorPascal LaugierStarsMorjana AlaouiMylène JampanoïCatherine BéginA young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.Also known as Marmite, you either love it or you hate it, one thing is for sure, you won't forget about it. Pascal laugier's entry into torture porn was riding on the wave of a French rennaisance in horror movies but this one up's the ante and pushes the boundaries of endurance cinema way beyond it's predecessors. The 1st hour flies by at 100mph whilst the 2nd half is painful & slow. Too much for some, but horror movies like this don't come along that often so need to be applauded.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.Not much intro needed on this one. Basically a master technician behind the camera and a sick & twisted individual in front of it. Check out the sequels aswell which are amazingly really good.
- DirectorPiers HaggardStarsPatrick WymarkLinda HaydenBarry AndrewsIn early 18th century England, the children of a village slowly convert into a coven of devil worshipers.Superb chiller from Tigon studios, who had previously dabbled in the supernatural with the controversial 'Witchfinder General' This period piece has a village going slowly mad with desire & violence after the discovery of a claw that may or may not belong to Satan himself. It's quiet & brooding and will not satisfy the gorehounds but for those who like their horror with a hammer/amicus like dollop of pagan witchcraft, this is most definately one of the best.
- DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsEllen BurstynMax von SydowLinda BlairWhen a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.Regarded by many as the 'greatest horror film of all time' Friedkins movie is undoubtedly great but has lost some of it's power over the years. What can't be denied is along with 'Don't look Now' is the incredible performances from the cast largely thanks to an incredible script from writer William Blatty. Just keep repeating 'Don't make a re-make' 'Don't make a re-make'
- DirectorTomas AlfredsonStarsKåre HedebrantLina LeanderssonPer RagnarOskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.Not just a great horror movie, it's a great movie, full stop. Some call it drama, coming of age tale, love story but after all the arguments it's a vampire movie about love & lonliness, very similar to Bram stokers original take on the vampire myth. They made a re-make to this which was ok but maybe one of the most pointless things to do ever. Please watch this version before you entertain that one and you'll probably understand why people are so passionate about it. A work of art.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellEllen SandweissRichard DeManincorFive friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.Another one of those depraved video nasties that were going to make you run down the streets, spitting bile and lopping the heads off your neighbours. Actually it was the main debut feature of the guy who went on to make Spider-man. Evil Dead is a barn-storming senses overload low budget demon/zombie movie with more ideas than it can hold in it's 80 minutes. Obviously the effects don't hold up too well today, who cares, they made it for the hollywood equivilant of a 12 piece bucket of chicken but it's far more entertaining than a dozen transformers sequels. SEE IT
- DirectorRuggero DeodatoStarsRobert KermanFrancesca CiardiPerry PirkanenDuring a rescue mission into the Amazon rainforest, a professor stumbles across lost film shot by a missing documentary crew.Deodato's well documented semi-mundo film within a film is essentially another one of those endurance movies and although it's edited as well as an episode of sunset beach when we get to the hand-held camera elements 'the found footage' it is frightingly realistic & expertly done. The real life killing of wild animals is bad, very bad and cannot be excused but as far as horror films challenging your perceptions and for moments of balls to the floor (quite literally) violence, you can do no better than deodato's gut muncher, just approach with caution if watching the usa release.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsDonald PleasenceJamie Lee CurtisTony MoranFifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.Ok, obvious choice again but it really does set the bar for the 'slasher genre' and has the honour of being the only film from my childhood (along with amytiville horror 2 the possession) of scaring me witless. Carpenters classic has no equal, the best villain, the best scream queen, the best score, the best washed up doctor in search of redemption, and the best last 10 minutes of any horror film ever. I liked it alot.
- DirectorBrian De PalmaStarsSissy SpacekPiper LaurieAmy IrvingCarrie White, a shy, friendless teenage girl who is sheltered by her domineering, religious mother, unleashes her telekinetic powers after being humiliated by her classmates at her senior prom.The best Stephen King adaptation to date (of his horror novels & novellas anyway) De Palma's tale of the coming of age of a bullied, bookish, shy teenage girl with a religious fanatical mother has a slow steady build with all of the stylish de palma camera tricks & pans until when Carrie finally does see red, it's as fist pumpin as a chuck norris movie. You go girl!!
- DirectorHarry KümelStarsDelphine SeyrigJohn KarlenDanielle OuimetWhile passing through a vacation resort, a newlywed couple encounters a mysterious, strikingly beautiful countess and her aide.Perhaps the most sensual looking vampire movie of all time. This dreamy, wildly bleek but astoundingly beautiful French entry into the short 'lesbian vampire' genre of the early seventies shares no simularaties with the watered down hammered efforts but is in itself a truly original piece of surrealist horror. Not too disimilar to the efforts of writer 'Anne Rice' who would later chronicle in more depth, the perils of being an over-aged vampire always looking for fresh blood to share your time with. Brilliant.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsHal HolbrookLeslie NielsenAdrienne Barbeau"Creepshow" is a 1982 movie that tells five grisly tales from a children's comic book: a murdered father rising from his grave, a bizarre meteor, a vengeful husband, a mysterious crate's occupant, and a plague of cockroaches.Truly a superb tribute to the EC comics that practically re-invented horror & raised moral concerns themselves in their day (similar to the video nasties debate in the uk in the early 80's) Romeros & stephen kings Five short stories are not without filler (Jody verill was most definately for the cutting room floor) but Leslie Nielson's Husband out for vengeance and Hal Holbrooks well, husband out to kill his wife by feeding her to a giant ape monster are superb. Fantastic zombie effects from Ton Savini and a perfect wraparound using the comic book itself as the storyteller. Not quite but could have been the perfect Horror film.
- DirectorJohn LandisStarsDavid NaughtonJenny AgutterJoe BelcherTwo American college students on a walking tour of Britain are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.Where have all the werewolves gone. Easily the best Werewolf movie of all time (Although pushed hard by The Howling) landis's knack for black comedy and horror merged almost perfectly in this touching and very bleek tale of one man's realisation that he's a werewolf & his best friend is a zombie who wants him to off himself. Despite this rather odd predicament, it's at times as funny as it is savage and features the best use of the London underground ever on celluloid (Although finding Totteham Court Road station empty at any time of the evening these days seems implausable) Good ole days. What No Shining????