Anyone who’s ever compiled a list will tell you it’s an arduous (but fun) task. While it’s next to impossible to include every horror gem – nor have I had the opportunity to see a great deal of incredible films that most probably are omitted here – I did my best to share my own, personal preferences, as well as some reasoning behind each choice. Feel free to comment, complain – or slay me in the darkest of nights in a Shatner mask.
38. Grindhouse
Granted, this ode to exploitation classics may not be everyone’s cup of tea – it’s lurid, gratuitous, eccentric, badly shot – but if you likes this sort of thing, as I do, you may discover a gem, a knowing homage to grimy cinema of yore, 1970s splatterfests (it even contains missing reels!). The hilarious mock-trailers by Rob Zombie (“House of 1000 Corpses”), Eli Roth (“Hostel”) and Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead”) are the standouts; Robert Rodriguez’s zombie gore-fest “Planet Terror” is fun but all over the place; Quentin Tarantino’s foot/car fetishes are in full display in “Death-Proof,” a talky female-empowerment tale and direct homage to the infamous car chase sequence in 1971’s “Vanishing Point,” with a stellar Kurt Russell in his 1980s bad-ass mode. The rest of the cast is nothing to smirk at either: Bruce Willis, Josh Brolin, Freddy Rodriguez, Rose McGowan (okay, you can smirk at this one), Jeff Fahey, Michael Biehn, Rosario Dawson, Michael Parks, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and the indelible Zoë Bell, formerly a stunt woman, who proves that she’s got some acting chops up her sleeves. If it’s refinement and subtlety you’re looking for, look elsewhere – otherwise, leave your good taste at the door and delve into this extremely entertaining trash-fest head-first.
37. Phantasm
Cult director Don Coscarelli made a comeback of sorts with the frankly atrocious “John Dies at the End”, but let’s not forget this odd classic from 1979, which established him as a cult auteur, and spawned countless direct-to-video sequels. The Tall Man, gnomes, parallel dimensions, flying orbs that drill through people’s brains… Perhaps “odd” was an underestimation – the film is downright batshit nuts, but also terrifying and very, very funny. “The ice cream is gonna be flyin’ fast and furious.” Erm, yes, yes it will, indeed.
36. Jacob’s Ladder
Adrien Lyne, best known for directing sexual psycho-dramas in the 1980s (“9 1/2 Weeks”, “Fatal Attraction”), took most by surprise with this foray into psychological horror. What’s even more shocking is that “Jacob’s Ladder”, a brutal examination of post-Vietnam traumas, personified in the brooding, haunted central performance by the never-better Tim Robbins, is so assured and relentlessly terrifying, striking resounding notes of existential anguish. The ending may be a tad on the sentimental side, but you’ll never be able to get the images of those lanky, faceless, reverberating demons out of your head.
35. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
You may remember Tobe Hooper’s classic as one of the goriest horror flicks of the 1970s, but watch it again and marvel at how understated it actually is. Most of the violence is off-screen, but its ferocious pacing, grainy cinematography, cunning editing / sound design and depraved characters – with no discernible reasoning for their atrocious behavior – are the elements that make it seem so savage. Incredibly influential (not in the best way, unfortunately – it spawned countless gratuitous slash-fests, including sequels, remakes, and remakes of sequels that pointlessly delved into the events leading to Leatherface’s depravity (he was abused as a child, you see)), TCM remains a chilling masterpiece of gritty, suffocating horror.
34. A Nightmare on Elm Street
Is there a more iconic horror character than Robert Englund’s Freddy Krueger? That eye-searing, red-and-green striped sweater, those claws, the cackle – his demonic sadist, infiltrating teenagers’ dreams, is the stuff of legends (and nightmares… literally). But what’s arguably more demented and powerful is how the director, Wes Craven, nailed the angst and terror of post-puberty years, when the darkest fantasies have the potential to alter into hideous, lethal and utterly pointless attempts to run away from… yourself. TNOES carved the path to countless, inferior sequels, but the original remains the greatest, most subliminally terrifying. Plus, it introduced the world to Johnny Depp.
33. The Orphanage
Guillermo del Toro produced this spooky Spanish ghost story about a young boy’s imaginary friend that is a masterful example of “less is more”. Without relying on cheap scares, director J.A. Bayona’s (“The Impossible”) debut is boosted by the pseudo-gothic atmosphere, beautiful cinematography, a transcendent, lyrical performance by its lead (Belén Rueda) and slow-building tension. Winner of seven Goya Awards, this is a gem worth seeking out.
32. Three… Extremes
Three tales by three Asian masters of horror: Fruit Chan’s “Dumplings”, about an aging actress wishing to reclaim her youth by eating the titular dumplings, whose ingredients contain (SPOILER ALERT!) human flesh; Park Chan-wook’s “Cut”, a twisted homage to Roald Dahl’s “Man From the South”, about an extra who kidnaps his director and forces him to play out sadistic scenarios; and Takashi Miike’s “Box”, a surrealistic study of a woman’s reoccurring dreams about being buried alive (arguably an homage to 1988’s “The Vanishing”). Check out the worthy sequel as well.
31. Scream
Wes Craven’s tongue-in-cheek horror film dissects/satirizes the genre as much as it pays tribute to all the staples that form it. It may have been imitated countless times since its release, but very few hold a candle to this fast-paced, hilarious – and very 1990s – roller-coaster ride. Courtney Cox, Drew Barrymore, Rose McGowan (second time on this list!), David Arquette and Skeet Ulrich (yes, as I said – VERY 1990’s) ham it up in all the right ways, and that Ghostface mask is as recognizable as a certain red-and-green striped sweater from the director’s earlier classic. Skip the sub-par sequels and re-watch the original. “Surprrrrise, Sydney!”
30. The Descent
Neil Marshall’s female-driven horror about a bunch of adventure-seeking gals exploring a maze of dank caves, only to stumble upon a nest of evil subterranean creatures, gets more and more claustrophobic as it progresses. The performances are all top-notch, the incessant suffocation palpable – especially during the latter half, when the young ladies, driven to the brink of madness, start to turn on each other. Seek out the version with the original, downbeat ending, which (SPOIER ALERT!) offers a tiny sliver of hope before engulfing you, along with its last remaining survivor, in pitch-black, inescapable gloom.
29. The Cabin in the Woods
A bunch of dumb teens venture into a remote, dark cabin in the woods… Sounds familiar, right? Shelved for several years due to MGM’s bankruptcy, Drew Goddard’ & Joss Whedon’s ultra-meta horror flick was finally released in 2012, and it totally snuck up on audiences; it’s so unexpected, sly and ingenious, the less said about it, the better. I will state this: TCITW is as much a love-letter to pretty much every single horror flick ever made, as it is a criticism of the genre’s stereotypes. The delightful duo of Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford propels the film forward, while the blood-soaked, gleeful insanity that ensues in its last half-hour will drop jaws and twist minds of unaware viewers. Oh, and the unexpected cameo is sure to make genre aficionados cheer in delight – apparently, she’s a fan of werewolves…
28. The Dead Zone
David Cronenberg. Christopher Walken. Stephen King. Need I say more? Based on King’s novel, the film details the protagonist’s torment after he awakens from a coma to discover he’s developed psychic powers. Shot in the Greater Toronto Area during a scathing deep-freeze (which, at times, became borderline-intolerable for the cast and crew), the chilly environments certainly complement the narrative’s perfectly-sustained, icy-cold tone and mounting dread, leading to a downbeat ending that is somehow both tragic and uplifting. Holding back on the blood and gore, so prevalent in his previous outings, Cronenberg smartly utilizes subtler techniques to accentuate the dismal mood of the proceedings. A cult classic that remains remarkably timeless.
27. From Dusk Till Dawn
Directed by Robert Rodriguez, written by Quentin Tarantino, this knowing homage to exploitation classics starts off as a mesmerizing road-trip thriller about a sibling team of bank robbers on the run, who take a family hostage. Once they arrive at a grimy Southern club hilariously called Titty Twister, the plot rapidly descends into utter insanity, which involves vampires, giant mutant rats and a blood-fest of epic proportions. George Clooney, in his big-screen debut (if you disregard – as you should! – “The Return of the Killer Tomatoes!”), exudes charisma galore (he’s never been so badass); he, like so many other actors, owes a debt to QT for jump-starting his career. Harvey Keitel is in fine form, Juliette Lewis is at her weirdest, and “FDTD” boasts the one actually decent performance by QT himself. The special effects and make-up are fantastic, the pace is unforgiving… The one slight issue I have with the film is that I can’t help feeling its first part – before the vampire orgy unravels – is significantly better directed and paced than the second – which I know is the point, but nevertheless makes me wonder what it would be like if they just stuck to it.
Oh, and be sure to check out the ridiculously entertaining BluRay commentary by the two directors, who counter-balance each other so well – Rodriguez, suave, relaxed, macho, and Tarantino, gushing a mile-a-second; their love of movies and film-making is so palpable you can’t help but feel inspired.
26. The Thing
John Carpenter’s Antarctic horror masterpiece flopped at the box-office and received a mixed critical reception at the time of its release in 1982, but time has been kind to the film: it rapidly developed a cult following on VHS, and is now widely considered to be one of the most influential genre pieces ever made. The paranoia that envelops the snowbound crew (led by a gruff, bearded Kurt Russell) after they realize that they’ve been infiltrated by a parasitic extraterrestrial life form – with the ability to assimilate other organisms – is almost unbearably palpable. After a slow-burner intro, the film kicks into high gear (the “mutated dog” and the “head on legs” sequences are master-class filmmaking, while THAT blood test is one of the most brilliant displays of sustained tension in cinema history), and the ending is uncompromisingly grim. Skip the lackluster remake and watch the badass original again to marvel at the exquisite make-up and creature effects by Rob Bottin and the great, late Stan Winston, which, over 30 years, have lost none of their jaw-dropping power.
25. Dawn of the Dead (both versions)
Many consider George A. Romero’s original “Night of the Living Dead” the true masterpiece, but while it certainly remains the first “legit” zombie flick, its black-and-white, somewhat amateurish cinematography, poor acting and clumsy editing haven’t aged well, and the scares are few and far between. Having directed several mediocre-at-best horror flicks in the 1970s, he returned to the series with this infinitely better sequel, which satirized the consumer society and introduced a larger-scale zombie apocalypse. The film was later remade by Zack Snyder, who amped up the energy and terror, but dialed down the satirical aspects of the original. Both are equally excellent and worth watching as a double-feature to compare and contrast.
24. Kill List
British director Ben Wheatley announced – or more like blared – his arrival as one of the most promising talents in contemporary horror by fusing together ostensibly disparate elements into a coherent whole. “Kill List”, an extraordinary mind-fuck of a film, starts off as a run-of-the-mill, talky British gangster flick, proceeds to escalate into a vicious torture-thriller (be warned: the hammering-of-fingers sequence is not for the faint-hearted), and ends cloaked in satanic blackness. In lesser hands, it would be an incoherent, laughable mish-mash of genres, but Wheatley clearly has a plan, manipulating and leading his audience into the jaws of hell itself. ALSO: see the director’s follow-up, the comedy-road-trip-cum-horror, “Sightseers”.
23. The Omen
Before “Mama”, “Orphan”, “Hide and Seek”, “Joshua” and, um, “Children of the Corn”, there was “The Omen”, the “creepy kid from hell” movie to top them all. Richard Donner’s (“Lethal Weapon”, “Superman”) big-screen feature debut showcased the director’s knack for sustained suspense. The gist: Gregory Peck plays an American ambassador who learns that his son, Damien (Harvey Stephens) is the Antichrist. The John Moore remake with Live Schreiber and Julia Stiles strips away all the subliminal horror and excellent cinematography of the original.
22. Carrie
Sissy Spacek (in an Oscar-nominated performance) shines as the outcast, extremely vulnerable high-school teenager, abused by classmates and tormented by her Jesus-freak mother (another 1976 Oscar nominee, Piper Laurie). Brian De Palma’s flair for staging elaborate set pieces is in full display here, especially in the grandiose, blood-drenched finale, when Carrie finally… snaps. Quentin Tarantino placed “Carrie” at number 8 in a list of his favorite films ever, and for a good reason: in the words of New West Magazine’s Stephen Farber, “it’s a horror classic, and years from now it will still be written and argued about, and it will still be scaring the daylights out of new generations of moviegoers.” Skip Kimberly Pierce’s remake (starring Chloë Grace Moretz as Carrie and Julianne Moore as her mom); do yourselves a favor and re-watch De Palma’s flawless original.
21. Funny Games (both versions)
In the words of Austrian Michael Haneke, gloomy auteur / director extraordinaire, “Funny Games” (both the original, and the US shot-by-shot remake) “is a film about the representation of violence in the media, not about violence per se. It is a self-reflexive film.” When asked whether or not he actually watches films that “Funny Games” is directed against, he replied: “I don’t watch that sort of thing because it makes me sick. I’m not a masochist after all!” The insinuation here is that we, the audience, are indeed masochists, if we are able to sit through this 90-minute ordeal, a relentless assault on our preconceptions of silver-screen violence, as well as a brutal statement on how desensitized we’ve become to people getting hurt in movies. We relish violence when it happens in “Die Hard” or “Hostel”. I guarantee you there is no pleasure to be had in watching people being tortured in “Funny Games”; Haneke shows us violence for what it actually is: an abhorrent, irrational behavior that results in ugly consequences.
The plot is so simple, it can be described in a one-sentence pitch: Two young men break into a family home, and proceed to inflict psychological and physical pain on the innocent inhabitants. Haneke deconstructs torture porn down to its minimalist basics, and yet his mastery of technique, his unflinching, sterile cinematography, and the frequent meta quirks inserted here and there (such as the sequence where one of the protagonists seems to have a shot at escaping her wrath, just to be literally rewound to the beginning of that scene by one of the smirking evildoers, after which her attempt fails miserably) make us both uncomfortably aware of the overall visceral effect and the fact that we, the audiences, are the ones to blame. Not a lot of people can sit through this film (during the screening I attended with a friend, most of the initially-crowded theater was empty towards the end of the movie), but if you are a fan of horror, and film-making in general, it may just make you reevaluate your own stance on media violence. Or perhaps, like me, you are a masochist. 😉
20. The Babadook
The best, most cerebral – and most overlooked – horror film of 2014 was a tiny Australian picture called “The Babadook”. Truly frightening, emotionally resonant – and with a stellar central performance from Essie Davis (who should’ve received a Golden Globe nomination instead of freakin’ Jennifer Aniston), “The Babadook” teaches us that sometimes, one’s deepest traumas cannot be eradicated, but kept at bay… if fed from time to time.
19. The Evil Dead Trilogy
It’s hard to believe now, after over 30 years of its release, that “The Evil Dead” was declared a “video nasty” and consequently banned in some countries due to all the gore and violence. In comparison to some of the recent torture porn, the original, and especially its two sequels are remarkably tame and frequently hilarious due to obvious budget limitations – but that doesn’t take away from the trilogy’s inventive camera trickery, ghoulish make-up effects, and a performance-for-the-ages by the one-and-only Bruce Campbell. Sam Raimi went on to establish himself as the king of horror in Hollywood (“Darkman”, “Drag Me to Hell”; he also produces the upcoming remake (scroll down to see the trailer)), but “The Evil Dead” remains his crowning achievement, paving the way to numerous low-budget filmmakers utilizing the ingenious techniques. No wonder Stephen King himself cited it as one of his favorite horror movies of all time. In the words of Ash: “… Groovy.”
18. Audition
The best way to watch Takashi Miike’s “Audition” is to know nothing about it going in (as is the case with most of the Japanese auteur’s filmography – take “Gozu” and its lactating minotaur). Skip the spoiler-filled reviews and dissections of its female-empowerment themes; the less you’ve heard about “Audition”, the better. The film’s several major shocks sneak up on you; it starts off as an almost-cheerful rom-com – and then gracefully slides into madness. That bulky sack… I’ve already said too much. Watch it, then get back to me, and we shall discuss whether it is in fact a statement on our contemporary male-dominated society, or simply Miike fuckin’ with your head. One guarantee: you will not soon forget the extended finale.
17. (Tie) Videodrome, Dead Ringers, Scanners
I picked David Cronenberg’s “The Fly” (#3) and “Dead Zone” (#20) for my “Top 25 Horror Films” list, but these three features equally represent the director working at his peak: all three are classics of “body horror”; Kafkaesque studies of man’s relationship with technology (Cronenberg loves merging humans with machines, sometimes in ghastly, literal ways); insightful social commentaries; brainy explorations of sex, phobias, atheism and obsession; and, above all, just superb entertainment. Recently Mr. Cronenberg has strayed away from all the fluids and gore, focusing on more accessible (read: commercial) fare – but that does not render those classics any less psychologically acute or sophisticated.
16. The Shining
The documentary “Room 237” explores the numerous potential meanings behind Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel but, while there are certainly many ways a viewer can interpret this masterpiece (I personally think of it as an allegorical examination of obsession and the perils of creative writing), one thing is indisputably a fact: the genius director’s meticulous study of a man’s descent into madness is unparalleled in its mastery of technique and manipulation of audiences’ senses. The introductory helicopter shot, the jarring soundtrack, Jack Nicholson’s crazed performance, the blood-filled elevators, the twins, the labyrinthine finale – every aspect of “The Shining” burrows its way into your subconscious (as all Kubrick’s films do) and remains there forever. Altogether now: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
15. Halloween
Who can forget the legendary score to John Carpenter’s horror classic? That subdued piano chime (composed by the director himself) is only one of the many reasons his film is so effective; putting an expressionless William Shatner (!) mask on the villain and implying rather than showing considerable violence are amongst many others. According to Wikipedia, “critics have suggested the film is a social critique of the immorality of youth and teenagers in 1970s America, with many of Myers’s victims being sexually promiscuous substance abusers, while the lone heroine is depicted as innocent and pure, hence her survival”; however, Carpenter dismissed those claims – it is essentially an intrinsic exercise in creating subliminal terror. Many slasher flicks followed, including countless sequels, but few matched the original’s flawless pacing and unadulterated dread.
14. The Host
A smash hit in South Korea, cult auteur Joon-ho Bong’s 2006 feature about a slimy creature than comes out of Seoul’s Han River and starts terrorizing folks is a cautionary environmental tale, absurd slapstick comedy and deranged monster feature all rolled into one – and somehow it works. Superbly entertaining and imminently re-watchable, with numerous standout sequences (the crossbow-wielding warrior woman particularly comes to mind.)
13. “Dikaya Okhota Korolya Stakha” (“Savage Hunt of King Stakh”)
None of you have heard of this 1979 Soviet film, but try to seek it out – it’s a testament to the fact that big budgets and a prolific Hollywood cast aren’t necessary ingredients for a quality horror feature. Based on the King Stach legend (according to the myth, the said King was murdered by the powerful magnate Raman Janouski back in the 17th Century and swore eternal vengeance against the entire Janouski line, consequently rampaging through the area each night on ghostly horses), the film steadily gathers momentum, resulting in a face-off of epic proportions. I remember watching “Savage Hunt…” as a child and having the shit scared out of me; more than three decades later, the film lost none of its power. I’d personally love to see a remake Valeri Rubinchik’s weird and beautiful movie, but would also hesitate to touch it, because it does such a great job of nailing the anxiety of being stuck in a middle-of-nowhere mansion, with the constant dreadful anticipation of the apocalyptic horde of horses. Think Edgar Allan Poe meets Werner Herzog, with a dash of Guillermo del Toro atmospherics, made on a shoestring budget, and you’ll get an idea of what you’re in for.
12. Rosemary’s Baby
Pregnancy can be terrifying. Sure, it’s generally regarded as a beautiful thing, an almost-celestial occurrence, so to speak – but one can’t deny that the thought of a tiny human offspring developing inside of a womb, the inevitability / unpredictability of it, the physical and psychological pain that is entails – not to mention the actual process of child-birth – may also induce nightmares. Now imagine if you’re not quite sure whether the thing evolving inside of you is human. Roman Polanski masterfully explored those gruesome aspects of child-bearing in “Rosemary’s Baby”, a chillingly subtle study of a woman who becomes increasingly aware of her future offspring’s demonic nature, all the while suspecting her husband’s involvement in a satanic cult. Mia Farrow wasn’t the director’s first choice – Polanski initially envisioned Rosemary as a full-figured, girl-next-door type, and wanted his own wife Sharon Tate for the role – but he ultimately made the right one by casting the frail, delicate, little-known actress as the titular character. It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the part; as the film progresses, her mental and physical deterioration is so convincing, her fear so visceral (perhaps made more so by Farrow’s real-life trauma, a nasty divorce from husband Frank Sinatra), you can’t help feeling absolutely devastated as you watch her crumble. To quote Roger Ebert, “Rosemary makes her dreadful discovery, and we are wrenched because we knew what was going to happen – and couldn’t help her.” And let’s not forget the nightmare sequence, one of the scariest ever made, in which Rosemary is raped by Satan. Talk about celestial.
11. Tie: 28 Days Later & 28 Weeks Later
Danny Boyle can do no wrong: the British director has played with every cinema genre – from science fiction (“Sunshine”) to survival drama (“127 Hours”), from dark comedy (“Shallow Grave”) to children fantasy (“Millions”) to bio-drama (“Jobs”) – each time imbuing the project with his trademark ceaseless energy, terrific soundtrack, distinctive visual flair and superior performances (he even staged the 2012 Olympics, and totally crushed it). While it’s hard to pinpoint a standout in Boyle’s filmography, “28 Days Later”, an apocalyptic drama / zombie horror, is certainly one of his most memorable and unexpected achievements. The narrative commences with the prolonged, quietly mournful sequence, in which the protagonist (played by the criminally underrated Cillian Murphy) discovers, upon waking up in an emptied hospital, that the world has been devoured by a killer virus. Filmed on Standard-Def video that was intentionally processed and degraded to look as cruddy as possible, Boyle captures an unforgettable, desolate majesty with his shots of an abandoned London, wind whistling through its hollow streets and vacant windows. The film then promptly shifts into high gear, chronicling his, and several other survivors’ (one of which is played by the extraordinary Brendan Gleeson), attempts to fight off the rabid infected. The POV shot of a blood-drop plummeting into a character’s eyeball is just one of the many highlights that display Boyle’s knack for memorable visuals. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s follow-up, “28 Weeks Later”, happens to be one of the singular cases where the sequel is just as good as the predecessor; the director wisely doesn’t stray too far from the original, maintaining the tone and pace of Boyle’s film, while dialing down on the poetic lyricism and catalyzing the horror elements. My advice to you is to make it a double-feature; watch the two films back-to-back, ideally with the lights off, and the sound turned way up.
10. Eyes Without a Face
A famous doctor gets into a car crash, whereby his daughter’s face is mutilated. Guilt-ridden and maniacal, he begins to stalk innocent victims and transplant their faces onto his daughter’s. Though not overly graphic, the oppressive mood sneaks up on you, the gradual and torturous disintegration of the heroine almost unbearable to watch – and that’s what ultimately makes the film so indelible. The way it utilizes sound – uncannily cheerful (and hence that much more menacing) carousel music, jarring dog barks – enhances the overall effect. Undeniably influential on such films as Pedro Almodovar’s “The Skin I Live In” and John Carpenter’s “Halloween”, Georges Franju’s “Eyes Without a Face” was way ahead of its time, dealing with issues of identity, cruelty, imprisonment and obsession in a controversially artful, restrained manner, which may have been the reason for the initial mixed response it received. The Frankensteinian fable was also quite prophetic: plastic surgery as a subject of debate is more relevant today than ever. With time the film gained cult status, and is now rightfully regarded as a masterpiece.
9. Ring (Ringu)
The highest-grossing – and widely considered the most frightening – horror film in Japan, Hideo Nakata’s shocking “Ringu” (“The Ring”) is based on a popular book by Kōji Suzuki, which in turn draws on the Japanese folk tale Banchō Sarayashiki. Propelled by its creepy atmosphere, the film is one of the best examples of how horror does not need to rely on gratuitous gore and geysers of blood to petrify an audience. The simple story of an investigative reporter researching an evil tape will leave audiences with expressions similar to those of the film’s twisted victims’, who have seen the unspeakable contents of the tape, and consequently died of fright. The tension mounts and mounts until it reaches a nearly unbearable apex – I watched this film by myself in a dark Chicago apartment, and as a result couldn’t sleep a wink that night. Employing a variety of brilliant techniques, such as shooting actress Rie Inō walking backwards in a jerky, exaggerated motion, then playing the film in reverse, Nakata knew that distorted perceptions of reality can be much more powerful than sadistic violence. As for the final half-hour… let’s just say you’ll never look at your TV screen the same way again.
8. The Birds
I still hesitate to classify it as “horror” (I like to think of it as an allegorical study of, to quote the humanities scholar Camille Paglia, “the many facets of female sexuality and, by extension, nature itself”) but Hitch’s adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s story (also see “Don’t Look Now”, #1 on my list) certainly unsettles with its depiction of a town inexplicably attacked by a herd of demented birds. Arguably one of his better films, unhinged to the max, with great special effects and a tormented Tippi Hedren (watch HBO’s “The Girl” to witness the seven gates of hell Hitch put his actress through during filming), “The Birds” is timeless and extremely influential.
7. Jaws
Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece isn’t technically a “horror film” per say, but there’s no denying the lasting impact of its unrelenting tension and dread that oozes from every frame – and how about that ominous John Williams score (“duh-dum…duh-dum…”) The (unavoidable) decision to keep the shark hidden underwater for most of the film’s duration proved to be superbly effective, Spielberg’s subliminal direction has never been better, the acting is top-notch – all those aspects add up to one of the most effective “monster flicks” ever made. It’s also the first official “blockbuster” of our era, paving the path to “Star Wars”, “Indiana Jones” and many others. “We’re going to need a bigger boat”, indeed.
6. The Exorcist
I remember watching William Friedkin’s (“The French Connection”) horror epic “The Exorcist” with a close friend in a crowded Munich theater, when it was re-released in all its digitally-remastered glory. At about the halfway mark, my friend leaned over to me, his face pale, lips quivering, and whispered, “I can’t take this anymore. I gotta go.” He bolted out of the theater. Mind you, he is a horror movie fan; this just goes to show how powerful Friedkin’s masterpiece remains – its relentless atmosphere of anxiety and impending calamity literally made him sick. Throughout the years, “The Exorcist” clearly lost none of its effect. There are several reasons for that. The possessed protagonist, subjected to indescribable agony, happens to be a little girl (who, at one point, stabs herself repeatedly between the legs with a crucifix) – Friedkin boldly gave the finger to the common predisposition that children shouldn’t be tortured on-screen, putting his young actress through the wringer, and hence making the audience squirm uncomfortably in their seats. The constant presence of evil – Satan – permeates every frame, even – and perhaps more effectively – those that don’t blatantly show the horror (one of the most effective and spine-chilling sequences sees the priest slowly walking up to the haunted room, from which milk-curdling shrieks emanate – we know the demon is in there, and the images it invokes in our minds are much more terrifying than anything we could actually see); it’s almost as if the production itself was demonically possessed. Ellen Burstyn gives a stellar, uber-authentic performance as the grieving mother, grounding the film in reality and personifying every mother’s fear of her child being subjected to an affliction. The tension builds to the final exorcism sequence, where it reaches an apotheosis and, like a resonant note being stricken over and over, the director sustains it – this is top-notch film-making.
William Friedkin had a series of flops after “The Exorcist”, vanishing into obscurity, resurfacing briefly with 1985’s “To Live and Die in L.A.” After a long absence, he seems to have found his muse – playwright Tracy Letts – and made his comeback with the glorious adaptations: the paranoia thriller “Bug” and “Southern-fried noir” “Killer Joe”. Hopefully, Hollywood’s notorious “bad boy” (he’s known to be a bit of an ass on set) keeps at it; “The Exorcist” remains his magnum opus, and one of the most inspiring films in my life.
5. Psycho
There has been a slew of Hitchcock homages, including two simultaneously-released biographical features: HBO’s “The Girl”, which focuses on the tumultuous relationship between Hitch (Tobey Jones) and Tippi Hedren (Sienna Miller), and Fox Searchlight Pictures’ theatrical release “Hitchcock”, which details the production of “Psycho”, with Anthony Hopkins wearing layers of prosthetics as the titular character, Hellen Mirren playing his wife Alma Reville, and Scarlett Johansson in the role of Janet Leigh. Unfortunately, neither of those films managed to do justice to the formidable, delirious, fetishistic filmmaker, possibly the most influential one in the history of cinema. The latter picture was particularly disappointing, despite respectable performances by Hopkins and Mirren, as the production crew was denied access to any of the actual footage from the 1960 horror masterpiece (and who could blame them, after the fiasco that was Gus Van Sant’s shot-by-shot remake – with Anne freakin’ Heche in the epochal Janet Leigh role, and, Vince Vaughn (!!) as Norman Bates).
All right, so the original’s ending was somewhat redundant, a forensic psychiatrist Dr. Fred Richmond (Simon Oakland) dissecting Norman Bates’ fractured psyche, but forget the ending: the way the director defied cinematic conventions by brutally killing off the main (anti) heroine in the first half-hour of the film – Janet Leigh was a major star at the time, and to see her mutilated in the shower so soon and unexpectedly was a jarring shock to the audiences’ systems – was incredibly revolutionary. Hitch also shrewdly manipulates our emotions, at one point making us sympathize with the villain: when Norman methodically cleans off the blood, or when he watches his victim’s car sink half-way into the lake and then momentarily halt – we are rooting for him despite our apprehensions. Sadistic? Yes, but also a virtuoso achievement, previously unparalleled, and rarely matched since. From Anthony Perkins’ performance (his best, by a long stretch) as the charming and creepy Bates, to the sensational shower sequence (70 shots in 45 seconds), “Psycho”, in the words of critic David Thomson, let “the subversive secret out,” after which “censorship crumpled like an old lady’s parasol.”
Made for just $800,000, “Psycho” went on to gross $32 million, marking it as the biggest hit of Hitchcock’s career. Numerous directors have tried to emulate Hitch’s style, from Brian De Palma to Atom Egoyan, but few have been successful (Kubrick and Scorsese are among the select few that come to mind.) To this day “Psycho” hasn’t aged a bit, terrifying even when watched in broad daylight. Anthony Hopkins recalls his first viewing: “It was packed. I sat down and I didn’t know what the hell I was in for. I had heard stories about it. When it got to the shower scene, I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life.” When Hannibal Lecter himself admits to being scared, you know you’re in for a treat.
4. Let The Right One In
A beautifully shot, atmospheric masterpiece, “Let the Right One In” cunningly deconstructs the recently all-the-rage “vampire flick” by foregoing the hackneyed staples of the genre in favor of a novel, artistic approach, drenched in desolation and breathtaking poignancy. Set in a small, wintry Swedish town, where the only light seems to come from flickering lamp-posts, the sun obscured by a thick blanket of low-hanging clouds, the story follows a young, bullied boy, Oskar, who leads a life of anonymity, obsessing over murder articles in the newspapers. When a neighbor moves in next door, an ethereal young girl named Eli who walks barefoot through the snow, he becomes increasingly enthralled by her mysterious aura. Casting is key here: Kåre Hedebrant’s fragility and Lina Leandersson’s wise-beyond-her-years, entrancing eyes and demeanor (at times her features are subtly – but very effectively – transformed with CGI to make her look older) correspond perfectly, in a ying-yang sort of way. I don’t want to spoil too much of the plot, but, while several sequences – the bursting-into-flame hospital bed; Eli’s visit to Håkan, her lover/servant, after he gets horribly disfigured; the cat-attack; Eli entering Oskar’s apartment without being invited; the heartbreaking conclusion – particularly stand out, it’s the central love story of a boy and a girl finding salvation in each other that resonates the most. The film was remade in Hollywood, but while “Let Me In” is adequate, I strongly urge you to watch the original instead. “Twilight” should have taken notes – THIS is how it’s done.
3. The Fly
Infinitely better than the original 1958 film, and the epitome of David Cronenberg’s exploration of his favorite “body horror” sub-genre, “The Fly” boldly takes Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” and twists it on its head, detailing a man’s gradual – and torturous – transformation into an insect. Jeff Goldblum is astounding as Seth Brundle, a scientist that invents a teleportation machine. He meets a journalist, Veronika (Geena Davis, equally brilliant); their first sexual encounter prompts Seth to successfully reprogram the computer to cope with living creatures. Stricken by jealousy, he decides to teleport himself, unaware that a fly got caught in the machine with him. What follows is a deft study of obsession, love, identity and self-mutilation; “The Fly” aggressively transgresses against the model of the conventional, shallow Hollywood horror movie.
While I could go on for pages and pages analyzing this brilliant achievement in horror film-making – and arguably Cronenberg’s best – I’ll let one of its fabulous, chilling quotes (uttered by the protagonist as “Brundlefly”, on the verge of self-destruction) speak for itself: “You’re afraid to dive into the plasma pool, aren’t you? You’re afraid to be destroyed and recreated, aren’t you? I’ll bet you think that you woke me up about the flesh, don’t you? But you only know society’s straight line about the flesh. You can’t penetrate beyond society’s sick, gray, fear of the flesh. Drink deep, or taste not, the plasma spring! Y’see what I’m saying? And I’m not just talking about sex and penetration. I’m talking about penetration beyond the veil of the flesh! A deep penetrating dive into the plasma pool!”
Heavy stuff, but don’t hesitate for a second to dive into this plasma pool.
2. Martyrs
Pascal Laugier’s existential “Martyrs” is not for everyone. Those who can stomach its unflinching assault of uber-violent imagery will discover an absolutely stunning achievement in film-making, which transcends its torture-porn roots – a genuinely artistic revelation. Similarly to Michael Haneke’s “Funny Games”, “Martyrs” dares us to stare into the abyss, challenging our preconceptions of violence and its consequences. It starts off with the viciously cold-blooded massacre of a seemingly-normal family, and then gives us the reasons for why it happened – and then… Well, let’s just say to spoil all the twists and turns of this remarkable picture would be to do you a huge disservice. With stellar technique, and standout performances by its two lead actresses, Laugier takes us on a wrenching journey that serves as a study of female empowerment, a dissection of our contemporary views on cruelty (both cinematic cruelty, and the cruelty exhibited throughout human history) and a lyrical ode to the limits of pain a human being can endure before she achieves celestial ecstasy. Controversial? Very much so, but also uncompromising, disturbingly beautiful, and very, very emotional, without ever so much as flirting with sentimentality.
I watched this with two close friends – both cried, and half-way through begged me to pause it so that they could collect their breath, but then urged me to keep playing it, for it’s a visceral experience you simply cannot disregard. As hard to watch as it is unmissable, “Martyrs” ends with a pseudo-“2001” phantasmagoric light-show journey into the protagonist’s eye, which will never – I repeat, NEVER – leave your subconscious. If you can get that far, that is.
1. Don’t Look Now
There are too many reasons for why I chose Nicholas Roeg’s 1973 masterpiece “Don’t Look Now” (adapted from the short story by Daphne du Maurier) as my #1 all-time favorite horror film to list here, so I’ll focus on a select few.
Let’s start with the indelible lovemaking sequence (I know that’s what you want, you horny bastards) – by far the most erotic, beautiful one of its kind ever made. Rumors have it that the leading couple – Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie – were alone in the bedroom with the cinematographer, Anthony B. Richmond, and Roeg, to create an authentic sense of intimacy; allegedly, what we are witnessing is actual intercourse. The way it’s filmed, with constant inter-cutting between the sex and the two reminiscing about it as they get dressed post-coitally, is so impeccably done, so affecting and genuine, it makes every other sex scene look glorified and amateur in comparison. Of course, this is a horror movie, so this scene serves a purpose: it emphasizes the growing detachment the grief-stricken couple later experiences.
The film begins with a devastating sequence of John and Laura Baxter’s daughter tragically drowning. The couple flees to Venice, where John gets offered a job to restore an old church. In the meantime, Laura comes across two psychic ladies, who tell her they can see her daughter, she is here, now, with them. This leads to a growing sense of paranoia, especially after John spots what seems to be a little girl, running through the labyrinthine Venice alleys. When his wife leaves Venice, John starts seeing things that may or may not be there – or perhaps they are premonitions of an impending doom.
Roeg was a master who, like Hitchcock, happened to be way ahead of his time at creating tension through gorgeous, impressionist, reoccurring imagery (e.g. the red jacket their daughter wore during the accident keeps reappearing throughout the film; streaks of red almost jarringly stand out in an otherwise muted, pastel-colored Venice; Venice’s water canals are like reminders of the tragedy, and at one point John Baxter fishes a doll out of one of them, which is a grim mirroring of the startling opening sequence); Roeg employed flashbacks and flash-forwards, blurred scenes together, using color and patterns to disorient and engage the audience in equal measures.
This is more than just an “occult horror” – it’s a lyrical, poetic, timeless meditation on grief’s ability to manifest itself in irrational fear, an allegorical study of how guilt can alter into paranoia, with career-best performances from both Sutherland and Christie (and that’s saying something). As for the ending – it will sear itself into your brain forever.
No wonder “Don’t Look Now” inspired some of my favorite contemporary filmmakers: Danny Boyle (who counts it as one of his favorite films), Alfonso Cuarón (who included “Don’t Look Now” in his Top 10 Time Out British Films poll), Lars von Trier (“Antichrist” pays homage to “Don’t Look Now”), Martin McDonagh (who said that the Venice of “Don’t Look Now” was the template for the depiction of Bruges in his film); the film’s imagery and stylistic techniques have served as an inspiration to films such as Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List”, “The Brood” by David Cronenberg, “Memento” by Christopher Nolan… The list goes on. It’s one of the most inspirational films in my life, and one that I can constantly re-watch, and find new, subtle intricacies with each viewing. It is, in my opinion, the best horror film ever made, and one that will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to top.
Honorable Mentions:
Lars von Trier’s dread-infused, allegorical, Satanic “Antichrist”; Jacques Tourner’s classic “Cat People”; Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “Diabolique” (which is really more of a thriller with horror elements); “Fright Night” (both the original and the remake); the original torture-porn, Eli Roth’s claustrophobic “Hostel”, the original “Paranormal Activity”; and the punk-infused splatter-fest “Green Room”, which features Patrick Stewart playing a modern-day Nazi.
