What it does have is plenty of atmosphere and a very memorable take on the lead villain. James Woods stars as the head of a sleazy television station, on the hunt for the next tawdry attention-getter, when he stumbles across a pirated signal for “Videodrome,” depicting an all-too realistic torture. Finally a group of horror movie characters made it clear that, yes, they'd seen all the same movies we had, and were aware of the rules and clichés that come with the genre. This is one of the best twist endings of all time simply for how fully fleshed-out it is, hinging as it does on an extremely simple premise: We’ve seen countless stories about the living being haunted by the dead, but what happens when we consider things from the ghosts’ perspective? The good horror film insists on the humanity that’s inextinguishable even by severe atrocity. Lingering images make the audience squirm, waiting for the impossible to happen, and little changes in behavior take on ominous significance when you know that genuine evil is afoot. Karloff’s monster is mute here, unlike in Bride, which removes some of the empathy of the character and makes him a truly frightening presence whose relatively small amount of screen time only enhances the fear and suspense over when he’ll appear next. It Follows is a masterful example of style and substance giving birth to something that feels new. There’s nothing normal in Black Sunday to ground these horrors. Watch Now + Playlist. Something that can't be shot or stabbed or detonated. It utilizes elements from the spaghetti Western tradition to tell the story of a nameless vampire girl, who stalks the streets of the ghost-town Bad City in a long, cape-like chador, and a young man named Arash who catches her attention. The genre was practically dead by the time Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland gave zombies a much needed shot of adrenaline with this film. You’ll never look at your house plants the same way again. Actress Gaylen Ross refused to scream, because she believed her character Fran was too strong to show fear that way. This is Polanski’s first English-language movie. That and the scene where the mutant fish monster vomits up a pile of human bones, of course. The film spends time establishing this complex domestic situation and the fractured relationship between mother and child. Aside from being a genuinely scary film, The Shining has left its mark on modern pop culture. The demon that comes from The Exorcist's interpretation of that idea is something more powerful than a Freddy or a Jason. One thing that’s maintained the horror genre’s popularity is that, like most literary mediums (pulp crime novels, early superhero comics) considered trashy or cheap by the mainstream, there’s always some telling facet of our cultural identity being explored beneath the blood and sex. Hitchcock discovered, with 1963's The Birds, that the sheer terror of "not knowing" the reasons behind the sweeping global outbreak of evil can be the most horrifying part of the entire story. Nevertheless, critically-acclaimed horror is usually unique in one way or the other, and therefore worth checking out. The first, a TV movie called Ring: Kanzenban, was released in 1995. But compromise being what it is, Whale, Colin Clive, Boris Karloff and the rest have had to settle for fifth place. Published. His face was burned beyond recognition, but Freddy wore no mask and didn't stay silent. But John Carpenter brought a sense of tension and suspense few others could match in a slasher film, as we watched Michael Myers stalk Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) from afar, before going on his inevitable killing spree. We cheer her every little victory, we cringe at her every moment of pain. The last minute of the film was cut from the American theatrical release, to make it end on a more positive note. Of course, if there are children in a gothic haunted house story, it’s a given they’re going to be creepy, and the giggling, secretive kids played by Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin are no exception. Darren Aronofsky films Black Swan like a subtle character piece, eventually letting his horrifying tale bloom into a kaleidoscope of self-destruction. Robert Wiene acquired the rights in 1934, intending to remake the film with sound. F.W. Joel Coen, of The Coen Brothers, was an assistant editor, in one of his first industry jobs. All he wants to do is fix his relationship with his estranged father, and romance that nice girl who works at the shop in town. Series star Kyle MacLachlan asked for a smaller role in the film. And yet here they feel motivated, totally believable, regardless of their extremity. The film features special effects spearheaded by Walt Disney’s Ub Iwerks. A family that’s too religious even for Puritan, colonial America strikes out on their own at the start of Robert Eggers’ absorbing historical horror tale. So when tragedy strikes there is nowhere to turn but inward, and the guilt, hypocrisy and paranoia build up inside a father, a mother, their children and - yes - even their goat. Whether or not Oskar and Eli's relationship is an equal partnership, or Oskar is doomed to become the vampire's next Hakan (the old and ill-fated human who takes care of Eli early in the film) isn't clear. One week later, they're found dead from sinister but mysterious causes. Two years before Candyman, Tony Todd portrayed Ben in the Tom Savini remake of Night of the Living Dead. Dracula condenses and combines many of the main characters from the novel, opening with the poor Mr. Renfield's arrival in Transylvania. The film cost $60,000 to make and has grossed over $248 million to date theatrically. Jennifer Kent's debut feature is an elegant, psychologically-dense horror film which taps into various traditions without ever feeling the slightest bit derivative. SHARE. The 200 Best Horror Movies of All Time. The long, uninterrupted takes and overall mundanity of most of the scenes only make the brutal murders more shocking. None of the filming took place inside an actual cave. They crave warm flesh; we crave iPhones. The Ring’s box office success opened the door for more Japanese horror remakes in the American market, including The Grudge and Dark Water. Polanski's "less is more" approach to delivering chills further supports the storytelling rule that the more kept off screen, the more the audience has to imagine, and hence, the scarier. And retreats further. From brooding, indie horror films to bloody sequels, 2020's scary movie slate that make it a little bit more difficult to sleep at night. Another year, another big batch of excellent horror movies. Artist Dick Smith applied extensive makeup to make him appear significantly older. The presence of the mascot-like Sam only adds to the fun, as do delightfully disturbing appearances by actors like Dylan Baker and Anna Paquin. The story keeps you guessing, as Aurelia unravels the tragic history of her home (once the orphanage where she lived as a girl) while searching for her missing adopted son Simón, and the motifs of childhood disease, disfigurement, and death give the film slightly more staying power than your average haunted house story. Christopher Walken is perfect in this Stephen King adaptation as a man who loses everything, but gains psychic powers in exchange. Chris Isaak’s character was created to fill in the gaps that were left. Originally, the film was to have sent Ash back to the Middle Ages. A young woman is convinced she turns into a deadly jungle cat whenever she’s overcome by passion, or anger, in Jacques Tourneur’s spooky and, for the time, rather bold look at marital strife. The project was an unusually commercially-focused one for Kubrick, but the same stylistic elements that defined his earlier films were on full display, and the film remains a haunting and unsettling chronicle of a family man's psychological breakdown. The zombies - er, sorry, “infected” - sprint through the movie, spawning endless debates about whether “fast zombies” are scarier than “slow zombies”. The story and style of Jacob’s Ladder were a major influence on the Silent Hill video games. In the dark. This was filmed in 2009, but delayed to convert the film to 3D, and then delayed again due to MGM’s financial woes. Reeves was asked to change the ages of the main characters, but he disagreed and kept them the same as in the earlier version. While Hooper is the credited director, producer Steven Spielberg has been referred to by many who worked on it as its "de facto" director. Like all great psychological horror, it begins with a tragedy. But so good. We hear it and we're the scaredy cat equivalent of Pavlov's Dog - the Satan bells ring, and we tense up, scream and get all incontinent. She pulls away, when she should be pulling him close. In 1968, director George Romero took the frightening idea of "zombification," which up until that point had been relegated to creepy voodoo tales and extra-dimensional Lovecraft-ian lore, and created a terrifying new genre of horror: the zombie apocalypse film. The film was shot with a largely amateur cast. Kisjátékfilm. It’s too soon to decide IT’s true ranking among the best horror movies ever made, but it seems certain that it should be on the list somewhere. The hunchbacked assistant in the first film is actually named Fritz, and no such character named Ygor appears in Mary Shelley’s novel. Sorry fans! While the story is solid, where the film really succeeds is in its joyfully excessive use of those effects. Jerry Goldsmith won his only Academy Award - out of 18 nominations - for his score to The Omen. But struggle it did, and it’s a shame, since it’s a propulsive and yet contemplative 21st century take on zombies that’s worth multiple trips back to the mall. With a small cast being hunted by a lone, terrifying creature, Alien was a long way removed from the Star Wars and Star Treks of Hollywood. Of course, the exploding head alone should cement this film on any horror “best of” list, but the movie is totally exemplary for so many reasons. Farrow is perfect in the role of Rosemary; as she slowly unravels, the more she discovers what shady cult dealings are happening all around her. Reeves originally wanted Donald Pleasance to star, and had to change the script to accommodate Price’s persona. But a film like Pan’s Labyrinth offers another perspective, seems to reveal that he’s weaving fairy tales first and foremost, and that they only just happen to be horrifying. This film was an almost instant classic upon its release, helped along by horror fanboy and auteur Guillermo del Toro, who served as executive producer. Is this more? The now common technique called a “Lewton Bus” began here (a scene seeming to build to a scare, only to turn out to be harmless). Bottom line: It is the best horror movie about the consequences of belief ever made. It’s the intimate little story of Katie and Micah, a young couple who are haunted by a demon that has followed Katie since childhood, and how that evil gets stronger when Micah fails to take her trauma seriously. Lyne, who typically specializes in images of slick erotic pleasure, proves that he’s brilliant at bringing the exact opposite to life: the slimy streets, the abandoned tunnels, the rickety gurneys of Jacob’s life are repellant, but immersive. Alien doesn't resemble many sci-fi movies of the time. Jennifer Lopez as child psychologist Catherine Deane is actually not bad, giving a sensitive and compassionate performance that helps keep the audience anchored throughout the disturbing story, and Vincent D’Onofrio is memorable as multiple facets of the serial killer’s persona, from the pitiful youth to the menacing King. He didn’t get the part. Nicolas Roeg had to cut nine frames — less than half a second — from the sex scene to avoid an X-rating from the MPAA. Those visuals are very effective at driving the already macabre subject matter deeper under the skin of the viewer. Few films capture a descent into madness as vividly as Repulsion. The MPAA banned blood in "all audience" trailers — to convince them to use the infamous elevator scene, Kubrick claimed it was rusty water. The production crew consisted of only six people, including the director. The cast was not told what was going to happen to their characters, which helped to heighten the tension of their performances. When Iris and Rose’s mother dies, it falls to them to take on her… “duties.” The less you know the better in Jim Mickle’s We Are What We Are, a creepy and gothic nightmare about the cult-like experience of a family that, for generations, has had to do terrible things in the name of tradition. It’s disturbing to watch this lovable character actor dole out ungodly abuse with the knowledge that this violence serves no purpose but his own wealth. Sportfilm. Heartfelt performances, a crackling sense of humor, and scares aplenty. The only way to get rid of it is to have sex, which passes the curse on to your partner. Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari) (1920), Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror (Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens) (Nosferatu the Vampire) (1922), Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (Nosferatu the Vampyre) (1979). Osment's acting career began at the age of four. IT was released 27 years after the original television mini-series. A little more than a decade after its initial release, the film holds up remarkably well. The melancholy fills every frame as we follow the strange path that the often-bullied Owen and his new protector Abby take after meeting in the snow, even while the movie adapts classic vampire mythology to a more modern setting. Inspired by a recurring nightmare director David Robert Michell had as a child. There are two versions of the film - one in German and one with the actors speaking English. Carpenter’s film is a nod to classic horror stories like those found in Tales from the Crypt comics, as well as a real-life ship which was sunk and plundered off the coast of Galeta, CA. To increase tension and encourage conflict among actors, the directors gave them less and less food each day. American audiences are more familiar with the remake, Gore Verbinski’s The Ring, but Hideo Nakata’s version has a spectral allure all its own. It’s one of the most ambitious horror movies of the century, and it all takes place on a tiny little farm. With its still-remarkable special effects, fantastical-yet-grounded premise, and utter gross-out moments, many would argue Scanners is Cronenberg at his best. The premise, a cop trying to find a serial killer’s next victim before she drowns in his Jigsaw-killer-esque contraption, is decent as is, but most of the film’s action takes place inside the mind of the comatose killer, giving way to the film’s artistic sets and sequences. Giger. Jack Nicholson plays Jack Torrance in this adaptation. Stephen King’s first published novel, and the first Stephen King novel turned into a movie. It avoids cheap scares with nods to the gothic, even while not submitting fully to its tropes. The widescreen photographic gives the intimate story a sense of sweeping thematic scope but also forces the audience to constantly search the screen for signs of the follower in the background. With its thoughtful blend of classic monster-horror, family drama, and environmentalist (even outright anti-authority) elements, it’s easy to see why The Host earned director Bong Joon-ho comparisons to Spielberg. The image of Boris Karloff wrapped in bandages became iconic, even though he only appears in them for his very first scene. Kirsty is Larry's daughter and Frank once lusted for Kirsty. A truly pioneering horror film, Clayton’s The Innocents is an example of expert arrangement, with the deeply unsettling whole somehow managing to be more than the sum of its already-impressive parts. Oscar-winner Mercedes McCambridge (All the King's Men, Giant) provided the voice of the demon. Made over $193,000,000 at the box office. The Top 10 Horror Movies of the 1980s; The Top 20 Horror Movies of the 1980s; The Top 50 Horror Movies of the 1980s; The Top 100 Horror Movies of the 1980s; The Top 250 Horror Movies of the 1980s; The Best Horror Movies Of the 1980s; The Best Science Fiction Movies of 1977; The Best Comedy Movies Of the 2000s; The Most Recently Released Movies The killing of Janet Leigh's character and the accompanying Bernard Herrmann musical key is one of the most iconic scenes in Hollywood history. And their unfamiliar offspring is wholly horrifying. Actress Mia Farrow really ate raw liver for a scene. And in doing so, Karras, a man of wavering faith throughout most of the movie, finally believes in the only true good he knows by sacrificing himself to save that little girl. So they try to assuage his rattled nerves by telling them spooky stories that inspired them all to believe in the supernatural. But American Werewolf was ultimately a tragic horror film, and one certainly deserving of remembrance today. So like it or not, we go with her, and either find some measure of understanding or shy away in revulsion. The seemingly tired home invasion premise got an extreme wake-up call with You’re Next. The film was not well received in its time but now has a reputation for its stunning visuals – including a strange dream sequence – and its slow, ambiguous approach to storytelling, which has become a favored form of horror tale-spinning today. Director Tobe Hooper and producer Steven Spielberg created a veritable masterwork that took the ghost story out of ancient castles and haunted mansions and shoved it, without apology, into the happy suburban track home. Hideo Nakata directed both the Japanese sequel Ring 2, and the American sequel to the remake, Ring Two. Partly inspired by del Toro’s relationship with his uncle, who died and allegedly returned as a ghost. Coming up with a list of the 25 best horror movies is a good way to weed out the scary movie veterans from the scaredy cats. Murnau seems to have a queasy fixation on Orlock and his eery appetites, and his movie paints them out with thick shadows and grotesque imagery. Though more of a "remix" than a sequel, Evil Dead II improves on its predecessor in almost every way. It’s told from the perspective of children who are living out their greatest fears, who cannot imagine waking up, but fight on anyway. The film received a 10-minute standing ovation after it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. That realism makes the acts themselves all the more unnerving, because maybe this could happen. You've probably contemplated making John Williams' theme your ring tone. Just in time for Halloween, HitFix brings you our spookiest survey yet: the Ultimate Horror Movie Poll. Finest examples of Giallo horror films ever made of sugar 's main gig may be as a photographer most! 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