TOP 5 HORROR FILMS OF ALL TIME!
1. THE EXORCIST
Scene to watch with the lights on: All of it. No no no, trust us. Watch it at mid-day, with the blinds open and the lights on. And then get used to the fact that you may never, ever sleep again.
"Tubular Bells" is the scariest music arrangement ever made. We hear it and we're the scaredy cat equivalent of Pavlov's Dog – the Satan bells ring, and we tense up, scream and piss our everythings. More than once. And then cry ourselves to sleep with one eye open.
"Tubular Bells" is the scariest music arrangement ever made. We hear it and we're the scaredy cat equivalent of Pavlov's Dog – the Satan bells ring, and we tense up, scream and piss our everythings. More than once. And then cry ourselves to sleep with one eye open.
The movie's premise, a little girl possessed by a demon, is scary enough as words on paper. But what director William Friedkin does with it, aside from prove that he has a seriously strong (or frightfully off) constitution for this sort of stuff, is treat the extraordinary of it all as if it were really happening next door to us.
The scares come from a place based in Faith, where Heaven and hell are as real as your beliefs in them care to be. Faith, for all the documentation on the subject, is tethered to the intangible; it's not something science can define or strategize. The demon that comes from The Exorcist's interpretation of that idea is something more powerful than a Freddy or a Jason. Something that can't be shot or stabbed or detonated.
Before it can be attacked, let alone defeated, it has to be first believed in – as terrible and soul-threatening as this may be to the young priest and old priest charged with delivering the climatic exorcism. Fathers Karras and Merrin spend the third act of the movie fighting back the Devil for control of young Regan's soul. 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.
Film school analyze this movie more if you want. Bottom line: It is the best horror movie about the consequences of belief ever made. It is the reason why so many exorcism movies flood the marketplace and never fully deliver.
It is the number one movie on our all-time list.
2. PSYCHO
Scene to watch with the lights on: What scene could we pick but the quintessential shower slaying? Coupled with the iconic music cue, this scene remains a horror classic 50 years later.
The content of Psycho isn't as shocking as it was way back in 1960. After all, girls get stabbed in the shower all the time in modern horror cinema. However, it's a testament to Hitchcock's skill as a director that Psycho remains a tense and nerve-wracking experience. The killing of Janet Leigh's character and the accompanying musical key is one of the most iconic scenes in Hollywood history.
Psycho is such a classic of the genre that it inspired a shot-for-shot remake in 1998. We wouldn't recommend wasting time with that film, but we would urge any horror lover who hasn't seen Psycho to move it to the top of their priority list.
Psycho is both one of the greatest thrillers of all time and one of the greatest entries in Alfred Hitchcock's legendary resume. A true master of suspense and tension, Hitchcock crafted a memorable horror experience with a limited cast and even more limited budget. Like so many great horror movies, Psycho's scares far exceed its limited scale.
Psycho is the story of crazy old Norman Bates and his even crazier mother. When a young woman on the run from the law arrives at the remote Bates Motel, she falls victim to a knife-wielding killer. Several more victims are claimed before the killer is brought to justice and the true secret of the Bates family stands revealed.
3. JAWS
Scene to watch with the lights on: It's a tie! When the shark turns Alex Kintner into a human chew toy and when Bad Hat Harry stands before Brody, wearing a bathing suit and shaking his saggy gym-sock moobs.
The first blockbuster ever and the scariest movie (maybe even the best one?) Spielberg's ever made, Jaws is equal parts monster movie and character piece, centered on an island called Amity that's preyed upon by something that leaves teeth the size of shot glasses in the hulls of boats and turns their owners into decapitated flotsam. The late Roy Scheider gives a career-defining performance as Chief Brody, the local sheriff with a fear of water, who is put in charge of taking down the murder fish.
Joining him on the Orca for the hunt are Richard Dreyfuss' Hooper and Robert "Find 'im for 3, Catch 'im and Kill 'im for 10" Shaw as Quint, the number one cause of death for just about any marine life.
But you already know that. You should have seen this movie at least 10 times by now, thanks to cable and VHS and DVD. You've probably contemplated making John Williams' theme your ring tone. It's made out of the type of movie magic that warrants repeat viewings, that warrants lots of praise using words like "perfect" and "instant classic."
And if you haven't seen it yet, remedy that soon. So you can walk amongst normal society as a non-wrong person.
The first blockbuster ever and the scariest movie (maybe even the best one?) Spielberg's ever made, Jaws is equal parts monster movie and character piece, centered on an island called Amity that's preyed upon by something that leaves teeth the size of shot glasses in the hulls of boats and turns their owners into decapitated flotsam. The late Roy Scheider gives a career-defining performance as Chief Brody, the local sheriff with a fear of water, who is put in charge of taking down the murder fish.
Joining him on the Orca for the hunt are Richard Dreyfuss' Hooper and Robert "Find 'im for 3, Catch 'im and Kill 'im for 10" Shaw as Quint, the number one cause of death for just about any marine life.
But you already know that. You should have seen this movie at least 10 times by now, thanks to cable and VHS and DVD. You've probably contemplated making John Williams' theme your ring tone. It's made out of the type of movie magic that warrants repeat viewings, that warrants lots of praise using words like "perfect" and "instant classic."
And if you haven't seen it yet, remedy that soon. So you can walk amongst normal society as a non-wrong person.
4. ALIEN
Scene to watch with the lights on: Dinner with Kane and the crew of the Nostromo, fresh after Kane wakes up from his facehugger coma, ends with Kane disagreeing with something that ate its way out of his chest. They don't get much better than this, movie fans. Alien movies are generally thought of as being planted in the science fiction realm. However, with the original at least, Alien was as much a horror film as a sci-fi one. With a small cast being hunted by a lone, terrifying creature, Alien was a long way removed from the Star Treks of Hollywood.
Alien is set several centuries in the future when humanity has ventured into the stars. The crew of the mining vessel Nostromo become unwitting hosts to a bloodthirsty alien lifeform. One by one, the crew members fall to an enemy that hides in the shadows and springs from above. Only Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is savvy enough to survive the alien's onslaught. Too bad for her it was only the first round.
Alien doesn't resemble many sci-fi movies of the time. Artist H.R. Giger designed a world full of twisted tubes, cold hallways, and pervasive darkness. Before Alien, pop culture never warned us how dark, dirty and scary the cold depths of space were. Director Ridley Scott adopted a "less is more" approach that later sequels sadly abandoned. Modern directors can cram all the Aliens and Predators they want into their films, but none can match the sheer claustrophobic terror generated in the original Alien.
Alien is set several centuries in the future when humanity has ventured into the stars. The crew of the mining vessel Nostromo become unwitting hosts to a bloodthirsty alien lifeform. One by one, the crew members fall to an enemy that hides in the shadows and springs from above. Only Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is savvy enough to survive the alien's onslaught. Too bad for her it was only the first round.
Alien doesn't resemble many sci-fi movies of the time. Artist H.R. Giger designed a world full of twisted tubes, cold hallways, and pervasive darkness. Before Alien, pop culture never warned us how dark, dirty and scary the cold depths of space were. Director Ridley Scott adopted a "less is more" approach that later sequels sadly abandoned. Modern directors can cram all the Aliens and Predators they want into their films, but none can match the sheer claustrophobic terror generated in the original Alien.
5. SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Scene to watch with the lights on: Lecter's first encounter with Clarice, his crazy and her virtue separated only by safety glass.
Using a serial killer – a cannibal with a doctorate, actually – to help catch another serial killer is as bare bones as you can get with this Best Picture Oscar winner. But the movie is much more than that. It's the scariest movie ever made built around psychology and deduction used as both crime-solving tools and murder weapons. Yes, blame this movie all you want for your friend's bad Hannibal Lecter impersonation that never seems to get better, but it gave us one of the screen's all-time iconic villains and Anthony Hopkins the role of his career. Jodie Foster is also exceptional in the role of FBI Agent Clarice Starling, on the trail of Buffalo "It Puts The Lotion In The Basket" Bill. Director Jonathan Demme is effortless and relentless with his tension here, succeeding where Ridley Scott failed in his 2001 sequel, Hannibal by keeping Lecter more of a believable monster and less of a monstrous caricature.
1991's best film, according to the Academy, is worthy of multiple viewings if you can get through a first. We suggest watching it with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
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