5 Best Horror Films

[Mrs_C]

Very respectable list from Mr. Cooper indeed. Much better than the usual obvious picks most people will give when you put them on the spot.

Based on Trashy's thoughts above. I thought I would start a thread to find out what everybody else's top 5 horror films are.

So counting down from 5 mine are as follows...*SPOILER WARNING*

5. Scream -



I think it is probably written off as a good horror film due to the terrible follow ups it got. However I feel that it was very cleaver and also sinister film. I love what they did at the beginning of the film where they kill off the biggest star of the film. Genius. Also the twist ending is brilliant. Never saw it coming and as you will see with another of my choices I do love a twist.

4. Poltergeist -



This movie probably doesn't scare me as much anymore but when I first watched it at a friends house I was 9 and I was so freaked out I couldn't walk home from my friends house alone or go into my attic for at least 6 months. Also with Carol-Ann actually being dead now it adds a bit of spooky-ness to it.

3. Saw -



Just WOW. When I first saw this film I was amazed. It was so good, never been done before and I was excited for the sequel. That is until I 'SAW' the sequel. Like Scream before it Saw went the same way the cheap to make, confusing, sequel. The sequels feel rushed and clearly have no real thought put into them. I mean Saw 2 we have jigsaws daughter running about doing the killing cos he is dying...really? So we are now onto Saw 6. Haven't seen it. Is he dead yet? Surely to goodness. I wish Saw would "buzz" off.

2. Paranormal Activity -



You know, I love a film where you don't necessarily see the thing that scares you. Blair Witch did it and Cloverfield almost did after that. But Paranormal Activity gained some harsh criticism for just that. I know alot of people who saw it and hated it for being too boring. Too which I replied "Not enough gore or action for your short attention spans?" Which is the problem with movies today.

People are inpatient and want big scares all of the time. The good thing about PA and it's sequel (I have not yet seen 3 that is for the magic of Blu-Ray) is that they build the scares up and how. From the innocent going about everyday business to the small bumps in the night and then we have that humming noise on the camera when we know something is about to go down.

I watched both of these films in my front room with light off and had to go to bed and sleep with the light on I was that scared.

Films just don't do that to me very often anymore and the fact that the sequel did that also means thought and effort is being put into a storyline that is unraveling at a nice pace. No money making confusion here, just a well planned and thought out set of films.

1. I.T (Natch)




Anyone who has read any of my posts on here know I love Stephen King and I love I.T.

Shite but brilliant TV movie and will always be top of my favorite films too watch. Tim Curry is amazing as Pennywise and I am a fan of the book. The film doesn't do the books end any justice but it is still scary in places and you care about the characters. I love some the scenes in it and when you mention it to people they always say "oh I love that film" It might not be big budget, it might not have been a theatrical release but it is a guilty pleasure for most people who have seen it and that includes me. I don't know if I am happy or sad or excited they are going to be remaking it. I know what Hollywood did to the Wicker man so I am waiting with baited breath.

[trashcanman]

The sequels have definitely marred Scream, but I do remember thinking it was amazing at the time. PA is a bold choice since it's so recent, but I actually think it deserves a spot because it is the rare franchise that maintained it's quality throughout three films, one of which was a prequel, which almost never get's pulled off. The people who didn't enjoy it had no business being there. They are the kind of people who see movies just to say they did. Like the Blair Witch Project before it, the PA films are for true fans of fiction who can put themselves into the protagonists' shoes and go with the flow rather than trying to make a list of all the tropes and plot devices they can find or complaining about a lack of action.

Good God, my top 5. That is just torturous. Now there are two kinds of list. There are "favorite" which are personal and highly subjective, and there are "greatest" where cultural influence and longevity play the biggest factors. "Best" is a tough one to call, because that's a pretty subjective word, but also implies a level of perfection/greatness. I'll see what I can come up with. Now, in no particular order....

[glow=red,2,300]Dracula [/glow]


Both exceptionally great and a favorite of mine. Creepy, funny at times, true to the source material, well-paced, and with some of the most memorable performances in the history of cinema. It typically gets dismissed as hokey and is seldom brought up as on of the best horror films, but films don't remain so iconic and ingrained in the world's collective consciousness for nearly a century if they aren't brilliant. Fact. Elvis is less recognizable than Lugosi's Dracula.

[glow=red,2,300]Vampire Hunter D[/glow]


An 80's anime classic and the #1 reason anime fans exist in America today. Still painfully obscure, but probably the creepiest animated film of all time. Amazing characters, amazing monsters, amazing cocept, brutal violence, a uniquely gothic look and sinister atmosphere that will never be duplicated, and one of my favorite scores of all time to boot; this is where animated horror begins. It will likely never be topped.


[glow=red,2,300]Ju-On[/glow]


Looking for a ghost story to scare the holy hell out of you? Literally? Than here you go. This tops them all in my opinion. There are lots of awesomely scary moments in horror, but only a small handful or so of films in history that had me physically terrified for the duration to the point of literally looking over my shoulder as I watch, and this is one of them.


[glow=red,2,300]Jaws[/glow]


Yeah, obvious I know, but it is not only one of the greatest and most iconic, but my personal favorite film of all time so hard not to include it. Just. Goddamn. Perfect. And to this day, I can not bear to be in open water. When I was little, I was literally afraid that that fucking shark was going to come through my bedroom floor at night. I had nightmares about it that I remember to this day. I love sharks. Amazing animals. But dear god do they terrify me to this day. Thanks, Spielberg.


[glow=red,2,300]The Howling[/glow]


I know what you're thinking. WTF? This and no American Werewolf in London? While AW is certainly a greater film, and possibly even a better film, I stand behind this one as my favorite were flick. The concept is just too damn good. A community of lychanthropes posing as a camping retreat luring people in for lunch? Too goddamn creepy. I love the mystery, the pacing, the atmosphere, the snatches of humor, and the creature effects of this one.

[Mrs_C]

Nice List Trashy.

I Love Jaws and for some reason never think of it as a horror movies, possibly because it is Speilberg.... Still one of my favourite films of all time though.

Howling is good too, it was a while ago that I seen it but remember thinking it was pretty good.

Is that the Japanese vrsion of the Grudge? We watched the remake not long ago. Mr C likes it but it wasn't for me. Think the original will far surpass the remake to be fair.

[The Curmudgeon]

Pretty sure this is territory we've crossed before, but fuck it. Always good for a discussion, and some new blood giving their verdict is always welcome.

If we're going with, as I presume Mrs C intended, that "best" means "favourite", (as opposed to what we consider to be the most, I dunno, expertly crafted and written horror film, which would turn these sorts of discussions into pretty boring fare), then I'll comment on the other choices before giving mine.

I remember going to the cinema to see Scream and instantly hiring it as soon as it came out on video. I loved it. Having been "raised" on a variety of slow, plodding killers who seemed to know when the idiot victims would wander off alone for no reason or trip up over nothing, it was so refreshing - and fucking frightening - to see a killer act.. well, like a real guy. He falls over too! He gets hurt! He makes mistakes! The scene where Drew Barrymore's character is watching the killer look for her was something I had never really seen before. The sequels were garbage, but yeah - Scream is a damn good movie.

It's nice to see a favourable verdict on PA3, because I've only heard word of mouth comments and Facebook threads talking about how bad it was. That an actual horror FAN enjoys it speaks volumes for me. I thought the first two were great; a real, layered story, believable characters and script (no "dumb blonde running up the stairs" in this), and the vibrating feedback noise Mrs C mentioned is a pretty genius twist on the Jaws/Psycho music. When that shit starts, you know to start covering your eyes. As bizarre as it sounds, if it keeps up the quality control, Paranormal Activity could very well be the greatest horror franchise of all time. Think about that.

The Bela Lugosi version pretty much IS Dracula and, to an extent, IS vampires. The accent, the cloak, the castle.. this Dracula created the archetype. People who dismiss it as hokey just don't understand or appreciate horror cinema. I remember buying it on video years ago and watching it three times in 2 days. For a vampire fan like yourself Trashy, I would be amazed if this wasn't in your top five.

The best part of the Howling, for me, was the start in the little cinema booth thing. That was pretty damn frightening, even if the end (where she turned up on the news as the most pathetic looking werewolf in history) signalled the downward spiral the Howling took into arguably the worst horror franchise in history.

All good top five's so far, guys. It's your humble narrator's turn now. From five to one..

5. The Blair Witch Project

One of the few horror movies of the last few decades to add to the iconic images of horror. Namely - this one.



I'm going to tie this in with Paranormal Activity because of the similarities they share and because it's already been mentioned. An absolute love it/hate it movie, the common complaints of "nothing happens! You don't see anything!" are by people who clearly didn't get it. What did they WANT to see? A woman in a big hat and broomstick? Hillbillies? A monster? Yeah - 'cos that would have been MUCH scarier. The entire set up of the movie showed the power the internet really had by then; the fake "Missing" posters, the genius hype and build up and the fact that, along with my number one movie, it had people questioning whether it was all real or not. THAT, friends, is where horror lies.

4. Psycho



I've said this on here before, but Psycho is, almost certainly, the best actual horror franchise of all time. It's the only one to keep one real storyline through the whole series. Characters and events from the first movie are mentioned in the third, it never gets convoluted or stupid like other horror movies, and Bates himself is a fascinating hybrid of the nicest guy in the world and a whip-crack change into a eyeballing loon. An image from the second movie actually burned into my sub-conscious for easily ten years afterwards, but it's Hitchcock's original that still wins out. A world removed from the mutant spacemen and giant bugs of the 50's or the creepy Counts in castles, Psycho showed that the boy next door was just a dress change away from being your worst nightmare. I. fucking. LOVE. this. film.

3. The Exorcist



The 70's had a few classic Satan inspired movies; Rosemary's Baby, The Omen.. but they pale in comparison with what many call THE scariest movie of all time. The effects are spectacular and Reagan is the true embodiment of evil, and even though the actual body count is slim compared to some horror movies (only three people die, one you don't see and the other is suicide) it's still deeply unsettling to watch more than 30 years later. Even if most people mistakenly think Reagan is possessed by the Devil.

2. The Shining



As great a writer as he is, the fact King hates the best movie based on his work baffles me. If Kubrick were to actually have based the film more closely to the book, it just would not have worked. Imagine hedge animals coming to life in the 70's. How shit would that have looked? Some things work in books that just wouldn't on the screen, and that's one of them. And Torrance turns into a hysterical, shrieking imbecile at the end of the book, not Jack's snarling, bellowing maniac in Kubrick's movie. The hotel, the bathtub, the rotting women, the typewriter, the barman, those fucking twins.. everything about this movie is designed to make you shit your pants.


1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre



I thought horror had no more scares left for me. I thought I'd seen it all. The Freddy's, the Jason's, the vampires and werewolves. All great, but after the post-modern hi-jinks of Scream I thought that I too had turned into one of those assholes who sits and ho-hums his way through horror movies. Then TCM came back to the cinema for a few weeks and me, my friend and my brother went to see it. It all kicked off when they picked up the Hitchhiker. That was scary because it seemed so REAL. Then THAT chase through the woods almost had my heart burst through my chest. Unlike the bullshit sequels that ruined the characters and made the whole thing utterly stupid (check out Leatherface by part IV here)



What the hell is Roseanne Barr so upset about?

OK, sorry, I seem to have wittered on for about eight pages here. Apologies. But Mrs C, you get me started talking about favourite horrors and that's gonna happen...

[Quillford]

Ooh! That's right I said ooh. I am over the murky moon that this topic was raised from the dead.

All of you have some fantastic films up there! Every single choice is awesome.

So here is my top five horror movies of all time - top five as in favourite rather than greatest as seems to be the theme ***spoilers***:

5. 13 Ghosts (1960)

Fuck. Me. This film no matter how hard I try creeps the hell outta me. The way the ghosts are presented, the originality within the film at the time was immense. These actors had never been in anything like it. and it showed, it actually felt like these people were getting their lives ruined. Simply one of the greats even if it did lead on to some of the worst adaptations ever!

4.Let The Right One In (2008)

I have mentioned it before, but this really is a master piece. I often shy away from liking NEW horror films. This one caught me off guard and I was so pleasantly surprised. Although followed with a not so subtle undertone of romance it is still CREEPY. in short if you can't love a transgender bloodsucking age old paedophile what can you love? This film needs to be up here.

3. 1408 (2007)

Ooh is that haters hating I hear? John Cusack in a horror. Who would of thunk it? This man is NOT a horror actor. But this film was superb and yet ANOTHER modern one. I love films that manage to throw out horror without the gore to go with it. 1408 skates around this nicely. Although there are a few scenes that use gore, its not thrown over you look a hot tub of "this is the NEW disgusting much worse than the last years disgusting - I promise." 1408 is very much a psychological horror and I really felt like I couldn't leave my room after watching it. There are a few scenes that stuck deep in my mind - well done Mikael Hafstrom... 0.0

2. Nosferatu (1922)

This is near the pinnacle of old horrors. This little gem as we well know catapulted the horror market off in the film industry. It wasn't alone but this film screams "UUuuuuUUUUUGugugh". What does it for me in this gore obsessed modern day society is the make up. I haven't seen anything like it after and certainly before it. Max Schreck is one creepy bastard as Bela Lugosi was afterwards in the next stoker flick.
Another thing that adds to this little beauty is the fact that it stems into the whole expressionist artistic movement of the 1920's. Which adds to it for me anyway. It was because of this that amazing films like Un Chien Andalou (1928) could exist and people like Salvador Dali managed to convey there ideas to the screen. What's not to like?

Due to copyright and such it is now totally fine for youtube to have films from this era hosted SO I have a nice little full showing of Nosferatu shown below. Which in turn has every good film around the time related to it on youtube. Enjoy if you wish.

1.Night of The Living Dead (1968)

I humed and I hared and I went over it and over it and kept coming back to this. This is one of the FIRST horrors I ever saw and most likely way before I was meant to. Thanks to the trusty cable channel Sky One - I suffered from the fear of undead for quite a few years. 9 - 14. It was only when I was 14 that I sat down to watch this again I started appreciating rather than shitting myself at it.
There are just so many films I would have up here on this list but this has to be the top - i think. Romero as stated in previous posts is THE man and this may be an obvious choice but for me it is the very definition of fear. People wanting to EAT you, hundreds no thousands of them. Just not knowing if the rest of the world has been "changed".
People who you know trying to EAT you and kill you banging there way through the door into your home.
What a FILM, my best memory with this film is watching it on a portable dvd player on a train going to an interview and the woman getting punched in the face leading to an almighty inhale and snigger to which of COURSE everyone stares at you like your some sort of demon, hell bent on destroying humanity.
Anyway this film deserves to be right here! Like wise a full presentation is below - IF YOU DON'T own these things you most certainly should - GO & BUY THEM!

Sorry if my list has been predictable but I love the films that I love

[trashcanman]

Yeah, you guys had some predictable picks, but I fucking DARE anyone to argue with them. Any of those could have been on my list as well if I had more space. Except the original 13 Ghosts. Quillguy actually stumped me on that one, which is damn impressive.

I actually read a fairly lengthy essay written by King about his issues with Kubrick's film. I suppose I understand how the author would not like the themes of his story turned on their head and/or ignored altogether, but I still disagree with his assessment. I've never read the book (I know, I know!) so I can't really comment on it as an adaptation, but as a film unto itself, it is a masterpiece any way you look at it.

PA could go on to be the best horror franchise, but I doubt it. The one thing that could easily sink it to "been there, done that" levels is the extremely predictable pacing. So far good characters and creative writing have saved them, but I feel like the franchise wold do well to end at this point unless they can come up with something more than the "some stuff moves and makes noise, people is scared- lots of stuff moves, people is more scared- shit gets CRAZY, people is majorly killed" formula without breaking the things that have worked so well so far. I'm not sure it's possible. But I'll keep going to see them until I don't enjoy them anymore. They've earned that. And yeah, Ju-on is the original Grudge. The remake was a joke. My wife and I physically laughed at it. And I saw it before Ju-on so it's not like I had any expectations. But when I watched the original, it just chilled me to the bone.

Oh, and part of the twisted genius of LTROI is that so many people think of it as a romance. The truth of the film is that when you look at Eli's pathetic pedophile of a familiar, you are seeing Oskar's future. Dig? The vampire feels no genuine affection, she just needs somebody to take care of her and knows how to achieve that through manipulation. But I love that it's portrayed and often accepted as a romance. Just a fantastic vampire film.