Although one of the most popular genres in film,horror movies rarely get the respect they deserve.Rarely nominated for honors like an Academy Award, horror is passed over for critical recognition even though some of the most legendary movies of all time were designed to frighten their audience.
Those same audiences covering their eyes come back to horror again and again becauseit’s a genre that opens itself to include romance, mystery, and social commentarywhile still being capable of terrifying those who watch. The following films are not just fantastic horror movies, they’re examples of a crowning achievement of the arts – masterpieces of cinema to be enjoyed and celebrated.
10’Scream' (1996)
Directed by Wes Craven
The town of Woodsboro is stalked by someone with a fanatical love for scary movies in the slasher classicScream. The brutal death of high schooler Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) sends shockwaves through the community, but as Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and friends find themselves among the targets, they realize the murders are just beginning. The film thatkicked off a franchise and revitalized the genre as a wholemay be a more recent entry, but it’s nothing short of a masterpiece.
An arguably flawless script byKevin Williamsoncrafted a murder mystery thatunderstood the rules of horror movies well enough to know how to break them in plain sight.The teens didn’t live in a vacuum where horror didn’t exist; rather, they revered the medium enough to think their knowledge would provide immunity from the threats around them. Most importantly, Scream was filled with likable characters with distinct personalities—viewers identified with the protagonists enough that when they were in peril, the stakes actually felt important.
A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.
9’Jaws' (1975)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
The movie that kept audiences away from the beach andcreated the concept of a summer blockbusteris undoubtedly a masterpiece.Jawstakes viewers to Amity Island, where the arrival of a great white shark causes havoc one eaten tourist at a time. Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) overcomes a phobia of water to organize an expedition to kill the shark before it takes more lives, choosing to battle the shark on its home turf of the ocean.
There’s an argument thatJawsisn’t a horror movie, with schools of thought saying it’s an action flick or a thriller, but the reasonJawsis so iconic is because it is all those things and more.Jaws also has moments of levity while it explores the man vs. nature themes at the core, but when the massive shark attacks, the scenes are nothing short of horrific. The creeping dread built by not seeing the great white shark may have been due to technical limitations, but by creating a hidden threat, the movie builds the monster into a myth before revealing the toothy killing machine.
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it’s up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
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8’Halloween' (1978)
Directed by John Carpenter
A killer returns home to continue where he left off inJohn Carpenter’sHalloween.The town of Haddonfield is preparing for October 31, but they weren’t expecting escaped mental patient Michael Myers to return home on a mission to terrorize the local teens. Before the night of Halloween is over, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) will come face to face with the killer and fight to survive the encounter.
Regrettably, later films in the franchise would bend over backward to explain what didn’t require an explanation and give context to Michael’s killing sprees. But, regardless of the depths into which the series of films sank, they could never take awaythe stripped-down charm of the firstHalloween.There were no quippy lines from the killer or elaborate chase scenes, and because of that, the chain of events feels more visceral to the audience, who will check the locks on their doors twice after watching it.
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
7’Rosemary’s Baby' (1968)
Directed by Roman Polanski
Rosemary’s Babytells the story of Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) as she moves into a new Manhattan apartment building with her actor-husband, Guy (John Cassavetes). Rosemary soon becomes suspicious of her new neighbors and Guy’s blooming relationship with them, feeling an unease she can’t place. As the young couple plan to have a child,Rosemary’s pregnancy takes on a nightmarish gauntlet of pain and paranoiathat confirms the truth about Rosemary’s suspicions being so much worse than she imagined.
Rosemary’s Babyfinds the horror in the mundane – slipping the fantastically impossible within a familiar setting.The movie largely rests on Farrow, and she rose to the challenge, giving one of the most defining performances of her career. Those who measure horror movies by body count aren’t going to be satisfied with Rosemary’s Baby’s measured pace, but the final scenes rank near the top of the greatest horror movie climaxes.
Rosemary’s Baby
A young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.
6’Texas Chain Saw Massacre' (1974)
Directed by Tobe Hooper
The spirit of grindhouse was given a mainstream spotlightwhenThe Texas Chain Saw Massacrepremiered. The story of a group of teenagers horrifically detouring from their road trip introduced the legendary horror villain Leatherface, a hulking brute with a human-skin mask and chainsaw in hand. The film was vicious in a way audiences had not seen in their local cineplex, and word of mouth made the horror movie’s scenes that of urban legend.
The words “based on a true story” carry an incredible amount of weight, especially for audiences in the mid-70s buying tickets to a late-night screening ofThe Texas Chain Saw Massacre.The notion that any part of the plot was a true story, along with the grainy unpolished footage,made the film a pseudo-documentary experience for movie-goers too shocked to look away from the screen.The grotesque imagery left profoundly vivid memories for those who watched it, making it one of the most important horror movies to ever be made.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
A group of friends traveling through rural Texas encounter a family of deranged cannibals, including the terrifying Leatherface. As they explore an old homestead, they are systematically hunted down in gruesome ways. The film culminates in a harrowing chase and a desperate escape attempt by the last survivor, Sally, who narrowly evades the murderous Leatherface.
5’Frankenstein' (1931)
Directed by James Whale
Harry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) is obsessed with the concept of creating life, even if it destroys all that he loves in the horror classicFrankenstein.Harry is able to give life to a large monster made of human parts (Boris Karloff), but a series of misunderstandings lead the initially innocent creation to react violently in a primal mode of self-defense. When the monster escapes and causes tragic damage, the angry villagers will intervene before more lives are lost.
Frankenstein, at face value, is a monster movie, but on deeper examination,it’s about what it means to be human and the cruelty of humankind.Those themes, along with iconic imagery that left a permanent impression of what a mad scientist’s lair should look like, madeFrankensteina film that was not only copied – it was studied. Multiple sequels, such asThe Bride of Frankenstein, became classics in their own right, but so many movies would either not exist or look vastly different without Dr. Frankenstein raising his monster from the grave.
Frankenstein
Dr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.
4’Psycho' (1960)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of directorAlfred Hitchcock,Psychowas a shocking piece of cinema when it debuted. The story opens with an impetuous act of theft from Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) that sends her into the path of a motel run by the eccentric owner, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). When Marionnever checks out, her sister Lila (Vera Miles) follows the trail with Marion’s boyfriend Sam (John Gavin) to uncover a murderous secret overlooking the Bates Motel.
Featuring plot twists that sent audiences in the ‘60s reeling,Psychowas a new step in horror’s mainstream acceptance. Whether it was the shower scene that etched itself a permanent place in pop culture history or the otherworldly performance from Perkins as the troubled motel owner, Psycho is a film that had a seismic impact on horror for decades after. A shot-for-shot remake was made in 1998 starringVince Vaughnas Norman Bates, but fans looking for more would be better off with the better-received television series,Bates Motel.
A Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer’s client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.
Directed by George A. Romero
A group of strangers are forced to band together in an abandoned farmhouse when the dead walk the earth inNight of the Living Dead.The eerie black-and-white classic begins with no preamble as Barbara (Judith O’Dea) finds herself on the run after a corpse attacks and kills her brother.The shelter she finds is potentially more dangerous than the alternativewhen the survivors inside pose more of a threat with their infighting, threatening the safety of them all.
There have been many excellent zombie films sinceNight of the Living Dead, but rarely have they captured theterrifying isolation of looking off into the distance to see inevitable doom slowly getting larger as it approaches.Horror is often at its best when there’s no logical reason for the events taking place, andNight of the Living Deaddoesn’t give the heroes a chance to ask or care. Hauntingly shot with beautifully understated performances,Night of the Living Deadis a campfire story brought to life in the most horrifying way possible.
Night of the Living Dead
2’The Exorcist' (1973)
Directed by William Friedkin
Considered one of the scariest films of all time,The Exorcistis one of the clearest examples of a horror film rightfully considered a masterpiece.The first horror film to be nominated for Best Picture,The Exorcistfollows the story of Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), a young girl who is possessed by a demon. Two priests, Father Karras (Jason Miller) and Father Merrin (Max von Sydow), bravely choose to save the girl and perform a dangerous exorcism to save her soul.
Based on the novel of the same name byWilliam Peter Blatty,who also wrote the screenplay,The Exorcistis a horrific display of corruption and possession. Helping set the tone of unease is atheme by Michael Oldfieldthat can make the hairs on the back of the neck stand up when the piano keys begin to hit in quick succession. A film so scary that modern myths saythe movie is cursedonly adds to the legend that isThe Exorcist.
The Exorcist
When a young girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
1’The Shining' (1980)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
A simple job as caretaker of the Overlook Hotel sends a father and husband down a path of irreversible madness inStanley Kubrick’sThe Shining.Jack Nicholsonstars as Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic who sees the job as an opportunity to work on his novel, but the spirits of the hotel have other plans for him and his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and psychic son Danny (Danny Lloyd). As the surrounding snow traps the family of three inside,Wendy will have to summon the strength to battle a husband she’s lost to the evil Overlook.
Stephen Kingfamously was unhappy with Kubrick’s version ofThe Shining, and the author rightfully observes the novel and the movie tell two different stories. Both should be consumed by King fans because even though it runs fast and loose with the source material,Kubrick’sThe Shiningis analmost exhaustive exercise in building tension and unease.Shots of empty hallways have never before or since carried such dread, silently promising that behind each door is a nightmare better left undisturbed.The Shiningis a masterpiece of horror, but also cinema as a whole.
The Shining
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
