36 replies to this topic

[B Jenkins]

Well, do you? I do. And I think most everyone won't deny themselves a good scare in theatres and explore our darker imaginations if anything to cuddle up with their loved ones for an evening delight.

What are your top 10, 15, 20, or 25 horror movies?

1. Alien (1979, Scott)
2. An American Werewolf In London (1981, Landis)
3. The Black Cat (1934, Ulmer)
4. The Body Snatcher (1945, Wise)
5. The Bride Of Frankenstein (1935, Whale)
6. Carnival Of Souls (1962, Harvey)
7. Cat People (1942, Tourneur)
8. The Changeling (1980, Medek)
9. The Curse Of Frankenstein (1957, Fisher)
10. The Curse Of The Werewolf (1961, Fisher)
11. Dawn Of The Dead (1978, Romero)
12. Diabolique (1954, Clouzot)
13. The Fog (1980, Carpenter)
14. The Haunting (1963, Wise)
15. The Horror Of Dracula (1958, Fisher)
16. The Innocents (1961, Clayton)
17. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1956, Siegel)
18. Jaws (1975, Spielberg)
19. Mad Love (1935, Freund)
20. Night Of The Demon (1957, Tourneur)
21. Nosferatu (1922, Murnau)
22. The Old Dark House (1932, Whale)
23. Peeping Tom (1960, Powell)
24. A Tale Of Two Sisters (2003, Jee-woon Kim)
25. The Unknown (1927, Browning)

Some of have told me I have boring taste in horror but I'd like to think I prefer my horror with more substance that plays upon my imagination and more psychological bent rather than gore and cheap jumpscares and ultraviolent excess.

EDIT: added 10 more films!

Edited by Ambush Bug, 08 January 2013 - 08:43 PM.

[Hilander]

I love horror movies.  There are several that I liked including the ones you mentioned but I would add 'The Thing' to that list.  Both the old and remake.

[B Jenkins]

Whoops, I timed out. I was going to give my list a second edit.

Hilander, on 08 January 2013 - 08:38 PM, said:

I love horror movies.  There are several that I liked including the ones you mentioned but I would add 'The Thing' to that list.  Both the old and remake.

Those are both great films.  When it comes to Carpenter I prefer Halloween and The Fog. The Thing used to be my favorite numero uno horror film of all time but now in hindsight I find alot of fault in the characters and the film's lack of subtlety.

I am going to top off my list and make it 35.

Here are my 10 additions:

Dont Look Now (1973, Roeg)
Frankenstein (1931, Whale)
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969, Fisher)
Freaks (1932, Browning)
Halloween (1978, Carpenter)
House On Haunted Hill (1959, Castle)
The Last Man On Earth (1964, Ragona & Salkow)
Nosferatu (1979, Herzog)
The Red Masque Of Death (1964, Corman)
Witchfinder General (1968, Reeves)

What can I say, I am huge Fisher and Hammer fan.

[G Donnelly]

I'm just going to stick with a provisional top ten...

1 John Carpenter's The Thing.
2 The Thing(2010)
3 Alien
4 Final Destination 3
5 Aliens
6 Alien 3
7 Alien Vs Predator( not requiem)
8 Final Destination 1
9 Final Destinaton 2
10 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

I'll explain my reasons in more depth tomorrow..

[Purplos]

Quote

Some of have told me I have boring taste in horror but I'd like to think I prefer my horror with more substance that plays upon my imagination and more psychological bent rather than gore and cheap jumpscares and ultraviolent excess.

I agree completely.

[SpiritWriter]

Back in the day this little boy called me "the cat people" he said because of my eyes lol you just made me think of it with your list.. I don't watch scary movies anymore I used to though... messes with my subconcious. I used to get nightmares and I just dont like that stuff anymore. I like suspence and paranormal though, like for example Dragonfly, In Dreams, Stigmata...stuff like that, but no freddy kreger, hrllraiser, exorcism of emily rose etc... , just not gruesome or demonic...

I am more of an x files or twilight zone type of girl. I dont have a list of my favs... . Back in the day I liked pet semetary

Forgive my typos Samsung Galaxy III

[B Jenkins]

Purplos, on 08 January 2013 - 11:03 PM, said:

I agree completely.

Thank you!

SpiritWriter, on 08 January 2013 - 11:18 PM, said:

Back in the day this little boy called me "the cat people" he said because of my eyes lol you just made me think of it with your list.. I don't watch scary movies anymore I used to though... messes with my subconcious. I used to get nightmares and I just dont like that stuff anymore. I like suspence and paranormal though, like for example Dragonfly, In Dreams, Stigmata...stuff like that, but no freddy kreger, hrllraiser, exorcism of emily rose etc... , just not gruesome or demonic...

I am more of an x files or twilight zone type of girl. I dont have a list of my favs... . Back in the day I liked pet semetary

Forgive my typos Samsung Galaxy III

Yeah, I used to watch some really gruesome horror but have now come to appreciate the atmospheric craft and substance of the classic films.

Speaking of Cat People, that is a genre masterpiece. It has some of the finest suspense in the genre, especially the final 20 minutes. If you have an opportunity to see it, SEE IT!

I have expanded my list to 40 horror films as the thread was rather spontaneous and I did not write a list beforehand.

Brides Of Dracula (1960, Fisher)
Burn, Witch, Burn! (1962, Hayers)
City Of The Dead aka Horror Hotel (1960, Moxey)
Eyes Without A Face (1960, Franju)
The Phantom Carriage (1921, Sjöström)

[B Jenkins]

Ambush Bug, on 08 January 2013 - 09:15 PM, said:

The Red Masque Of Death (1964, Corman)

Correction: The Masque Of Red Death (1964, Corman)

[G Donnelly]

I now know why my list needs to be revised...
On top of all those there's Cabin Fever,the remaining Final Destination films,Braindead,The Faculty,Salems Lot,The Stand,It and the various Romero zombie films.
Oh and Shaun Of The Dead.
As you can imagine I'm a big fan of body horror as opposed to just straight out slasher flicks.
The only reason I mentioned Texas Chainsaw Massacre was because at the time it was revolutionary.
But the slasher formula gets boring over  time when you the last know survivor will be the virgin.
However that's not exactly what happens in the Scream series...
I like films that are original and take me out of my comfort zone.

Edited by Medium Brown, 09 January 2013 - 08:02 AM.

[LucidElement]

I love horror movies, all i usually watch.. In no particular order..

Insidious
Paranormal Activity (1)
1408 (Not a horror but a good thriller) LOVEE MOVIES WITH TWIST ENDINGS
Sixth Sense (Just overall creepy and dark)
The Fourth Kind
Exorcist
The Shining
Hills Have Eyes (Not scary, just soo  messed up)
Silent Hill (First time i saw it, was  pretty trippy)
The Ring (First time i saw it)
Devils Rejects (So messed up, so good)
Funny Games
The Strangers
Orphanage
Devil (not scary, but i liked it, good twist)
Woman in Black
The Orphan

There are sooooo many I've Seen I just cant remember anything right now lol. its to late

[B Jenkins]

Medium Brown, on 09 January 2013 - 07:59 AM, said:

I now know why my list needs to be revised...
On top of all those there's Cabin Fever,the remaining Final Destination films,Braindead,The Faculty,Salems Lot,The Stand,It and the various Romero zombie films.
Oh and Shaun Of The Dead.
As you can imagine I'm a big fan of body horror as opposed to just straight out slasher flicks.
The only reason I mentioned Texas Chainsaw Massacre was because at the time it was revolutionary.
But the slasher formula gets boring over  time when you the last know survivor will be the virgin.
However that's not exactly what happens in the Scream series...
I like films that are original and take me out of my comfort zone.

The slasher formula rarely steps outside the bounds and rules established by Halloween.

TCM was quite revolutionary for its time. It is grungy and low budget, shot on grainy film, that gave it a home video feel. I remember the first time I seen the film in my adolescence, it left an impression on me but when I seen it again much latter in adulthood... I felt the movie lost much of intensity and hasn't aged too well. The second half of the film gets silly, the performances and the dialogue are over-the-top jarred me out of mood the first half had set.

[regi]

Ambush Bug, I'm stunned Psycho didn't make your list! In fact, no Hitchcock made your list!
Stunning!

I think Psycho did what had never been done before, and that's kill off the main character- indeed the sole focus, early on.
I don't remember that happening any other movie.
I think it's a smart movie for a lot of reasons, and it's probably my favorite.

Second, I'd say Rosemary's Baby (1968), directed by Roman Polanski. (My favorite part is when she (Mia Farrow) screams "M  a  n  i  a  c  s!") She was really good in that one.
There's another one where I was impressed with Farrow's acting, See No Evil (1971) which I've seen only once, but I sure haven't forgotten it.
Farrow's character is blind and she's staying at a country estate, and there's a good portion of time where she's wandering through the house doing this and that and all the while, her aunt, uncle and cousin are in various places throughout the house where they were murdered, and she has no idea they've been murdered, and so she's walking back and forth past them!
Ultra creepy!

I don't remember most of the movie, but Experiment in Terror (1971) made a lasting impression with me with a mannequin scene- dozens of mannequins suspended from the ceiling...at night...killer possibly hiding among them. Very creepy. (I don't want to give away the actual kicker of that scene...)

When A Stranger Calls (1979) offered probably the single scariest moment I've ever had watching a scary movie... when there's the realization that the calls are coming from inside the house! Major chills!


Thinking about this, I realize it's been a decade since I've seen anything scary/horror I liked. (The Ring, 2002)

Edited by regi, 09 January 2013 - 01:03 PM.

[joc]

Hilander, on 08 January 2013 - 08:38 PM, said:

I love horror movies.  There are several that I liked including the ones you mentioned but I would add 'The Thing' to that list.  Both the old and remake.

I was also going to say The Thing/original with Kurt Russell (I actually had nightmares over that, when he touches the blood with a hot paperclip, in my nightmare the thing exploded into saw blades everywhere)....and....omg....HellRaiser...omg....HellRaiser...omg...

[B Jenkins]

regi, on 09 January 2013 - 01:00 PM, said:

Ambush Bug, I'm stunned Psycho didn't make your list! In fact, no Hitchcock made your list!
Stunning!

I think Psycho did what had never been done before, and that's kill off the main character- indeed the sole focus, early on.
I don't remember that happening any other movie.
I think it's a smart movie for a lot of reasons, and it's probably my favorite.

Second, I'd say Rosemary's Baby (1968), directed by Roman Polanski. (My favorite part is when she (Mia Farrow) screams "M  a  n  i  a  c  s!") She was really good in that one.
There's another one where I was impressed with Farrow's acting, See No Evil (1971) which I've seen only once, but I sure haven't forgotten it.
Farrow's character is blind and she's staying at a country estate, and there's a good portion of time where she's wandering through the house doing this and that and all the while, her aunt, uncle and cousin are in various places throughout the house where they were murdered, and she has no idea they've been murdered, and so she's walking back and forth past them!
Ultra creepy!

I don't remember most of the movie, but Experiment in Terror (1971) made a lasting impression with me with a mannequin scene- dozens of mannequins suspended from the ceiling...at night...killer possibly hiding among them. Very creepy. (I don't want to give away the actual kicker of that scene...)

When A Stranger Calls (1979) offered probably the single scariest moment I've ever had watching a scary movie... when there's the realization that the calls are coming from inside the house! Major chills!


Thinking about this, I realize it's been a decade since I've seen anything scary/horror I liked. (The Ring, 2002)

I almost included Psycho in my first list of top 20 or so but discarded and never picked it back up. I prefer Michael Powell's Peeping Tom. Psycho definitely deserves mentions. And Rosemary's Baby too. Both are standout quality made films.

But my love for these two films simply aren't what they used to be. I actually prefer Polanski's The Tenant (which I had forgotten to post in the "suggest bizarre films" thread).

I do not like the slasher genre but here is my top 5 favorite slashers:

1. Halloween (1978)
2. Stagefright (1987)
3. Just Before Dawn (1981)
4. Alone In The Dark (1982)
5. Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)

This serves a dual purpose as here is some awesome Simon Boswell tracks from Stagefright:




Posting up favorite horror movie scores are welcome in this thread too.

[B Jenkins]