Best Horror Movie

#1 – The Ring

The concept of this movie is simple, and I have never received a phone call after I have finished watching it, but it still creeps me out. The first time I saw it, it was the night of a full moon. I went to bed with my wife, and woke up in the middle of the night. I rolled over to see my wife in the moonlight with her long black hair covering her face. I instantly thought of the last scene of the movie and nearly jumped out of bed. This movie is filled with creepy imagery that will last with you for the rest of your life. Just thinking about it will give me nightmares tonight. It still doesn’t mean that I don’t want to watch this masterpiece again. In fact, I might do that right now.

 

#2 – The Cabin in the Woods

This might not only be one of the best horror movies ever made, but it might be one of the most original movies ever created. I went to this movie not knowing much about it except for the fact that the critics really enjoyed it. If you have not seen this movie yet, I would recommend that you do the same thing. Don’t let anybody tell you the plot of it, and don’t let anybody ruin it for you. You will finish watching it and wonder what it was that you just saw. Can this movie even be classified as a horror movie, or is it a comedy, or is it science fiction, or did it just create a new genre that has never been seen before? It is because this movie can’t be defined that it deserves the position it gets on this countdown. I won’t give anything away about it, but you need to go see it.

#3 – Halloween

Now I know I have put a couple of the original versions of some great horror movies on this list, and have talked about how the original is better. But there are a couple of exceptions to the rule, and Rob Zombie’s exploration of Michael Myers would be one such case. The original movie told the story of a psycho killer who had escaped from a mental institution and went on a killing rampage before he was able to be stopped by his own psychiatrist. It has been considered a slasher classic for years, and how could some heavy metal shock rocker come out and dare to remake this movie. But Rob Zombie deserves props because he explores the creation of a psycho killer from an early age until the day he escapes from the mental institution. It adds so much to the story to know about Michael Myers’ past, making this the better version of the story and such a worthy position on the list.

#4 – The Evil Dead

Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s vision of a demonic world that inhabits ours, and created by a couple of film students who had never made a full-length feature before, the story behind Sam Rami’s The Evil Dead is almost as intriguing as the movie itself. It follows the story of five college students spending the weekend together in a spooky cabin out in the woods, but when they discover a book in the basement of the building, things turn dark. Even though it was filmed on a very small budget, it still has some of the most enduring images out of any horror movie that has ever been filmed. In fact, it spawned the idea of helpless kids being tormented in a place where they won’t be able to find any help. Even though they have tried to remake it recently, the original still remains a classic.

#5 – The Serpent and the Rainbow

It has been a long time since I have seen this movie, and it might not be as scary as I once thought it to be, but it has always been one of those movies that have stuck with me throughout the years. Especially now, with all of these stories being told about zombies, I always think about the truth behind these stories and where they originated from. The scene where Bill Pullman gets a needle poked into his pupil to see if he will flinch but he can’t because he has been incapacitated by the voodoo drug still haunts me to this day. It is truly a psychological thriller that will screw with your psyche for a very long time. You won’t want to think about it but the more you try to forget it the more you think about it. And the more you think about it, the more it frightens you.

#6 – 28 Days Later

Before this post-apocalyptic epic came out, zombies were slobbering, dullards that spent a long time shuffling down the road before they ever got close to their victim. Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland decided to change that image forever. If zombies were scary when they were slow, imagine what they would be like if they were fast. The terror jumped up twelve notches with this zombie epic. Afterwards, the imagery was redone by many other modern zombie classics, but this was the first one that disturbed us in this fashion. And like any other zombie movie, it turns out not to be the zombies that are the most dangerous thing out there.

#7 – Poltergeist

Like all remakes that Hollywood churns out, I was really angry that they would take a classic, and try to improve on it. I have refused to see any of these remakes unless something really convinces me that they have done a better job with the story, and that does not happen very often. Because of this, I present the original Poltergeist on this list. Never has the white fuzz on a television been so creepy, and the scariest part of this movie to this day is the clown doll. It didn’t help that my sister has one in her bedroom that looked exactly like the one in the movie. I had nightmares growing up that it would crawl down the hallway and choke me in my sleep. This is a great movie, and I hope someday Hollywood will realize that originality is better than trying to redo something that has already been done.

 

#8 – Psycho

I remember when I was young, my dad sat me down one night and had me watch this movie because he considered it the most terrifying thing he had ever seen. I had just spent a lot of time watching a bunch of slasher flicks such as Halloween and Friday the 13th, and I remember thinking that this movie was tame by comparison. Nothing jumped out at you, and even though the classic shower scene was interesting, I did not think much about the movie. But as I grew older, the psychotic personality of Norman Bates stayed with me, whereas I forgot about Michael and Jason. Alfred Hitchcock had created a masterpiece that would endure all time, and it is more about the ideas behind Norman’s façade rather than the violent actions that he participates in. People are still and always will be fascinated by this story because it is truly one of unique horror that might be in any one of us.

 

#9 – Scream

Not only does this movie have all of the classic slasher movie moments, it deconstructs these movies at the same time. It analyzes the archetypes from this genre in such a way that you can plug those moments into any horror movie and see how well they fit. From a literary standpoint, this is brilliant. It adds a certain amount of intelligence to a usually disrespected genre. Add to this, one of the most iconic beginnings of any horror movie and you have yourself a classic that will be enjoyed for many generations to come.

 

#10 – The Blair Witch Project

Many people would look at this movie today as just a bunch of stupid kids getting lost in the woods and doing everything you are not supposed to do when you are lost in the woods. For example, you shouldn’t throw away the map and you should always follow the river because it will more than likely lead you back to civilization. But what these people who critique this movie don’t understand is the brilliance of its marketing. It started out in small theaters, as an independent student film. It slowly allowed its popularity to grow, and because of the way it is filmed, many people started to believe that it was real. At the height of its popularity even after the actors appeared on various late night talk shows, people still wondered if they should wander into the New England forests because they might be the next victim of the Blair Witch. The fact that it got so many people to question its authenticity makes it a masterpiece. And the final image it leaves you with might be one of the creepiest ever seen in a movie.

As the sun start to dip further to the south, and the leaves start to fall off the trees, our thoughts start to turn to that scary time of year where monsters lurk behind every bush. A full moon hanging in the sky adds to the mood, and it just builds up our appetite for that holiday we celebrate at the end of the month. One of my favorite ways to enjoy Halloween is to sit alone in a dark room and turn on a good horror movie. I have a few that I have enjoyed over the years, but I am always on the lookout for the next best one, so this month, I am asking you to come up with your list of the best horror movies ever made. You can email me your list to jacollings44@gmail.com or just put in your favorite ones under the comment section of this website. I will compile all of the votes and put together a list early next month. If you are having a hard time deciding what your favorite horror movie is, start watching them again, and you might find a new favorite in the mix. Otherwise I look forward to hearing from you.