Best Horror Movies of All Time

[Guest 85555]

The epistolatory novel was a very common format at the time Dracula was written, it was more standard practice than stylistic choice.

Also just wanted to say I am really enjoying the points you are making even if I am not always on the same page.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Also just wanted to say I am really enjoying the points you are making even if I am not always on the same page.

I would try and think of some more, but it’s a long time since I read it.

Apart from the bit where Harker first meets Dracula, I have a comprehension on that I’ve used a lot.

 

[Guest 85555]

I would try and think of some more, but it’s a long time since I read it.

Apart from the bit where Harker first meets Dracula, I have a comprehension on that I’ve used a lot.

I have been meaning to read it again this year. I re-read Frankenstein last spring and reminded me why I fell in love with the genre in the first place

 

[jdrakeh]

A very influential movie that inspired later slasher movies such as Hallowen. I think I saw it for the first time a year or two ago.

Indeed. Most people erroneously cite Halloween as the first slasher film, but there is a rich history of slashers (e.g. Black Christmas, A Bay of Blood, Blood & Black Lace, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, etc) that predate Halloween. Indeed, A Bay of Blood directly influenced Friday the 13th. This isn't to downplay the contributions of Halloween and Friday the 13th to the genre, only to say that they stood on the shoulders of giants.

 

[Greg K]

Those scenes definitely provoked a stronger reaction in me after I had a bunch for MRIs, CAT scans and surgeries. The equipment and methods may be a little more old fashioned (which I think makes it a bit more scary), but I think Friedkin's background as a documentary film maker enabled him to make the sequences feel so real

I just learned that in the medical scenes they used some actual medical professionals.

 

[Greg K]

This is not so much a response to your post but I response to the idea that the exorcist depends on personal belief to be scary.I hear this a lot with the exorcist, but I don't know that it is so true. You don't have to believe in vampires or come from a culture where vampires exist to find them scary (just like I found horror movies grounded in Buddhist concepts, non-theistic ideas and folk beliefs outside my own scary if well executed---as any scary horror movie needs to be). I showed my wife the Exorcist, and she was raised Buddhist in a Buddhist country. She found it terrifying. I am not saying everyone will find The Exorcist scary. That is a very subjective thing. What scares me might not scare you.

Agreed. a few of the people that I saw have strong reactions were from Asian countries. However, I also saw people jump or recoil at several scenes including a certain crucifix scene and when Regan's head turned all the way around.

 

[Greg K]

I find a lot of those horror movies that use Catholicism as its underpinnings hit harder amongst those who were raised Catholic.

Yet, I have seen many non-Catholics get hit hard by several scenes in the Exorcist and some, like witnessed by @Bedrockgames , were from Asian countries and not Catholic or even Christian.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I just learned that in the medical scenes they used some actual medical professionals.

I mean, when it comes to medical scenes and horror, I am immediately thinking of Cronenberg's Dead Ringers. Not sure I can fully classify that as a horror movie. But it certainly packs a wallop.

Huh, I realized I didn't include any Cronenberg films on my top 10, which is interesting because I did a ranking for him before!

Get Ur Body Horror: Cronenberg Films Ranked

June of 2022 will forever be linked with one thing- that's right, the release of David Cronenberg's new movie .... Crimes of the Future! And I am super excited for it. In order to get properly in the mood, I am suggesting that everyone, everywhere, watch a few of the Cronenberg classics. So...

www.enworld.org

So, I would say that from the Tier 3 (the classic "horror") I would probably choose The Brood.

And from the Top 5?
eXistenZ (1999). Not a horror movie.
Naked Lunch (1991). Not a horror movie.
Dead Ringers (1988). Horror enough.
Videodrome (1983). Oof.... kinda sorta?
Crash (1996). Uh......

 

[The Soloist]

...

 

[TiQuinn]

Indeed. Most people erroneously cite Halloween as the first slasher film, but there is a rich history of slashers (e.g. Black Christmas, A Bay of Blood, Blood & Black Lace, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, etc) that predate Halloween. Indeed, A Bay of Blood directly influenced Friday the 13th. This isn't to downplay the contributions of Halloween and Friday the 13th to the genre, only to say that they stood on the shoulders of giants.

I watched Blood and Black Lace for the first time earlier this year, and that was a fantastic slasher movie.