Best Horror Movies of All Time

Clint_L

Legend
I think that there is a real difference between horror as a genre and, um, the terror of your fellow humans realistically portrayed.

There are some movies (such as The Road) that are great movies, and that are worth watching, and yet ... I don't need to return to.
I've never seen the film because the novel already scarred me. I have a son.
 

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Clint_L

Legend
Misery is another puzzler, since the Horror of it is really more in the mind. No doubt being kidnapped and hobbled is scarier than hell, but there are no supernatural elements, no one defies death, nor do any other Horror tropes make an appearance. Drama or Horror? I don't really care, and it makes a good discussion (which I enjoy because I've learned a lot from this thread alone!), but I could definitely see where anyone might choose one or the other (Drama or Horror). In the book, the hobbling is a bit more severe, taking it from a creepy drama about the dark side of fame directly into Horror territory. And, IIRC (and I may well be wrong, sorry), ol' Annie, our nummmmmberrr whan fannnn, takes a few to the chest and keeps on ticking.

Book=Horror, no doubt; movie=???

To be fair to other posters, without the gore, Carrie would have been sci-fi. Without the gore and stalking, I Spit on Your Grave would have been a Drama instead of a revenge flick. Sorry, I love horror and even run a blog on stuff just like this, so I'm enjoying the conversation. I apologize if I hijacked it or got OT.
Horror does not require a supernatural element, at all, and for my money Misery is 100% horror. It's not a thriller - it's not about the pursuit of the killer, for example (c.f. Silence of the Lambs). A psychotic fan capturing and torturing her favourite author to force him to write the book she wants...that's a brilliant horror premise, and in being told mainly from the perspective of the terrified, all but helpless victim, has a classic horror construction.

I really don't understand labeling a film based as horror or not because it might have sci-elements, or western elements, or whatever. Is a principal aim of the film to scare or horrify you? Alien is unquestionably a horror film, as is A Quiet Place. Carrie doesn't need the gore to be horror, it's horror because of the plot. Its principal aim isn't to explore the implications of telekinesis (which might have made it soft sci-fi) but to explore the horrifying consequences of Carrie's trauma on everyone around her. The telekinesis is just there to give her a means to externalize her hurt. The blood adds shock value, true, which is one element of horror, but the principle horror of Carrie's existence is set out in the opening scene of both book and film, and it's not about telekinesis, it's about being relentlessly bullied at school and at home (also, the initial body horror of menstruation, particularly for a sheltered girl who doesn't understand what is happening, is a brilliant cold open from King that establishes the theme right up front).

A film is horror if its principal aim is to scare, repulse, unsettle you. To horrify you. That can be combined with other genre, so you can have horror set in outer space, or the old west, or on a ship, etc. but if it is primarily designed to provoke fear, then it's horror. Horror is a product of story structure, not setting.

Some blended films can be harder to categorize, since they are appealing to very different audience responses. Ghostbusters is not a horror film, despite being built around a supernatural premise; when you break down the story beats, it is clearly a buddy comedy. Similarly, Ghost might have a supernatural premise, but it is obviously a romance, not horror. Evil Dead 2 is horror, though often a very funny one, but Army of Darkness is fantasy.
 

There's also nothing supernatural about The Human Centipede, or The Phantom of the Opera.

Also, it occurs to me that Phantom of the Opera shares Misery's kidnapped-by-a-deranged-fan premise. Although in Phantom's case it's only at the climax and the musical grratly diminishes it from what it was in the book.

EDIT:
And while Human Centipede does have mad science, it's mad science that's well within the realm of possibility

EDIT:
Also nothing supernatural in Psycho or (IIRC) Texas Chainsaw Massacre

EDIT:
And I don't think anything supernatural happens in The Driller Killer or Bloody Pit of Horror
 
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Snarf Zagyg

Notorious Liquefactionist
Supporter
I've never seen the film because the novel already scarred me. I have a son.

This is something to always remember.

No matter how good (or bad) something is, everyone has their own particular lives and experiences that influence their subjective opinions of it.

I am reminded of that because, for example, I am very cautious when it comes to recommending Covenant's Land fantasy series. It is great fantasy, but ... because of the opening (and if you've read it, you know what I'm talking about) is a series that absolutely doesn't work for some people and will not work for them.
 

Bedrockgames

I post in the voice of Christopher Walken
I really don't understand labeling a film based as horror or not because it might have sci-elements, or western elements, or whatever. Is a principal aim of the film to scare or horrify you? Alien is unquestionably a horror film, as is A Quiet Place. Carrie doesn't need the gore to be horror, it's horror because of the plot. Its principal aim isn't to explore the implications of telekinesis (which might have made it soft sci-fi) but to explore the horrifying consequences of Carrie's trauma on everyone around her. The telekinesis is just there to give her a means to externalize her hurt. The blood adds shock value, true, which is one element of horror, but the principle horror of Carrie's existence is set out in the opening scene of both book and film, and it's not about telekinesis, it's about being relentlessly bullied at school and at home (also, the initial body horror of menstruation, particularly for a sheltered girl who doesn't understand what is happening, is a brilliant cold open from King that establishes the theme right up front).

Carrie is definitely a horror movie. Everything about how it is filmed and presented, even if you take out that final scene, makes it a horror movie.The scenes with the mother alone feel more at home in a horror movie than science fiction.

Also there is a lot of cross-over with sci-fi and horror (probably why lots of video store sections used to group them under sci-fi/horror). Movies and books can be both. We don't have to limit each to one category. Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is both science fiction and horror. Lots of 'weird tales' are both. The 80s had tons of horror comedies which had foot firmly in each genre (with some movies leaning more in one direction or the other). They aren't mutually exclusive. In fact having other elements like comedy can make horror more disturbing sometimes (personally I think one of the reasons why Evil Dead II is so scary is the comedy makes it feel more unsettling, like you are in the hands of a director who is a deranged psychopath)

A film is horror if its principal aim is to scare, repulse, unsettle you. To horrify you. That can be combined with other genre, so you can have horror set in outer space, or the old west, or on a ship, etc. but if it is primarily designed to provoke fear, then it's horror. Horror is a product of story structure, not setting.

This is a good point. Horror can also be very subtle and doesn't just mean a jump scare. Gothic horror is often this way, where it is a slow build to some disturbing realization. A lot of classic horror movies are more subtle in their approach (at least by the standards of the 70s onward).
 




payn

I don't believe in the no-win scenario
Shop Smart.

Shop S-Mart.
evil dead horror GIF
 

Clint_L

Legend
Naming choices in horror movies and shows are always interesting. I think my favorite remains Bert and Ernie from Return of the Living Dead
I love that film. I was in a punk band in high school, and we felt like it was made for us. Of course, we were idiots, but then so were the punks in the film. A perfect fit! Also, the soundtrack is top notch.

And tar man is an absolutely great horror effect.

Braaaains!

Send more paramedics...
 

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