Best Horror Movies of All Time

[Bohandas]

Is that horror? Isn’t it usually classed as supernatural drama? It doesn’t seem to particularly want to scare the audience.

It is a ghost story. That falls under the umbrella of horror.

 

[MGibster]

Is that horror? Isn’t it usually classed as supernatural drama? It doesn’t seem to particularly want to scare the audience.

Eh, there's a scene where a teenage kid encourages Cole to come check out his dad's gun and when he turns to walk away we see a rather gruesome gunshot wound, there's the scene where some kids lock Cole in a small closet where he violently strugges as we hear a ghostly voice say it can't breathe, there's another scene at school where Cole looks up and sees a bunch of children hanging by their necks from the rafters, then there's the ghost with the slashed wrist screaming at him in the kitche. The Sixth Sense isn't the scariest or bloodiest horror movie, but it's a horror movie.

 

[Deset Gled]

The Sixth Sense isn't the scariest or bloodiest horror movie, but it's a horror movie.

I'm absolutely loving the way this thread has come full circle, a full two years later. I'm inspired to make a sequel thread. Expect The Best Horror Movie Franchises to come in a day or two.

I could argue either way whether The Sixth Sense is a horror movie or thriller (or if there's any distinction between the two). But the bottom line is that you need to stop putting it on lists of "Best Horror Movies" because it simply isn't that scary. I'll give you that it's pretty good; it's entertaining and well made. But it would struggle to get on my list of Top 100 Scary Movies of All Time.

Sure, The Sixth Sense can be listed as horror. But I'm also gonna list it as "mid", as the kids say. An interesting and notable movie, but not Shyamalan's best (Invincible) nor his worst (Avatar? One of his many nepo-baby projects?).

 

[VashVet]

I don’t think you can judge whether something is a horror movie by whether it’s scary or gory enough simply because people’s tolerances will differ dramatically to make that standard unusable. Sixth Sense presented itself as a horror movie based on its mood, the supernatural elements, and the use of jump scares.

 

[Golden age Superhero]

I don’t think you can judge whether something is a horror movie by whether it’s scary or gory enough simply because people’s tolerances will differ dramatically to make that standard unusable. Sixth Sense presented itself as a horror movie based on its mood, the supernatural elements, and the use of jump scares.

Scared the naughty word out of me.

 

[Greg K]

I think the Blair Witch opinion largely depends on WHEN you watched the movie. Like if you watched it in the full on craze of 1999/2000 when people thought it was a real documentary your opinion would swing. That's my interpretation of it at least, since I watched it then and it was a wild experience, similar to most other people I talk to.

I saw it back when it was initially released and did not think it was real nor did I like it. I found it boring despite appreciating how it was shot, but I also find The Shining boring despite also appreciating how it was shot so take that for what what it is worth.

edit: I just realized that I posted in a thread that has been necro'd.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

It is a ghost story. That falls under the umbrella of horror.

Really, no. Ghostbusters is a ghost story, Beetlejuice is a ghost story, A Christmas Carol is a ghost story. Not all ghost stories are horror, not all horror stories are supernatural.

Now, I did not find the Sixth Sense remotely scary, nor did I feel it was trying to be scary. But maybe that’s just me, I don’t scare easily (too much Doctor Who as a small child left me desensitised) so I may have missed stuff. But the horror genre is defined by trying to scare the audience. Anything else is is just window dressing.

 

[Bohandas]

Really, no. Ghostbusters is a ghost story, Beetlejuice is a ghost story, A Christmas Carol is a ghost story. Not all ghost stories are horror, not all horror stories are supernatural.

Now, I did not find the Sixth Sense remotely scary, nor did I feel it was trying to be scary. But maybe that’s just me, I don’t scare easily (too much Doctor Who as a small child left me desensitised) so I may have missed stuff. But the horror genre is defined by trying to scare the audience. Anything else is is just window dressing.

The old Universal Pictures monster movies are generally considered horror and they aren't scary either

 

[Golden age Superhero]

The old Universal Pictures monster movies are generally considered horror and they aren't scary either

Not by today's standards.

 

[MGibster]

Not by today's standards.

That's a good reason why you can't classify something as horror based on what we might individually find scary. A few years back I caught Friday the 13th Part III during a scene where Jason cuts off a biker's arm with a machete. All I could think of was how fake it looked but forty years ago I thought it was pretty scary. (Not that I really know what it would look like to cut someone's arm off with a machete.) Friday the 13th Part III is still a horror movie, right? Horror is designed to elicit fear or disgust in the audience which I can't help but think is what Steve Miner was going for when he directed Part III.

When it comes to genre, I take a big tent approach largely because discussions on what is or isn't a romance, horror, action, or some other genre are rarely interesting. I've had people tell me Alien isn't a horror movie while others have argued it isn't science fiction and I can't say any of those conversations have been particularly interesting. (Alien is obviously part of the magical girl sub genre. I will not be taking any questions on this.)