Top 100 Horror Films

WHERE WE ARE NOW

I always find myself returning to the horror genre. It started with EC Comics. Then quickly evolved into a love for movies like Creepshow and The Thing. Soon I was constantly reading Fangoria and learning how Savini, Baker and Botin did makeup. I ate it all up.

Horror hasn't really been respected on the same level of drama. So it really leads to fans feeling even more passionate about this genre. It has the best merchandising, t-shirts and the coolest looking posters. Who can not think of the posters for Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Jaws when the genre is discussed? You're not going to see a convention centered around drama films or period pieces. I really try not to be bias toward one particular genre. A good drama has just as much credibility as a good horror movie. While as much as I love any other genre that has potential (drama, comedy, thriller), there is still a straight line that leads me back to the nostalgia of horror.

The Noughties saw the continuation of J horror from the late 90's, the so called "torture porn" of Saw and Hostel, the New Wave of Franch Extreme horror movies like Inside, Martyrs and High Tension, and studios doing what they do best- capitalizing on a successful movie through remakes and rehashed concepts. Rob Zombie proved he was not just a music video director. Neil Marshall took us from the Scottish highlands to claustrophobic caves. Danny Boyle gave the zombie genre the adrenaline shot it needed with 28 Days Later. All of this resulted in a decade stained crimson red.

Now modern horror currently is bombarding viewers with 50 films that are "From the producers of Paranormal Activity and Insidious" and . There is hope though. Lucky McKee and Ti West are proving that smart, drawn out horror still has a pulse.

It's a rough time to be a fan of any genre. So I culled together 100 examples of horror movies that work. For me, at least. Hopefully if you watch them they will work for you too.


THE BREAKDOWN

There's films from Britain, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Japan, South Korea and Mexico. Horror

They span the years from 1921 right on up to 2013.

Directors who have more than one film included are Carpenter (4), Romero (4), Argento (3), Cronenberg (3), Rob Zombie (2), Hitchcock (2), Fulci (2), Holland (2), Hooper (2), McKee (2), Tourneur (2).

All 100 of these fiendish films are well worth your time.

THE LIST

1. The Exorcist (1973, William Friedkin)

2. Psycho (1960, Alfred Hitchcock)

3. The Shining (1980, Stanley Kubrick)

4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991, Jonathan Demme)

5. The Thing (1982, John Carpenter)

6. Carrie (1976, Brian De Palma)

7. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, Tobe Hooper)

8. Alien (1979, Ridley Scott)

9. The Blair Witch Project (1999, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez)

10. An American Werewolf In London (1981, John Landis)

11. Rosemary's Baby (1968, Roman Polanski)

12. Jacob's Ladder (1990, Adrian Lyne)

13. Suspiria (1977, Dario Argento)

14. Night of the Living Dead (1968, George Romero)

15. Audition (1999, Takashi Miike)

16. Nosferatu (1922, F.W. Murnau)

17. The Devils Rejects (2005, Rob Zombie)

18. The Innocents (1961, Jack Clayton)
19. Possession (1981, Andrzej Zulawski)

20. Santa Sangre (1989, Alejandro Jodorowsky)

21. The Haunting (1963, Robert Wise)

22. A Nightmare On Elm Street 2 (1985, Jack Sholder)

23. Jaws (1975, Steven Spielberg)

24. Freaks (1932, Tod Browning)

25. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935, James Whale)

26. The Descent (2005, Neil Marshall)

27. The Fog (1980, John Carpenter)

28. Videodrome (1983, David Cronenberg)

29. Cannibal Holocaust (1980, Ruggero Deodato)

30. The Wicker Man (1973, Robin Hardy)

31. Halloween (1978, John Carpenter)

32. The Fly (1986, David Cronenberg)

33. Vampyr (1932, Carl Theodore Dreyer)

34. 28 Days Later (2002, Danny Boyle)

35. The Beyond (1981, Lucio Fulci)

36. Eyes Without A Face (1960, Georges Franju)

37. Hellraiser (1987, Clive Barker)

38. Henry: Portrait of A Serial Killer (1986, John McNaughton)

39. Let the Right One In (2008, Tomas Alfredson)

40. The Body Snatcher (1943, Robert Wise)
41. Creepshow (1982, George Romero)

42. May (2003, Lucky McKee)

43. The Changeling (1980, Peter Medak)

44. Haxan: Witchcraft For the Ages (1924, Benjamin Christensen)

45. The Evil Dead (1981, Sam Raimi)

46. Tenebre (1982, Dario Argento)

47. Who Can Kill A Child? (1976, Narciso Ibanez Serrador)

48. Carnival of Souls (1962, Herk Harvey)

49. The Birds (1963, Alfred Hitchcock)

50. House of the Devil (2009, Ti West)

51. Day of the Dead (1985, George Romero)

52. Pontypool (2009, Bruce McDonald)

53. Ginger Snaps (2000, John Fawcett)

54. Near Dark (1987, Katherine Bigelow)

55. Zombie (1979, Lucio Fulci)
56. The Babadook (2014, Jennifer Kent)

57. Frailty (2001, Bill Paxton)

58. The Host (2006, Bong Jon Ho)

59. The Entity (1982, Sidney J. Furie)

60. The Brood (1979, David Cronenberg)

61. Cat People (1942, Jacques Tourneur)

62. Dawn of the Dead (1978, George Romero)

63. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992, Francis Ford Coppola)

64. Poltergeist (1982, Tobe Hooper)

65. Lords of Salem (2013, Rob Zombie)

66. Ravenous (1999, Antonia Bird)

67. Re- Animator (1985, Stuart Gordon)

68. Noroi: The Curse (2005, Koji Shiraishi)

69. Martyrs (2008, Pascal Laugier)

70. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982, Tommy Lee Wallace)

71. Phantasm (1979, Don Coscarelli)

72. A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987, Chuck Russell)

73. The Gate (1987, Tibor Takacs)

74. Deep Red (1975, Dario Argento)

75. Hausu (1977, Nobuhiko Obayashi)

76. American Psycho (2000, Mary Harron)

77. Cemetery Man (1995, Michele Soavi)

78. The Omen (1976, Richard Donner)

79. The Phantom Carriage (1929, Victor Sjostrom)

80. Prince of Darkness (1987, John Carpenter)

81. Maniac (1980, William Lustig)

82. Night of the Creeps (1986, Fred Dekker)

83. The Cabin In the Woods (2012, Drew Godard)

84. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003, Kim Jee-woon)

85. The Black Cat (1934, Edgar G. Ullmer)

86. Tales From the Crypt (1972, Freddie Francis)

87. Bug (William Friedkin, 2005)

88. Village of the Damned (1963, Wolf Rilla)

89. Inside (2007, Alexandro Bustillo and Julien Maury)

90. Trick R' Treat (Michael Dougherty, 2008)

91. Fright Night (1985, Tom Holland)

92. The Mist (Frank Darabont, 2007)

93. Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981, Frank De Felitta)

94. The Lost Boys (1987, Joel Schumacher)

95. Child's Play (1988, Tom Holland)

96. God Told Me To (1976, Larry Cohen)

97. Night of the Demon (1957, Jacques Tourner)

98. The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988, Wes Craven)

99. The Woman (2011, Lucky McKee)

100. Exorcist III/Legion (1990, William Peter Blatty)

HONORABLE MENTION
The Monster Squad, Slither, I Walked With A Zombie, In the Mouth of Madness, Misery, Phenomena, The Conjuring, The Uninvited, You're Next, The Invisible Man, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, It (first half), The Blob (remake), City of the Living Dead, Return of the Living Dead, Candyman