Top Ten Horror Films

I am gearing up for my favourite holiday – Hallowe’en! Unfortunately I will be in school for the better part of the night so I won’t be able to hand out candies to the little ones. But there will be a wicked shindig at Duncan’s (aka my old homestead with me going as a zombie!).

In no particular order, my Top 10 list of horror films to whet your appetite. I shall try and group them into what genre they are in because there are clearly some different genres of horror. For example, slasher horror (where there is a main villain and all he does is kill people), or science fiction horror (where they are battling some evil-doer…usually in space!).

The Shining – My parents picked this up for me as a Christmas gift. I had never even heard of it and we watched it on Christmas morning. Good lord. Those twin girls drove me nuts. REDRUM! Category: Psychological Horror.

28 Days Later – The world, or at least the UK is overcome by a rage virus which makes people into zombie like creatures who just run around maniacally and feed on the living. I personally love this film and it’s probably in my Top 3. I just the dichotomy between the first half of the film being about the crazy zombies, but then the other half being about the crazy survivors of the virus. Very cool. I also enjoyed the fact that the zombies aren’t really zombies and they are super-hyperactive and can move like the wind. That scares the bejeezus out of me. Category: Newage Zombie Horror.

Hallowe’en – The king of the king! Hallowe’en is always underated compared to Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th, but Michael Myers has a place in my heart. I love the lumbering figure coming across the street with a William Shatner mask and a knife. It’s my favourite slasher flick of all…and the Rob Zombie remake was decent, although I must admit I don’t need to know every little detail about the childhood of some crazed killer. I want to know as little as possible! Category: Slasher horror.

House of 1000 Corpses – Rob Zombie’s first film was a doozy. It nabbed the feel of the old school slasher flicks and it nabbed it well. Pulling from ideas from Texas Chainsaw Massacre and a little sci-fi horror, the film is an excellent addition to the new-age horror genre. PLUS you get to see some excellent death sequences! Category: New-age Slasher Horror.

Evil Dead – I really don’t know what I can say about this film that hasn’t already been said on this site. Bruce Campbell is the king and Sam Raimi ain’t too shabby himself. I have a fear of the woods at night and it is common knowledge that I would be in college trying to watch this film at night and have to turn it off 20 minutes into it because it was so creepy! I would watch the film over the entire week because I couldn’t handle it alone in my room. Yes, I am a baby. If you like a film revolving around some college kids going to a cabin in the woods where a supernatural force takes over the living and then Bruce Campbell has to kick some ass…this is the film for you. Honourable Mention goes to Evil Dead II (which, was essentially a remake of the first one) and Army of Darkness (which basically drove the series into slapstick comeday whereas the first one is straight out horror). Category: Supernatural Horror.

Event Horizon – I still remember the first time watching this and freaking out. This was an intense movie and it really messed with your head with the dark imagery and the blackness of space. Morpheus (aka Lawrence Fishburne) appears in this sci-fi horror film where the crew is on the search for a ship called the Event Horizon. Only, when they get there, they wish they hadn’t. Category: This one is all over the map – sci-fi, with some good psychological horror with it.

Aliens – Please note the pluralization of Alien. We’re talking about the sequel here which was the greatest Alien film there ever was. While I am not denouncing Alien considering it spearheaded the franchise and was pretty darn good on its own, the sequel was just as good. Sigourney Weaver battling some aliens in outer space who have acid for blood…what more can you ask for? Category: Sci-fi Horror.

Blair Witch Project – Ok, ok, you have me. This can’t be in the Top 10 list! It’s not really that great! Well, it is really great if you don’t know what the movie is about. I went to see it on my birthday years ago and had no idea what to expect. I was on the edge of my seat in fear for the entire film and it never let up. It had to do with the fact that it took part in the woods at night. Ack! That’s my kryptonite! Documenting a group’s search for the Blair Witch, they encounter horrors at every turn. Category: Psychological Horror.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: This is, and always will be one of the great films that bring the horror genre up in status. I don’t know what’s scarier – the chainsaw wielding maniac (Leatherface!!!) or his family. Both are equally creepy. I especially love the sequences where they are filming at night and you can’t really see what’s happening and all you hear is a chainsaw in the frame. Beautiful. I don’t know if that is on purpose or if it was because of the low budget times. Either way, it gave the film an eerie feel to it. Category: Slasher horror.

Friday the 13th Part 2 – Mmm…with some trepidation have I put this film on here instead of Part IV because I really can’t remember a lot about Part IV but I do remember it was great. I may have to update this list when I watch it again. Anyhow, this film has the introduction of Jason Voorhees in all his pillow-case toting glory. It has everything I love about the series – Camp Crystal Lake, gratuitious nudity, and some maniac running around killing people. What more can you ask for? Category: Slasher horror.

Haute Tension: Oh ho! The French invade the horror landscape with this truly awe-inspiring horror film! One may say it’s the best movie ever! Revolving around two college students coming home for a holiday only to find some random guy coming in to kill the family. It is brutal in every fashion and I honestly couldn’t handle my first viewing while at Katie’s cottage one year. I had to leave the room as it was freaking me out too much. But it has turned out to be one of my favourite horror films. I intend to branch out and watch a lot more foreign films, especially considering I heard the Japanese know how to make some good horror. Category: Slasher/Psychological Horror.