Top 10 Horror Movies

I have sort of a sordid past with the history of horror. Some of the movies that made their impressions on me at an early age were Dawn of the Dead, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Psycho, Jaws, and The Shining. Horror and I have had an on again-off again relationship for nearly my whole life, but just in the past few years, my love for it has been rekindled. I created this list once before, but it needed updating. I created it again, and I accidentally deleted it. They say three times a charm. Or that three times summons Blood Mary. Either way, I guess.

10. The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
The Cabin in the Woods is probably the wackiest horror movie I've ever seen. It's also probably the most original, and by original, I mean that it borrows from nearly every major horror movie of the '80s and '90s. How is that possible? I'm not sure, but whatever the formula was for creating this tongue-in-cheek gem, there should certainly be a lot more like it in the genre.

The Cabin in the Woods breaks out every cliche in the book, every trope we've ever seen in films like Hellraiser, An American Werewolf in London, The Strangers, The Grudge, Dawn of the Dead, Anaconda, and Jaws, throws it all in a blender alongside a government conspiracy and some age-old gods bent on human sacrifice, and then hits puree. The outcome sounds like it might be too busy, but it's stretched out well with tropey characters and excellent pacing. How might our lucky/unlucky survivors encounter all of the horrors listed above? The Cabin in the Woods finds a way to make it all happen, in all its vivid, bloody, chaotic detail. Pop this one in wherever you can find it and let the gory times roll.




9. Braid (2019)
Braid is the newest addition to the list, and it is probably the most artsy, brought directly from the mind of French-born writer/director Mitzi Peirone. The scene to the left is a good representation of the demented skills Peirone brings to the table, chock full of both vivid colors and neutral tones and its fair helping of bloody fun. The score is both sinister and sweet, all within the same composition, which is really a fair glimpse of what the film has to offer.

Three childhood friends reconvene due to poor decisions of their own making, which only resumes the role-playing game they adhered to as kids. As children, the game was fun and silly. As young adults, it turns twisted and sinister, ushering in a fever dream of make believe and isolation. Braid is likely one of the most original pieces of horror I've seen, told completely through the lens of a feminine perspective. Braid ushers in a double meaning to its bold title, one that encapsulates the girls' twisted, rotting bond, and the tactics it takes to keep the three of them together forever. It's a childhood game gone bad for Daphne, Petula, and Tilda, one in which the three of them will have a difficult time breaking character with.




8. Hell House LLC (2015)
Hell House LLC came in like a breath of fresh air to the found-footage sub-genre. It's an indie favorite, one that spawned a sequel, with a third in the works to complete the elaborate trilogy. Hell House LLC is a mockumentary, which meshes well the found-footage formula with a faux-documentary to bring the audience more details surrounding the sordid events at all the right times.

Alex, Sara, Mac, Tony, and Paul, collectively known as Hell House LLC, yearly create their own house of horrors around the greater New York City area for paying customers. A Faustian deal of sorts presently brings the troupe to the fictional upstate town of Abaddon, and more specifically, to the gutted, dilapidated Abaddon Hotel. But the old hotel is teeming with the specters of former guests, walking clown dummies, and demonic activity that lends itself to the demon that the town, and the hotel itself, is named for. Hell House LLC is floating around on Amazon Prime, and it's likely to not stick around much longer with the unlikely success of the hit indie franchise.




7. Starry Eyes (2014)
Starry Eyes shines  a spotlight  on Hollywood fame, the great lengths one might be willing to go in order to achieve it, and all the sacrifices made to get there. It's a metaphorical trip through the dark underbelly of LA, where actresses flail from one casting call to another while the production directors they're trying to impress prey upon them. Starry Eyes is a horrific glimpse of social commentary, something between Rosemary's Baby and  Neon Demon. Fame and fortune ultimately has its price, and this movie takes that concept to the nth degree.

Sarah Walker is an aspiring actress, supporting herself on her menial salary from a local fast food chain. When she answers a casting call, reading for a part in a horror movie called The Silver Scream, Sarah soon draws the attention of Astraeus Pictures. The production company gushes over her more self-deprecating tendencies, but she doesn't seem to mind. The stars beaming from her eyes slowly begin to blind her, and after an indecent encounter with the producer, Sarah begins to watch her life spiral out of control and into the hands of Astraeus. The pace is nice and the score is brimming with synths and '80s fervor, making for an exciting, original watch.



6. Darling (2015)
I liked Darling a lot on my first viewing, but on my second, I was floored. Writer/director Mickey Keating avoids repetition with his movies, and Darling stands out in his canon. Though it was definitely influenced by Polanski and Hitchcock, I also see shades of Kubrick, as the title character shares  similarities with Jack Torrance of The Shining fame. Much like Braid, Darling relies on a skeleton crew of actors, proving that sometimes, even with horror, less is more.

Less is also more with the monochrome direction. I can't imagine this story unfolding any other way. Darling is a quiet, mousy, mysterious caretaker for the oldest house in New York City, a mansion brimming with old ghost stories and an enigmatic locked door at the top of the stairs. The spirits resonating from inside the house begin to effect Darling, forcing her to see what's not there, to feel a paranoia that generates only from within herself, and to cast herself alongside the likes of the last caretaker who tended the old brownstone home. The old ghosts have their way with Darling, the catalyst being an upside crucifix she finds in her chest of drawers. Monochrome is creepy, especially in the case of Darling. The movie is stylish and unrelenting, the sample size of blood blanketed by a careful black and white lens.




5. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A Nightmare on Elm Street was one of my first horror movies, it's protagonist, Freddy Krueger, my first dream demon. The premise, inspired by a true story frighteningly enough, was terrifying; the time that we're safe and comfortable and at most vulnerable, we're hunted down by a scarred dream stalker with razor hands and a fedora. My cousin insisted I watch this one before I was even ready for a movie of its magnitude, and while it certainly inspired my sleepless night, I now appreciate her influence.

Freddy Krueger is an evil entity who stalks the dreams on the Elm Street teenagers, forcing them to pay for the sins of their parents. Elm Street offers insidious images of the walking, talking dead wrapped in body bags, razor fingers scraping against the pipes of a boiler room killing zone, and an ensemble of jump-roping children singing their alms to Freddy in a creepy dirge that stays with the viewer. While the sequels saw to a wise-cracking Freddy, the original was scary, with Freddy's chimes coming more in the form of death threats. Protagonist Nancy makes for a great final girl, resolved to going mono e mono with the dream demon after growing tired of his bloody onslaught.




4. The Shining (1980)
Another oldie but goody, The Shining is a horror movie brimming with isolation, hallucination, and a slow unraveling of the mind. The cinematography is creepy and desolate, the score is eerie, and the scalding image of the murdered Grady twins will stay with the viewer long after the credits have rolled. Though Stanley Kubrick's vision deviated from the original source material of the novel by Stephen King, I can't imagine the movie playing out any differently than it did. It's a haunting piece of vintage cinema, teeming with ghosts, isolation, and axes.

In a sense possessed by the spirit of Charles Grady, who murdered his family there ten years before, Jack Torrance undergoes a long, twisting decent into madness after he accepts the job of winter caretaker for the Overlook Hotel. He mingles with hotel guests and cryptic bartenders who aren't even there, and he seems to prefer their company to his wife, Wendy, and young son, Danny. He encounters empty halls filled with tidal waves of blood and the wrinkled old corpse of a woman in the ill-fated room 237. Jack Nicholson nails the part of Jack Torrance, lifting his name to stardom as a direct result. Stephen King disliked the portrayal, claiming that the Jack Torrance of novel had taken a slower, more tragic 180 turn for the worse. This would have been a nice touch for the film version, but Kubrick clearly knew what he was doing with this 1980 disasterpiece that goes down as one of the best of all time.





3. As Above, So Below (2014)
Part Indiana Jones, part Dante's "Inferno," As Above, So Below treads new territory in the grander scheme of a found-footage flick. The idea is likely more scary than the actual movie; brilliant archaeologist Scarlett and her band of guides are on the hunt underneath Paris' infamous catacombs for a relic with healing powers and a tendency to grant eternal life.

There are definitely references to the works of Dante, the Knights Templar, and the literal hellish, claustrophobic network of crawlspaces and caves beneath the catacombs; the entrance to Hell itself, where the only way out is down. In actuality, more than one person has gotten lost in the catacombs, a winding labyrinth of human remains, which makes the atmosphere is this one slightly reminiscent of The Descent (another fantastic horror movie that just missed this list). As Above, So Below is currently showing on the Starz network, and is currently streaming on Netflix. If you love high adventure, tight spaces, and frightening visions of Hell where the past catches up to all involved, then pull the trigger on this one of a kind flick.




2. Scream (1996)
Scream is considered a hit, and a cult classic all within the same breath. It's also probably the only movie in which you'll see Drew Barrymore die within the first 20 minutes. While a masked slasher with a knife hunting down teens in a small town seems far from original, Scream finds a way to bring new life to the premise. Like The Cabin in the Woods, it spends much of its time poking holes through overdone genre tropes, while its characters ironically fall into the same traps they're scoffing at.

Scream follows Sidney Prescott, whose mother was raped and murdered the year before the events of the story take place. The killer has just been exonerated and released from prison, forcing Sidney to question all she's ever known. This is about the time she starts receiving cryptic phone calls from a guy obsessed with scary movies. She is soon stalked by said guy, and her friends start dropping like flies in this whodunit-slasher with just as many laughs as dead bodies. Scream has a great sense of humor, penned by Kevin Williamson (the Scream sequels, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Following), and directed by A Nightmare on Elm Street guru, Wes Craven. The sequels didn't have quite the same punch as the original, which is one of the greatest ever made in my humble opinion.




1. Insidious (2011)
Insidious is probably the scariest movie I've ever seen. It incorporates all the elements that frighten me the most; demons, the ghosts of eerie, face-shifting twins, teen, Lizzie Borden-like family murderers from the 1950s, and old, wrinkly women in funeral garb. It takes all these things to make Insidious what it is, giving the audience multiple haunts to fear. It was the first movie to put horror maestro James Wan on the map, and with good reason.

Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) are parents on the move to a new house. Their young son, Dalton, has a tendency for sleepwalking, and one fateful night, he unknowingly wanders into the Further - a dark, spooky place filled with demons and disjointed souls. Josh passed this trait onto Dalton, as he faced his own terrors as a child in the form of funeral attire-wearing wraith. With the help of Elise, who went on to star in the other three sequels, Josh gets to the bottom of the problem and willingly goes into the Further in order to deliver the comatose Dalton from it. Insidious, much like the rest of its franchise, and all the other James Wan offerings (The Conjuring, Annabelle), gives us several different entities to fear, which is what makes this so fun, and so terrifying.