Like most people, I catalogue my film views with Letterboxd and as Halloween is just around the corner I thought I would bring you my Top 10 Horror Movies.
There are some surprises in the list, as some of the movies I wouldn’t say are horror, but as they are listed in the genre they are in the list. According to the movies I’ve added I’ve seen 270 movies in the Horror genre, I swear I’ve seen more than that!
The classic monster movie that is still great to watch in this day and age of over the top CGI, a film crew goes to a tropical island for an exotic location shoot and discovers a colossal ape who takes a shine to their female blonde star. He is then captured and brought back to New York City for public exhibition.
This 1933 classic stars Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Bruce Cabot and is directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack.
For me, this is still a terrifying movie, those scenes with the twins in the hallway still freak me out today! A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where a sinister presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from both past and future.
The sheer effect of the Overlook Hotel in this 1980 classic horror is probably one the places that are on the top of my “must visit film locations” list.
Directed by Stanley Kubrick and based upon Stephen King’s chilling novel, the film stars Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd.
It the movie that introduced us to the “Graboids”, those massive underground worms that have a taster for almost anything, this 1990 cult classic stars Fred Ward and Kevin Bacon as they try to survive and save a small isolated town against strange underground creatures which are killing them one by one.
The movie has since spawned many sequels and its beloved character Burt Gummer (Michael Goss) has carried through torch throughout the movies.
John Carpenters superb Sci-Fi horror inspired by The Thing from Another World is a masterpiece of modern-day horror, the film is renowned for its superb physical effects that bring the story that sees a research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.
Starring Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley and Keith David The Thing still stands the test of time it even had a slightly less popular prequel called The Thing!, which did work nicely with certain scenes from Carpenter’s film.
In a poor Estonian village, a group of peasants use magic and folk remedies to survive the winter, and a young woman tries to get a young man to love her.
Directed by Rainer Sarnet and starring Rea Lest, Jörgen Liik, Arvo Kukumägi
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
It’s the zombie film that brought us the talents of it’s director George A. Romero, this 1968 black and white classic is still a great movie to watch on a dark Halloween night as a group of people try to survive an attack of bloodthirsty zombies while trapped in a rural Pennsylvania farmhouse.
The movie went on to have several sequels, many directed by George A. Romero and this original even had a colourised release, but I’d steer clear of that one if I were you, it takes away the cinematic style of Night of the Living Dead.
The 80s horror classic that even now sends chills down the spine of those that watch it, Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) brought us a movie that not only has some great physical effects for the time it was made but also has an unnerving story behind the making of the film and the sad passing of its child star Heather O’Rourke at the age of 12.
Steve Freeling lives with his wife, Diane, and their three children, Dana, Robbie, and Carol Anne, in Southern California where he sells houses for the company that built the neighborhood. It starts with just a few odd occurrences, such as broken dishes and furniture moving around by itself. However, when he realizes that something truly evil haunts his home, Steve calls in a team of parapsychologists led by Dr. Lesh to help before it’s too late.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962)
Now I wasn’t sure if this would be a horror, maybe more of a drama, but according to many of the film sites such as IMDB and LetterBoxd it is classed as a drama, horror, thriller, so who am I to disagree, so here it is in my list.
This 1962 classic stars Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Victor Buono, directed by Robert Altman the film brings Henry Farrell’s novel to the screen and I love it, the story of two aging film actresses live as virtual recluses in an old Hollywood mansion. Jane Hudson, a successful child star, cares for her crippled sister Blanche, whose career in later years eclipsed that of Jane. Now the two live together, their relationship affected by simmering subconscious thoughts of mutual envy, hate and revenge.
If you’ve never seen it, go watch it.
Yes I know a little controversial on this one, I’ve chosen the 2017 version as I had so much fun seeing it on the big screen, I do love the version with Tim Curry from 1990 and although I prefer Curry as Pennywise, I think the 2017 version of IT has more of a shock factor when it came to bringing Stephen Kings awesome novel back to screens.
Set in the summer of 1989, a group of bullied kids band together to destroy a shape-shifting monster, which disguises itself as a clown and preys on the children of Derry, their small Maine town.
We had to wait until 2019 for It Chapter Two, but it was worth the wait to see the conclusion in IMAX.
Need Some More for Halloween?
I also asked some the team here at Blazing Minds what their favourite Horror movie is and this is their response.
Will Tomlinson-Roberts chose the original version of Hitchcock’s Psycho, while Monster Dugan went for the brilliant Halloween (1978) from John Carpenter, James King opted for the rather terrifying The Omen, Phil Woods chosen his favourite as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Gemma Paul went with Wes Craven’s Scream and David J Howe went for Suspiria the original and not the remake.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
