what are your top 5 horror movies?

[hiren43]

i'm looking forward to watch some of the best scariest movies. i just saw 'the conjuring' the best horror flick i found. those pop ups made me so scary as i listened with full voice. before that i had seen 'the descent', 'the ring', 'the grudge'. but nothing comes close to the conjuring.
so title says it all.

[dallywhitty]

1. The Evil Dead (1981)
2. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
3. Inferno (1980)
4. The Last House on the Left (1972)
5. Peeping Tom (1960)

[stvn1974]

John Carpenter's The Thing
Evil Dead (original)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (original)
Halloween (Original)
Evil Dead II

[chris_sc77]

1. Dawn of the Dead (original)
2. The Shining
3. Scream 2
4. The Thing (carpenter )
5. Rosemarys baby

[Foggy]

1) Evil Dead II
2) The Thing
3) The Shining
4) Aliens
5) An American Werewolf in London

[Woodsy]

Suspiria
John Carpenter's The Thing
Evil Dead II
Repulsion
Dawn of the Dead (1978)

[Astro Zombie]

01. Halloween (1978)
02. Psycho (1960)
03. The Shining (1980)
04. The Thing (1982)
05. Evil Dead II (1987)

[Braktastic]

1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
2. The Shining (1980)
3. The Thing (1982)
4. The Exorcist (1973)
5. Deep Red (1975)

[theprestige85]

I've always felt that the best horror films are the ones that used allegories and metaphors to reflect a particular aspect of society, or ones that subvert tropes. It's not a genre i'm big on, but theres a good few gems out there.

In no particular order:

1) The Fly (1986)

One of the best remakes of all time. Cronenberg took the original's simple story and reinterpreted it as a full horror with Cronenbergian themes of the frailty of the human body and sociological commentaries on the 80's AIDS/HIV epidemic and such. It's a tragic film that's not just about the breakdown of the body but also the mind too.

2) The Thing (1982)

Another excellent remake, this time by the great John Carpenter. This was another socially conscious film that reflected the fear and paranoia regarding the AIDS/HIV epidemic in the 80's, too. It's arguably Carpenters best film with some of the most visceral effects used in contemporary american cinema. The direction is taut, theres some good use of black comic humour and theres a very unsettling undercurrent of tension that would make Brian DePalma envious. I think as a genre mash up of science fiction AND horror, few can compete with this film

3) Scream (1996)

What is there to say about this classic 90's meta-horror? It's a film that never scared me as such but it's knowing and clever references were a game changer at a time where the horror genre seemed to have exhausted itself. It's also incredibly well written by a never better Kevin Williamson, who wrote it within 3 days, I believe. It's as smart as people say and incredibly witty and subversive.

4) The Birds (1963)

Caught this for the first time several month ago as I was working my way through Hitchcock's filmography on his Masterpiece blu ray set. I had heard bits and bobs about this but never seen it before. Then thing with older horror and science fiction films is that they date faster than, say, film noires and westerns of the classic Hollywood system. However, the bird attacks in this film felt more raw and real than any of the hacking and slashing i've seen from pure horror films in the last 10 years.

The main attraction to this film, however, isn't the impressive practical effects, as chilling and confronting as they are, but the melodramatic effects of these monstrous attacks. The distrust and competition between all the women in the film only lends to further deep discussions of the films many many themes, but it doesn't go as far as to hammer them down our throats. The town is disrupted by these peculiar attacks but theres no explanation for it. Theres no whys or hows, it's just absolute, pure. Serving as symbolic of the nihilistic overtones of the film and not feeling the need to baby you through it either.

It's arguably Hitchcock's most confident film and even better than Psycho, imo. A lot has been made of the many layers that this film operates on, and many are interesting and insightful. I just think it's true power is to make you as uncertain and uncomfortable as it's protagonists are. Theres no clear cut resolution and THAT'S ****ing scary to not resolve something that you can't decipher. Brilliant.

5) Ginger Snaps (2000)

What else is there left to say about this landmark Canadian horror that hasn't already been said? I know a lot of people aren't fans on this particular site, and I respectfully invite to them re watch it again when the blu ray comes out. It's not just film for women, I truly believe that it is a film for EVERYONE and very few contemporary films let alone horror films can rival it for sheer intelligence and emotional resonance.


So there we have it. My top 5 horror films of all time. At least for now.

[omenboy]

1. Halloween (1978)
2. Rosemary's Baby
3. The Omen
4. The Exorcist
5. The Sentinel (1977)

[Joeker]

1. Showgirls
2. Scream
3. Halloween
4. The Thing
5. Alien

[THS]

This will be tough.... (Alphabetical)

28 Days Later
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Halloween (1978)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
The Thing (1982)

[Villiam Hayes]

My top five:

The Evil Dead
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Poltergeist
The Exorcist
The Shining

[hiren43]

Originally Posted by THS

This will be tough.... (Alphabetical)

28 Days Later
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Halloween (1978)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
The Thing (1982)

i don't know why you people think 28 days later a scary movie?
i know you thought i'm talking about a great movie with that genre.
but i want the thrill and sudden pop ups i got from the movie conjuring.
zombie movies are not scary at all

[BluRayTim]

Originally Posted by Joeker

1. Showgirls
2. Scream
3. Halloween
4. The Thing
5. Alien

Showgirls isn't a horror movie, it's a drama movie.

[CHEЯNOБLY!]

Originally Posted by BluRayTim

Showgirls isn't a horror movie, it's a drama movie.

I think its called sarcasm.

[MovieFanatic2010]

Originally Posted by BluRayTim

Showgirls isn't a horror movie, it's a drama movie.

[Mystic]

Psycho (1960)
The Haunting (1962)
Phantasm (1979)
28 Days Later (2002)
Sinister (2013)

[jetjaguar4]

The Exorcist
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Halloween
Psycho
REC

[AKORIS]

these lists are impossible!! going thru the previous posts I get into things like "is JAWS' a horror film? Psycho? Alien?

that alone makes it confusing... thrillers and sci-fi films with horror elements...