Horror
In a few days, Halloween will be here and to celebrate the coming of All Hallow’s Eve I thought I would look at the impressive collection of horror films that have come out of cinema in the past hundred years. The horror genre is built on a single premise: supernatural fear. The horror genre originated in the twenties, but it was something else entirely back in the twenties when it started as the monster movie. There were a lot of great films made during this time, and many of them are still considered classics today. There are a number of tropes in the horror genre, but chief among them is that the killer is basically immortal. It may not seem that way, and often it isn’t, but somehow, even if the killer seems to die, the killer always seems to return for another film. The unwillingness of films to let the great killers die has caused a slight decline in some of the films, but new and fresher films have breathed fresh air into the genre.
There are a lot of different horror films, but they can mostly be narrowed into four different subgenres. The original horror type is the monster movie, these films are characteristic in that they tend to focus on one (maybe two) creatures who are either misunderstood or have murderous tendencies beyond their control. Another well-known horror film is the slasher film, the most significant aspect of this film is the body count. The film tends to focus on a killer, most often of supernatural ability, who has been driven insane and kills for little or no reason. The third type of horror film is paranormal horror, these films have some sort of otherworldly aspect and usually revolve around a haunting or a possession with ghosts playing a major role. Lastly, the most recent genre, apocalyptic horror, these films are defined by the overwhelming aspect of the horror and most tend to focus on zombies or similar creatures overrunning the human population and prompting a fight for survival. I have intentionally left torture porn out of this genre, because while it has it’s place in cinema, it lacks the supernatural element of most horror films.
I have selected my all-time favorite horror films, though many could easily be added to this list. I have chosen the top 25, but it there are others I missed or that should be added, feel free to let me know.
- Frankenstein (1931) – Monster
- The Shining (1980) – Paranormal
- Rosemary’s Baby (1968) – Paranormal
- Dracula (1931) – Monster
- Halloween (1978) – Slasher
- Carrie (1976) – Paranormal
- Poltergeist (1982) – Paranormal
- Night of the Living Dead (1968) – Apocalyptic
- Let the Right One In (2008) – Monster
- The Thing (1982) – Monster
- The Wolfman (1941) – Monster
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) – Slasher
- 28 Days Later (2002) – Apocalyptic
- The Exorcist (1973) – Paranormal
- The Cabin in the Woods (2012) – Apocalyptic
- The Evil Dead (1981) – Paranormal
- The Blair Witch Project (1999) – Paranormal
- Get Out (2017) – Paranormal
- The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – Monster
- Paranormal Activity (2007) – Paranormal
- Friday the 13th (1980) – Slasher
- Nosferatu (1922) – Monster
- The Witch (2015) – Paranormal
- The Devil’s Backbone (2001) – Paranormal
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) – Monster
Movies 