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Everyone has their favorite movies, and since it’s October I figured I’d list my top 10 favorite horror movies of all time! I thought it would make it easier to do since my favorite movie genre is horror, however, it makes it even harder! Besides the fact I like too many horror movies, listing only my top 10 is extremely difficult! With all of that being said, it sure was fun! Great idea Chewie!
Also, please keep in mind, this is MY list. It’s just my opinion and MY all time favorite horror movies. I’d love to hear/read what yours are. Remember, it’s October so I want to know what your favorite HORROR movies are! Enjoy… And don’t forget to let me know what films you would have added/subtracted, or rearranged.
10) 30 Days Of Night (2007)
While I never really enjoyed vampire movies, I just couldn’t leave this one off my list. Vampires in Alaska and it being dark for literally 30 straight days is not only an exciting concept, it’s just flat out creepy! Plus, being dark for 30 straight days is true so why wouldn’t vampires migrate to Alaska? That and the fact the vampires in this film are just plain bad ass!
9) The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
This movie flat out disturbed me and if a movie disturbs me, it means it entertained me. This movies was a horror film in every sense of the word! The camera doesn’t cut away from anything, every kill is creative and well, stomach churning. Yeah yeah, go ahead and hammer me for putting a “remake” on here…..Guess what? It’s not the only one!
8) Friday The 13th (2009)
See? I told you it wasn’t the only remake. I’m sure some of you are saying, “are you kidding me!?” No, I’m not, please hear me out! I liked pretty much every Jason movie since the original in 1980. However, they are all pretty much the same story line over and over again. One or two of them takes (or tries to) on a different story line but for the most part, they are all very similar. I liked the 2009 version the best for one simple reason. I LOVED how Derek Mears played Jason. He made Jason more aggressive and athletic than any other previous actor who played Jason. And think about it, an athletic Jason? What’s not to like!? (Chewie’s Review)
7) The Crazies (2010)
This movie to me, is one of the most underrated horror movies ever. Not just in the last few years, ever. This movie really, truly, sincerely makes you root for the “good” guys. In other words, the “non contaminated.” They do such a good job at making you invest in the characters emotionally by using brilliant camera work and character development. The story isn’t too bad either! You’ll experience many different emotions through out the film and that right there makes it worth the watch.
6) The Exorcist (1973)
This is the all around scariest film I have ever seen. Some people actually believe what happened in this film has happened to someone in real life. I’m not sure I’d go that far but if you let yourself believe it for just ONE second, it’s sure to creep you out! It’ll bother you, consume you and make you think about your own bed room in a whole new light. I was and still am amazed at how well the makeup/special FX were done for a movie released in 1973. If all of that doesn’t tickle your fancy, you HAVE to admit that Linda Blair’s character, Regan is second to none when it comes to being scary! come on, think of a crazier/scarier/weirder scene than the “head spin” scene!
5) Saw (2004)
I’m one of the few people who believe this franchise went on for too long and made entirely too many movies. However, The very first installment is hands down a great movie! To be honest, the longer the franchise kept making Saw movies, the better the first film became. It’s creative and smart, which already puts it ahead of most horror movies. Add on the ending that NO ONE saw coming and you have an instant classic!
4) Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
A funny AND evil villain? Yes please! Freddy is the first horror movie I ever saw that perfectly balanced Freddy’s sick, but hilarious sense of humor with serious and brutal murders. Take a moment to think about it and you’ll realize that since the release of this film in 1984, VERY FEW franchises or even single films were able to balance these two topics without failing. Add on the iconic “weapon of choice” and you have on hell of a great horror movie!
3) The Silence Of The lambs (1991)
This film won FIVE Oscar’s! Count them: FIVE! It’s extremely tough for any film to win ONE Oscar let alone FIVE. Oh, and did I mention that no other horror film has ever won for Best Picture? Considering they found a way to make a very violent, man eating (literally) serial killer look classy on many occasions, I think this film deserved every Oscar it won! To top it all off, the acting was just about flawless. Now, accurately say that about any other horror movie in cinema history and I’ll call you a liar!
2) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
According to my father and several of his friends (most are in their early 60’s and late 50’s now), this was the scariest movie they have ever seen, even until this day. According to them, this film stuck out because it was filmed in a way that made you believe it really happened. Sure, there were a few other incredibly scary and violent films released in the mid seventies, but none of them made you wonder if it really happened or not. Wait, is this based on a true story? As if people didn’t already think the state of Texas was messed up…
1) Halloween (1978)
To me, this was easier than ranking my other nine in order. But putting this at #1 was not even a challenge for me. John Carpenter was definitely ahead of his time when he made this film. The scene when you watch “through Michael’s eyes,” or the parts when all you can do is hear his breathing are truly original! Entirely too many horror films have tried to copy these ideas since then, and all it does is make you laugh because none of it was as scary as when John Carpenter did it. And of course, the legendary expressionless white mask is my ALL TIME FAVORITE MASK! That mask made Michael look bored while he killed people. Imagine how far gone mentally and psychologically gone a person has to be if they are bored when they are committing brutal murders!
This list was incredibly challenging to make! Because of that, I’m sure I’ll look back on this list in the near future and wonder why I didn’t add certain films, or why I had this film or that film on the list at all. With all of that being said, please remember this was just MY list and just MY opinion! I’d love to hear what some of your all time favorite movies are. What movies do you think I should have added? left out? Go ahead, make your own top 10 horror movie list and you’ll see how tough it is to do! And, just for fun, below is my “Honorable Mention” section.
Honorable Mentions: The Shining, The Loved Ones, Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers, Scream, Dawn Of The Dead (1978), Hostel.
I got a totally different take on horror movies, friend. Your list is all splatter-gore, slasher flicks. Well, horror films used to have atmosphere and style. Subtlety. Now it’s just beat-ya-over-the-head with ever more repulsive gross-outs and torture scenes. No special talent in that. You mentioned the mask that made Michael Myers look bored as he killed people. That may have been effective because it reflects the boredom we have reached with mega-violence. We’ve maxed out on it. I guess new hideous torture scenes can be dreamed-up. I would rather see some imagination in the story-lines. Those remain pretty flat. Of course no fan of splatter-gore is interested in story-telling. He wants gross-out gore. I guess two-hours of car-wreck and combat footage would serve as well. (There’s a business idea for somebody.) By the way you mentioned how original it was when the camera took the perspective of Michael Myers. Yeah, that was original – in the silent movie era.
Thanks for stopping by Bart! I tend to agree with you that the horror genre is far too “gore porn” centric these days (you can judge my list when I post it in a few days). However, I have to jump to Brian’s defense here a bit. You state that “horror films used to have atmosphere and style”. He’s got Halloween (1974), and Texas Chainsaw (1978), Nightmare (1984) and Exorcist (1973) in his top 10. All of these films have DRASTICALLY different atmosphere and styles. No good?
As a matter of perspective, I’d be interested in hearing your list if you’re willing to share it. I’m also super pumped to see other lists start rolling in. My list (at 37) will be very different than Brian’s list at 31 and I’ve got a hunch that jsims87’s list is going to be very different as well.
Regardless, thanks again for chiming in… EXACTLY the reason I LOVE these types of lists / discussions! Cheers!
Exactly Chewie! I don’t think it’s possible to be “wrong” when posting a personal Top 10 list. Actually, I imagine personal Top 10 lists are made to be different from others. Otherwise, what’s the point? I’m loving the feedback from all of you! Thanks guys!
Thanks for your feedback! I loved it! And you’re right, we do have a totally different take on horror movies, which isn’t a bad thing, right? Sure, most of mine were slasher flicks, which is what I, let me repeat that, I enjoy. However, The Silence of The Lambs won FIVE Ocsars and none of them were for “splatter gore.”
Also, do you still watch silent movies? If so, have fun and enjoy them because I won’t be watching them any time soon. I can assure you almost no one that looks atthis website watches silent movies. Considering I’m 31, the Michael Myers stuff was VERY ORIGINAL to me. Did I mention this was MY LIST?
On a serious note. I truly appreciate the feedback. It means someone actually looked at my post!
Awesome job sir, welcome to the website!! Hard to top Halloween as one of the greatest ever!!
Thanks Pip! I’d love to hear/see your Top 10 sometime! It was incredibly challenging to make a list that I assumed (should never do such a thing-assume) would be easy!