2 more days till Halloween, Halloween, Halloween … 2 more days till Halloween … SILVER SHAMROCK!
Running every day until PAULOWEEN, I’m going to be listing my top 31 Horror Films of ALL TIME. I know there will be disagreements, in fact I’m encouraging it! Let me know if you agree, disagree, or think I’m leaving something out of my list! Let me tell you, this list wasn’t easy to put together, especially when you’ve seen as many horror films as I have.
After the jump, check out my choices for 16-10!
16. In the Mouth of Madness
The first of a couple of John Carpenter flicks on this list. I remember seeing this film with the same friends I saw Tales from the Crypt Presents Demon Knight with (we had a little group of friends who would go see all the horror films at the local theater that didn’t ID us because we weren’t 17). My buddy Nathan and I argued how much better Demon Knight was because of its humor, blood, boobs, and fun, and how this was just a boring piece of crap. My tastes have matured a bit since then (though I still like boobs), and I see In The Mouth of Madness for the intelligent horror film that it is. Though Carpenter tread similar material in Cigarette Burns, this ode to Stephen King truly sets you on edge the entire time. It’s like a David Lynch film that makes sense, and truly a great horror film with a stellar performance by lead Sam Neill.
15. Event Horizon
Another Sam Neill film! Except this time he’s got Laurence Fishburne with him! If you haven’t seen Event Horizon, you haven’t seen the ultimate film adaptation of Doom (even better than Doom itself)! A group of scientists in space accidentally open a gateway to hell. Some truly scary imagery, and the best sci-fi horror flick since the original Alien.
14. Friday the 13th
Though, honestly, a couple of films in the series are more enjoyable, this first film actually did something a little bit different from all of its sequels – it kept its killer a mystery. Big, lumbering Jason wasn’t going around killing teens – though for the majority of the runtime, you thought it was him! Plus, a stinger of an ending that still makes me jump. There’s a reason this film is a classic.
13. Shaun of the Dead
Shaun! An homage to horror films that ends up being a prime example of the genre itself, Shaun of the Dead brings the best of brit humor and mixes it with the zombie goodness we know and love to create one of the funniest films of all time. The movie that put Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on the map for American audiences, and one of those “desert island” movies that you just never get tired of.
12. Bram Stoker’s Dracula
It’s probably blasphemy that I listed this above the Bela Lugosi classic, but Francis Ford Coppola’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s seminal vampire novel is one of the most visually arresting horror films of all time. Imagery that had never before been caught on camera, and a truly iconic performance by Gary Oldman as the count. Buy it on Blu-Ray!
11. Nightmare on Elm Street
Yeah…Freddy’s better than Jason. Because Jason was only at Crystal Lake. Freddy was IN YOUR DREAMS! As a kid, sleep was a welcome respite from the darkness of the night…except, what happens when even sleep is dangerous? Freddy gave millions of people nightmares, and Robert Englund became a legend because of it.