top 31 horror movies of all time

Number 9 of My Top 31 Horror Movies : One year after the brutal murder of her mother, Sidney Prescott and her friends are terrorized by a new killer : Written by Kevin Williamson & directed by Wes Craven SCREAM is the BEST HORROR MOVIE in the last 25yrs : From that shiver inducing Dimension Film logo before the film starts, it’s smart edgy blood soaked script, the BEST opening to a Horror Movie of ALL TIME…. it’s like WTF just happened….. and the great Homages to scary movies of yesteryear Wes Craven’s film always delivers and to this day continues to blow my mind : Scream totally re-invented the genre from a director who already owned the scares in the 80s with his freaking great horror A Nightmare on Elm Street but unlike Elm Street Scream uses horror cliches and a whip smart script that’s incredibly funny yet utterly terrifying at times : The way Craven used horror films as the backdrop to Scream is a pure joy to watch, pictures such as Elm Street, Friday 13th, The Exorcist and of course Halloween get nods and even the great filmmaker makes a brief cameo as a school janitor dressed in that iconic Freddy Sweater, that small moment alone made me smile sooooooo much : Also let’s not forget the contribution it’s young exciting cast made, stars that were not household names such as Neve Campbell, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Jamie Kennedy & Skeet Ulrich all helped Craven’s blood lust come to life and create a new horror franchsise : The scene in the movie when Randy explains to his drunken friends about the Rules on How to Survive a Horror Movie whilst watching Halloween is one of my favorites, he pauses the film stands before the TV and tells his audience….. No.1 : Never have Sex…. No.2 : Don’t drink or do drugs…. and finally never ever ever say “I’ll be right back…” it’s sheer brilliance : I remember watching SCREAM in New York when it was released in the cinema, I didn’t know anything about the movie – I came out 2hrs later shouting, laughing and looking over my shoulder for the rest of the night : WHAT A BUZZ ★★★★★

Number 27 of My Top 31 Horror Movies : Whilst at the local zoo an American man falls for a Serbian illustrator, who fears that she will turn into a cat person if they are intimate together : Scary movies come in all guises and Jacques Tourneur’s RKO masterpiece CAT PEOPLE is one of the many examples, that you don’t necessarily have to see the horror coming to be petrified of it’s existence : I’ve always be a huge fan of producer Val Lewton and his stable of great horror movies for RKO pictures, films such as I Walked with a Zombie, Ghost Ship, Isle of the Dead, The Leopard Man and of course Cat People and it’s sequel The Curse of the Cat People made use of great light, shadows and rolling fog combined with the Golden Age maestro Roy Webb and his unbeatable spine-chilling scores : Cat People was filmed in 18 Days and for me is the finest example of that era, a terrific horror with some unsettling scenes to drool over, or in my case hide from : two such scenes involve the wonderful Jane Randolph and her character Alice, the first sees her leaving a cafe and being followed by Simone Simon‘s Irena, the sound of both of their footsteps and the sparsely lit pavement that Alice follows sets the scene in RKO atmospheric tradition, she’s panicking & constantly looking over her shoulder and then she then starts to run as if something is chasing her, terrified, out of breathe…. this moment in the film is giddy perfection, suspense of the highest order and so typical of it’s time that I will never get bored of watching : in the second scene we find a Alice alone in her hotel complex going for a swim in the basement’s pool when she’s startled by a young cat and a scary shadowy outline that overhangs the stairwell, before we know it Alice is alone and in the centre of the swimming pool, the camera-work is sensational during this scene circling the pool as the shadows illuminate & drip off the walls on all sides as the sound of a wild cat echoes around the pool, then Alice starts to scream…. for me it’s the movies highlight and it’s most unsettling moment too and executed with heart stopping precision : I loved revisiting Cat People on the restored Criterion edition, it truly is a horror masterpiece ★★★★½

Number 28 of My Top 31 Horror Movies : A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further : the second movie on my list directed by James Wan and originally titled The Further Insidious is like the twisted twin sister of Poltergeist a film that has supernatural & astral dimension elements thrown together with a scary looking psychic played by horror veteran Lin Shaye, and a delightful pair of paranormal investigators who come together to help the Lambert family in their hour of need : Insidious was written by Leigh Whannell who also stars as Specs in the movie and took just over three weeks to film, the budget was an incredible $1.5 million and has since spawned a franchise including two further movies making a shit load of dollars in the process : Insidious is my favorite James Wan horror movie, the last quarter of which is haunting and unforgettable, we get to see Patrick Wilson’s Josh travelling into the Astral Plane to look for his son and hopefully bring him home, it’s pace slowly builds as Josh is seen creeping around the house inspecting the ghostly figures around him, some of which are quite distubing, then without warning and to a deafening screaching crescendo the film picks up pace and literally all hell breaks loose : the sound in the movie is unusual and quite eerie and the lighting helps give the film it’s atmosphere, there’s also the wonderful gift of Barbra Hershey in a small yet pivotal role (I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of Barbara later on my list) : overall Insidious is genius story-telling, a legitimate horror gem that has a great twist during it’s final act and will scare you half to death: you may want to stay around after the credits too ★★★★½