A few months ago, I ran a poll on one of my sites asking horror fans to rate their top ten horror movies of all time. In this article, I list the movies and explain what makes horror fans rate them so highly.
Psycho (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho terrifies audiences because it is an exploration of madness that concludes that anyone, even the sane, can go insane and suffer dire consequences.
Alien (1979)
The powerful theme of Alien is that of disease. The crew aboard a futuristic spaceship become infected with an alien species and are hunted down in horrifying fashion. Perhaps the most terrifying thing about Alien is the theme he shares with Psycho: evil is within us, and therefore cannot be easily escaped.
The Shining (1980)
Almost every room on college campuses has a poster of Jack Nicholson peering through a recently demolished bathroom window, grinning in his uniquely iconic, maniacal way. This easily deserves to be one of the top 10 horror movies of all time. Derived from Stephen King’s book, Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece is a haunting look into madness and claustrophobia as Jack Torrence’s wife and son are mentally abused and then haunted by him in a remote hotel called The Overlook. Perhaps what scares us the most here is the possibility of our trusted loved ones becoming our own worst enemies.
Aliens (1986)
In Aliens, we see Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) return with a rescue team to a colony where she must fight even more aliens. No one believes her, of course, until it’s too late and she and the other crew members are besieged by dozens of drooling, toothy beings. It’s the claustrophobic settings here, rather than the Aliens, that we find most terrifying.
The Demons (1955)
The director of a boarding school is murdered by his lover and wife, who has a weak heart. They submerge his corpse in his school’s pool but, being brainless, his body has disappeared. What follows are suspenseful scenes that slowly drive the killers insane with the tension. This movie is painful and terrifying to watch as we must reluctantly become the killer and share their fears. Although it is one of the top 10 horror movies of all time, I would say that it is possibly the best thriller of all time.
Jaws (1975)
Amity Island has it all: beautiful beaches, warm weather, friendly locals. . . Oh, and a 15-foot killer great white shark! This is the original summer blockbuster known to all moviegoers. The theme here is man against nature. What terrifies Shark the most is the uncompromising monster. He won’t be reasoned with, he won’t stop eating, and you won’t lose your teeth, even if you’re an expert shark fisherman. In this movie only the lucky ones survive.
Frankenstein’s Bride (1935)
This horror movie picks up where Frankenstein left off. Frankenstein and his monster are still alive. The mad Dr. Pretorius kidnaps Frankenstein’s wife and blackmails him into creating another monster to become the original abomination’s bride. With rotting corpses, digging up graves, reanimated living tissue, and the terrifying theme that man shouldn’t play God, this is a truly terrifying tale.
The Thing (1982)
At a remote station in Antarctica, an expedition of American scientists comes across a dog being examined by a crashing helicopter. That same night, the dog attacks both the dogs and the scientists and soon a shape-shifting entity is on the loose among the survivors. The notion that evil lurks within those we trust is explored here to terrifying effect.
King Kong (1933)
When original audiences saw King Kong, many of them literally ran screaming across the islands. Never had a monster been portrayed so realistically.
The Exorcist (1973)
In the exorcist we face the supreme evil: the devil and his minions. Unlike serial killers or ghosts, Satan seems invincible; success feels hopeless. This terrifying film made shocking by its use of profanity, a child possessed and spitting obscene language; and the weakness of the Good (that is, an alcoholic priest) in the face of the purest evil.
The top 10 horror movies of all time will, of course, change in the future, but perhaps the themes will remain the same. We will always be afraid of the evils within (madness), the invincible evils (nature and the Devil), and monsters, of all shapes and sizes, will probably continue to entertain and terrify!