Here are my top five favorite Horror films of all time. Some of these you may have heard of but never seen or you're crazy like me and have seen em all! This was a hard list for me personally to make because there are some great Horror flicks to choose from, but I took the time to sit back and think about what meant the most to me in Horror since I was a young and curious lad.
5. From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
This almost didn't make the list but this "flick" as Robert Rodriguez likes to describe his films was a surprise through in through. My nostalgic memories of this flick bring me to a time when trailers didn't make their rounds as easily and message boards & blogs full of spoilers and neckbeard critics such as myself were in the distant future.. So I go into this movie thinking its a Tarantino style Bonnie & Clyde and all of a sudden the second act takes a literally Horrific turn. At the time it blew my mind and I still have a good feeling that younger generations who stumble upon this 90's gem will bask in the glory of the surprise and take the long hard road to hell that I took as a young, bored and curious little bastard.
4. Event Horizon (1997)
Ahh the first film to freak the ever living fuck out of me. This film takes sci-fi Horror and just adds the perfect amount of hyper violence and space demons to keep your heart racing. Recently I went back and watched it and surprisingly not much is dated about it ( well the soundtrack is 90's as fuck I'll give it that ) There are great practical effects and just the right amount of primitive CGI to not lose your attention once the chaos unfolds in the silent halls of the Event Horizon. A film that broke ground of space horror and still influences films like Sunshine and even transcending into video games like Dead Space years later.
3. The Descent (2005)
This entry may seem random but oh no it isn't. The marketing of this film led me to believe it was a cookie cutter slasher horror taking place in the scary republican cousin lovin' rural mountains but I was dead wrong. This highly underrated claustrophobic and undeniably thrilling ride of gore and suspense really surprised me and to this day holds up really well as a fairly new entry to the genre. Also the entire cast is full of risk taking kick ass women. You Go Hollywood! Well there is one who's basically typecast to suck BUT the background character development pays off and then you also end up with a well written Horror film which these days are very hard to come by. That's why I hold this film in high regard and if you have been putting it off PLEASE do yourself a solid snag a look at it on demand I'm telling you, you'll thank me for it.
2. The Thing (1982)
Evident in my love for sci-fi Horror by including two in my personal top five, The Thing is an anomaly. When I first saw this film, I was in the perfect mind state. I was in high school, I was in my girlfriends basement on Halloween and within two acts my mind was already blown. Excellent direction with a spooky soundtrack that is so simple in some instances ( Think Stanley Kubrics score choice for The Shining ) it helps the creepiness of being stuck so far away from civilization battling the scariest possible unknown entity. Also it has some of he greatest practical effects in film history. Don't even think about that remake/prequel. The Thing is a remake but done decades later and done right. This is one to really sink your teeth into and I think I've seen this the most of the five I've mentioned here. It has great replay value and awesome performances by the artists to the actors. 80's Kurt Russell with a beard. That's the stuff.
1. Psycho (1969)
This was a no brainer. Undoubtedly Alfred Hitchcock's greatest cinematic achievement, it still withstands the test of time. Most modern Horror Thrillers don't even touch Hitch's mastery of editing, techniques, lens and angles he chose to utilize for revolutionary Horror filmmaking. This is a master class of creepy characters, risk taking pacing and innovative techniques that changed the game for the horror genre for generations. If black and white cinema may turn you off due to the over saturation of high fidelity available in today's market, then you'll be quite amazed at what a great script and incredible acting/directing/editing can do to still compete with the stylized tech we have today. You don't always necessarily need color to tell you a compelling story or to convey truly tense moments that have been duplicated and redone many times in one way or another over the decades.
What are your top five horror films? Tweet us @TheLoudTable or find us over at Facebook, follow us and get in on the spooooOooOoky fun. Thanks for reading if you made it this far!
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