Good Horror Movies

By Shane Rivers

Good horror movies can make you scream in terror or stop taking a shower for a week. The powerful imagery of these films taps into the primal fears within us all, and the best horror movies are able to scare us on a number of levels.

Following the release of movies such as Scream, horror films have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity over the last several years. They’ve become so popular that movie studios are falling over themselves to remake classic 80’s films with better cinematography and lots more boob jobs.

You won’t find a lot of crappy remakes on the lists below, but you will find a mixture of good horror movies and the best horror movies. From the Internet Movie Database to TIME Magazine, we’ve compiled a number of resources to help you find the highest-quality scares for your money.

Types of Horror Movies

Before we start looking at all the good horror movies out there, let’s make sure we’re familiar with the different sub-genres of the horror film. While many people just associate horror movies with masked psychos butchering girls in tank tops, there’s actually a great deal of diversity within the genre.

• K-Horror – Short for “Korean Horror,” this term applies to any scary picture made in Korea. These films tend to be very unflinching in their portrayal of horror, and they are not for the easily disturbed. Examples include R-Point, A Tale of Two Sisters and Evil Twin.
• J-Horror – Short for “Japanese Horror.” Many J-Horror films involve malevolent spirits, while others feature almost comical amounts of blood and gore. Examples include Audition, Ju-on, Marebito and Kairo.
• Giallo – Italian films which combine horror and eroticism. Often refers to the works of directors such as Mario Bava and Dario Argento. These films are known as thrillers in Italy, but many English-speaking countries (especially the United States) refer to them as giallo. Examples include Deep Red, Four Flies on Grey Velvet and Twitch of the Death Nerve.
• Slasher Films – Also known as a teen slasher movies or dead teenager movies, this sub-genre involves a killer (usually masked) who dispatches a large number of people (mostly teens), usually over the course of a single night or a few days. While many don’t consider these to be good horror movies, their success at the box office is undeniable. Examples include Halloween, Friday the 13th and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
• Monster Movie – Also known as a monster film or creature feature, this sub-genre depicts the struggles between human beings and one or more monsters. Examples include Godzilla, Cloverfield and King Kong.
• Psychological Horror – This sort of film does not rely on gore and blood to scare the audience. Instead, the psychological horror film uses emotions such as fear and guilt to build tension on the screen. In many cases, this kind of film will have a twist near the end. Examples include The Blair Witch Project, The Wicker Man and The Sixth Sense.
• Vampire Films – Any horror movie which features vampires as either the heroes or villains. Examples include The Lost Boys, Underworld, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Near Dark.
• Werewolf Films – Horror movies which feature werewolves. These include The Howling, Dog Soldiers and An American Werewolf in London.
• Thriller – The thriller film is sometimes set in an exotic locale, but that is not a requirement for this sub-genre. The protagonist of the film must usually try to prevent a murder, and he or she is opposed throughout by internal and external factors. These films usually have less violence and nudity than normal horror films, although there are exceptions. Examples of the thriller include Silence of the Lambs, Se7en and The Cell.
• Splatter Films – These films specialize in showing lots of gore. In recent years, splatter films with high amounts of sexual content have become known as “torture porn” or “gorno.” Examples include Hostel, Saw and FeardotCom.
• Comedy Horror Films – These films combine comedy and horror to create a unique movie sub-genre. Examples include Otis, Black Sheep, Botched and Shaun of the Dead.
• Zombie Movies – A popular sub-genre which features normal people trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. Examples include Resident Evil, Dawn of the Dead, Return of the Living Dead and Night of the Living Dead.

AFI’s Greatest Horror Films

Every 10 years, the American Film Institute releases a list of their 100 greatest movies. The last list was unveiled in 2007, and the following good scary movies made the grade.

9. Vertigo

14. Psycho

41. King Kong

48. Rear Window

56. Jaws

74. The Silence of the Lambs

89. The Sixth Sense

Many people wouldn’t even consider the above films to be categorized as “horror,” but don’t forget that thrillers and monster movies are sub-genres of the horror film. Not surprisingly, Alfred Hitchcock has three of the seven horror films to appear on the list. That’s appropriate, as nobody made good horror movies like Hitchcock.

Silence of the Lambs certainly deserves its place on the list, as it succeeded as a film on every level. The same goes for Jaws, and I have long held that Quint’s speech about delivering “the bomb” is the greatest monologue in the history of the movies.

I’m not so certain about The Sixth Sense at #89. While I liked the film, I thought a large part of its success was simply based on the big twist at the end. I wouldn’t be surprised if it has fallen off the list when the next one comes out.

TIME Magazine’s Top 25 Horror Films

If you’re looking for good scary movies, be sure to check out TIME Magazine’s list of the Top 25 horror films. The entries are listed in no particular order, and they contain a nice mixture of old classics and new favorites.

• Shaun of the Dead
• Red Dragon
• Audition
• Dead Alive
• The Fly
• Men Behind the Sun
• Carrie
• Alien
• Halloween
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
• The Exorcist
• Night of the Living Dead
• Blood Feast
• Psycho
• Black Sunday
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers
• Peeping Tom
• Diabolique
• Bambi
• Freaks
• Frankenstein
• Nosferatu
• The Phantom of the Opera
• Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat

I feel like I need to explain a couple of the entries, specifically Bambi and Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat. Bambi was included because the writers felt the scene where Bambi’s mother gets shot probably scared more children than most standard horror films. Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat was one of the first motion pictures ever shown, and many people became frightened because they thought the image of the train rushing towards them was going to come off the projection screen. Whatever the case for inclusion, I think TIME was trying to be a little too cute with these entries.

I don’t really agree with the inclusion of Red Dragon, Audition or Blood Feast. They’re all solid works, but certainly not among the best 25 horror movies. For that matter, Audition really only distinguishes itself in the last 20 minutes. When I think of good horror movies, these three are down the list a bit.

I was, however, pleased to see Shaun of the Dead included. It’s a solid film from top to bottom, and being able to blend a zombie movie with a comedy is an accomplishment in itself. While it certainly deserves to appear on a Top 100 list, placing it in the top 25 may be a bit generous, however.

Netflix Top 100

So how popular are good horror films over at Netflix, the top online video rental company? Let’s take a look at their frequently updated Top 100 and find out.

43. I Am Legend

74. Mr. Brooks

Wow! I was really surprised by this one. Only two top horror films made the list. Of course, the list changes all the time, but I expected a few more than this. I guess it proves that horror films have a long way to go before they can rival the mass appeal of romantic comedies and dramas. Maybe if Ron Howard directed a horror film starring Julia Roberts and Brad Pitt….

Top Horror Films at the IMDB

The Internet Movie Database is undoubtedly the biggest online movie resource. Members of the site can rate films, and each movie genre is then ranked accordingly. As of this writing, the following were the 50 best horror films according to IMDB members.

1. Psycho (1960)
2. Alien (1979)
3. The Shining (1980)
4. Aliens (1986)
5. Diabolique (1955)
6. Let the Right One In (2008)
7. The Thing (1982)
8. Faust (1926)
9. Frankenstein (1931)
10. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
11. King Kong (1933)
12. Nosferatu (1922)
13. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. (1920)
14. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
15. The Virgin Spring (1960)
16. The Exorcist (1973)
17. Onibaba (1964)
18. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
19. Ghost Stories (1964)
20. The Innocents (1961)
21. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
22. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
23. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
24. Repulsion (1965)
25. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
26. Halloween (1978)
27. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933)
28. Eyes Without a Face (1960)
29. Grindhouse (2007)
30. The Birds (1963)
31. Delicatessen (1991)
32. Evil Dead II (1987)
33. The Scarlet Claw (1944)
34. The Invisible Man (1933)
35. Dead of Night (1945)
36. The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941)
37. Freaks (1932)
38. Peeping Tom (1960)
39. The Unknown (1927)
40. Hour of the Wolf (1968)
41. The Haunting (1963)
42. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)
43. Dr. Mabuse, King of Crime (1922)
44. The Wicker Man (1973)
45. Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)
46. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
47. Survive Style 5+ (2004)
48. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
49. The Tenant (1976)
50. Vampire Hunter D (2000)

Let the Right One In was released in 2008, and it’s already jumped to #6 on the list. That’s pretty darned impressive, especially for a foreign film given a limited release in America.

As usual, a large number of really old films made the list. In fact, 13 of the top 50 were released in 1935 or earlier. While I’ve got no problem with Frankenstein making the list, movies like Nosferatu (1922) don’t add credibility in my mind. With its laughable production values and overly-stylized acting, anyone giving this a high rating is just being downright pretentious.

Certainly, there are plenty of good horror movies that are over 50 years old; I’m not disputing that. What I am disputing is that movies like The Unknown are higher ranked than The Wicker Man. Historical significance should only count for so much.

Fangoria’s 101 Hidden Horror Gems

If you’re looking for good scary movies that you might have missed, check out this list from the fine folks at Fangoria (the country’s leading horror magazine). You’re bound to find several that you’ve never even heard of.

1. Alice, Sweet Alice
2. Alone in the Dark
3. Apt Pupil
4. The Asphyx
5. The Beyond
6. Beyond the Door
7. Black Christmas
8. The Blob
9. The Boneyard
10. The Borrower (1991)
11. Brain Damage
12. Castle Freak
13. Cemetery Man
14. The Changeling
15. Cherry Falls
16. Chinese Ghost Story
17. Christmas Evil
18. Cronos
19. El Día de la bestia
20. Day of the Dead
21. Dead of Night
22. The Dead Pit
23. Dead Waters
24. Death Machine
25. Deathdream
26. Deep Rising
27. Def by Temptation
28. The Dentist
29. Deranged
30. The Devil’s Backbone
31. The Devil’s Daughter (La Setta)
32. Dolls
33. Event Horizon
34. The Evil Within
35. The Exorcist 3
36. From Beyond
37. Funny Games
38. Ginger Snaps
39. Hardware
40. Hell Night
41. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
42. Horror Express
43. Humanoids From the Deep
44. I Spit on Your Grave
45. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
46. Jack Be Nimble
47. Jack’s Back (1988)
48. The Keep (1983)
49. Kingdom of Spiders
50. The Lair of the White Worm
51. The Last House on the Left
52. The Legend of Hell House
53. Lemora – A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural
54. Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
55. Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
56. Luther the Geek
57. Manhunter
58. Maniac
59. Maniac Cop 2
60. Motel Hell
61. Mother’s Day
62. Mute Witness
63. Necronomicon: Book of the Dead
64. The Night Flier
65. Night of the Comet
66. Night of the Creeps
67. The Ninth Gate
68. Nomads
69. Open Your Eyes
70. Opera (1987)
71. The Other
72. Paperhouse
73. Pin
74. Prison (1988)
75. Private Parts
76. Pumpkinhead
77. Rabid
78. Rampage (1988)
79. Ravenous
80. The Resurrected
81. Santa Sangre (1989)
82. Screamers
83. The Sender (1982)
84. Session 9
85. Bram Stoker’s Shadowbuilder
86. Sisters
87. The Stepfather
88. Stir of Echoes
89. Strange Behavior
90. Swamp Thing
91. Ticks (aka Infested) (1993)
92. Tombs of the Blind Dead
93. Twitch Of The Death Nerve (a.k.a. Bay Of Blood)
94. Two Thousand Maniacs
95. The Ugly
96. Aswang
97. Urban Ghost Story
98. The Vanishing
99. Wendigo
100. When a Stranger Calls
101. 101. Immortality

I was going to include my own list of good horror movies which might have flown under your radar, but it looks like Fangoria saved me the trouble. This is an excellent list of top horror films, and I would certainly advise that you view hidden gems like Ravenous, Black Christmas, Ginger Snaps and Exorcist III.

Horror Blockbusters

So what are the top-grossing horror films of all time? I consulted a list of the Top 50 grossing films in the U.S. and Canada (adjusted for inflation). Here were the horror films which qualified:

7. Jaws (1975)
9. The Exorcist (1973)

While only two horror films made the list, they’re both in the top 10 (when today’s ticket prices are factored in). Can’t say either one of these surprised me, as Jaws and The Exorcist are classics in any genre.

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