Whenever I am asked to compile a list of my top ten films in any genre, I find it the most difficult and enduring task I can undertake without doing strenuous, physical labour or watching American sports. And I find the horror genre the most difficult of all. What exactly classifies as a horror? Is 'Jaws' a horror? It certainly is horrific at points; it did scare a generation from entering the water; but does it meet all the conventions? Likewise, isnt 'Alien' technically a sci-fi? I know all about Spielberg dubbing it the ultimate high concept movie, A haunted house film set in space, but if 'Alien' is a horror, then isnt 'Aliens' also? And then what about 'Godzilla'? And 'Cloverfield'? You get to the stage where any movie that has the potential to scare an audience is included in the already over congested genre. This is why, whenever I approach my top 10 horror movies, I approach it from a completely personal perspective and look at the affect the film had on me when I first viewed it and indeed how well this has stood up on second, third and in some cases, multiple viewings. And when I say affect, I dont just mean to what degree they consistently scared the shit out of me, but also the lasting effects I felt after leaving the cinema or ejecting the videotape from the VCR and hiding it underneath my Dads armchair, where it wouldnt be able to get me. Doing this, however, means I am forced to make a number of glaring omissions. 'Jaws' and 'Alien', Im very sorry. My problem with these titles apart from the discrepancies over their classification as horror movies is timing. The first time I saw 'Jaws' was at home on a little 20-inch screen, one early Saturday evening when I was twelve. I knew all the history behind the film, had seen the parodies of the mechanical shark and even seen numerous clips from the film. Furthermore I was so respectful of it and the way it was filmed, that I was somewhat taken out of the zone, and the films capability to terrify me was severely diminished. I still appreciated and loved the story, and still do. I recently viewed it at a special screening at a cinema, and it still holds up as one of the greatest films ever made, and shocks first time audiences even to this day. But while 'Jaws' is one of my favourite films, it never scared me enough to be one of my favourite horror films. As for 'Alien', by the time I saw it, I had already watched 'Aliens' and 'Alien 3'. Therefore I knew the Ripley character survived, so while I did jump out of my seat a few times, I was never worried about the safety of the heroin, as I no doubt would have been if I had had the fortune of being a part of a 1979 cinema audience, watching the debutant actress fleeing the Nostromo, pursued by, uh, Alien. So it is with a heavy heart I present my top 10 with those two omissions and offer further condolences to early German horrors, Hammer Horrors and Universal Monsters, none of who made my cut. I also feel obliged to give honourable mention to The Blair Witch Project, Childs Play, Hostel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Wicker Man and Ringu, which all just missed out.
10. 28 Days Later (2002)
Danny Boyle revitalised and revolutionised zombie movies with this instant horror classic. Gone were Romeros classic lurching, lumbering, moaning zombies, replaced with rabid, bloodthirsty creatures that could out-run and out-power any mere mortal. The deserted streets of London in the early morning haze, eerie score and sense of isolation created an uneasy atmosphere, which was quickly destroyed with the crazy, adrenaline fuelled flee from zombies that the movie becomes. It scared me shitless from start to finish.
9. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Wes Craven created a generation of insomniacs who were terrified to go to sleep in fear of coming face to face with Freddie Krueger. I was one of them, whose dreams were haunted for months after seeing the original, and never bettered Elm Street. The screech of Freddies knives, the cackle of his monstrous laugh and his awful, scorched face haunted me for months.
8. Scream (1996)
Wes Craven again, with the seminal teen-slasher flick that lead to a deluge of mostly forgettable copycats and sequels. 'Scream' takes place in a world where the characters are aware of movies, myths, folklore and urban legends, and whilst the film poked fun at its predecessors and had some wonderfully satirical moments, it also reinvigorated a genre that had itself been murdered by the constant release of rushed and rehashed sequels featuring the characters that had made it great. It also kept me glued to the screen as a 12 year old who had snuck in to see it at the cinema, more terrified for the fate of Sidney Prescott - who I fell in love with in the course of those two hours than my own if my parents found out I was there.
7. Halloween (1978)
John Carpenter wrote, directed and composed the terrifying score to this horror classic, that started the slasher series and brought evil away from the swamps and forests, from the deserts and dunes, out of haunted houses and castles and Texas, and straight to calm, peaceful and unassuming Suburbia. To your hometown. To your house. Apart from starting the slasher offshoot, and creating all the conventions the killer, the virginal heroine, the girl who has sex, her lover, etc that would go on to be studied by PHd candidates (yeah, seriously) 'Halloween' drove right into the core of our fears, that were not safe no matter where we are. That was certainly how I felt, strolling home from school through my innocent, leafy, suburban town, which was has always appeared far more sinister than it did before John Carpenter got into my head.
6. Suspiria (1977)
The acting may be atrocious. The dubbing worse. And the score by The Goblins is comical. You might actually notice these things if you werent so concerned with the way the hairs on the back of your neck were standing to attention. From the second Suzy Bannion touches down in Germany, you know director Dario Argento is going to send her on a grizzly and horrific ride, in this, his masterpiece. Her descent through the Black Forrest of Germany to an exclusive ballet school is backed by the Goblins score, but the camera work is reminiscent of a great slasher film, with us always certain someone, or some thing has his eyes on the newcomer. Once she arrives at the eerie and unwelcoming school all hell breaks lose. The body count continues to rise, each death being gorier than the last, until we have a suspenseful and chilling end.
5. Psycho (1960)
While the argument will forever rage as to what should be branded as the real inspiration for the slasher films that would follow some 20 years later (many credit Michael Powells 'Peeping Tom', released just before 'Psycho') there is little debate as to what was the first film to really strike fear into audiences and point the finger at the real evil in the world: man. 'Psycho' was as revolutionary as it was terrifying, and still holds up strong to this day. The shower scene is the most infamous scene of all time; the character of Norman Bates is the strangest, creepiest but also complex character in horror; and the whole movie is a suspenseful, uncomfortable affair, which is as much to do with the collaboration between director Hitchcock and composer Herrmanns as anything else. Despite seeing it parodied and remade, the first time I saw 'Psycho', I walked away, vowing never to stay a motel or trust somehow who has a collection of pachyderms and lives with his mother.
4. Eden Lake (2008)
The big surprise on my list, but James Watkins happy couple head to the country for an idyllic weekend only to fall afoul of the knife-wielding chavs of the countryside is one of the most gruelling, terrifying and affecting viewing experiences of my life. And the subversion of the final girl scenario seems so real that it leaves a sour taste in your mouth and a pain in your gut. And perhaps most importantly deters you from ever going to the countryside, which is the goal of horror.
3. Rosemarys Baby (1968)
If a movies greatness were judged on atmosphere alone, then Roman Polanski would take the gold home every time for 'Rosemarys Baby'. The innocent but strangely haunting score, sung by star Mia Farrow, combined with the sinister, old tenement building, and Polanskis trademark style of shooting creates an unpleasant view. The hallucination scene where Rosemary is raped by the devil is perhaps the most uncomfortable thing youll ever see; every aspect of it, from the editing, sound design, cinematography, make-up and costume of the devil, Farrows convulsing and the actual idea make for a horrific piece of filmmaking. And then the ending is so bleak and terrifying. As bleak as Polanskis next Hollywood movie 'Chinatowns' denouement is, the conclusion of 'Rosemarys baby' is a haunting, foreboding one for mankind.
2. The Shining (1980)
Isolation. This is the key element that Stanley Kubrick took from Stephen Kings novel. The Overlook Hotel was the setting for Jack Nicholsons steady decent into insanity and a murderous rampage that had me shivering in my seat worse than the crew who diligently filmed in arctic temperatures for eight months. For months afterwards I always got worried when left in a room alone, and to this day I do not like being in large homes or hotels by myself. And as for entering a room numbered 237, forget it. The room 237 scene is the most terrifying in film history for me. But apart from being a master class in horror, 'The Shining' is a masterpiece of filmmaking, with Kubricks versatility as a director across genres once more being showcased in this film. Each shot feels meticulously crafted, each line of dialogue worked and re-worded and in Kubricks case re-re-re-re worked, he made Nicholson do over eighty takes for one scene, and regularly filmed over forty to get it just how he wanted it.
1. The Exorcist (1973)
No movie has ever left me so petrified that I had to stop it part way through and resume it when it was light outside as William Friedkins The Exorcist. Often copied but never matched or bettered, it taps into our fear of the unknown and a kind of evil that knows no mercy and would attack even the purest and most innocent child, in this case 13-year old Linda Blair. Like 'Rosemarys Baby' it is extremely atmospheric, with the house being presented like something from a Victorian gothic novel. Furthermore the Tubular Bells score by Mike Oldfield adds so much to a film that still to this day, having just watched it on Blu-Ray this afternoon, never fails to shock me. On one hand I feel horrified that Linda Blair was put through what seems like an harrowing ordeal to make the film, and on the other, the idea that there are actually exorcists in the world that are called out on cases like this, scares the living bejesus out of me. So while you dwell on my choices, and I invite you to critique them and offer your own top 10, I think Im going to go and purchase a bible and become pally with my local priest (not in a gay way) just in case Agree, disagree with this choices? Comment away. We have a dozen or so of our writers to compile their own Top Ten Horror Lists over the next month for Obsessed With Film's '31 Days of Horror'.