100 Greatest Horror Movies Of All Time
88. Threads
If you grew up in Britain at a certain point (not so long ago), Threads would have been a staple part of your school life. That would be absolutely fine if it wasn't for the fact that the film is a traumatic portrait of nuclear fallout and the devastation of civilization that will stick in most adult's minds let alone the squishy, impressionable ones of kiddies.
The film's real horror comes in the way it seeks realism - something actually aided by its lower production values - with documentary-style reporting and then just jolts towards its grim, numbing ending relentlessly. Sure, it's dated, but it doesn't half feel appropriate even now.
[SG]
87. Audition
The film that made Takashi Mike a worldwide horror sensation, Audition could be described as "one of those films where nothing happens until the last 10 minutes", but those final explosive sequences wouldn't be as powerful - or as jaw-droppingly f***ed up - if not for the preceding 100 minutes of pure unease.
After screening girls to be his new wife (this was before Tinder, okay), a widower finally finds someone he likes, and she seems to be attracted to him in return. It turns out she's obsessed with him though, and more than a little weird, living in an empty apartment with nothing but a large sack in the corner. The relationship descends from there, moving towards a finale you'll undoubtedly have to watch through your fingers.
[JB]
86. The Conjuring
One of the most memorable horror movies of recent years, James Wan’s The Conjuring and its subsequent cinematic universe have done wonders for the genre since its release in 2013. Capitalising on the real-life stories of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, this first instalment is the Perron family’s experience of ghost Bathsheba, bringing together classic ghost story sensibilities with electrifying modern filmmaking.
It’s one of the biggest hits of the last decade, and rightly so, making horror scary again by never quite showing too much - but what it does show will surely stick with you even with the lights on.
[AM]