100 Greatest Horror Movies Of All Time
82. Insidious (2010)
2010’s Insidious may have released to a somewhat average reception (it boasts a 66% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), but it’s my no means a mediocre film.
Like Poltergeist, only with an R-rating, Insidious revolves around a family afflicted by a haunting. They move into a new house, only to find themselves - but especially their son - terrorised by ghosts and other spirits.
The film only really kicks into gear during its third act, as Patrick Wilson enters the spirit world in order to retrieve his son, but it’s worth watching all the same.
[EP]
81. The Skin I Live In
The Skin I Live In almost defies generic conventions, but it's definitely a horror movie from the right perspective (as well as being oddly funny at times). Pedro Almodovar's eye for weird and innate desire to celebrate the edges of society clash together in this modern Frankenstein horror starring Antonio Banderas as an illegal surgeon with a dark secret.
Almodovar manages to make The Skin I Live In both beautiful in its look and deeply grotesque, which has the effect of making its macabre story feel sort of casually related, which in turn makes it all the more horrific. The deftness with which the great director balances his more sci-fi/horror-based elements and his usual exploration of identity, sexuality and conflict is just ingenious.
[SG]
80. Shutter
Following a romantic couple haunted by the spectre of a young woman they may have accidentally killed in a hit and run, the two spend most of Shutter trying to solve the mystery of who their tormenter is and why she's trying to tear them apart.
Though it's a familiar set up that a lot of Japanese horror was especially using at the time, a lot of the scares in this Thai flick come by way of photographs - hence the title - with director Banjong Pisanthanakun getting creative with how he stages this haunting.
There's a surprisingly tragic drama at the heart of the film as well, which you'll no doubt forget all about when when you finally see the ghost up close and personal, crawling up your - I mean, the characters' - bed at night.
[JB]