Why on earth do we do it to ourselves? When we lay in bed at night sweating, thinking that the crumpled-up pile of clothes on our chest of drawers is one of the crawlers from The Descent wouldnt it have been far wiser just to have watched the latest Disney release instead? It seems completely illogical that we should willingly put ourselves into this position of distress and panic where our heart is racing, our palms are sweaty and we can barely keep our eyes on the film we just paid whatever extortionate amount Odeon has just charged us to see. So why do we do it then? For exactly the same reason that people base-jump off buildings, handle bird-eating tarantulas or go on precarious looking roller-coasters the thrill, the rush, the buzz, the pump or whatever terminology you prefer to use. There is no denying that as your heart is racing from this simulated fear you do feel a heightened sense of reality perhaps the experience of being terrified is a necessary human experience modernity and the nanny-state has stripped us of and we subconsciously crave the feeling once more. However, throughout the history of cinema there have been some films so terrifying that they have certainly left their audiences feeling like they made a mistake in watching, regardless of whether or not they experienced this buzz. Here is our take on the 20 most horrifying films ever:
Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
