35. The Last House On The Left (1972)
Wes Cravens first film is a horror-minded revision of Swedish master Ingmar Bergmans The Virgin Spring. Its also a grainy, hard to watch exploitation film chronicling the abduction, rape and murder of two young girls, and then the violence that befalls their killers at the hands of one of the girls parents. There are plenty of films on this list that are fun to watch, a good time with a bowl of popcorn or some Halloween candy. This isnt one of them. Its a film that looks as rough as it feels, at times seeming more like a snuff picture than a narrative feature. The best of many rape & revenge film, its unflinching look at how violence infiltrates the lives of everyday people and changes them forever makes it a difficult but necessary addition to the list.
34. Funny Games (1997 & 2007)
Michael Hanekes Funny Games may not have been intended as a horror film, but the way it dismantles the genre and turns its gaze on the audiences expectations and desires from violent film make it a necessary one. The story is simple: two young men take a family hostage and force them into a series of sadistic tests and games. Throughout the process, the fourth wall with the audience is broken, and the killers strike a wager with the audience as to whether or not the family will be alive come the films end. This is, of course, both a provocation and a exploration of why we see violent, horrifying films. Funny Games asks us what were really here for. Do we like to see the odds overcome, evil vanquished, and a hero surviving the ultimate test? Or are we really just here because its the only socially acceptable way to revel in our love of brutal violence and death. Its the kind of unflinching confrontation that Haneke has been known for throughout his career. Pick the original or the remake; Hanekes American version is a shot for shot remake of his Austrian original.
33. The Birds (1963)
Hitchcock, master that he was, typically worked his craft in suspense rather than horror. But when he did try outright horror, he wasnt too bad at that either. The Birds is a film, like many others on this list, that endures not because of its scares but because of what it implies. The story is a bit silly, and the bird-attack effects are certainly dated. But the film itself is a reminder that chaos can come from anywhere, that people will turn on each other in times of terror, and, as the last shot implies, that things might not be alright in the end. A grim and effective addition to the filmography of one of cinemas greatest masters.
32. The Sixth Sense (1999)
There was a time not that long ago when I would have guessed that M. Night Shyamalan wouldve had a few films on this list, but alas, that was not to be. But while his more recent work may be derided, its hard to speak a bad word about The Sixth Sense. A ghost story about two souls disconnected from the rest of the world that find solace in one another - one a victim of a dying marriage, the other a child of a broken family who swears he sees ghosts - is a small but powerful tale. The film looks and feels cold, but still jolts us to life with twists and turns that always keep us on our feet. The twist at the end of the film, of course, is what everyone remembers; even Shyamalan himself seemed to be trapped by it, chasing its effect in his later films to no avail.
31. Ils/The Strangers (2006 & 2008)
Ils (French for "Them") and its American counterpart, The Strangers, present the horror of randomness. Weve all seen and heard stories about random, seemingly senseless acts of violence on the news, but here were presented with one up close and personal. In each film, a couple retreats to an isolated house, where they are attacked and terrorized relentlessly by a group of strangers. There is no motive, there is no reason. It happens because it does. The French original is shorter and punchier, while the American version has a more fleshed out story and ending. But both convey the same point, in terrifying fashion: evil is out there, and can strike us at any time.