10. Spoorloos (The Vanishing) (1988): If your obsession leads to your undoing, then meeting your demise by being buried alive must be like salt in a open wound. That and I can't really think of a more terrifying way to die.
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9. The Night of the Hunter (1955): Long before Freddy Krueger or Jerry Blake there was Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum's finest hour). A preacher traveling the countryside spreading his personal proverb of love and hate. He also slaughters widows, and stalks children who are hiding some stolen loot. This may be the most strikingly beautiful film on this list. The cinematography is amazing, the images are haunting, and it's all in pulpy black & white. It truly is a hard world for little things.
8. Frailty (2001): More heartbreaking than horrifying, all the more so since I am so close with my own father. Having God tear your family in two by sending dad out to slaughter the wicked is a hell of a set-up, but it's nothing compared to the resolution. Madness or a higher calling? The Lord moves in mysterious ways indeed.
7. & 6. The Fly (1958 & 1986): I saw the original as a child, and the final scene where the fly with the human head screeches "Help Me!" as the spider closes in was pure terror. A character then exclaims "I will never forget that scream for as long as I live." I knew just how he felt. The remake made incredibly grotesque changes for the better. Witnessing your body slowly undergo a metamorphosis into something non-human must feel like a nightmare you are unable to awake from. Be afraid... I sure was.
5. Irreversible (2002): Not truly a horror film you say? It's the only movie on this list that was so intense I had to look away. This is less a film, and more an endurance test.
4. Poltergeist (1982): The best haunted house movie ever made period. Why? They have a legitimate reason to stay. For all of the face-ripping, clown scares, and moving furniture nothing raises more goosebumps than hearing a child stuck in another dimension cry "Mommmmy! I can't see you mommy. Where are you?" Through the television.
3. Halloween (1978): To this day I still check the backseat of my car at night. That is the power this simple slasher classic holds over me. The soundtrack is extremely chilling, and might be the most recognizable in horror film history. Sequels, remakes, rip-offs, and even sequels of remakes be damned. This knife-in-hand, stalking from the shadows thriller is still easily the most effective.
2. The Exorcist (1973): It may seem like a cliche pick, but I must give credit where credit is due. This movie is too damn freaky. The vomit, the spider-walk, the head spinning, the levitating, the subliminal shock cuts. The scariest thing to me? Mercedes McCambridge's voice. It was so raspy and disturbing that it alone deserved an oscar nod.
1. Psycho (1960): A perfect film. It masterfully hits every kind of scare tactic possible. Its creepy (final shot), suspenseful (don't go into the fruit cellar), deceptive (the first protagonist is a thief, the second is really the antagonist in drag), disturbing (discussions over dinner), shocking (a twist in the middle and the end), violent (shower and staircase), and unforgettable (the entire movie).
Honorable Mentions
Try watching Suspiria with headphones on, and the lights off. It is an experience that could very well drive you mad. The decapitation scene in Exorcist III is one of the scariest goddamn things I've ever seen. The best part? You never actually see it happen. You may notice that not a single zombie movie made this list, and there is an explanation. As much as I love the original Dawn of the Dead, Army of Darkness, and countless other zombie movies I find them way too fun to be truly scary. (Although that pencil through the ankle scene in Evil Dead gets me every time. It is ruthless). The Blair Witch Project, Ringu, Alien, and The Thing are all also quite fantastic.
3 comments:
Just watched Night of the Hunter with Bree. I agree that Mitchum is creepy (in a more funny than scary way, though) and the cinematography and the set design were striking, but I found the whole thing to be quite farcical, especially because the acting was so bad (the kids, Shelley Winters, and Mother Spoon were all ridiculous!), the musical score was overbearing and ineffectively manipulative (lively cartoon music does not make 10 seconds of footage of a shack on a river seem whimsical), and what's with all the animal close ups on the river -- frogs, rabbits, foxes, owls? At times it seemed that the movie was a parody of itself.
I think it's really creepy when husbands in old-time movies call their wives "Mother".
You are not wrong to call the film farcical. When I watched it with my roommate we laughed our asses off at the "I've been with men!" line. Forever exclaiming from that day on that "Ruby is a whore." This is a very odd film and yes the tone is all over the place. Perhaps its something about making a bible thumper a switchblade carrying psychopath that just gets under my skin.
Is the "mother" comment restricted to old-time movies, Bree? How about the chapel owners at the beginning of Kill Bill vol.2 P.S. I find it to be pretty damn bizarre as well.
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