Top Eight Scary Movies of All Time
- The Others
- Silence of The Lambs
- Poltergeist
- Halloween
- The Nightmare on Elm Street
- The Shining
- The Exorcist
- The Ring
While this is the type of freak out that you will find thinking about more than losing sleep over, by the end the tale of a mother trying to shelter her two children while her husband is away on war has some ghostly moments along with a knockout blow at the end that truly delivers.
This movie is a victim of its success. With Anthony Hopkin's award-worthy turn as the sardonic cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lechter being lampooned so ofter it's sometimes hard to remember what a brilliant movie this was we are treated to some truly scary moments where the hunter and the hunted feel all too familiar.
You may have heard about the real life curse in this trilogy -- where one of the actors died after every film. Yet the original is by far the scariest with some truly terrorizing scenese involving toy clowns, trees, swimming pools and television sets that will always remind you of this Spielberg-Hooper classic.
The 1970s proved to be the first rich decade in horror. We already covered The Excorcist. The Omen was also brilliant. Yet in 1978 the slasher flick was pioneered with the epic that put Michael Meyers on the map. Oh, right, and introduced the world to Jamie Lee Curtis. Most slasher horror flicks borrow from this trendsetter, yet few get it as right when it comes to the final sequence when Jamie is being chased.
The problem with great horror movies is that they gravitate towards sequels that eventually belittle the classic villains into violently laughable caricatures. Even bad movies get diluted. Did we really need a Leprechaun 4? So forgive Freddy Krueger his comical turns (Part III) or battle with rival baddies (Freddy vs. Jason). This one was special. The moment you see Freddy's outstretched arms in the alley -- proving that anything and everything is possible when a kid killer is chasing you in your dreams -- your sleep patterns will never be the same.
Got redrum? One has to wonder why Jack Nicholson never made more horror movies after this classic interpretation of a man who has his family tending to a resort while it is closed during the off-season as he gradually loses all layers of sanity. Nicholson's demented eyes and his disheveled comb-over help produce some of the most memorable moments in horror film history.
No matter what anyone else may tell you there were no scary movies made until the late 1960s. Dracula? Creatures from the Black Lagoon? Mole People? Bah! Watch any of those these days and you will break out laughing. That's what ultimately matters here. Can a film still be scary three decades later? This one sure is. Linda Blair's deliciously wicked turn as a possessed girl has the tension and eerie images that are still haunting to this day.
Really? Yes, really. While the original -- Japan's Ringu -- is pretty creepy this one will have you losing sleep over the seemingly silly premise of a videotape which kills all who see it within 7 days. However, disturbing images and the fiendishly eerie Samara in naturally creepy environments like log cabins and water wells just work so well together in this one.
List by: Rick Munarriz
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