A few months ago, I ran a survey on one of my sites that asked horror fans to rate the ten best horror movies of all time. In this article, I list the movies and explain what makes horror fans rate them so highly.
Psyche (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho terrifies audiences because it is an exploration of madness that concludes that anyone, even the sane, can become insane and suffer severe consequences.
Alien (1979)
Alien’s strong theme is disease. The crew aboard a futuristic spaceship becomes infected by an alien species and hunted down in a horrific way. Perhaps the scariest thing about Alien is the theme it shares with Psycho: evil is within us, and therefore cannot be easily escaped from.
The Shining (1980)
Almost every dorm room on campus has a poster of Jack Nicholson peering through the recently hatched bathroom window, grinning in his inimitable nerdy manner. This easily deserves to be one of the top 10 horror movies of all time. Derived from a Stephen King book, Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece is a chilling look at madness and claustrophobia, in which Jack Torrence’s wife and son are mentally abused and later chased into a remote hotel called The Overlook. Perhaps what we fear most here is the possibility that our most trusted loved ones can become our worst enemies.
Aliens (1986)
In Aliens we see Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) returning with a rescue team to a colony where she must do battle with more aliens. Nobody believes her, of course, until it’s too late and she and the other crew members surround her with dozens of savory, toothy creatures. It’s the claustrophobic places here, more than the aliens, that we find most frightening.
Les Diaboliks (1955)
A boarding school principal is murdered by his mistress and his half-hearted wife. They doused his corpse in their school’s swimming pool, but after being brainwashed, the body vanished. What ensues are scenes of suspense that slowly turn the killers insane with tension. This movie is painful and terrifying to watch and we, involuntarily, must become the killers and share their fears. Although it’s one of the top 10 horror movies of all time, I’d say it’s – possibly – the best suspense movie ever made.
Jaws (1975)
Amity Island has it all: beautiful beaches, warm weather, friendly residents. . . Oh, and a deadly fifteen-foot great white shark! This is the original summer blockbuster known to all moviegoers. The theme here is man against nature. The most terrifying thing about Jaws is its relentless monster. He won’t be thought of, he won’t stop eating, and you won’t snap his teeth, even if you are an expert shark hunter. In this movie only the lucky ones survive.
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
This horror movie picks up where Frankenstein left off. Frankenstein and his monster are still alive. The insane Dr. Pretorius kidnaps Frankenstein’s wife and blackmails her into creating another monster to become a bride to the original Abomination. With dug graves, decomposing corpses, reanimated living tissue, and the terrifying theme that man should not play God, this is a truly terrifying story.
The Thing (1982)
On a remote station in Antarctica, an expedition of American scientists came across a dog, which had crashed a helicopter. That same night, dogs and scientists are attacked by the dog and soon the shape-shifting entity is loose among the survivors. The idea that evil lurks among those we trust is explored here to terrifying effect.
King Kong (1933)
When the original audience saw King Kong, many of them literally ran screaming at the islands. Never before has a monster been depicted with such realism.
The Exorcist (1973)
In The Exorcist, we face the ultimate evil: Satan and his minions. Unlike serial killers or ghosts, Satan appears invincible. Success feels hopeless. Shocked with blasphemy, this horror film has a child becoming possessed and speaking foul language; And the weakness of good (i.e. the wine priest) in the face of absolute evil.
The top 10 best horror movies of all time will change in the future, of course, but – perhaps – the themes will remain the same. We will always be afraid of the evils within (madness), the evils indomitable (nature and the devil), and monsters, of all shapes and sizes, will likely remain to entertain and terrify!