Instead of spending your hard-earned money on mediocre, vapid movies like Paranormal Activity 2, here are some of the best horror films ever made. Some are well-known classics while others are underrated, but they all are guaranteed to make you scream.
The Entity– Barbara ‘Beaches‘ Hershey stars in this under-seen film about a single mother who is sexually assaulted on a regular basis by an invisible rapist. The film is very ambiguous about what exactly is causing these attacks and is all the more effective for doing so. The attacks themselves are graphic and make Poltergeist look like Pollyanna. The creepiest part is that it is supposedly based on a true story.
The Brood– Canadian Director David Cronenberg’s The Brood is about a woman who is being treated by an experimental psychiatrist to rid herself of her emotional demons. Meanwhile, those who have wronged her in the past are brutally murdered by hooded, deformed children. Are these things connected? You betcha. Where did these evil children come from? The answer is quite disgusting.
The Burning– This is a classic slasher film from the 1980s that was the first movie from the independent studio Miramax. It is very similar to Friday the 13th, which beat it to the theaters, but The Burning was already in the works by the time that movie was made. It takes place at—you guessed it—a summer camp where –you guessed again—a secret is coming back to haunt the counselors and campers. There are multiple scares and unlike the Friday series, the characters in The Burning are interesting and generate sympathy. The film also features a young Jason ‘George Costanza’ Alexander and Holly ‘The Incredibles‘ Hunter.
The Blob (1988)– This remake proves that some classics can indeed be improved upon. A mysterious, man-eating blob appears from the sky and begins to terrorize a small town. Luckily, Kevin ‘Johnny Drama’ Dillon and Shawnee ‘Saw II’ Smith are there to stop it. This remake is actually an improvement on the original with an irreverent screenplay and gruesome effects. Kelly Bryant, a junior in animal science, said the remake of The Blob is “the only horror film I’ve actually screamed out loud in and it features a classic, dreamy bad boy that you have no choice but to fall for.”
A Nightmare on Elm Street– If you haven’t seen the original Nightmare, you are missing out. Nina Rountree, a senior in biochemistry and biological sciences, said that she “had nightmares for weeks after watching it, thanks to the first death where the girl is killed on the ceiling.” Images like that one and Johnny Depp’s famous bed scene make Nightmare a film that is impossible to forget. Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare are the only sequels worth watching in a series that devolved into jokes instead of scares.
The Birds– How can a movie from the 1960s still be scary? Simple: the genius of Alfred Hitchcock. Based on a true incident of birds going berserk and attacking people in California, Hitchcock broke new ground in shocks and gore with the story of a town under assault by birds for no apparent reason. The usual booing scores by Bernard Herrmann that are found in Hitch’s films are completely absent here, which makes the film seem even more modern and terrifying. Hitchcock once said that The Birds was about one thing: complacency.
The Exorcist– What is there left to say about the film that is constantly rated the best horror of all-time? It scared our parents in the 1970s and is still a very effective film with shocking moments that would probably not fly in horror movies today—I’m looking at you crucifix scene! If you have not seen it yet, do yourself a favor and pick up the new Blu-ray edition which features both cuts of the film—I personally prefer the theatrical to the director’s cut.
The Shining– This film is endlessly re-watchable due to the ambiguity involved in the story. Is it about ghosts or insanity? Is it really about Native Americans and the Holocaust? T.J. Bugbee, a senior in political science, said The Shining is “a must-see classic, partly because it has one of Jack Nicholson’s best performances.” Nicholson is indeed fantastic as the obviously insane Jack Torrance, but what makes The Shining great is Director Stanley Kubrick, who is the greatest visual master of all time. He creates such unforgettable images like the twin girls, the elevator filled with blood, the bear-suit guy, and—most importantly—Jack Torrance’s novel-in-progress which was not in Stephen King’s original novel.
The Fly (1986)–In David Cronenberg’s remake of The Fly, Jeff ‘Jurassic Park’ Goldblum plays scientist Seth Brundle who is working on a teleportation machine that breaks down molecules and sends them to the machine across the room. Unfortunately for him, a fly gets stuck in his machine when he tries to transport himself and the results are far from pretty. What makes The Fly my favorite movie on this list is its combination of philosophical insight, gory effects and a heartbreaking love story. The film not only deals with the idea of the limits of science but it also dramatizes the horrors of gaining and disease that we all have to face one day.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre– While The Fly is the one dearest to my heart, I have to name Tobe Hooper’s original Texas Chainsaw Massacre as the scariest movie of all time. It is a masterpiece of cinema that puts the characters—and the viewer—in the place of animals in a slaughter house. The Blu-ray is fantastic and it sharpens the beautiful landscape upon which Hooper crafts his masterpiece. On such a low budget one would expect shoddy acting, a poor script and saggy direction, but that is not the case here. Hooper creates the illusion that you are seeing something actually occurring, but he does it through suggestions—see the meat-hook scene for example. Don’t believe me that Chainsaw is great cinema? The Museum of Modern Art has deemed it to be part of its permanent collection. If Chainsaw doesn’t make you shriek and hide your eyes in terror, then there is no hope: you have been completely desensitized.
