It’s actually much harder than it sounds, to pick a list of Horror films to recommend. Most lists are 50 or 100, but I decided to be the middle man and make it 75! Culling it down to only 75 is actually the difficult part. Horror films have been thrilling, terrifying and inspiring generations of watchers for over 100 years. It sounds a little embellished, but, the first credited Horror film, Georges Mellies Le Manoir du Diable (1896) was actually a 3 minute silent and supernatural encounter with Mephistopheles. The film (for those who are actually interested) can now be viewed on YOUTUBE. A slew of the dark phenomenon thereupon made headway throughout cinematic history. I studied early cinema extensively, and fell in love with innovations like The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920), The Phantom Carriage (1920) and, the immortal (Pun intended) masterpiece Nosferatu (1922). But my love of the genre spans far beyond this collection. I think it began with the first Horror film I ever remember watching. I have very vivid recollections of the feelings I experienced. It effected my core indisputably and I was hooked. Invasion of The Body Snatchers (1978). Though it was a remake and not the original 1956 jewel, it instilled a yearning within my soul; an appetite that would amplify with time. As I grew, so did my fascination and I soon learned that the darkness was bewitching.
From that point on I was an addict! To me Horror isn’t just an escape, it’s an enlightenment, an encompassing adventure. It’s an immersive realm where the supernatural fraternize with us mere mortals often within the confides of the conventional gloom. A horror movie should thrill us and disturb us simultaneously. It isn’t just about the sensationalistic or the extravagance of the carnage. It’s the cohesion of the gore, the terror, the loud and the eerie. It’s the ensemble of the colours, the sounds, the outrageous excess. It’s the human condition. Our nature dictates that we take pleasure in a good scare because it pumps the blood and livens our senses, and, for 90 or more minutes, it permits us to tap into the darkness within. Horror isn’t just a genre. Horror is a habitat.
I have had friends ask me over the years to recommend titles – “I want something that is actually scary!” Not everyone has the same taste, not everyone has the same tolerance. So I compiled my version of a list. Just remember, this is NOT a list of the greatest horror films or any such acclamation. It’s just a directory of movies that I urge every horror lover- be it novice or veteran- to see. There are so many more, believe me, so many, many more to revel in. And, as a devotee/fanatic/disciple of the brand, I do suggest/advise/insist that you continue to do just that. In the meantime, turn the lights off, mute your phone, get comfortable and enjoy!
P.S – They’re alphabetised for your convenience. (And my painful need for structure)
30 Days of Night (2007)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
A Quiet Place (2018)
Alien (1979)
Antichrist (2009)
Black Christmas (1974)
Candyman (1992)
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Carrie (1976)
Darkness Falls (2003)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Deep Red (1975)
Devil (2010)
Dog Soldiers (2002)
Dracula (1992)
Event Horizon (1997)
Eyes Without A Face (1960)
Flatliners (1990)
Friday the 13TH (1980)
Get Out (2017)
Gothika (2003)
Halloween (1978)
Hellraiser (1987)
Hostel (2005)
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
Let the Right One In (2008)
M (1931)
Martyrs (2008)
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Nosferatu (1922)
Peeping Tom (1960)
Pet Sematary (1989)
Psycho (1960)
Repulsion (1965)
Rosemarys Baby (1968)
Scream (1996)
Seven (1995)
Suspiria (1977)
Tenebrae (1982)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
The Amityville Horror (2005)
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
The Birds (1963)
The Black Cat (1934)
The Brood (1979)
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)
The Changeling (1980)
The Conjuring (2013)
The Crow (1995)
The Curse of la Llorona (2019)
The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
The Evil Dead (1981)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Fly (1986)
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
The House of the Devil (2009)
The Howling (1981)
The Lazarus Effect (2015)
The Lost Boys (1987)
The Nun (2018)
The Omen (1976)
The People Under the Stairs (1991)
The Phantom Carriage (1921)
The Ring (2002)
The Shining (1980)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Thing (1982)
Torso (1973)
Un Chien Andalou (1929)
Underworld (2003)
Village of the Damned (1960)
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