Science Flick-Tion: Top 10 Horror Classics of All Time!
October 30, 2011 11:18 | Updated: 29 weeks 3 days Ago
I present to you, gentle
10. The Wolf Man (1941): The life’s essence of horror great Lon Chaney Jr., Universal’s second great hair of the dog – er, wolf – film set the tone for all the other film and literal interpretations of this horrific creature. And who can forget the gypsy poem? “Even a man who is pure in heart/And says his prayers by night/May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms/And the autumn moon is bright.
Chill factor: ½ skull out of five
9. Poltergeist (1982): Who can forget young Heather O’Rourke’s performance as Carol Anne Freeling and the seemingly “friendly” spirits that move things about this way and that in the house until … the terror begins? A great climax! Speilberg’s darkest vision.
Chill factor: ½ skull
8. Night of the Living Dead (1968): Hey, all you guys and ghouls, if you have not seen this seasonal chestnut, then you may want to know the body snatching and zombie movement got its start right here in director George A. Romero’s cinema classic. Film remakers and retconners have been living off Romero’s work ever since.
Chill factor: 1 ½ skulls
7. The Shining (1980): Stanley Kubrick has mastered just about every genre. Here is his ultimate psychological horror story and, while not exactly a true adaptation of Stephen King’s book, certainly a memorable one. Who can forget “REDRUM” or the superb Jack Nicholson leering through the hole he has axed into a bathroom door, shouting “Here's Johnny!!”?
Chill factor: 1 ½ skulls
6. Jaws (1975): A horror movie in bright daylight on a New England beach? Sand and surf? And sharks! If you were a kid during the 1970s (or even an adult), you looked twice during each and every vacation at the beach after seeing this father of the summer blockbusters, one of Spielberg’s best.
Chill factor: 2 ½ skulls
5. The Exorcist (1973): One of the highest grossing films of its day, it lost the Oscar to The Sting. It also began a whole batch of imitation movies and TV series (and comics!) surrounding the theme of demonic possession and the divine exorcism power of priests. Years later, a movie goer could still see young Linda Blair’s head twisting and vomiting! Brr …
Chill factor: 3 skulls
4. Dracula(1931): Master horror director Tod Browning put Bela Lugosi in the role of Bram Stoker’s vampire lord, a role that would define the remainder of his career. From the first frame to its last, Dracula demonstrates the early and superior manner of telling a ghost story in eerie black-and-white. Often imitated, never duplicated, Browning’s vampire remains a cinema original.
Chill factor: 4 skulls
3. Psycho (1960): You simply cannot have a Top 10 Horror Movie List without the master, director Alfred Hitchcock, and Psycho is the master’s masterpiece! You will never feel secure in the shower again after watching Mumsy (wellllll ..) take down sweet Janet Leigh with an offering from QVC’s cutlery department. And watch going up those hotel stairs! Double brr…
Chill factor: 4 skulls
2. Freaks (1932): Freaks is little known and little seen in this modern world. I happened to catch news of it while attending college and, knowing director Tod Browning’s name from Dracula, I was shocked to see this splendid piece of horror moviemaking so anonymous. Browning took the exceptional step of casting real people with deformities as the eponymous sideshow "freaks" rather than using costumes and makeup; the film is also a documentary, but heavily favored toward the circus “malformed” rather than the “normal.” The climax is too horrendous even to describe. My best advice: If you can ever find this piece, buy it or see it!
Chill factor: 4 ¾ skulls
1. Frankenstein (1931): “It’s alive! It’s alive!” This Universal classic starring the great Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s Monster and featuring some of the greatest special effects of that era is still the stick against which all other horror/terror films must be measured, IMHO. The anger of the villagers, the delightful madness of Dr. Henry Frankenstein, the drama of the rack in the skies of crackling lightning at the monster’s birth, the pathos of its scenes with the blind musician and the little flower girl: all images and emotions other films strive to master. This film is like no other.
Chill factor: 5 SKULLS!
What are your Top 10 Horror Movies? Comment below! We wanna know.
