The Top 13 Horror Movies of All Time

A Nerdsburgh exclusive compiled and written by Horror Enthusiast Extraordinaire: Josh Wolf

I love horror movies and have for a long time.  It would be an exaggeration to say that I have seen them all, but certainly have spent the last sixteen or seventeen years watching the best – and sometimes the worst.  I enjoy them all from the silent classics to creature features, even the occasional torture porn – hands down Hostel is the best of that bunch. 

There are some movies, however, that have captured a special place in my terrified heart. With Halloween around the corner, plenty of you will be wondering what to watch on Devil’s Night and on Halloween itself to get into the spirit. Everybody has their favorites, of course, and I do not claim my list is definitive, but here are the thirteen horror movies that gave me the greatest fright the first time I watched them (and often the second, third, and fourth time, as well).

Josh's TOP 13 HORROR MOVIES, after the jump:

*BEWARE: spoilers included in descriptions 

Night of the Living Dead, 1968
George Romero’s masterpiece redefined zombies and turned them into insatiable, flesh eating monsters permanently embedded in American pop-culture.  It is also the first horror movie that I ever saw.  I don’t remember how old I was – maybe eight or ten, and my mom let me watch it on television.  I was terrified, but I also loved it.  I remember how creepy the zombies were – particularly when Helen goes to the basement to find her daughter, Karen, reanimated and eating the flesh of Harry, Karen’s father and Helen’s husband.  I also remember how upset I was when Ben, after managing to survive the entire night, is killed by the posse after he is mistaken for a zombie.

Rosemary’s Baby, 1968
A great film version of a great horror novel. By now, everybody knows the story – a young couple move in to a new building and Rosemary (Mia Farrow) is sold out by her husband Guy (John Cassavetes) to a Satanic cult. In exchange for acting success, Guy allows his wife to be impregnated by Satan, unbeknownst to her. When the baby is born, Rosemary is horrified, but then her maternal instincts kick in. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should. If you haven’t read it yet, you should. Ira Levin is an overlooked American horror master.

The Exorcist, 1973
This is, without a doubt, my favorite scary movie. Watching poor Regan devolve from a sweet little girl into a horrid monster is depressing. The way Captain Howdy flashes in and out of various place around the house is heart pounding. The idea that Satan has the ability to invade our bodies and make us the vessel of his evil is terrifying.

Alien, 1979
This movie is a cross-over hit, which is why many people don’t really think of it as a horror movie, but believe me, it is. A small group of people facing a monster of unknown strength that is killing them one by one. It is the formula of countless horror hits and just because they are on a space ship and the monster is an alien doesn’t mean it isn’t a scary movie. And in classic horror movie style, the sole survivor is a woman.

Poltergeist, 1982
What can I say about this movie? It has it all – clowns, ghosts, graveyards, a demonic television, and a scary Zelda Rubinstein. The only thing Poltergeist is missing is the pervy, creepy preacher character from Poltergeist II. The acting is phenomenal and the scares are real – although the house collapsing in on itself may be a little over the top.

A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984
Freddy Krueger is without a doubt the scariest of the slasher monsters/villains. I mean, what is Jason Voorhees? A zombie? And Michael Myers is just supposed to be some guy, but clearly he is not because he can’t die. Freddy, though, is a demon who preys on people when they should be safe. The line between dream and reality is completely blurred. Freddy doesn’t hide his face and he has a creepy neighborhood theme song, too. Truly a horror masterpiece.

Hellraiser, 1987
The truth is I don’t particularly like this movie. I think the plot is thin; particularly the origins of the puzzle cube and the reason why anybody would want to open it. I also find the acting to be soapish. Nor am I a big fan of sadomasochism, which is the major theme of the movie. That being said, the Cenobites, and Pinhead in particular, frightened me. It still makes me uncomfortable. If you want a movie that produces nightmares, Hellraiser is for you.

Scream, 1996
The first twenty-minutes of Scream is a heart-pounding, terrifying slasher masterpiece. The first time I saw this movie was in at a midnight showing in a ramshackle local theater and I was the only person in there. It was a great atmosphere to watch a horror movie in and it certainly added to the thrill. After the opening scene, Scream devolves more into a self-aware horror-comedy, but those first twenty-minutes are classic.

The Sixth Sense, 1999
The twist at the close of the movie has made everybody forget how scary the rest of the movie was, but Haley Joel Osmet sees dead people. Many of the ghosts Osmet sees died horrible deaths and make sudden appearances in his life. The women that committed suicide, the boy who died playing with his dad’s shotgun, the corpses hanging from the rafters at his school – all of these moments are jarring and still work really well even if you do know that Bruce Willis actually a ghost the whole time.

Blair Witch Project, 1999
Okay, okay, if you saw this movie at the peak of the hype, I am sure you were disappointed. The popularity of Blair Witch was the doom of Blair Witch. This movie was not made to be watched on a big screen in a crowded theater – it was made for intimate viewing. Watch it at home, by yourself or with one other person, and you will get spooked. The minimalist approach, the black and white filming (which is always creepier than color), being lost in the woods, the creepy giggling as the lost trio are toyed with at night all help to raise the tension. The pay off in the house at the end of the movie is great and really tests you to see if you were paying attention earlier.

The Ring, 2002
This movie literally gave me nightmares. A creative urban legend is helped greatly by excellent acting performances from Naomi Watts and David Dorfman and a truly creepy kid, Samara. My favorite moment is when Rachel (Watts) comforts Aiden (Dorfman) by telling him it will be okay – that she set Samara free and Aiden, wide-eyed and shocked, says, “You let her out!?!” It was completely unexpected. And when Samara comes out of the television, it was a moment that could have been hokey, but was really well done.

28 Days Later, 2002
A great addition to the zombie genre. I realize that Danny Boyle was not the first to use the fast moving zombies, but I think it was done best in this movie. I just love the way it opens, too, with Cillian Murphy coming to in a hospital to find a world that has completely transformed.

Let the Right One In/Let Me In, 2010
A truly great vampire movie that revolves around the relationship between a young teenage boy, bullied at school and his mysterious new neighbor, who looks like a girl his own age but is so much more. Let the Right One In is the original Swedish version, Let Me In is the very well done American remake. The Swedish version is slightly gorier, but if you aren’t a fan of subtitles, you won’t be missing anything by watching the remake.

A few side notes: Jaws, Psycho, and Silence of the Lambs do not count because they are suspense/thrillers, not horror movies. All three of them are excellent movies that will have you on the edge of your seat, but that doesn’t necessarily make them horror movies. And if horror comedy is more your speed, the best of the bunch are Zombieland, Shawn of the Dead, and Fright Night (the original, not the remake.)