This one who's blind. She's the one that can see.

 

 

05. Don't Look Now (1973)

 

Based on the Daphne Du Maurier short story. The story tells of a grieving couple who journey to Venice after the death of their daughter... where upon arriving, omens seem to suggest that she is still very much with them. The film isn't the scariest of films per se, but it is horrifying and unnerving throughout. The setting is the film's highlight - it's made me desperately want to visit Venice and venture down the haunting, isolated streets along the gloomy canals at night. The film as a whole is a visceral experience - it plays on the viewer's ears with footsteps being heard throughout, and most particularly with their eyes. It's a film all about sight and the illusion of sight and this extends far beyond the plot devices.

 

As the film moves along, the menace becomes more and more real and it all culminates in that final scene - which surely goes down as one of the greatest horror endings of all time. Did ANYONE see that coming? But even without that scene, or with knowing the ending, the film gets better the more time you devote to it. The subtle allusions throughout add to the overarching feels of dread and paranoia. Overall a terrifying film, expertly directed and with superb cinematography. Rich colours (the motif of the colour red is the central image of the film), piercing soundtracks and beautifully edited and woven together. A film not just for horror fans, but for cinema fans as a whole.

 

Best scene: The final scene is probably in my top 3 film endings of all time :mellow: So unexpected, shocking, horrifying. Avoid all spoilers and just watch it.

Bad luck isn't brought by broken mirrors, but by broken minds.

 

 

04. Suspiria (1977)

 

One that i'm not sure if many will have seen or heard about, but that's more of a reason to appreciate this underrated and frankly incredible horror masterpiece. Directed by Dario Argento - a master of Italian neorealism - the film is a rollercoaster of bright colours, daft acting, gruesome deaths and scream-worthy shocks. It is the death scenes that are most iconic, as it features some of the most fantastically barbaric moments of horror cinema to kill off its unsuspecting victims and they last with you long after the closing credits. The musical score is beastly, puncturing and pulsating throughout with intense vibes. The colours are lush, blood red and harsh injections of colour constantly penetrate the screen and add to the neorealism of the cinematography.

 

The film itself is really enjoyable away from these tricks and gimmicks. It's about a girl who is caught up in a dance school run by shady witch like women while at the same time all being haunted by an ambiguous dark terror that preys on the beautiful women of the school and the vulnerable men inside of it. It is totally watchable (and rewatchable) and demands a loss of sanity and grasp of reality to truly enjoy. Very imaginative and dream-like but ultimately shit-the-bed scary and a hell of a ride down some of the most tantalisingly horrific scenes in horror history. How is this not top 3 though? :/

 

Best scene: Which death scene do I choose? :mellow: I have to go for the early/opening rope/glass window one. That's all I'll say for fear of spoiler-ing~

I must get this crack mended.

 

 

03. Repulsion (1965)

 

The second Polanski film in the top 10 and this for me is (controversially) the much scarier of the two. It's a film that is so devishly simple and basic that its horror is borne out of the claustrophobic setting, the brilliantly acted performance from Deneuve and the unnerving landscape of the apartment block she inhabits. The film tells of a lonely, slightly odd, sexually depraved woman who is made even more lonesome when her sister decides to leave the apartment for a few days. In this time, the lead character becomes gradually more and more insane as her paranoia of dangerous men attempting to enter the apartment block consume her being.

 

It's a masterclass of cinema - building at a snail's pace at times with random moments of release be it from a shriek, a man attacking Carol or the walls of her apartment extending out to grope her. The apartment setting of the film is crucial, it's all about how modern living can consume an individual and eventually overwhelm their existence. Polanski was a horrible director throughout the film, as he demanded that Catherine not have sex outside of filming in order to build her sexual frustrutration on screen and by forcefully pointing the camera at her face for practically the entirety of the film (she rarely leaves the screen!). Not much actually happens in the film, but it leaves you exhausted at the end of it. Speaking of - the final shot is the most chilling moment of the entire countdown easily.

 

Best scene: The final 30 seconds :mellow: Very chilling and makes you immediately want to replay the film as it opens up a mountain of questions.

One, two, Freddy's coming for you.

 

 

02. Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

 

The greatest horror slasher movie for me goes to Nightmare on Elm Street for a whole host of reasons that i'll try to touch on here. The primary reason is that this is a film I grew up watching. I used to watch it when I was as young as 5 years old (and subsequently be terrified to go to the toilet alone or sleep alone!) and it's stuck with me ever since. I actually watched it the other week in preparation for this countdown, and it still terrified me just as much as it did then. The premise is simple, a killer is stalking young victims in their sleep, so as long as they stay awake, the nightmare can't reach them. But Freddy (who in this film (not the later ones)) is a horrifying manifestation of terror, hatred and sexualised predator-ness. As the film goes on, Freddy's appearances are brilliantly done: whether it's the hand crawling up in the bathtub, the absolutely spectacular school scene, the extending arms in the alley-way - every moment he is on screen or the moments before he arrives are truly terrifying. The film doesn't have as good a musical score as some of the others in the top 10 but it more than makes up for that through the screaming terror created by the villain. The issues of childhood throughout the film, from the nursery rhymes about Freddy to the villain's history of murdering and potentially raping babies makes the horror more real than a lot of other films and it's easy to ignore the true weight of what the film is conveying.

 

The film is an important moment of horror cinema too - it gave rejuvination to the slasher genre and also harked back to a lot of what came before it. Today the franchise is blasted for where it went post the debut film, but having largely avoided those, the original first film still holds so much power and gravitas as a film. It's totally terrifying and utterly sublime in some of the ways in which Freddy evokes his horror.

 

Best scene: There are many moments I could choose here, with the bathtub being one of them, but I think it's the school scene that is scariest for me :mellow: The dead returned in spectacular fashion and such a safe, familiar haven being transformed into a nightmarish world of disgusting horror.

 

So pleased Elm Street ended up this high. It's just the absolute pinnacle of slasher horror for me.

 

For a number of reasons, Freddy (at least in this movie, and Dream Warriors) is the purest and scariest form of evil. He's totally inescapable and absolutely grotesque, in his appearance and his background.

 

I love all of the Elm Street movies, for very different reasons, and I didn't even mind the remake that much, but the original is hardcore horror perfection.

Haven't seen any of the top 5! Don't Look Now sounds fantastic though so I'm going to watch that soon at some point :heart:

I also haven't seen any of the top 5 here :o There's so many I really do mean to get around watching though!!

5-3 are quite lesser known, but 'Nightmare on Elm Street' is a classic and must-see by all! :o hopefully you can make some good discoveries from this then at least :heehee:

Nightmare on Elm Street a true horror classic there.

Excited to see number 1! NOES is a complete masterpiece

Ooh can't remember if 'Evil Dead' has been yet! Although I guess 'The Exorcist' is number 1? Excited to see what is, either way!

I have never seen Nightmare on Elm Street :o

Oh people, seriously, watch Elm Street. It's immense.

Oh people, seriously, watch Elm Street. It's immense.

Completely agree!

 

#1 film coming soon ~

Nightmare on Elm Street is probably my favourite horror film ever, it's something all horror buffs should watch! So scary and gripping all the way through, the only problem I found it terrifying going out of my room after all the lights have been turned out in my house after watching it :mellow:

 

Sorry I've not been commenting much, but there's so much classics to love here that I'd be repeating myself! Psycho & Halloween are my personal favourites, I'd pick those two out as two defining films of the genre and they both hold up amazingly well to this day. I watched Suspiria recently and it was...quite an experience lol, but extremely stylishly done.

 

I have no idea what your number 1 will be :o interested to see~

The Power of Christ compels you!

 

 

01. The Exorcist (1973)

 

There was never any other contender. The behemoth of horror cinema. Frequently cited as the greatest by critics, a favourite for many horror fans and the #1 in the Haus. There are many reasons why this reigns supreme for me and i'll try to touch on them here, but above all else the film is shit scary. I used to watch it when I was very young, much like the #2 film, and then and now it still has the power to shock. Regan's face remains etched on my mind long after the film finishes and the Tubular Bells play in my ears when I want silence. It's a film that extends far beyond the cinema screen and become a horrifying part of your life that you can't escape: a possession if you will.

 

The film tells of Regan a young girl who is gradually possessed by demonic (supposedly) forces. She represents childhood and innocence being overwhelmed and defeated by religion and patriarchal control. For such a young girl to portray such pain, sorrow, angst and fear is astonishing whatever the genre, but for her to be so terrifying and grotesquely transformative is just a phenomenal achievement. From the innocent girl that you can't help but warm to, to the awfully catastrophic monster on the bed her performance is sensational. Her mother represents undying maternal love and the power of a mother's bond to stand by her daughter and protect her no matter who tries to destroy her. The priests represent the fight of good over evil and the ultimately doomed strength of patriarchy in the face of religion. The devil is one of the scariest villains of all time - pure evil with not a shred of decency or remorse. Attacking the weak and not letting go, he leads to an uncensored portrayal of the worst kinds of evil in the world. A baddie of gargantan proportion and one that lasts with you long after the film finishes. He's undefeatable.

 

I couldn't mention the film without mentioning its impact. From the off it was deemed to be cursed through all its production mishaps and problems but as it was released it was so much more than that - it was cursing. Stories of people's reactions in the cinema are now the stuff of legends and it is truly the most shocking film i've ever seen. It has this effect on me, I scream, I cry, I recoil in fear and then i'm left with a lasting fear of disgust and emptiness when the closing credits roll. With countless iconic moment (the head spin, the spider walk to name a few) it's often parodied but no amount of parodies or homages could deny or take away the impact of this film. I urge all to watch it even if you've previously thought it was "funny" or "a joke" - watch it considering just how serious the subject matter is and say you're not scared. It's truly a benchmark moment of horror cinema and the film that all others are compared to. The soundtrack is electrifying and the performances or totally eccentric and horrifying. Quite slow moving at times, but it does all add to the masterful build up of suspense and tension which is then released with expert precision when the film hots up.

 

It's a highly important film for many reasons, but most of all, and for this countdown in particular - it's just f***ing scary.

 

Best scene: Countless to choose from, including the spider walk and head spin but i'm going for a much more subtle moment. Things are starting to get creepy and Regan's mother is walking the streets seeking help. The tubular bells begin playing, the wind starts blowing and it's then that you realise that the film has a grip on you and you're possessed by it's intensity and insanity. But it's hard to isolate scenes in such an all encompassing film - they don't work in isolation. It's an incredible film of monsters, devils and demons that become all too real, and the powers of which compel all.

Absolutely perfect top 2. Elm Street is the best slasher movie but in terms of sheer horror, you got it right with The Exorcist.

 

It's a stunning piece of movie-making and your choice of "best scene" is so good. I totally get what you mean.

 

There are so many moments in the quieter parts of the movie that are so chilling and effective. Aside from the scary bits that everyone has seen a million times, it's the performances that keep me coming back to it. Linda is obviously amazing, considering the sheer hell she went through filming those scenes, but Ellen is just incredible, and wrongly gets overlooked sometimes when everyone is so focused on the head spinning and the vomiting.

 

There's an absolutely epic behind the scenes documentary on the blu-ray that I'd urge everyone to watch immediately. It's almost as good as the actual movie. It's a real miracle the movie ever got made, considering the crazy stuff that went wrong. The director was an absolute tyrant too, to say the very least.

 

Really it's about as close to a perfect movie as you can get.

Edited May 24, 20169 yr by PaulM1983

Rightful winner. It's the only film to have ever convinced me, to not watch again as it was just TOO much. There's "horror" and then there's "The Exorcist" :lol: I can't even look at Demon Regan! Absolutely horrific on all levels. Made such a huge impact on me watching it as a kid. I've tried to rewatch it as I'm older and really into horrors, but I whimp out and avoid it.

 

Fabulous countdown, Bal. Been an absolute joy and pleasure to read! Gonna have to catch those I haven't seen at some point. Specifically those closer to the top!

So glad you put Suspiria in there!!

 

Didn't expect Repulsion, although it is great I recall. I need to see it again as I can't remember much about it except it felt very clautrophobic.

 

Don't Look Now and the original Elm Street are both fabulous but The Exorcist is a rightful winner. Alongside Alien and The Godfather it sits atop my list of favourite films ever. (I just can't separate the 3).

 

Fab list.

haven't seen most of them, but I was around 20 when I saw The Exorcist, it's still the scariest film Ive ever seen. I was seriously disturbed by it afterwards. Don't Look Back, that ending though, didn't see that coming, and that disturbed me too. Never been able to rewatch either of them. I'm a wuss.