Without further adieu, my top 10 horror films of all time, up to 2024:
10. Ex Machina, Alex Garland
9. Possessor, Brandon Cronenberg
8. The Fly, David Cronenberg
7. Jacob’s Ladder, Adrian Lyne
6. Jaws, Steven Spielberg
5. Hereditary, Ari Aster
4. Midsommar, Ari Aster
3. The Thing, John Carpenter
2. Alien, Ridley Scott
1. Annihilation, Alex Garland
Here is where to vote for your top 10 for Fangoria’s Top 100, til the end of today, Sunday January 28th, 2024: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfOGMGe_7cA2XhJX3hEMoMMeOBNaHEtSZBhiNMTovS0s-SiKw/viewform
If you are interested, the calculation for the top 200 on Rotten Tomatoes is actually pretty fascinating.
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/best-horror-movies-of-all-time/
IMDb top 100 is solid with some surprises:
https://m.imdb.com/list/ls045017156/
Commentary / explanation of my list:
I know… So many new / 21st century horror films, but you’ve got to suppose that modern directors are standing on the shoulders of multiple generations of trial and error.
You’ve also got to assume, justifying multiple films from the same directors, that some people are just really tuned in to the genre and what it can do. That is already Ari Aster, Alex Garland, Brandon (David’s kid) Cronenberg, and I regrettably left off Dave Eggers from this list. The VVitch is more of a period piece to me, But Black Phillip is still one of the best monsters in film history. The Lighthouse is basically about two men trying to find out a way to privately masturbate, but Lovecraft lol. And I was too scared of putting Aster’s Beau is Afraid on the list, because it is too new, and 3 films one director? No fair. But it is funny that that film is essentially about a guy who really needs to get laid. It truly is one of my favorite films of the 21st century, already.
What got me into horror, slashers, and which sustained me for many years, did not make the list. I recently rewatched every single Friday the 13th. They are not well made films, but they were not meant to be. Money making fodder done on the cheap. It’s brilliant. I actually am one of the few that loves Jason X, with a David Cronenberg cameo! Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy was my guy but it’s so campy. Hellraiser is really a slow burn even though the effects are fantastic. The second one is pretty scary, but by the third one it is hilarious with the CD throwing cenobite. There’s also things I feel bad about, like no Phantasm or more Romero and Cronenberg. Also Tobe Hooper. He definitely helped speed up the genre. It would be fun to come up with a list of Roger corman-like stuff or hilarious ’80s and ’90s stuff, akin to Chopping Mall. So fun.
I think the most controversial commissions here are Terminator, Aliens and Predator. Creature feature slashers are horror, but so heavy on science fiction and action, It feels like so many genres all at the same time. It still follows the format and there is the final girl, which is Arnold in Predator. Fun! Sarah Connor is the final girl in Terminator, Aliens’ Ripley once again the final girl accompanied by some friends. Man people were so mad at Alien 3 for Hicks and Newt immediate off screen kills. To be fair, a slasher means the bad guy with evil intent is the focus. Predator works with that model, but it is really Skynet and Weyland-Yutani as the true evil villains for Terminator and Aliens, so they really fit the definition of a slasher.
Also, there are some documentaries that could ostensibly make the list. Jesus Camp? Holy hell. There is also the entire world of Grindhouse or torture porn or exploitation which I don’t really consider psychologically frightening enough, or just not what I want: Men Behind the Sun, Martyrs, Cannibal Holocaust, Salo, Irreversible, August Underground, Hostel, Kids, Saw. I get it. Different genres to me.
I like my final list that I whittled down. My original knee jerk list was this:
American Werewolf in London
The Fly
Alien
The Thing (Carpenter)
Annihilation
Midsommar
The VVitch
The Lighthouse
Hereditary
Aliens
Jaws
Get Out
Mother!
Predator
Night of the living Dead
Jacob’s ladder
The Shining
Ex Machina
Beau is Afraid
Crimes of the Future
Possessor
Infinity pool
Session 9
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Gremlins
The Mist
Terminator
Poltergeist
Invasion of the body snatchers
Vivarium
Cube
Aniara (space opera tragedy)
Killing of a Sacred Deer
Mandy
Rosemary’s Baby
The Exorcist
The Omen
Underwater (I know, but I love it)
This was fun!!!
If you like more horror:
Lovecraft was not a good person, but the university created ran away to make some of the most amazing horror films of all time about body and cosmic dread: https://unclefishbits.com/lovecraft-was-a-horrible-human-that-created-a-runaway-universe-of-cosmic-horror-heres-a-few-wonderful-films/
At the bottom the above post, there are a bunch of Lovecraft inspired horror shorts. Many directors start with shorts and move to future films, so you can catch somebody before they make it big!
Horror comes in many forms, like these shorts. I think one of the greatest I’ve ever seen is channel 58: https://unclefishbits.com/i-think-about-channel-local-58-a-lot-some-of-the-best-and-most-unsettling-horror-out-there/
But Adult Swim, and others, have really perfected surreal horror shorts: https://unclefishbits.com/the-fever-dream-that-is-adult-swims-surrealism-and-other-bizarre-videos
A list of almost every horror film by genre and interest, weather vampires or zombies or complete madness: https://unclefishbits.com/the-greatest-horror-films-of-all-time-in-one-convenient-place/
Transgressive or absurdist or reductionist horror: https://unclefishbits.com/horror-with-a-side-of-absurdism-johnny-utah-get-me-two/
