What makes a good scary movie? Some might think it’s all in how many times the jump or scream during a viewing, how many times they contemplate running to the bathroom during a gory scene, or the amount of sleepless nights they have after seeing the movie. Last year, Joey took a crack at creating a top 50 list of the best horror films which you can see here. Not one to back down from a challenge of creating a list, I decided try my hand at it this year. Aside from the sheer number of horror films released, it’s incredibly difficult to rank the “best” of anything as you saw when we did our top 10 films of all time. Horror has evolved so much over the years, that in order to properly rank all of these films I used a 3 prong grading system, judging on historical significance, scariness, and fun factor in order to even the playing field. Each week I’ll be breaking down my top 50, but this week you’ll get a double dip of rankings as here are the films that just missed the cut of my list.
100. Teeth
99. What Lies Beneath
98. The Crazies (2010)
97. Children of the Corn
96. The Ruins
95. Fire in the Sky
94. Thirteen Ghosts
93. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
92. Cujo
91. The Blob (1958)
90. Fatal Attraction
89. The Cell
88. Stephen King’s It
87. Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
86. Shutter Island
85. The Devil’s Advocate
84. The Mummy (1932)
83. Resident Evil
82. Videodrome
81. The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
80. Paranormal Activity
79. The Skin I Live In
78. The Orphan
77. Fear
76. Audition
75. The Picture of Dorian Grey (1945)
74. Drag Me to Hell
73. Signs
72. Hostel
71. Jeepers Creepers
70. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
69. Ju-on
68. Creature From the Black Lagoon
67. Hellraiser
66. The Haunting (1963)
65. Frailty
64. Deep Blue Sea
63. I Saw the Devil
62. Cape Fear (1991)
61. Child’s Play
60. Black Swan
59. The Amityville Horror (1979)
58. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
57. Frankenstein
56. Insidious
55. House
54. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
53. Dracula
52. An American Werewolf in London
51. The Wicker Man
When he's not enduring Shade Samurai training from Victoria Grayson, you can find Terence spends his time being an avid watcher of television, Criterion film collector, Twitter addict, and awards season obsessive. Opinionated but open minded, ratchet but with class, Terence holds down the fort as the producer of the Power Hour podcast and will soon be recapping many of your favorite shows. As the only person with a degree in a STEM field (B.S. in Civil Engineering), he's holding it down for the nerds who love film. You can follow him on Twitter at @LeNoirAuteur.
What makes a good scary movie? Some might think it’s all in how many times the jump or scream during a viewing, how many times they contemplate running to the bathroom during a gory scene, or the amount of sleepless nights they have after seeing the movie. Last year, Joey took a crack at creating a top 50 list of the best horror films which you can see here. Not one to back down from a challenge of creating a list, I decided try my hand at it this year. Aside from the sheer number of horror films released, it’s incredibly difficult to rank the “best” of anything as you saw when we did our top 10 films of all time. Horror has evolved so much over the years, that in order to properly rank all of these films I used a 3 prong grading system, judging on historical significance, scariness, and fun factor in order to even the playing field. Each week I’ll be breaking down my top 50, but this week you’ll get a double dip of rankings as here are the films that just missed the cut of my list.
David Baker
October 3, 2012 at 3:36 pm
I really hope The Wicker Man is not the Nicolas Cage remake…
David Baker(Quote) (Reply)
Terence Johnson
October 3, 2012 at 3:47 pm
I totally forgot that remake even existed so I didn’t bother checking on the date lol sorry for the confusion, I am referring to the original
Terence Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
Mark Johnson
October 3, 2012 at 3:58 pm
I love An American Werewolf in London! Perfect mix of dark comedy/horror if there ever was one.
Mark Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
Terence Johnson
October 3, 2012 at 4:09 pm
An American Werewolf was such a tough thing not to include in the top 50 cause I really enjoyed it…but aside from that opening attack it’s not terribly scary. It’s hilarious though
Terence Johnson(Quote) (Reply)
Barry Burns
October 3, 2012 at 4:01 pm
I was just thinking about An American Werewolf in London recently. I don’t know if there’s ever been a film that is that funny AND that scary simultaneously. ‘Scream’ is funny but never really scared me. AAWL has genuine laughs throughout, but also a few of the scariest scenes and disturbing images you can imagine. True classic.
Barry Burns(Quote) (Reply)
Steve Glansberg
October 3, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Ooh, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Phantom of the Opera, and the Cabinet of Dr. Caligaria out at the beginning! This is going to be interesting.
Sad to see the 1931 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde out so soon, it’s my personal second favorite horror movie. I can understand that most people wouldn’t have it in a best-of list, but I think I could make an argument for it.
Kind of surprised to see Paranormal Activity out so soon. Regardless of people’s personal feelings, it’s a clever, important, influential, and massively successful horror film.
I just watched the original Wicker Man for the first time last night. I have to say, not a fan. Looking forward to the rest of your list!
Steve Glansberg(Quote) (Reply)
astrid
October 7, 2012 at 1:02 pm
Black swan and devil s advocate r horrors?get real people XD
astrid(Quote) (Reply)
Alexander West
October 14, 2012 at 9:25 pm
The tone of the Devils Advocate my be on the thriller side while Black Swan is more on the Drama/Melodramatic.. But both have horrors within them that linger.
Alexander West(Quote) (Reply)