To name the top Horror flicks of all time would result in a very subjective list, so let’s narrow the field to just recent history.
When should we make the cut-off? Let’s go back to 2005, give it a full 10 years.
If it’s one movie that tons of people are clamoring about in the past couple years, it’s THE CONJURING. According to our cousin site, Half Popped Reviews, THE CONJURING (2013) is considered a GREAT flick (not just a “good” flick) by 40% of the people who have reviewed it. Gorgon Reviews sets things up nicely “It didn’t make me jump out of my seat every minute, but after the intro, I found myself at the edge of the seat until the credits rolled. The chill that something could go wrong at any moment stayed with you. It teased really well, and similarly had well placed humor moments just to throw you off guard.” … “The Conjuring proves that ghosts and hauntings are still scary. but even more surprising is that this movie was also well acted with a decent plot, truly the scariest thing about it. Similarly, this is the first horror I have given this rating in the last two years of hardcore movie watching.” (full review here)
From creepy scary, we go to an indie horror flick laden with plenty of action. ATTACK THE BLOCK brings the alien-fighting awesomeness and British slang. It’s so good, the lead actor found himself pulled into a seriously prime role in the new STAR WARS because of it! Nathan from Temple Of Reviews knows what’s up… “I didn’t have to get too far into Attack the Block before I started to realize that it didn’t feel like any movie I had seen in a long time.” … “Attack the Block takes the family feel of Spielberg’s gems, and mixes it with the more explicit and violent genre works of the 80s as well.” (full review here)
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. Never heard of it? It’s foreign, but that shouldn’t stop you. You should absolutely check it out if you love horror flicks. Citizen Charlie with the review…
“A Girls Walks Home Alone at Night is so many things but above all, it is simple and spellbinding. Shot in black and white and moving at a slower pace than many modern audiences will appreciate, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is wholly mesmerizing and a joy to give yourself over to and get lost in.”
…
“This is not Twilight. Contemporary American teenagers will have no idea what to do with The Girl and will certainly not appreciate the work of parsing out the subtexts and themes lurking beneath the surface.” (full review here)
It’s not a straight-up horror flick, but with zombies aplenty, ZOMBIELAND certainly deserves consideration. The enjoyment might rely significantly on its comedic elements, but at the end of the day, I’m not sure that matters. Though it can’t make the list because it came out in 2004, I feel like this is a good time to mention Shaun Of The Dead, which is also a very funny horror flick in its own right.
To say that CABIN IN THE WOODS isn’t your traditional horror flick is to do it a disservice. It is, and isn’t, at the same time. It pokes fun and shows love. It goes simple, then goes crazy. The Movie Evangelist has some recommendations… “While much horror relies on the slow burn, Cabin expects you to come with it on the journey, and conceptually it’s a long way from where we start to where we end up.” … “Others might have trodden the path before, but Whedon and Goddard have proven they have what it takes to be considered right at the top of the tree where big scares mixed with hard laughs are concerned. Hail to the kings, baby.” (full review here)
Way more traditional is THE BABADOOK, which takes the boogieman concept and mixes it with kids stories… in an extremely dark way. Mark Hobin gave it a perfect 5 stars and had a couple nice things to say about it… “The chronicle appropriates standard horror tropes (i.e. the boogeyman, child in peril, dark spaces, flickering lights) but utilizes them to suit a tale that feels fresh.” … “The Babadook doesn’t rely on lazy scares by ratcheting up the soundtrack with loud sounds. Nor does it capitalize on disgusting sights. It intelligently exploits our anxieties and the unknown. I felt physically uneasy by the time we reached the climax.” (full review here)
I would be remiss if I didn’t have a Korean horror flick on the list, and I SAW THE DEVIL is extremely worthy. One of our favorite reviewers, Dan The Man, has you covered… “Never ever going to Korea now.” … “before you think about checking this film out because of its cool poster and plot-line, let me warn you that this flick is VICIOUS” … “It’s not very often that you can get a flick that combines elements of a slasher, horror, revenge, and bad cop flick and keep us guessing until the last shot is off the screen.” (full review here)
At the risk of including too many comedic horror flicks, TUCKER AND DALE VS EVIL also needs to be on this list. For this recommendation, Tim The Film Guy gets the quote “Silly spoof horror/comedy about rednecks and college students together in the woods and yet it somehow turns out to be very impressive and surprisingly funny. The characters tucker & Dale are very good together and the way they react to what happens around they is very genuine shock and horror which allows you to connect with these characters.” (full review here) And because we’re bordering on wayyyyy too many comedic horror flicks, I’ll just briefly mention WHAT WE DO IN SHADOWS.
Nearly two-thirds of everyone who reviewed IT FOLLOWS on Half Popped said it was a GREAT flick. Everyone agreed it was “good”. Sober Film Critic James Brown says “I have no love lost for the horror movies of today. … For once in my life, there’s a horror movie to laud.” (review) Silver Screen Riot’s Matt Oakes finishes his review by describing the film as “a horror film that’s largely inspired by the genre’s past and yet not quite like anything else before it.” (review) Best horror film of its year? Gorgon Reviews thinks so. “It Follows was so good, it blew away everything horror wise in 2014.” (review)
So what’d we miss? What belongs on the list that was left off? Twitter‘s a good spot to let us know, as is Facebook!
