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Posted by: Zooped, January 4th, 2010 - No Comments » |
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1) The Shining (1980)
Perfectionist auteur Stanley Kubrick seemed an unlikely choice to adapt Stephen King’s pulp novel, yet the result was this towering horror masterpiece. Though King wasn’t satisfied with the result, Kubrick skilfully turned the story of a hotel caretaker slowly cracking up into an opulent study of isolation, madness and paranoia. It’s full of iconic moments, including the spooky twin girls in the hotel corridor and Danny’s mutterings about ‘Red Rum’, and Jack Nicholson gives one of his finest performances as the struggling author who lurches from caring family man into axe-wielding psycho.
2) Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Rosemary’s Baby opens with a young couple moving into a new apartment and gradually, and quite brilliantly, builds up a palpable sense of paranoia and unease as Rosemary comes to suspect that her neighbours are Satanists. The dream-like sequence in which Rosemary is raped by the Devil is truly horrifying, as is the final image of the rocking cradle, and the disquiet is increased both by the realistic tone and occasional moments of black humour.
3) The Wicker Man (1973)
Unlike more lurid films that pit their heroes against silly Satanists or kooky occultists, the genius of The Wicker Man lies in the sympathetic depiction of the Pagans who live on Summerisle – the remote Scottish island where the devoutly Christian PC Howie (Edward Woodward) is dispatched to look for a missing girl. True, their customs are outlandish (there’s a lot of naked dancing), but alongside Howie’s own blinkered zealotry, they seem positively harmless. Only in the closing scenes is the true cost of unthinking belief (by both sides) revealed, and captured in a chillingly neutral documentary style.
4) Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Arguably the most famous of all Universal monster movies, James Whale’s sequel outshone his terrific original. The film sees Dr Frankenstein set about constructing a mate for his monster, which leads to tragedy, horror, humour and some of the most memorable scenes in cinema history (the monster taking refuge at the home of a blind hermit; an encounter with a little girl at a pond). Gorgeous sets, quotable dialogue (”I love dead. Hate living…”) and terrific performances - this is cinema at its most joyous.
5) Psycho (1960)
Despite influencing virtually every horror and suspense movie to arrive in its wake, it’s amazing how fresh and innovative Psycho seems today. The complex characters and psychological depth mean that Psycho is more than just the gimmicky flick it could have been (and that a few critics dismissed it as at the time). And in his career-defining role, Anthony Perkins’s Norman Bates is one of the greatest and most fascinating screen killers; sexually repressed, disturbed, yet also very personable – even when we know what he’s capable of.
6) Alien (1979)
Pitched as “Jaws in space”, Alien was set apart by several then-revolutionary factors: H.R. Giger’s stunning creature design; its gritty and utilitarian worldview; and casting Sigourney Weaver as its eventual heroine Ripley, a part written for a man but transformed by the change in gender into something iconic. Then there’s the body horror of the alien’s first appearance – a visceral inversion of birth that retains its shock value.
7) Night of the Living Dead (1968)
“They’re coming to get you Barbara…” George A. Romero gave birth to the modern zombie flick with his 1968 black & white cheapie, and its success inspired numerous sequels, remakes and imitations. But the original has lost none of its power. This is partly down to Romero’s skill as a filmmaker, and partly because of the unusual, unsettling structure – the zombie onslaught begins in a sudden, almost casual manner, the central protagonist switches partway through and the ending is as bleak as hell. A zombie flick with brains.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
There have been gorier films than Tobe Hooper’s former video nasty, but The Texas Chain Saw Massacre remains one of the most shocking. The visuals are raw and realistic, and the simple story is powered by a visceral energy and jet-black humour (especially the gloriously twisted family dinner scene). The 2003 remake was far too slick, while the 2006 prequel missed the point entirely: Leatherface is so scary precisely because his background is ambiguous.
9) Halloween (1978)
From writer/director John Carpenter’s classic synth score to Dean Cundey’s moody cinematography, Halloween is the perfect example of a straightforward idea done well. Despite a run of sequels and remakes that have tried their best to ruin the simplicity, this is a prime example of low-budget horror at its finest.
10) Jaws (1977)
With the model shark famously ‘not working’, Spielberg and his lead actors used imaginative scripting and directorial sleight of hand to generate a primal fear that has surrounded the shark population ever since. It also left millions of people terrified of the ocean beyond all rationality – and still does. Sit on a boat in any stretch of open water and start humming the theme tune and you’ll know what we mean!
11) Nosferatu (1922)
FW Murnau couldn’t obtain the rights to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and so Count Dracula became the equally creepy Count Orlock. The subsequent expressionist masterpiece contains some of the genre’s most unforgettable imagery – who could forget the Count’s shadow falling against the wall? Star Max Shreck was so creepy that the 2000 movie Shadow of the Vampire hinged on the idea that the actor actually was a vampire.
