Top 25 Greatest Horror Movies

There are few more subjective categories than the Top 25 Greatest Horror Movies. In thinking about my own top 25, and trying to stay objective, I found myself struggling with movies that scared the hell out of me, movies that thrilled me with original horror and even films so disturbing I would never watch them again. Of the ones that were truly great, some gave me great laughs and some made me jump in my seat. One even made me crawl under my seat as a child. Some were so horribly real that they caused me nightmares and heart palpitations. The ones that didn’t will be on someone else’s list.

No. 25: Zombieland

The newest horror film on the list, Zombieland is funny far more than scary, but a great film for all that. This is a megamovie with one great cameo and 90+ minutes of great action. The originality, disgusting violence and unlikely characters make Zombieland one of the best funny scary movies as well. You might want to sneak in some Twinkies, I so wanted one by the end of the film. Take a pen, too. You might want to write down the Zombieland rules before you leave. Ya’ never know. Oh, and start up the cardio, these Zombies are quick.

No. 24: The Fly (1958)

No horror list would be complete were there not a Vincent Price film present and my all-time favorite freak out film featuring Price is The Fly. Not the gimmicky Jeff Goldblum film, mind you, but the raw and frightening representation made by Price. Nobody in film today sells crazy quietly, sanely and maddeningly slow like Vincent Price did. There are the machines. There are always machines with mad scientists, but the focus in the first film is all on Francois Delambre (Price) and his work is brilliant. Delambre is carefully, strategically working to solve the problem of wireless transportation. Using a teleportation device to transport living tissue, something goes horribly, demonstrably wrong. Part of a fly’s body end up replacing parts of Delambre’s. Should that not be horror enough, at the end of the movie, in the final scene, the screen enlarges and enlarges and enlarges until we see Francois Delambre’s head on a fly’s body – screaming "help me" as a spider slowly creeps toward him. I get chills even today.

No. 23: The Descent

A modern take on the genre, The Descent is, as advertised, pure horror. There are no deep psychological plots, no fancy, well dressed monsters and no well spoken gentlemen with strangely sharp teeth. There is only something very terrifying deep beneath the earth waiting for (relatively) innocent climbers. The Descent has some of the most starkly frightening moments in film and, set in almost total darkness, some truly terrifying, monstrous confrontations. If you want a good scare or an excuse to grab your significant other, I heartily recommend Descent.

No. 22: Scream

Now, for those of you looking for nubile virgin slashing, hey, here’s the film. I thoroughly loved the tongue in cheek, yet serious, butchery of this one. Scream is all fun, with a little horror, slashing and a few life lessons – what not to do when surrounded by murderous psychos. With David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and Matthew Lillard all contributing, Scream has some great moments, violence, some predictable and some unpredictable, and one of the great serial killer characters of any film. More importantly, Scream avoids the slasher title by focusing on a good story and great characters, not just on blood and gore. Oh, and one more thing. I hate films where there is no hope and there is never a point in Scream (or its sequels) where the characters need to give up. Scream is kind of a farce, but not so much that it becomes a Scary Movie joke. It's a must see for all horror fans.