This Halloween season horror movies are consumed by audiences more than ever. Here is a list of the top ten must watch horror movies. Starting off at horror’s roots and ending in contemporary times to newer hits.
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Considered one of the first if not the first horror film ever is the 1920’s German film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari directed by Robert Wiene. From freaky obscured set design to the first movie plot twist, this black and white silent film will keep you watching. A tale of a town carnival turned deadly, the ending will make you wonder what is real and what isn’t.
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Next up is the horror drama Freaks, the 1932 movie directed by Tod Browning that was once banned in the US and UK. This story of circus performers banning together against enemies within their midst will give you chills. But also make you feel heartbroken and empathetic for the characters involved.
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The 1973 film The Exorcist directed by William Friedkin is a must if you want frights this season. What makes this movie so terrifying, is that the story happens to regular people trying to live their lives and that slowly gets ripped away from them. When the movie was released in the US, it was banned for a while because it supposedly provoked fainting, vomiting and heart attacks in cinema. Now when audiences watch it, it is still scary but more more gross.
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Another 70’s must is Carrie released in 1976 and directed by Brian De Palma. This Stephen King novel’s film adaptation is one of horror’s best. The abused Carrie White has strange occurrences happen around her and she start to believe she is the cause of them. When she gets invited to prom and achieves true happiness, the tone suddenly changes, taking a violent downturn.
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Switching it up to movies that came out within the last few years is Cabin in the Woods, the 2011 horror comedy directed by Drew Goddard that shook audiences. Not only do the five peers start to get picked off by terrifying monsters, so much more is involved such as scientists being behind the supernatural scares. The ending will leave you questioning like the trolley problem.
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Four years later, The Witch came out, directed by Robert Eggers. This 1630 New England folktale will make you glad you didn’t live back then. When a farmer, his wife and their children move out of their community into an isolated area and begin settling there, strange occurrences keep happening. Between the paranoia and witchcraft, this family is tested to the extreme.
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2018 and 2019 were the good years for Nicolas Cage in horror movies, starring in Mandy and Color Out of Space. Focusing on Mandy, the 2018 film directed by Panos Cosmatos, Cage’s character Red starts off living a peaceful existence with his wife in their cozy home. However, that is all disrupted when cultist kidnapped Red’s wife, making him fight off drugged out villains while on a phantasmagoric journey.
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Hereditary was the bigger box office hit in 2018, directed by the acclaimed Ari Aster, also known for Midsommar(2019). When this family’s grandma dies, they begin their downward plunge, having more terrible events happen to the family, all while discovering new family secrets that could impact their future.
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Lastly on the list is another Robert Eggers film, the 2019 drama/ psychological horror The Lighthouse. Isolation is hard, but isolation in a lighthouse with your boss makes both men question their sanity. The choice of keeping the film black and white adds to the unique cinematography and the memorable lines draws audiences in.
