Anyway, starting with my top ten current horror movies in order, I can say that the words "favorite" and "best" mean the same to me contrary to popular belief that they differ. So this list really is my "favorite" as well as my "best" list. Some of these movies are definitly not recommended to everyone on this planet.
10-Hellraiser (1987)/I had a hard time deciding on the tenth spot on this list since several other titles were also fighting for it, but I gotta say that although part II is highly enjoyable as well, the original movie really has nothing going wrong about it. Hellraiser is a very original horror movie, using a sadism/masochism theme to explain the weird story to the viewer. It involves beings called Cenobites, which state themselves as "Demons to some, angels to others", who can be summoned by the one who is able to control the puzzle box that can give you either pleasure or pain. The horror scenes are bloody and sickening at first sight. There are also effective nightmare scenes to watch, and there is a creepy revenge plot playing as well. Perhaps the true creep of this movie is really Frank Cotton himself, and not the Cenobites who are just tools and bound by the puzzle box. Be sure to check this one out, it's bloody magic is hard to resist.
9-The Devils (1971)/Powerful controversial movie, a hidden but nasty gem with great dialogue scenes and an interesting conflict between religion and politics. Beware, some bizarre mind fuck horror scenes are found inside, usually involving sex and torture, not necessarily together. Similar movies are Caligula (1979) and Salò (1975), but The Devils easily has more to offer than just shock and awe. Be sure to watch the widescreen version, as I have been told that other versions are inferior.
8-A Serbian Film (2010)/This most recent entry is what you may have known already from an earlier post, the most extreme horror movie I have seen yet. With a ton of different kinds of horrifying scenes happening, each time actually getting more worse than before, A Serbian Film is filled with moments which would either offend and disgust the viewer or satisfy and mind blow those which have been looking for one of the most gruesome films of cinema yet. From what I have seen in shocking cinema atleast, and I already have seen the majority of the most notorious ones. Again, be extremely warned when you decide to watch this. It definitely is not a walk in the park, it's not suited for work and many will be negative upon having seen it all from beginning to end. Determined to achieve cult status for sure.
7-The Evil Dead (1981)/Respect to Sam Raimi to have made this incredible horror movie with such a low budget, the most interesting trivia in my mind once I had seen this "ride". The trilogy's other parts have plenty of comedy parts, but the original is actually horrific, with the exception of a few funny moments. The Evil Dead is very intense, especially in it's camera work and special effects. It has a simple but enjoyable plot involving a book of the dead. It is also one of the goriest movies out there, especially for the 80's. The suspense and fear are well presented because of the effective point of view fast movements and the well placed jump moments. The evil beings are not zombies, but possessed demons in my opinion. The only scene which still strikes me as odd is the "tree rape" scene, but other than that The Evil Dead is everything most of the horror fans can ask for, it truly is a great enjoyable horror movie.
6-Martyrs (2008)/Another very nasty movie, and the best French horror movie I have seen yet, Martyrs is classified as a torture based movie,but also as a disturbed revenge plot, so it's split up in two parts actually. Eventually it becomes clear after the gruesome deaths of many characters that there exists a hidden organization with the belief that it is possible to witness a glimpse of the after-life by performing on nearly to death tortured ones, changing them into true martyrs or, witnesses of the other side. Some of these scenes are difficult to watch and hear, such as when the metal head gets lifted or of course how could I forget, the endless beating on a tortured one by a macho, macho man. Surprisingly Martyrs ends with a twist ending, giving us many possibilities as to why the head of the organization suicides and what was it that the victim whispered into her. It certainly is a scary thought however that maybe, somewhere in this crazy world, there are still underground lairs to be found below family houses where torturers are active. What an experimenting cult of horror.
5-Braindead (1993)/The ultimate king of gore, so ultimate it is even hilarious and silly at times. As the most over the top horror film out there, there is a lot, A LOT of memorable bloody scenes to enjoy. These zombies are so unusual that the weird behaviour they show are spontaneously also laughable, like the disgusting but funny ear scene, or the flying baby in the park etc. . The plot starts out slow and typical minus some poorly made "rat monkey" in a cage somewhere. There's a guy constantly taking care of his mother, and then there's a typical girl the guy falls in love with, but then the amazing line of "Your mother ate my dog!" happens and from there on, things get crazier and crazier and literally non stop until the whole house is soaked with blood, organs and limbs from a whole party event. You have got to see this movie to believe the reviews people have made for this. It's kind of a shame that there never has been a gorier movie made yet, but oh well, it never hurts to rewatch this another time!
4-The Thing (1982)/An amazing piece of work, a great remake (unlike the gazillion poor ones these days) , a thinking man's story, a clever theme playing of never knowing for sure who to trust and an intriguing, isolated location of cold dread. Also one of the most simple yet effective main themes playing, The Thing is often paralled to Alien (1979) for both being science fiction horror classics. It features a shape shifting monster of abomination, from a crunching belly to a walking head spider to an undescribable horrific monster that fucks up the whole blood analysis scene, The Thing has awesome special effects to behold, so much better than pretty much any CGI gore or blood. And the plot is just great for a horror movie, kind of similar to The Shining (1980) in it's basic setting. You can just feel the tension and unease of the characters, as they try to understand what they are dealing with.
3-Black Christmas (1974)/The best slasher movie out there because of it's great atmosphere, creepy effects, silent killings and disturbing ending. There are countless of slasher movies out there, each more bloodier than others, but none can compare to one of the earliest ones released, again, from what I have seen so far. It's such a great feat to know perfectly well that the silent killer is hiding in the attic for us viewers while the victims have no clue until near the end that the disturbing calls are coming from inside the house (!). Black Christmas isn't gory in any way, but it definitely is one of the most satisfying, chilling horror movies out there with an excellent ending, never knowing for sure who Billy is and most of all why.
2-The Exorcist (1973)/Minus the somewhat outdated voice of the speaking demon inside Regan, this classic horror movie easily stands on the very top of showing us very shocking scenes from the seventies in brutal and disturbing ways. If you are a believer in religion, thumbs up, this movie might be an instant nightmare for you. I have only seen this once so far, but there are so many scary things awaiting inside for you (given that you haven't read spoilers about it) that it's pretty much impossible to be prepared for this unless your mind is at some other place. And not just the same old tricks, nooo, there's plenty of things to be found, including fast flashing scenes of a creepy face, a masturbating blood crucifix scene, the calm before the storm scenes (in particular when the exorcist faces the Pazuzu statue in Iraq), creepy hospital scenes and my favorite, the spider walk from the stairs scene. The Exorcist deserves all the respect it gets for being one of the scariest movies out there, miles above the majority. That goes for many of us.
1-Eraserhead (1977)/However if we are talking about a concrete looking nightmare captured on film, look no further than Eraserhead, my controversial number 1 spot. No doubt are there viewers of the movie that were not engulfed by it nor was it scary, but hey, I cannot lie to myself now. I honestly can say that back in 2006 with my headphone on, this movie had me grasped around it's finger because of the dreadful atmosphere, the bizarre situations and disturbing horror effects and sounds. Nothing makes sense at first, however I have read through very in depth several theories as to what it all means. All I can say for now is that I was frozen to fear, really, whenever Henry Spencer looked into a dark spot and I would never expect what would happen next. I strongly urge you to watch this truly horrific movie alone in the dark, with a big headphone and the volume up in order to be sucked inside in perhaps David Lynch's most messed up realm he has created yet before he went on to create other great movies such as The Elephant Man (1980) and Mulholland Drive (2001). Eraserhead is my personal best horror movie, but I sure as hell wouldn't mind to eventually come across a superior horror movie.
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And there you have it, my top ten current list of horror movies. Some honorable mentions I can give by the way are À l'intérieur (2007), [REC] (2007), The Shining (1980), Ebola Syndrome (1996) and The Entity (1981).
Let us see how the next decade will pack up for the horror genre of cinema.
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