The Daily Wire released a list of the most influential horror movies of all time. I think this is a great list. I love horror movies. They can be scary, violent, funny, it doesn’t matter. I especially love horror movies during Halloween. Josie and I will be watching them all week.
So, I decided to go through this list. I agree with most of these but I think it is missing some movies which I’ll talk about when I get through the list. I will then talk about a few of my favorite horror movies.
Here we go.
Psycho
From the Daily Wire:
Alfred Hitchcock defied conventional wisdom with 1960’s “Psycho” in more ways than one. Respected auteurs weren’t prone to the horror genre, and that’s being generous. Plus, the unwritten production codes of the era prohibited filmmakers from dabbling in blood, gore and other horror movie essentials.
Hitchcock clung to the era’s limitations and still left us clutching our arm rests.
The iconic shower scene alone stunned audiences, and for all the right reasons. A signature score that’s synonymous with horror. Implied violence, but nothing grotesque. Black and white blood circling the drain, more chilling that gallons of red liquid oozing from any “Friday the 13th” victim. And a comely heroine checking out long before the end credits. That decision alone makes “Psycho” a one-of-a-kind thriller.
Psycho is a one-of-a-kind movie. The music, the lighting, the shot angles even the cameo by Alfred Hitchcock himself were all revolutionary in movies. The biggest accomplishment of this movie was the shock value at the end of the movie. This has been attempted to be duplicated by hundreds of other movies. But none of those movies have ever come close.
Movies like it would be Identity, Rosemary’s Baby and Split.
Night of the Living Dead
The Daily Wire states:
George A. Romero kickstarted his career on Pittsburgh’s iconic kiddie show “Mister Rogers Neighborhood.” Yes, really. Years later, Romero created the template for the modern zombie movie. Talk about range.
His 1968 feature film debut, originally dubbed “Night of the Flesh Eaters,” cemented his status as a go-to shock auteur. Only “Dead” didn’t immediately launch our current zombie craze. It took time, two “Dead” sequels from Romero himself and a culture obsessed with dystopian stories to make that happen. Romero simply lit the flame on that slow-burning fuse. Directors, and a certain AMC series, have been tracing his template ever since.
This is the movie that introduced us to all the zombie movies and one pretty good television show. Now, something I want to point out with zombie movies, it is not about the zombies. Night of the Living Dead was actually about the relationships between the characters and how they interact while with the fear of being eaten. They’re all like that. When one gets eaten, one feels bad for that character unlike other violent slasher or exploitation films. The thing is, some people are turned off by zombie films because there is only so much psychological analysis that can be done. That’s why I am not a big fan of The Walking Dead. Because it’s the same thing over and over again.
Some writers have made zombie rather humorous. Movies like the 90’s version of Dawn of the Dead, Return of the Night of the Living Dead, Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland have made watching zombie movies tolerable.
Halloween
The Daily Wire says:
It’s the movie that mainstreamed the “slasher” sub-genre, for better and certainly worse.
Director John Carpenter, who also created the film’s unforgettable score, told the tale of a young man who does his dirty work on All Hallows Eve.
Everything clicked for Carpenter, from a game “final girl” (Jamie Lee Curtis) to choreographed scares that endure after multiple viewings. It’s a master class in suspense, tension and pacing.
That signature mask – crafted from William Shatner’s inimitable mug – did the rest.
“Halloween” made Carpenter a Hollywood legend, even if his subsequent films ranged from inspired (“The Thing”) to insipid (“Ghosts of Mars”).
Halloween is the first of the serial killer/slasher movies. These movies do not have a plot, no one can act, no character development, no dialog and no one likes the characters. Oh, yeah, the victims make bad decisions, the murders are completely unrealistic and the only character that has any sympathy from the audience is the virgin female. Oh, I forgot. And all the teenage chicks are naked.
I have never been a huge fan of slasher flicks. Just way too out there. I love the first two movies of Halloween. I loved the Rob Zombie’s version of Halloween. I liked Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream. Never liked Friday the 13th.
Alien
According to the Dailywire:
In space, no one can hear you scream. It’s the perfect tag line for a perfect sci-fi/horror mashup.
Director Ridley Scott’s masterpiece launched a massive movie franchise and one of the best film sequels of all time (1986’s “Aliens”). The original film remains a pristine shocker, deftly blending character beats, claustrophobic sets and a heroine as good as any in the modern era – Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley.
The film also left us with arguably the greatest movie monster of all time. And, year after year, horror films copy that xenomorph critter with poor to middling results. Films as recent as this year’s “Sputnik” attempted to upgrade the “Alien” model.
This was the first real sci-fi horror. I personally liked Aliens better. Other movies would be The Thing, which I think is a better movie and Life.
The Silence of the Lambs
The Dailywire says:
Why does Jonathan Demme’s film matter? Let’s start with Oscar. The film swept the major Academy Award categories for the year, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Jodie Foster) and Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins, although his modest screen time suggests a Best Supporting Actor was more appropriate).
I’d agree with that. But the movies roots were from Hitchcock’s Psycho. Even the bad guy is based on the same killer, Ed Gein. So, not a fan of this pick though I understand why they picked it.
The Blair Witch Project
The Dailywire states:
Hate found footage movies? Abhor films that create faux online campaigns meant to boost their credibility? Blame this absurdly profitable shocker, one of the biggest Hollywood curveballs ever thrown, for both brief trends.
Three young, clueless filmmakers head to the woods to learn the truth behind an urban legend, and they get a crash course in the old saw, “be careful what you wish for…”
The low budget film used the main characters’ cameras to chart the action, meaning the filmmakers leaned on cheap, grainy footage without a hint of FX treats to keep us off guard.
The film’s production budget? An absurdly low $60,000. Its global box office tally? $248 million. For that we got a giddy sense of the unknown, and the growing horror felt by the filmmakers.
Great movie. There has been a movie like it since except for Paranormal Activity. I like these films. I watch them all the time, even if the critics suck. It makes one think they are actually there.
I do have a question. It’s a rhetorical question so answer in your own head. If you are in the woods, alone, with a chick, who’s crying and vulnerable, and you’re going to die because there a vindictive witch: would you have fucked the chick?
Just asking. Because I would have.
28 Days Later
Romero is the godfather of the zombie film, but Danny Boyle deserves credit for fanning the undead flames. The director’s thriller took zombies seriously, and introduced a new wrinkle to the genre. These zombie could run.
The British film gave the sleeping zombie movement a wake-up call, paving the way for everything from a solid “Dawn of the Dead” remake (2004) to Max Brooks’ influential book “World War Z” (2006) and one of the horror comedy’s best mashups – 2004’s “Shaun of the Dead.”
I hate this pick. It’s just another zombie film.
Saw
The Dailywire says:
Director James Wan’s feature film debut sparked one of the genre’s shortest trends to date, and thank goodness for that. Enter the Torture Porn era.
The genre leaned heavily on practical FX and our lust for blood, gore and more. While some horror films practiced restraint with the killings, these films zoomed in on that mayhem. You couldn’t look away.
The 2004 film “Saw” hit it big at the box office, sparking a never-ending franchise which returns in a new form next year with Chris Rock’s “Spiral.”
This is the start of the exploitation film/torture porn era. Now, mind you, there were a ton of movies before this but they never had an impact. Movies like Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes and I Spit on Your Grave were around 30 years earlier. But the Saw movies made exploitation films fashionable.
What is the difference between torture porn and a slasher film. The violence. That’s it. Rape is not off the table. Killing of children is not off the table. Unlike slasher movies, the violence is extreme and realistic. A lot of these movies are actually banned. They are really hard to watch. Best torture porn movie since Saw is Hostel.
Get Out
What is a sketch comic like Jordan Peele doing in the horror genre? Reminding us that socially conscious horror movies can still make us scream. Peele’s film boasts a left-of-center thesis – woke liberals are capably of horribly racist acts. The film doesn’t coast on its progressive laurels, though. “Get Out” grabs us from the opening scene, and smartly deployed reveals keep our attention to the very end.
The film makes progressive horror hip again, and we’ll see how far the trend stretches. The recent “Antebellum” shows the “Get Out” formula isn’t easy to follow, and that’s being kind.
I thought this was a great movie. It was fun. Should it be on this list? No. If you watch this movie, it’s just another zombie movie with a message. How the black people became zombies is the message. Who cares. I think this was not an influential movie and I have in my library.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/9-horror-movies-that-changed-the-genre-forever
Movies the Dailywire Missed
The Exorcist
How in the Hell does one miss The Exorcist? This was the first movie that analyzed evil from the devil himself?
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
This is the real first slasher film. And it made a ton in the box office. Screw Halloween.
Final Destination
You know what makes a good horror film? A ton of sequels that still make money. This movie is about a battle with mortality and how we can escape it. The killing are violent and really original. And one watching is kept completely off balance because something that looks threatening is death’s feint.
I remember one line in the first movie where the main character put everything threatening in a closet. A bunch of weird shit happened, the closet ended up opening and a rusty fishing hook almost cut him. The character smiled and said, “Tetanus. I get it.”
Hellraiser
Again, must have been a great idea because they made like nine sequels and all of them made money.
No other form of entertainment has actually taken on to Hell to deal with bad things. Probably since Dante. Let’s face it: what’s more awesome then being chased by demons, through Hell. I can’t think of anything. And if you’re caught, things go down hill. Badly.
Now, mind you, I liked the first and second Hellraiser movies. Didn’t care for any of the others.
Pulse/ Unfriend Me
I’m a parent. The Internet is evil. Smart phones are evil. Facebook is evil. Why not make come up with a way to make a horror movie that points that out?
Pulse sucked. But it showed the evils of smart phones. Yeah, these guys could have thrown their phones, gotten rid of their batteries, left where they were. They didn’t. So, screw them.
Unfriend Me shows the evils of social media and how a victim of it can start to haunt it. It’s a dumb, but fun, movie with a real message.
Scream
This is actually a slasher film. But this movie did something different. It was comedic and made fun of slasher movies. The violence was way over the top and the deaths seemed implausible but that what was funny about it. But that what was great about it. It made fun of the implausibility of slasher movies.
Another great movie like this is Cabin in the Woods.
Evil Dead
Just an absolute classic. A mix of horror and comedy with over-the-top violence. This movie mixed all of the horror genres. It’s like The Exorcist, Night of the Living Dead and Hellraiser with a sprinkle of Blair Witch Project mixed all into one. I’m not talking about the new version. I’m talking about the 80’s version. The remake sucked.
Jaws
Movies I Loved
Seven
A horror, mystery, suspense movie with a messed up twist at the end. All gore, little violence. It starred Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey (before we knew he was harassing under-age boys). Brad Pitt’s best performance.
Trick R’ Treat
This is a short story based movie much like Creepshow (which is also a great comedy horror). The violence is heavy but it is so over-the-top that it is funny. And there are some twists.
It Follows
A conservative film that is extremely creepy. The point: don’t have sex with someone you don’t love.
The Re-Animator
A horror comedy that has violence that is so over-the-top that I watched it with my five year old (that’s a lie). Just a really fun movie.
Horror
IT
Clowns suck. It does not matter how you ingest the story: via Stephen King’s book, the 1980’s version or the newest version. It is creepy and disturbing. The new version, which is closer to Stephen King’s book, actually made my fiancé pee her pants. Great movie
Conclusion
Horror movies are so much fun. They make me laugh, they get the dopemine running and/or I just have fun. And it’s Halloween! It’s time to let go and let the imagination go.