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My Top 10 Horror Movies

We’re halfway through October and that much closer to the most fun holiday of the year – Halloween! Like most people when I think of Halloween I think horror! My horror movie obsession is actually a year round event but October is the month when more people are on board to watch a horror movie with me.

It wasn’t until the early 2000’s that I discovered a love for horror movies. Since then I have made an effort to watch many of the classics and trend-setters in horror but none of them have stuck with me as a favourite. I appreciate them for paving the way in horror cinema but I definitely enjoy the more modern look of horror films of the last 20 or so years.

It was tough to narrow down a list and in the end I have split my favourites into 2 lists. This list will cover my top 10 horror films in general. I will also be posting my top 5 horror-comedies because I just couldn’t decide! The movies in this list are in release order and are not ranked.

Wait a minute; didn’t I just say I liked mostly movies in the last 20 years? While this movie is outside of that window, it is definitely a favourite of mine. It probably helped that I watched it as a teenager so I relate to the protagonists. I find a lot of the parody elements in Scream to be very funny as well but after deliberating I decided that Scream belonged in my general list. Mostly because of the way it revitalized the horror genre. Even though it occurred before I became interested in horror movies I can appreciate how stale the horror market had become in the late 80’s and 90’s. Other than the Meta New Nightmare (which was still a sequel) there weren’t many fresh ideas in the genre. I also enjoyed the Scream sequels (even the more recent #4) but none will be quite as good as the first.

I credit The Ring with starting my interest in horror movies. I may have seen 1 or 2 before this but I don’t quite remember. I saw this movie in the theatre and I remember actually covering my face with popcorn when Samara comes out of the TV. It makes me laugh now to think back at a time when a horror movie actually made me frightened of something. I have still not seen the Japanese original so I don’t know how the remake truly holds up but it will probably always hold a special place in my horrible heart.

This is arguably the best “zombie” movie I’ve ever seen. It was also possibly the first I ever saw, so maybe I’m biased. After watching 28 Days Later I really couldn’t enjoy the original zombie classic Night of the Living Dead as a zombie movie since I had watched a faster paced, evolved version. Technically the enemy are infected humans rather than the living dead, but I consider them zombies because of the similar “bite to infect” mechanic. Something that stuck with me all these years is the underlying emotion in the story. The drama of the horrors of living was excellently crafted. It is interesting to note that this is the only non-American horror movie on my list (not counting the Ring since it’s an American remake) as it comes from the UK.

I had a tough time deciding between Saw and The Collector for a spot on this list but I ultimately went with the better film. A lot of people disregard Saw saying that it is torture porn or all about shock value but I think that the very first Saw was brilliant and very fresh. The sequels that were spawned did not keep the same standard however, since every movie after the first just was about the traps and less about the suspense and story (not that story is all that important in horror). I very much enjoyed the Collector however, even though it is mostly about the traps; it brought back the suspense that I had been missing from the Saw sequels. In the end though, Saw did it first and did it better.

What!? A sequel? Sequels are never better than the original, much less a 5th entry in a series! Let me explain. I love pretty much the entire Final Destination series. Due to the nature of the films, sequels aren’t required to have any plot (they’re all the same), only a bigger catastrophe and more gruesome deaths. The first Final Destination movie looks pretty tame once you’ve watched the rest and unfortunately while it was first and therefore the most original, the one that stands out in my mind is the 5th. Final Destination 5 was in 3D which is a gimmick I’m not super interested in but totally enhanced the movies death sequences. Additionally, the small plot that was added I enjoyed the most out of any sequels and the twist ending was wonderful! It also didn’t hurt that this movie came after the god-awful The Final Destination that I like to pretend doesn’t exist. Anything is better than that movie!

I actually watched the sequel to this movie before I watched the original. I don’t recommend doing that as it completely spoils the entire plot and ending of the first movie which I imagine would ruin it for some. I’m not a part of that crowd. I think knowing how the movie would go only heightened my anticipation to see it happen. I didn’t know the actual content of how only the what, which in a horror movie can still be very satisfying! Overall I ended up enjoying the first movie’s suspense and creepy intensity better than the sequel. I actually probably wouldn’t have liked the sequel as much as I did if I had seen the original first since it is definitely the superior film.

The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 are in the rare group of movies where the sequel has a new plot within similar circumstance that actually feels like it lives up to the original. It’s hard for movies, especially supernatural horror, to avoid getting repetitive when it comes to making a sequel. I’ve decided that I enjoyed the 1st one more narrowly because of story of that haunting and the setting. The Conjuring 2 takes place in a busy neighbourhood in England vs. a more isolated farmhouse so the setting is definitely more unique in the sequel but not something I’m as drawn to for creep factor. It definitely helps that these movies are based on real events more than any other horror (that I’m aware of) claims to be. I found it quite interesting to read interviews from the families that experienced the events the movies were based on!

I fell in love with this movie at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and it is 1 of 2 that has made it into my top movie lists (the other will be featured on my horror-comedy list) that I found at TIFF Midnight Madness. A lot of movies on this list I was late to the party, viewing the movie years after the original release. So this was a rare occurrence to view a movie that would end up with a (limited) release but much later than when I watched it. I liked the way that the movie felt very tight and enclosed, only featuring 2 people primarily in one house – similar to the concept of Saw. Interestingly both Saw and Oculus had short films made to help sell the concept of turning it into a feature film!

This movie is absolutely unnerving and so well done. It felt like a completely new idea in horror while still giving off familiar vibes. I think It Follows captured some of the tension that was originally bottled in John Carpenter’s Halloween back in 1978 – the slow villain walk. I know I’m not the only person to make comparisons between It Follows and John Carpenter especially since the movie feels like it was meant to be a throwback to the 70’s/80’s. That being said however It Follows still manages to feel modern as well with the idea of the evil being an STD essentially.

Hush is my 4th Blumhouse Productions film on my top 10 list which says something for the highly successful modern production company (Sinister, Oculus and It Follows are also produced by Blumhouse). Hush was a surprise Netflix find. The home invasion story has been told a lot in recent years but Hush managed to spice this idea up by having the main protagonist be deaf. The sound design on this movie was fabulous because of this fact and definitely added to the tension. Generally a lack of sound bothers me in a movie but in Hush it is used so well which was refreshing.

Some honorable mentions:

What are your favourite horror movies? Do you enjoy any of my favourites? Drop us a line on social media!

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