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Therefore we must judge a weird tale not by the author’s intent, or by the mere mechanics of the plot; but by the emotional level which it attains at its least mundane point. If the proper sensations are excited, such a “high spot” must be admitted on its own merits as weird literature, no matter how prosaically it is later dragged down. (HP Lovecraft)
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Okay. To qualify for this list, it had to genuinely terrify me at some point. This does mean that some excellent movies classified, say, on Letterboxd as “horror” (Godzilla Minus One, Frankenstein, Presence, Sinners, Mad God, A Ghost Story) were left off my list, while some I, at least, don’t think of as “horror” got more serious consideration (mother!, Pan’s Labyrinth), although in the end, I wanted a horror movie not just a great moment ala Lovecraft’s definition.
And few genres are as subjective as horror. Your mileage will certainly vary.
Special honorable mention to LAIKA’s ouevre because they are amazing and scary and I love them, even if I didn’t include them. I fear I may have a bias against “kids” movies when considering horror. But LAIKA’s films are amazing and should make anyone’s short list. Watch for Wildwood this fall.
When we get to my top five, I’ll tell you right now that the top three required no internal debate. The last two really had to battle it out among some other great movies, so let me chronologically shout out now my honorable mentions which, on a different day, may well have made the list (1 = review on thutopia; 2 = review on thubstack):
Barbarian (2022) — Probably may favorite basement in all of film. Plus, it’s like three great movies in 108 minutes. Best bargain in this entire write-up. (1,2)
Bubba Ho-tep (2002) — Who better to fight a mummy than a couple old guys stored away in a retirement home? (1)
Get Out (2017) — Truly a masterpiece. Works as both comedy and horror. Gives students the power to see and analyze film at a higher level. (1,1,1,1,2)
The Host (2006) — My favorite big-monster horror movie of the century. A more manageable size than, say, Godzilla. But since it can hide, isn’t that kinda scarier?
Let the Right One In (2008) — Lot of little-kid monsters in movies but this is the best of the century so far, imo. (1)
No One Will Save You (2023) — Maybe the only grey-aliens movie I like. I love that it chose to use no dialogue in the entire film. Should have been a star-making turn for its lead, but I guess people didn’t see it in Obsession numbers. (1,2)
A Quiet Place (2018) — I think we could get broad agreement that this movie did more for broadening the soundscape of horror than any other movie in living memory? (1,2)
The VVitch (2015) — One of the most frightening trailers I’ve seen. I grant that my first watch didn’t work as well as I wanted, but now, as I understand Eggers’s overall project better, the movie has grown in my estimation. Excited to watch it again someday! (1)
And now for our Top Five!
I’d kind of hoped I would end up with a little less mainstream a list but I won’t apologize for being a populist for once in my life. I stand by all these movies even though I’ve only seen each of them once. They’ve stuck with me in and still make me think and that’s really all that we want from a horro flick, n’est-ce pas?
5—10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) [1]
This film balances (and often improves on) elements from films like Night of the Living Dead, Silence of the Lambs, Saw, and other classics, but it’s reorganized them into something new. It even makes bold with answering its primary question in the final scene (maybe a requirement of the sereis?) and I’m still not sure if that was a good decision or not, but I’m always happy when movies take risks. Plus, this is a three-hander and two of those hands are Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman. That would be enough to sell me on any movie in any genre.
4—Midsommar (2019) [1]
Every once in a while, a horror movie will come out that will attract even Lady Steed and she’ll end up watching it with me and sometimes—Midsommar might be the purest example of this—she will regret it and (so far, at least) never cease to regret it. Midsommar spends so much of its time in bright sunshine that it seems impossible that it could be genuinely terrifying. How can a film scare us without endless shadows and spooky trees for things to hide behind? Ends up, the scariest stuff is inside those smiling faces.
3—Cabin in the Woods (2011) [1]
It has some genuinely scary parts up top but as it spins, first into meta and parody, then into lovecraftian cosmic horror, it’s a bit less successful at “scary” but it’s so intelligent and such fun I can’t hold that against it. Watching men in suits discuss how best to murder the young is the banality-of-evil recast as entertainment, and no less for it. Unquestionably the funniest movie on this list.
2—The Ring (2002)
This is the first scary movie Lady Steed and I watched together that has never quite left her. It’s funny, because when we watch movies I’m the one who’s jumping and yelling, but they don’t haunt me the way they haunt her. And we didn’t even have kids then! Needless to say, we’ve never talked ourselves into watching the Japanese original. But Gore Verbinski’s version is him at his his image-making best. I don’t think even Jack Sparrow beats his girl crawling out of tv. We all remember that, no matter when or how we first saw it. And even though the movie is trapped in early-oughts green and blue.
1—It Follows (2014) [1]
The End of Oak Street is my post anticipated movie this summer and it’s entirely because It Follows is the greatest horror movie of this century (and because his follow up [1,2] is such a perfectly Lynchian conspiracy mindfold). David Robert Mitchell has earned my trust. And it all began with It Follows, a film that captures nightmare logic (slowly everyone disappears but yourself / you can’t trust your own eyes / the sense of relentless unstoppable persuit) but places it in a world that feels actual and lived. Maika Monroe’s performance is perfect. (And, to be clear, she’s not the reason Long Legs [1,2] failed.) But if It Follows can’t make you look over your shoulder or stare at some face a little too long, wow. Lucky you. Because I’m getting nervous looking at you not being nervous at all. What are you??? And why are you standing dead center along my landscape’s point of convergence?
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