Some of my favourite horror films
I'm someone who believes horror should be on the atmosphere side of things rather than gratuitous gore and torture-porn. In the last 5 or 6 years horror seems to be picking up again in quality after a long spell of, to be honest, plain rubbish. Well, here's a few (but far from all of) my faves: as you can see, I'm a fan of old-style horror but not averse to the latest offerings.
List activity
673 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
20 titles
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsColin CliveMae ClarkeBoris KarloffDr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.The granddaddy of horror films. Universal Studio's Dracula came first but is rather staid and talky by comparison. Karloff's performance as the misunderstood monster has never been bettered, and James Whale's direction is pin-sharp. A masterpiece.
- DirectorTerence FisherStarsPeter CushingChristopher LeeMichael GoughWhen Jonathan Harker rouses the ire of Count Dracula for accepting a job at the vampire's castle under false pretenses, his friend Dr. Van Helsing pursues the predatory villain.Hammer's greatest horror. A brilliant and pacey condensing of the novel, with top class acting from Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Stylish and gripping from first to last.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsDana AndrewsPeggy CumminsNiall MacGinnisAmerican professor John Holden arrives in London for a parapsychology conference, only to find himself investigating the mysterious actions of Devil-worshipper Julian Karswell.From director Jacques Tourneur of Cat People fame comes another classic horror/suspenser. And all the more gripping because WE KNOW Dr. Holden is wrong...there really is a demon out to get him!
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsClaude RainsGloria StuartWilliam HarriganA scientist finds a way of becoming invisible, but in doing so, he becomes murderously insane.What can you say that is new about this film? A dazzling masterpiece of black comedy and horror from director James Whale. As good today as when it was released.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsSimone SimonTom ConwayKent SmithAn American man marries a Serbian immigrant who fears that she will turn into the cat person of her homeland's fables if they are intimate together.Ground-breaking psychological horror film; a superb excercise in use of light and darkness and the power of suggestion from producer Val Lewton.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsBoris KarloffBela LugosiHenry DaniellA ruthless doctor and his young prize student find themselves continually harassed by their murderous supplier of illegal cadavers.Another terrific Karloff performance in this Val Lewton-produced classic. The coach ride at the end is one of the greatest of all horror set-pieces.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsBoris KarloffMelvyn DouglasCharles LaughtonSeeking shelter from a storm, five travelers are in for a bizarre and terrifying night when they stumble upon the Femm family estate.A delicious and witty conconction from James Whale, played to the hilt by its largely British cast and full of eccentric fun. "No beds, they can't have beds!"
- DirectorRobin HardyStarsEdward WoodwardChristopher LeeDiane CilentoA puritan police sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl, who the pagan locals claim never existed.A film that originally struggled to find an audience; The Wicker Man - a movie about a pagan cult, has inspired a cult of its own. Superb acting from Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee really sell the story. The ending is something you will never forget.
- DirectorRoger CormanStarsVincent PriceBarbara SteeleJohn KerrIn the sixteenth century, Francis Barnard travels to Spain to clarify the strange circumstances of his sister's death after she had married the son of a cruel Spanish Inquisitor.For me one of the scariest films ever. Vincent Price and horror icon Barbara Steele feature in this clever and terrifying adaption of the Poe story, even if it's borrowed from Diaboliques...
- DirectorJ.A. BayonaStarsBelén RuedaFernando CayoRoger PríncepA woman brings her family back to her childhood home, which used to be an orphanage for handicapped children. Before long, her son starts to communicate with an invisible new friend.A subtle and disturbing film, with a fantastic twist; amongst the best horror films made in recent years, although, by the time you get to the end, you realise there may be nothing of horror in the traditional sense at all about the story.
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsKurt RussellWilford BrimleyKeith DavidA research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.A terrific remake of a
the 1951 sci-fi horror The Thing From Another World; gory but full of suspense and a crackling atmosphere. Never lets up from the word go. - DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsSimone SignoretVéra ClouzotPaul MeurisseThe wife and mistress of a loathed school principal plan to murder him with what they believe is the perfect alibi.Once seen never forgotten; a tale of murder and subsequent haunting with a startling twist at the end and a climax that will leave you breathless. An obvious influence on Psycho.
- DirectorJohn GillingStarsAndré MorellDiane ClareBrook WilliamsDuring a mysterious epidemic in a small Cornish village, the local doctor summons his professor friend for help.A Hammer B movie that is terrifically well-paced, with a legendary grave yard sequence. Possibly the best of Hammer's mid-60s films.
- DirectorPeter BogdanovichStarsTim O'KellyBoris KarloffNancy HsuehAn aging horror star questions his place in modern Hollywood, while a disturbed young man goes on a shooting spree.Not really a horror film but as Peter Bogdanovich's film is all about horror, contrasting screen horror with that of real life terror it derserves inclusion for a fine story and one of Karloff's greatest performances.
- DirectorMatt ReevesStarsKodi Smit-McPheeChloë Grace MoretzRichard JenkinsA bullied young boy befriends a young female vampire who lives in secrecy with her guardian.The return of Hammer films, and they gave us an intelligent update of Let The Right One In for their first new movie in over 30 years.
- DirectorDouglas HickoxStarsVincent PriceDiana RiggIan HendryA Shakespearean actor takes poetic revenge on the critics who denied him recognition.A superb Vinnie Price extravaganza and a sort of proto-body count flick. Funny, gory and stylish.
- DirectorKarl FreundStarsBoris KarloffZita JohannDavid MannersA resurrected Egyptian mummy searches Cairo for the girl he believes to be his long-lost princess.A slow-moving but hugely atmospheric horror/romance concerning re-incarnation. It's the opening sequence of the Mummy coming to life that ranks as one of the best and most effective moments in any horror film.
- DirectorNeil MarshallStarsShauna MacdonaldNatalie MendozaAlex ReidA caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.Brutal and gripping. Inspite of the sequel I've always believed that most of the second half of the film is largely in the leading character's imagination, and that she is the killer. Look for the subtle references here and there, and it certainly explains the ending....
- DirectorKarl FreundStarsPeter LorreFrances DrakeColin CliveIn Paris, a demented surgeon's obsession with a British actress leads him to secretly replace her concert-pianist husband's mangled hands with those of a guillotined murderer with a gift for knife-throwing.A flop on release, Mad Love has grown in stature since. A veritable compendium of horror films made up to that point, there are in-jokes galore for the fan to spot. A character from Tod Browning's Freaks (1932) even turns up at one point! Peter Lorre is brilliantly sinister as the mad surgeon who transplants the hands of a murderer onto a concert pianist.
- DirectorKathryn BigelowStarsAdrian PasdarJenny WrightLance HenriksenA small-town farmer's son reluctantly joins a traveling group of vampires after he is bitten by a beautiful drifter.A superb southern-gothic and easily the best vampire movie of the 80s. The bar scene is particularly memorable.