The Essential Films: October 2012

It's that time of year again... Just in time for Halloween, the Essential Films presents the 2012 edition of the 100 Essential Horror Films. If you missed last year's countdown, you can see it here. What changed? Some films moved up in the rankings. Others moved down. Some were moved completely off the list to make way for some new entries. So... read, enjoy, comment, share.

#100
TRICK 'R TREAT
Michael Dougherty
2007

Cast: Anna Paquin, Bryan Cox, Dylan Baker
Screenplay: Michael Dougherty
Genre: Anthology, Monster, Serial Killer, Werewolves, Ghost Story

All Hallows' Eve, also known as Halloween. Pre-dating Christianity, the Celtic holiday was celebrated on the one night between autumn and winter when the barrier between the living and the dead was thinnest, and often involved rituals that included human sacrifice.

#99
TUCKER AND DALE VS. EVIL
Eli Craig
2010

Cast: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss
Screenplay: Eli Craig, Morgan Jurgenson
Genre: Horror Comedy, Serial Killer

Oh hidy ho officer, we've had a doozy of a day. There we were minding our own business, just doing chores around the house, when kids started killing themselves all over my property.

#98
ATTACK THE BLOCK
Joe Cornish
2011

Cast: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail
Screenplay: Joe Cornish
Genre: Aliens, Horror Comedy

- We should call the police.- You'd be better off calling the Ghostbusters, love.

#97
TROLLHUNTER
André Øvredal
2010

Cast: Otto Jespersen, Glenn Erland Tosterud, Johanna Mørck
Screenplay: André Øvredal
Genre: Dark Fantasy, Monsters

- In a sense, you're a true Norwegian hero. - No, you're wrong about that. There's nothing heroic about what I do. It's dirty work.

#96
SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE
E. Elias Merhige
2000

Cast: John Malkovich, Willem DeFoe, Udo Kier, Cary Elwes
Screenplay: Steven Katz
Genre: Vampires

- I will not allow you to destroy my picture! - This is hardly your picture any longer.

#95
PLANET TERROR
Robert Rodriguez
2007

Cast: Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Josh Brolin, Michael Beihn, Bruce Willis
Screenplay: Robert Rodriguez
Genre: Zombies

It's beautiful. She's beautiful. I wish you could see us, us two. It's like you said it would be. Two against the world, baby. Two against the world.

#94
CLOVERFIELD
Matt Reeves
2008

Cast: Mike Vogel, Jessica Lucas, Lizzy Caplan
Screenplay: Drew Goddard
Genre: Monster Movie, Aliens

- Okay, just to be clear here, our options are: die here, die in the tunnels, or die in the streets. That pretty much it?
- Yeah... that's pretty much it.

#93
FRIDAY THE 13th
Sean S. Cunningham
1980

Cast: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Kevin Bacon
Screenplay: Victor Miller
Genre: Slasher

Did you know a young boy drowned the year before those two others were killed? The counselors weren't paying any attention... They were making love while that young boy drowned. His name was Jason. [...] Jason should've been watched. Every minute. He was - he wasn't a very good swimmer.

#92
AUDITION
Takashi Miike
1999

Cast: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina
Writers: Ryû Murakami (novel), Daisuke Tengan (screenplay)
Genre: Thriller

Kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri!

#91
INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE
Neil Jordan
1994

Cast: Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas, Kirsten Dunst
Writer: Anne Rice
Genre: Vampires

Evil is a point of view. God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. For no creatures under God are as we are, none so like him as ourselves.

#90
TREMORS
Ron Underwood
1990

Cast: Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter
Writers: S.S. Wilson & Brent Maddock
Genre: Monster Movie

- They're mutations caused by radiation. No, wait; the government made 'em. *Big* surprise for the Russians.
- Well, there's nothing like them in the fossil record... Okay, so they predate the fossil record. That'd make them a couple of billion years old... and we've just never seen one until now. Right.
- I vote for outer space. No way these are local boys.

#89
THE CHANGELING
Peter Medak
1980

Cast: George C. Scott, Trish Van Devere, Melvyn Douglas
Screenplay: William Gray & Diana Maddox
Genre: Ghost Story, Psychological

That house is not fit to live in. No one's been able to live in it. It doesn't want people.

#88
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
Jack Arnold
1954

Cast: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning
Screenplay: Harry Essex
Genre: Monster Movie

I can tell you something about this place. The boys around here call it "The Black Lagoon"; a paradise. Only they say nobody has ever come back to prove it.

#87
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
John S. Robertson
1920

Cast: John Barrymore, Charles Lane, Brandon Hurst
Screenplay: Clara Beranger based on the book by Robert Louis Stevenson
Genre: Psychological, Dark Fantasy

A man cannot destroy the savage in him by denying its impulses. They only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.

#86
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez

1999

Cast: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard
Screenplay: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez
Genre: Occult, Supernatural

I just want to apologize to Mike's mom, Josh's mom, and my mom. And I'm sorry to everyone. I was very naive. I am so so sorry for everything that has happened. Because in spite of what Mike says now, it is my fault. Because it was my project and I insisted. I insisted on everything. I insisted that we weren't lost. I insisted that we keep going. I insisted that we walk south. Everything had to be my way. And this is where we've ended up and it's all because of me that we're here now - hungry, cold, and hunted. I love you mom, dad. I am so sorry. What is that? I'm scared to close my eyes, I'm scared to open them! We're gonna die out here!

#85
JACOB'S LADDER
Adrian Lyne
1990

Cast: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello
Screenplay: Bruce Joel Rubin
Genre: Psychological Horror

- This isn't happening. - What is happening? - Get me out of here. - There is no out of here. You've been killed, don't you remember?

#84
GREMLINS
Joe Dante
1984

Stars: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton
Screenplay: Chris Columbus
Genre: Comedy Horror, Creature Feature, Dark Fantasy

First of all, keep him out of the light, he hates bright light, especially sunlight, it'll kill him. Second, don't give him any water, not even to drink. But the most important rule, the rule you can never forget, no matter how much he cries, no matter how much he begs, never feed him after midnight.

#83
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH
Ubaldo Ragona
1964

Cast: Vincent Price
Screenplay: Furio M. Monetti, Ubaldo Ragona
Genre: Zombies, Vampires, Sci-Fi Horror

Another day to live through. Better get started.

#82
CARNIVAL OF SOULS
Herk Harvey
1962

Cast: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger
Screenplay: John Clifford
Genre: Supernatural, Zombies

I don't belong in the world...

#81
NEAR DARK
Kathryn Bigelow
1987

Cast: Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton
Screenplay: Kathryn Bigelow, Eric Red
Genre: Vampires

- How old are you? - Let's put it this way: I fought for the South. - South? - We lost.

#80
THE LOST BOYS
Joel Schumacher
1987

Cast: Jason Patric, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Keifer Sutherland
Screenplay: Janice Fischer, James Jeremias, Jeffrey Boam
Genre: Vampires

Now you know what we are, now you know what you are. You'll never grow old, Michael, and you'll never die. But you must feed!

#79
SCREAM
Wes Craven
1996

Cast: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette
Screenplay: Kevin Williamson
Genre: Slasher

- Who's there? - Never say "who's there?" Don't you watch scary movies? It's a death wish. You might as well come out to investigate a strange noise or something.

#78
THE HAUNTING
Robert Wise
1963

Cast: Julie Harris, Claire Bloom and Richard Johnson
Screenplay: Nelson Gidding based on the novel by Shirley Jackson
Genre: Haunted House

It was an evil house from the beginning - a house that was born bad.

#77
THE MUMMY
Karl Freund
1932

Cast: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners
Screenplay: John L. Balderston
Genre: Monster Movie

"Death... eternal punishment... for... anyone... who... opens... this... casket. In the name... of Amon-Ra... the king of the gods." Good heavens, what a terrible curse!

#76
DRAG ME TO HELL
Sam Raimi
2009

Cast: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Ruth Livier
Screenplay: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi
Genre: Occult, Supernatural

I desire the SOUL of Christine Brown. We will FEAST upon it while she festers in the grave!

#75
CANDYMAN
Bernard Rose
1992

Cast: Virginia Madsen, Xander Berkeley, Tony Todd

Screenplay: Bernard Rose
Genre: Supernatural

They will say that I have shed innocent blood. What's blood for, if not for shedding?

#74
HORROR OF DRACULA
Terence Fisher
1958

Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough
Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster based on the work of Bram Stoker
Genre: Vampires

It only remains for me not to await the daylight hours where i will with God's help forever end this man's reign of terror.

#73
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
Byron Haskin
1953

Cast: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson and Les Tremayne
Screenplay: Barré Lyndon based on the novel by HG Wells
Genre: Alien Invasion, Monsters

The way he's hedging, maybe the Army didn't hold 'em. I've seen news off the Pacific cables: Sydney Australia, Penan, Rangoon, India. From what's coming through, nobody's stopped 'em yet.

#72
THEY LIVE
John Carpenter
1988

Cast: Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster
Screenplay: John Carpenter
Genre: Action Horror, Sci-Fi Horror

Outside the limit of our sight, feeding off us, perched on top of us, from birth to death, are our owners! Our owners! They have us. They control us! They are our masters! Wake up! They're all about you! All around you!

#71
THE OTHERS
2001
Alejandro Amenábar

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Christopher Eccleston, Fionnula Flanagan
Screenplay: Alejandro Amenábar
Genre: Ghost Story, Haunted House

Death of a loved one can lead people to do the strangest things.

#70
HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL
William Castle
1959

Cast: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long
Screenplay: Robb White

Genre: Ghost Story, Haunted House

Once, the door is locked, there is no way out. The windows have bars the jail would be proud of and the only door to the outside locks like a vault.

#69
SON OF FRANKENSTEIN
Rowland V. Lee
1939

Cast: Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi
Screenplay: Wyllis Cooper
Genre: Monster Movie

It appears that my father thought that he could extract from lightning some super-violet ray of life-giving properties.

#68
FRIGHT NIGHT
1985
Tom Holland

Cast: Chris Sarandon, Roddy McDowell, William Ragsdale
Screenplay: Tom Holland
Genre: Vampires, Comedy Horror

I have just been fired because nobody wants to see vampire killers anymore, or vampires either. Apparently all they want to see are demented madmen running around in ski-masks, hacking up young virgins.

#67
PREDATOR
John McTiernan
1987

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Kevin Peter Hall, Jesse Ventura
Screenplay: Jim Thomas, John Thomas
Genre: Action Horror, Sci-Fi Horror

You're one... *ugly* motherfucker!

#66
CAT PEOPLE
Jacques Tourneur
1942

Cast: Simone Simon, Tom Conway and Kent Smith
Screenplay: Dewitt Bodeen
Genre: Supernatural

You can fool everybody, but laudie dearie me, you can't fool a cat. They seem to know who's not right.

#65
AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON
John Landis
1981

Cast: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne
Screenplay: John Landis
Genre: Werewolf, Ghost Story, Horror Comedy

Whereas I am a victim of your carnivorous lunar activities.

#64
AMERICAN PSYCHO
Mary Harron
2000

Cast: Christian Bale, Chloe Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Jared Leto, Willem DeFoe
Screenplay: Mary Harron & Guinevere Turner based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis
Genre: Psychological, Slasher

Harold, it's Bateman, Patrick Bateman. You're my lawyer so I think you should know: I've killed a lot of people. Some girls in the apartment uptown uh, some homeless people maybe 5 or 10 um an NYU girl I met in Central Park. I left her in a parking lot behind some donut shop. I killed Bethany, my old girlfriend, with a nail gun, and some man uh some old faggot with a dog last week. I killed another girl with a chainsaw, I had to, she almost got away and uh someone else there I can't remember maybe a model, but she's dead too. And Paul Allen. I killed Paul Allen with an axe in the face, his body is dissolving in a bathtub in Hell's Kitchen. I don't want to leave anything out here. I guess I've killed maybe 20 people, maybe 40. I have tapes of a lot of it, uh some of the girls have seen the tapes. I even, um... I ate some of their brains, and I tried to cook a little. Tonight I, uh, I just had to kill a LOT of people.

#63
RINGU
Hideo Nakata
1998

Cast: Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatani and Yûko Takeuchi
Writers: Hiroshi Takahashi (screenplay), Kôji Suzuki (novel)
Genre: Mystery, Ghost Story, Supernatural

- So that video is... - It's not of this world. It's Sadako's fury. And she's put a curse on us.

#62
THE WICKER MAN
Robin Hardy
1973

Cast: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento
Screenplay: Anthony Shaffer
Genre: Thriller, Psychological

Animals are fine, but their acceptability is limited. A little child is even better, but not NEARLY as effective as the right kind of adult.

#61
DEAD ALIVE
Stephen Sinclair
1992

Cast: Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver and Elizabeth Moody
Screenplay: Stephen Sinclair, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson
Genre: Zombie, Comedy Horror

Story goes, these great big rats come scuttling off the slave ships and raped all the little tree monkeys. The natives use them in black magic rituals. Don't ask me how, probably suck the blood of virgins, eh, eh?

#60
THE OMEN
Richard Donner
1976

Cast: Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, Harvey Stephens
Screenplay: David Seltzer
Genre: Occult

When the Jews return to Zion / And a comet rips the sky / And the Holy Roman Empire rises, / Then You and I must die. / From the eternal sea he rises, / Creating armies on either shore, / Turning man against his brother / 'Til man exists no more.

#59
POLTERGEIST
Tobe Hooper
1982

Cast: JoBeth Williams, Heather O'Rourke, Craig T. Nelson
Screenplay: Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, Mark Victor
Genre: Haunted House, Supernatural

It lies to her. It tells her things only a child can understand. It has been using her to restrain the others. To her, it simply is another child. To us, it is The Beast.

#58
DON'T LOOK NOW
Nicolas Roeg
1973

Cast: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland and Hilary Mason
Writers: Daphne Du Maurier (story), Allan Scott (screenplay)
Genre: Supernatural

Christine is dead. She is dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! Dead!

#57
THEM!
Gordon Douglas
1954

Cast: James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon
Writers: Ted Sherdeman (screenplay), Russell S. Hughes (adaptation)
Genre: Sci-Fi Horror

We may be witnesses to a Biblical prophecy come true - 'And there shall be destruction and darkness come upon creation, and the beasts shall reign over the earth.'

#56
CARRIE
Brian DePalma
1976

Cast: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving
Screenplay: Lawrence D. Cohen
Genre: Supernatural

- Witch. Got Satan's Power.

- It has nothing to do with Satan, Mama. It's me. Me. If I concentrate hard enough, I can move things.

#55
[REC]
Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
2007

Cast: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza and Jorge-Yamam Serrano
Screenplay: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
Genre: Zombies

There's something more to this place. Our cells don't work. Neither does the T.V. or radio. We're isolated.

#54
THE WOLF MAN
George Waggner
1941

Cast: Claude Rains, Warren William, Lon Chaney Jr.
Screenplay: Curt Siodmak
Genre: Monster Movie, Werewolf

Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.

#53
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Rupert Julian
1925

Cast: Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin, Norman Kerry
Based on the Novel by: Gaston Leroux
Genre: Supernatural

Feast your eyes! Glut your soul on my accursed ugliness!

#52
ARMY OF DARKNESS
Sam Raimi
1992

Cast: Bruce Campbell, Embetz Davis, Marcus Gilbert
Screenplay: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi
Genre: Zombies, Comedy Horror

- When you removed the book from the cradle, did you speak the words? - Yeah, basically. - Did you speak the exact words? - Look, maybe I didn't say every single little tiny syllable, no. But basically I said them, yeah.

#51
THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
Terence Fischer
1957

Cast: Peter Cushing, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart, Christopher Lee
Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster based on the work of Mary Shelley
Genre: Monster Movie

Let's let our friend here rest in peace... while he can.

#50
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
Drew Goddard
2012

Cast: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth and Anna Hutchison
Screenplay: Drew Goddard, Joss Whedon
Genre: Zombies, Supernatural, Sci-fi, Monsters

Yes, you had "Zombies." But this is "Zombie Redneck Torture Family." Entirely separate thing. It's like the difference between an elephant and an elephant seal.

#49
28 DAYS LATER
Danny Boyle
2002

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston
Screenplay: Alex Garland
Genre: Zombies

This is what I've seen in the four weeks since infection. People killing people. Which is much what I saw in the four weeks before infection, and the four weeks before that, and before that, and as far back as I care to remember. People killing people. Which to my mind, puts us in a state of normality right now.

#48
SUSPIRIA
Dario Argento
1977

Cast: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci
Screenplay: Dario Argento, Daria Nicolodi based on the book by Thomas De Quincey
Genre: Supernatural, Occult

You wanted to kill me! You wanted to kill me! What are you gonna do now, huh? Now death is coming for you! You wanted to kill Helena Markos! Hell is behind that door! You're going to meet death now... the LIVING DEAD!

#47
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN
Charles Barton
1948

Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Cheney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange
Screenplay: Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo, John Grant
Genre: Horror Comedy, Monsters, Werewolf, Vampires

- Last night I went through another one of my horrible experiences. Many years ago I was bitten by a werewolf. Now, whenever the full moon rises I turn into a wolf myself. - Oh pal. That's all right; I'm sort of a wolf myself.

#46
SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
Tim Burton
2007

Cast: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman
Screenplay: John Logan
Genre: Slasher, Revenge

Alright! You, sir? How about a shave? Come and visit your good friend Sweeney! You sir! Too, sir. Welcome to the grave... I will have vengeance. I will have salvation... Who, sir? You sir!No one's in the chair. Come on, come on! Sweeney's waiting. I want you bleeders. You sir? Anybody? Gentlemen, now don't be shy. Not one man... No, nor ten men... Nor a hundred can assuage me. I will have you! And I will get him back even as he gloats; In the meantime I'll practice on less honorable throats... And my Lucy lies in ashes, and I'll never see my girl again. But the work waits! I'm alive at last, and I'm full of joy!

#45
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE
Rouben Mamoulian
1931

Stars: Fredric March, Miriam Hopkins, Rose Hobart
Writers: Samuel Hoffenstein (screenplay), Percy Heath (screenplay), Robert Louis Stevenson (novel)
Genre: Psychological, Sci-Fi Horror, Dark Fantasy

Gentlemen like me have to be very careful of what we do or say.

#44
BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA
Francis Ford Coppola
1992

Cast: Gary Oldman, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins
Screenplay: James V. Hart based on the novel by Bram Stoker
Genre: Vampires

I am the monster that breathing men would kill. I am Dracula.

#43
VIDEODROME
David Cronenberg
1983

Cast: James Woods, Deborah Harry, Sonja Smits
Screenplay: David Cronenberg
Genre: Sci-Fi Horror

The battle for the mind of North America will be fought in the video arena: the Videodrome. The television screen is the retina of the mind's eye. Therefore, the television screen is part of the physical structure of the brain. Therefore, whatever appears on the television screen emerges as raw experience for those who watch it. Therefore, television is reality, and reality is less than television.

#42
THE BIRDS
Alfred Hitchcock
1963

Cast: Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren and Suzanne Pleshette
Screenplay: Evan Hunter
Genre: Thriller

I have never known birds of different species to flock together. The very concept is unimaginable. Why, if that happened, we wouldn't stand a chance! How could we possibly hope to fight them?

#41
GODZILLA
Ishirô Honda
1954

Cast: Takashi Shimura, Akihiko Hirata and Akira Takarada
Screenplay: Ishirô Honda, Shigeru Kayama
Genre: Monster Movie, Sci-Fi Horror

I can't believe that Godzilla was the only surviving member of its species... But if we continue conducting nuclear tests... it's possible that another Godzilla might appear somewhere in the world again.

#40
DAWN OF THE DEAD
George Romero
1978

Cast: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott H. Reiniger
Screenplay: George A. Romero
Genre: Zombies

• What are they doing? Why do they come here?• Some kind of instinct. Memory of what they used to do. This was an important place in their lives.

#39
PEEPING TOM
Michael Powell
1960

Cast: Carl Boehm, Anna Masse, Moira Shearer
Screenplay: Leo Marks
Genre: Thriller, Serial Killer

• What would frighten me to death? Set the mood for me, Mark. • Imagine... someone coming towards you... who wants to kill you... regardless of the consequences. • A madman? • Yes. But he knows it - and you don't.

#38
THE INNOCENTS
Jack Clayton
1961

Cast: Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde, Megs Jenkins
Screenplay: William Archibald, Truman Capote
Genre: Haunted House, Ghost Story

But above anything else, I love the children.

#37
THE THING
John Carpenter
1982

Cast: Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David
Screenplay: Bill Lancaster
Genre: Sci-Fi, Creature Feature, Aliens

I know I'm human. And if you were all these things, then you'd just attack me right now, so some of you are still human. This thing doesn't want to show itself, it wants to hide inside an imitation. It'll fight if it has to, but it's vulnerable out in the open. If it takes us over, then it has no more enemies, nobody left to kill it. And then it's won.

#36
DRACULA
Tod Browning
1931

Cast: Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Helen Chandler, Dwight Frye
Screenplay: Garrett Fort based on the book by Bram Stoker
Genre: Vampires

The spider spinning his web for the unwary fly... The blood is the life, Mr. Renfield.

#35
THE INVISIBLE MAN
James Whale
1933

Cast: Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart, William Harrigan
Screenplay: R.C. Sherriff based on the work of HG Wells
Genre: Sci-Fi Horror

All right, you fools. You've brought it on yourselves! Everything would have come right if you'd only left me alone. You've driven me near madness with your peering through the keyholes and gaping through the curtains. And now you'll suffer for it! You're crazy to know who I am, aren't you? All right! I'll show you! Here's one for you, and one for you. I'll show you who I am and what I am.

#34
ZOMBIELAND
Ruben Fleischer
2009

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson
Screenplay: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick
Genre: Zombies, Horror Comedy

The first rule of Zombieland: Cardio. When the zombie outbreak first hit, the first to go, for obvious reasons... were the fatties.

#33
FREAKS
Tod Browning
1932

Cast: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Rosco Ates, Henry Victor
Screenplay: Clarence Aaron Robbins
Genre: Psyhological

They're going to make you one of them, my peacock!

#32
THE EVIL DEAD
Sam Raimi
1981

Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor
Screenplay: Sam Raimi
Genre: Zombies, Supernatural

I know now that my wife has become host to a Kandarian demon. I fear that the only way to stop those possessed by the spirits of the book is through the act of... bodily dismemberment.

#31
BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
James Whale
1935

Cast: Boris Karloff, Elsa Lancaster, Colin Clive
Screenplay: William Hurlbut
Genre: Monster Movie

It's a perfect night for mystery and horror. The air itself is filled with monsters.

#30
NOSFERATU
F.W. Murnau
1922

Screenplay: Henrik Galeen loosely based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Cast: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schröder, Alexander Granach, Georg H. Schnell
Genre: Vampires

It will cost you sweat and tears, and perhaps... a little blood.

#29
MISERY
Rob Reiner
1990

Cast: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth
Screenplay: William Goldman based on the novel by Stephen King
Genre: Thriller

I am your number one fan. There is nothing to worry about. You are going to be just fine. I am your number one fan.

#28
DEEP RED
Dario Argento

1975

Cast: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Macha Meril, Eros Pagni
Screenplay: Dario Argento, Bernardino Zapponi
Genre: Serial Killer

Gianna! Gianna! There's someone in the house... absolutely trying to kill me!

#27
REPULSION
Roman Polanski
1965

Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry and John Fraser
Screenplay: Roman Polanski Gérard Brach
Genre: Psychological

I must get this crack mended.

#26
EYES WITHOUT A FACE
Georges Franju
1960

Cast: Pierre Brasseur, Alida Valli and Juliette Mayniel
Screenplay: Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Jean Redon, Claude Sautet
Genre: Thriller, Psychological

The future, Madame, is something we should have started on a long time ago.

#25

THE VANISHING

George Sluizer

1988

Cast: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets and Johanna ter Steege

Screenplay: Tim Krabbé (novel), Tim Krabbé (screenplay)

Genre: Thriller

And as black cannot exist without white, I logically conceived the most horrible deed that I could envision right at that moment. But I want you to know, for me killing is not the worst thing.

#24
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
Don Siegel
1956

Cast: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, Larry Gates
Screenplay: Daniel Mainwaring
Genre: Sci-Fi Horror

I never knew fear until I kissed Becky...

#23
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
Tomas Alfredson
2008

Cast: Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar
Screenplay: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Genre: Vampires

I'm twelve. But I've been twelve for a long time.

#22
EVIL DEAD II
Sam Raimi
1987

Cast: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks
Screenplay: Sam Raimi, Scott Spiegel
Genre: Zombies, Comedy Horror

There's something out there. That... that witch in the cellar is only part of it. It lives... out in those woods, in the dark... something... something that's come back from the dead.

#21
SHAUN OF THE DEAD
Edgar Wright
2004

Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield
Screenplay: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Genre: Zombies, Comedy Horror

Who died and made you fucking king of the zombies?

#20
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE
Tobe Hooper
1974

Cast: Marilyn Burns, Edwin Neal, Allen Danziger
Screenplay: Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper
Genre: Slasher

Those girls... those girls don't wanna go messin' round no old house!

#19
HALLOWEEN
John Carpenter
1978

Cast: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran
Screenplay: John Carpenter, Debra Hill
Genre: Slasher

It's Halloween, everyone's entitled to one good scare.

#18
THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI
Robert Wiene
1920

Cast: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher
Screenplay: Hans Janowitz, Carl Mayer
Genre: Psychological Horror

Spirits surround us on every side... they have driven me from hearth and home, from wife and child.

#17
ROSEMARY'S BABY
Roman Polanski
1968

Cast: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
Screenplay: Roman Polanski
Genre: Occult, Supernatural

He chose you, honey! From all the women in the world to be the mother of his only living son!

#16
LES DIABOLIQUES
Henri-Georges Clouzot
1955

Cast: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse
Screenplay: Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Henri-Georges Clouzot, Jérôme Géronimi
Genre: Ghost Story, Psychological Horror

Die, darling! Die and do it quickly!

#15
GHOSTBUSTERS
Ivan Reitman
1984

Cast: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rik Moranis, Annie Potts, Ernie Hudson, William Atherton
Screenplay: Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis
Genre: Comedy Horror, Supernatural, Ghost Story

• Hey, wait a minute. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Hold it! Now, are we actually gonna go before a federal judge, and tell him that some moldy Babylonian god is going to drop in on Central Park West, and start tearing up the city? • Sumerian, not Babylonian. • Yeah. Big difference. • No offense, guys, but I've gotta get my own lawyer.

#14
FRANKENSTEIN
James Whale
1931

Cast: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, Boris Karloff
Screenplay: Garrett Fort, Francis Edward Faragoh
Genre: Monster Movie

The brain you stole, Fritz. Think of it. The brain of a dead man waiting to live again in a body I made with my own hands!

#13
THE SIXTH SENSE
M. Night Shyamalan
1999

Cast: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette
Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan
Genre: Ghost Story

I see dead people. Walking around like regular people. They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't know they're dead.

#12
PAN'S LABYRINTH
Guillermo del Toro
2006

Cast: Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López
Screenplay: Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Dark Fantasy

A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world.

#11
ALIENS
James Cameron
1986

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn
Screenplay: James Cameron, David Giler
Genre: Action Horror, Sci-Fi Horror

We'd better get back, 'cause it'll be dark soon, and they mostly come at night... mostly.

#10
SE7EN
David Fincher
1995

Cast: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey, Gwenyth Platrow
Screenplay: Andrew Kevin Walker
Genre: Serial Killer, Thriller

He's experienced about as much pain and suffering as anyone I've encountered, give or take, and he still has Hell to look forward to.

#9
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
Wes Craven
1984

Cast: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, Robert Englund
Screenplay: Wes Craven
Genre: Slasher, Supernatural

Fred Krueger did it, Daddy. And only I can get him. It's my nightmare he comes to.

#8
KING KONG
Merian C. Cooper, Ernest B. Schoedsack
1933

Cast: Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot
Screenplay: James Ashmore Creelman, Ruth Rose
Genre: Monster Movie, Fantasy

• No chains will ever hold that. • We'll give him more than chains. He's always been king of his world, but we'll teach him fear. We're millionaires, boys. I'll share it with all of you. Why, in a few months, it'll be up in lights on Broadway: Kong, the Eighth Wonder of the World.

#7
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
George Romero
1968

Cast: Duane Jones, Judith O'Dea and Karl Hardman
Screenplay: John A. Russo, George A. Romero
Genre: Zombies

Well, there's no problem. If you have a gun, shoot 'em in the head. That's a sure way to kill 'em. If you don't, get yourself a club or a torch. Beat 'em or burn 'em. They go up pretty easy.

#6
ALIEN
Ridley Scott
1979

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Ian Holm
Screenplay: Dan O'Bannon
Genre: Sci-Fi Horror, Monster Movie

Bones are bent outward, like he exploded from inside.

THE SHINING

Stanley Kubrick

1980

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd

Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick, Diane Johnson based on the novel by Stephen King

Genre: Supernatural, Ghost Story, Haunted House, Psychological

Redrum. Redrum. Redrum.

#4
PSYCHO
Alfred Hitchcock
1960

Cast: Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Janet Leigh, Martin Balsam
Screenplay: Joseph Stefano
Genre: Slasher, Serial Killer

Well, if the woman up there is Mrs. Bates... who's that woman buried out in Greenlawn Cemetery?

#3
JAWS
Steven Spielberg
1975

Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss
Screenplay: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb
Genre: Monster Movie

I'll catch this bird for you, but it ain't gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down the pond chasin' bluegills and tommycods. This shark, swallow you whole.

#2
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Jonathan Demme
1991

Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine
Screenplay: Ted Tally
Genre: Serial Killer, Thriller

It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.

#1
THE EXORCIST
William Friedkin
1973

Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair
Screenplay: William Peter Blatty
Genre: Supernatural, Occult

There is one outside chance for a cure. I think of it as shock treatment - as I said, it's a very outside chance... Have you ever heard of exorcism? Well, it's a stylized ritual in which the rabbi or the priest try to drive out the so-called invading spirit. It's been pretty much discarded these days except by the Catholics who keep it in the closet as a sort of an embarrassment, but uh, it has worked. In fact, although not for the reasons they think, of course. It's purely a force of suggestion. The victim's belief in possession is what helped cause it, so in that same way, a belief in the power of exorcism can make it disappear.

The Essential Films

Monday, October 29, 2012

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Sunday, October 7, 2012

100 Essential Horror Films - 2012 Edition

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