EPT![[image loading]](http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/images/hitchcock_psycho.jpg)
Thought about making a list of my favorite albums of 2010, JRPG's, or maybe live albums, but decided to finish up doing all my horror related lists first. So I'm going to go here into general horror films. These are my 10 favorite horror films of all time, not restricted by region or language. While I am a fan of Japanese horror specifically, this list isn't dominated by the genre. I won't be renaming films that I have already listed, so although Noroi is my favorite horror film of all time you won't find it on this list. Read my previous blogs for some more movie suggestions. Let's get started.
Number Ten: Rec
![[image loading]](http://www.moviedistrict.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/rec11.jpg)
Rec is a spanish zombie film. It's one of the better forays into handycam horror and it very realistically simulates a zombie disaster. The plot follows attractive young reporter Angela Vidal doing a story on a local firestation. The firehouse recieves a call about a woman trapped in her apartment and they arrive to help. When the door is broken down, they find the woman is extremely aggressive and she bites a police officer.
Slowly, the apartment house descends into madness as residents fall victim to a zombie plague that transforms them into horrible beasts. The execution of the movie is wonderful and some of the infected humans are quite grotesque. This is one of the best horror films made recently and is a must-see for a fan of the genre. Especially if you love zombies.
Handycam, when done right is a way of immersing the viewer in a film. It adds a sense of realism to the film that is difficult to recreate with other methods. But when it is done wrong, a film is made laughable and amateurish. Overdone shakiness causes motion sickness more often than it causes fright. Rec is handycam done right.
Don't see the english remake, Quarantine. It was bad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xks0qWq7CQI
Number Nine: Ils
![[image loading]](http://www.blogcdn.com/www.horrorsquad.com/media/2010/03/ils-nail.jpg)
If you've seen the mediocre horror flick "The Strangers" you may have thought, like I did, that the movie truly wasted it's potential to be terrifying. The Strangers still scared me because it plays on my greatest fear: invasion of the home.
Ils is what The Strangers should have been and is a grisly reminded that even in our safest place we are still quite vulnerable. The plot is exceedingly simple. A young french couple have their home invaded by a group of unseen menaces and are forced to go on the run or be killed. Ils is french for "Them" and that is precisely the best way to describe the films antagonists, unknown and unnamed forces of evil.
What Ils does that a lot of american movies have issue with is set a good pace. The movie doesn't descend into chaos too quickly but it doesn't get boring either. With just proper pacing, a film can do wonders in drawing suspense out from its viewers.
Ils isn't an AMAZING movie, but it certainly scared me. This gets a placement due to my personal issue with this genre of film and Ils may have scared me more than any other movie on this list for that reason alone. It is still quite good and if you have a free spot on Netflix available, it's quite worthy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFTbcDRkG1o
Number Eight: Rear Window
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Rear Window is my favorite Hitchcock film because I think it perfectly demonstrates his ability to create fear out of as little action as possible. Hitchcock is the father of the thriller film and is perhaps one of the biggest names in not only horror but in all of movie making. His films have been imprinted upon the global subconscious of horror fanatics, writers and movie makers. If you don't know Hitchcock, you don't know horror.
One of Hitchcock's famous techniques for creating suspense was to make the audience voyeurs, immersing them in the experience. In Psycho, the scene in which Marion undresses is seen as through a peephole. The audience is taken from the normal role as impartial viewers to direct participants. Hitchcock also loved using completely normal characters being thrust into extraordinary circumstances. While this is common now, Hitchcock was one of the first to use this theme consistently again with the purpose of increasing audience relatibility.
Rear Window follows L.B Jefferies (portrayed by the legendary James Stewart) as he spies on his neighbors. Jefferies is a photographer with a broken leg, forced to sit at home in boredom on a wheelchair. As he spies on his neighbors, he begins to suspect the man across the street of murder.
With a complex web of character interactions, a game of cat and mouse begins as Jefferies tries to convince others that his neighbor Thorwald is guilty of murder. Nail-biting suspense and brilliant acting drive the film. My personal favorite in the suspense/thriller genre, there are no scary monsters or mask wearing slashers to be found here. To see the applications of minimalism in horror, look no further than a Hitchcock film. Rear Window is a masterpiece of the genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JUKDRwvtb0&feature=related
Number Seven: Jigoku
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Jigoku was one of the films that launched J-Horror. Made in 1960, this is perhaps the most important old school J-Horror film of all time along with Kaneto Shindo's "Onibaba".
Nakagawa's early classic of Japanese horror, a karmic morality piece drawing upon Buddhist ideas of retribution and the afterlife builds itself upon the doctrine that our earthly sins are to be atoned for after death, a principle shared by just about all of the world's religions. Culminating in a stunning evocation of the underworld, this epically ambitious project took seven months to produce and was partly funded from the director's own pocket.
Jigoku means "Hell" and that's exactly what the movie is about. There is nothing I can say about this movie that hasn't been said more precisely and more eloquently by film critics around the world and all I can and will do is echo their sentiment that the film is amazing even to his day.
Main character Shiro's descent into hell is mesmerizing, graphic, and provocative. With set construction that would make Argento jealous, Jigoku contains imagery that will stick with you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMmm3bDfMjo
Number Six: Suspiria
![[image loading]](http://www.landofwhimsy.com/images/commentary-suspiria.jpg)
I'm a sucker for color. Dario Argento's films, more than any other director I know of, are bursting with color and imaginative set design. Very much inspired by his great predecessor Mario Bava, Dario Argento seeks to make horror beautiful.
In what is arguably his best work, Dario Argento creates a visually explosive horror experience that has to be seen to be understood. It is the last italian film to be shot in technicolor, in 1977.
The film follows a beautiful young ballerina named Suzy who is attending a prestigious dance academy in Munich. She witnesses another student, Pat, fleeing from the building in terror. When Pat seeks refuge at a friends house both her and the friend are brutally murdered.
With some of the most visually explicit murder scenes ever shot on film, Suspiria doesn't just explore the beautiful but the utterly macabre. The dance academy is under a curse by a witches coven and Suzy must attempt to undo the evil supernatural forces gripping the place.
Forgive the terribad trailer. This movie is great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8zbV_fFkYs
Number Five: Cannibal Holocaust
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I had a hard time finding an image that was appropriate for this blog. This is the most famous exploitation movie of all time and it is one of the most horrific. Besides the Guinea Pig series this is probably the most extreme cinema recorded to film.
Cannibal Holocaust follows journalists who are documenting cannibalistic tribes in the Amazon. Everything that can go wrong goes wrong in the worst and most cringeworthy way possible.
I can't really recommend this movie. But if you want a hard introduction to exploitation cinema or grindhouse, this is where you should start. I can't really say I enjoyed this film, only the most depraved minds in this world could derive something positive from this movie. But I have sat through the entire thing with my eyes open and it's taken a part of my innocence I can't have back. Watch at your own risk. No trailer included.
Number Four: Henry - Portrait of a Serial Killer
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There is something about this movie that crawls under your skin and doesn't get out for a few days. The film follows Henry, a serial killer, as he goes about his daily business soullessly murdering people.
He picks up some companions along the way and there is even a bit of a twisted love story happening in the midst of the gore and terror surrounding Henry. Henry finds a man who wants to be a serial killer like him and he takes him along his journey.
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer explores psychopathy and the effects of emotional attachment. Henry is as true of a sociopath as you'll ever see and there is quite a bit to think about as others develop feelings of friendship toward him, feelings he cannot reciprocate in his endless lust for blood. Truly chilling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU3P6WXzvXU
Number Three: Rampo Noir
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I had a hard time deciding if I like Rampo Noir or Marebito more when I made my J-Horror list and although Rampo Noir is one of my favorite movies ever, Marebito's consistency and plot gave it the slight edge. So now I can finally talk about one of the best J-Horrors ever made.
When it comes to imagery and cinematography, perhaps no J-Horror has this beaten. Taking a page from the book of Dario Argento, italian horror master, Rampo Noir is full of bright color and visceral imagery. Set design is majestic and often times elegant. The film is eye candy whether you like horror or not and for that reason alone I suggest it.
Rampo Noir is a montage of short films. They are adapted from the short stories of Edogawa Rampo, the father of japanese mystery literature. The first story which is adapted is called "Mars Canal" and it is a delight to watch. It is completely visual, there is no sound to be found during the short whatsoever. Mars Canal sets the tone of the movie with fantastic set design and arresting imagery, making the viewer both interested and uneasy.
The next short is a murder mystery involving mirrors. It is called "Mirror Hell" and I don't want to spoil anything but it does involve literal face melting. If that's not worth a view, I don't know what is. The film does have a particularly bad section involving S&M, but overall it is a strong piece.
"Caterpillar" is easily the most unsettling piece in the whole movie. I don't want to say much about it, but if you've caught on to the theme in my previous blogs there is a common fascination in J-Horror for disturbing and often violent fetishism. Let's leave it at that. It's trashy, exploitative, and a bit reminiscent of American grindhouse flicks. It lacks much of the elegant plumage of other shorts but it makes up for it in shock value.
"Crawling Bugs" is a foray into the highly disturbing surreal. A man with a skin condition murders an actress he is in love with, believing it will cure him. The story is sick but you'll be hard pressed to take your eyes off it. I don't want to say too much but you won't forget this short anytime soon.
![[image loading]](http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LZkkTh3_X60/R4YhMN7DGZI/AAAAAAAAB2A/RvmZ-dhWp_M/ramponoir4.jpg)
I have a lot to say about Rampo Noir. It isn't really a scary film to be honest, but it certainly is horrifying in its own right. Remember that part of Willy Wonka where he takes the kids on a boat through a tunnel singing a sweet tune and then suddenly he's screaming and all manner of horrors are whizzing by them? Rampo Noir finds itself in a permanent state of psychedelic terror much akin to that scene: juxtaposing horror with a color that would normally be found in a pleasant cartoon. You can either revel in the morbid beauty or turn off your tv out of disgust.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYtN_m1V_BE
Number Two: Onibaba
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Decades later, this movie is still fantastic. Or should I say this is one of the most unsettling films every made. The film, despite its age, uses cinematography techniques that even David Lynch would be jealous of. The movie was decades ahead of its time in terms of using distortion, angles, and speed of motion to create a frightening and disturbing environment.
Onibaba is best translated as "The Hag" and more literally "old devil woman". The movie is an exploration of sexual politics and the corrosiveness of relationships, similar to Tetsuo: The Iron Man in some of its message.
The film follows two women, one young and one old, in an anarchistic society who murder fleeing soldiers from an unnamed war occurring in order to sell their possessions for money. When a young soldier named Hami returns to inform the young woman of her husbands death, he joins them in their murdering scheme.
He begins a sexual relationship with the young woman, which enrages the old woman. She becomes jealous and uses a mask she has uncovered from a disfigured samurai to frighten the two and disrupt their relationship. All does not end well for the three, however, and the ending is a great twist.
Onibaba uses a lot of symbolism and is quite a deep movie, playing off of gender relations. The hole of corpses, the demon mask, and the constantly swaying grass are a few of the recurring symbols in the movie. It's up for you to interpret. The film is powerful and plot heavy, perhaps not terrifying but intriguing. It's an amazing piece of cinematography and if you pause the movie at any point you'll find frame after frame of haunting beauty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5mFJGSbdYs
Number One:The Shining
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When a man of film such as Stanley Kubrick collaborates with a master of horror such as Stephen King, you'd expect nothing less than phenomenal results. Well, The Shining meets and far exceeds expectations as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, horror film of all time.
Starring Jack Nicholson, one of the best actors of his time, The Shining tells the story of a family that moves into a hotel to take care of it during it's off-season. They have a psychic son who can see ghosts in the hotel as well as see into the future. His ability is called "The Shining".
When the hotel becomes locked down by a snowstorm, Jack goes slowly insane as he is affected by the evil spirits who haunt the hotel. Jack Nicholson's performance is nothing short of brilliant and has led to some of the most famous scenes in movie history.
The deterioration of an american family as one man descends into insanity is depicted without a flaw in The Shining. The film is accompanied by some of the most surreal and disturbing imagery in horror film history, the likes of which have been referenced endlessly in pop culture.
Rather than a trailer, I present a brilliant scene from The Shining. Jack, a writer, has lashed out at his wife several times for interrupting him while he is writing his newest book. Jack's increasingly violent and erratic behavior has caused her to carry a bat around with her for defense, or possibly to hurt him before he hurts her and their son. She comes across the manuscript he had been working on in one of the biggest scenes of the film.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O0ZfZGF8l8
That's it! Enjoy the movies! I'll be making some more blogs in the future about horror and as always you can PM me if you have any questions or would like some more suggestions in the genre. Happy viewing.
