Favorite Top 5 Classic Horror Films

[shaxper]

...as requested.

Define classic in whatever way you like, but it probably shouldn't include films from last year.

[shaxper]

Mine:


1. Frankenstein
2. White Zombie
3. Carnival of Souls
4. Aliens
5. The Horror of Dracula

Honorable mentions to Alien, Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht, Dracula (1931) with Phillip Glass score, Nosferatu (original), Cabinet Der Caligari, Dawn of the Dead (original), Day of the Dead (original), The Bat (original), Friday the 13th parts II and IV, Nightmare on Elm Street parts 3 and 4, Halloween (original).

Also, I nearly put my favorite film, (F.W. Murnau's Faust) at the top of the list, but I wasn't sure I should count it as horror.

[Greg Anderson]

Hmmm. Lets see...

I Walked With a Zombie
The Innocents
Angel Heart
Eraserhead
The Haunting

[Greg Anderson]

Mine:


1. Faust (1926)
2. Frankenstein
3. White Zombie
4. Carnival of Souls
5. Aliens

Honorable mentions to Alien, Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht, The Horror of Dracula, Dracula (1931) with Phillip Glass score, Nosferatu (original), Cabinet Der Caligari, Dawn of the Dead (original), Day of the Dead (original), The Bat (original), Friday the 13th parts II and IV, Nightmare on Elm Street 3 and 4, Halloween (original).

I was close to adding Carnival of Souls. Such a fun movie. Frankenstein never gets old, Boris Karloff is the man. His work in the Val Lewton films were also very much top notch. I loved him in Body Snatcher and Bedlam.

[An Ear In The Fireplace]

1. The Haunting (1963)
2. The Horror of Dracula (1958)
3. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
4. Mulholland Drive (2001)
5. El Topo (1970)

[thwhtGuardian]

Horror is one of my favorite genres in film so this is going to be even harder than the scifi list.
1)Frankenstein
2)Tales of Terror
3)Nosferatu
4)Dracula (Universal 1979)
5) The Seventh Victim

Some honorable mentions would be Werewolf of London, London After Midnight, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,and The Vampire Bat. Also of note are the Lady in Black and 1408, they're definitely two of my favorite horror movies but they're a little too recent to be included in a classic horror list.

[Greg Anderson]

Horror is one of my favorite genres in film so this is going to be even harder than the scifi list.
1)Frankenstein
2)Tales of Terror
3)Nosferatu
4)Dracula (Universal 1979)
5) The Seventh Victim

Some honorable mentions would be Werewolf of London, London After Midnight, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,and The Vampire Bat. Also of note are the Lady in Black and 1408, they're definitely two of my favorite horror movies but they're a little too recent to be included in a classic horror list.

Was it I who got you into The Seventh Victim? I recently got it on DVD finally a few months back, I've watched it quite a few times since then. So damn masterly made.

I love 1408. That's one of those films that I usually credit as a PG 13 film that does more for horror than rated R. I always hated the argument that you couldn't do a true horror film without it being rated R.

I regrettably have yet to see Dracula.

[destro]

I think I'll cheat and do an older classic and a newer classic list (well new for me is like the 80s.)

Old Classics

Bride of Frankenstein
The Man With X-Ray Eyes
Carnival of Souls
Abominable Dr. Phibes
Last Man on Earth


Newer Classics

Reanimator
Dellamorte, Dellamore
Gates of Hell
Phantasm
Cannibal Holocaust

[thwhtGuardian]

Was it I who got you into The Seventh Victim? I recently got it on DVD finally a few months back, I've watched it quite a few times since then. So damn masterly made.

I love 1408. That's one of those films that I usually credit as a PG 13 film that does more for horror than rated R. I always hated the argument that you couldn't do a true horror film without it being rated R.

I regrettably have yet to see Dracula.

Ha, yup! You turned me onto it while we were doing the 31 days of Halloween marathon last year and I loved it. I'm a huge fan of shadow play in black and white films and the use of shadows they in the Seventh Victim to create the mood was truly masterful, probably some of the best I've ever seen.

1408 is great, especially with the director's cut ending. It's just down right creepy and I'm a sucker for John Cusack.

I've never understood the need for an R rating, gore and nudity and simulated violence don't do much for me, atmosphere is much more important and you can do that well enough even in modern cinema as evidenced by both 1408 and last winter's The Woman in Black.

You should try and catch Frank Langella's take on Dracula, he really brought a lot of energy to the role and I really liked the muted colors.

[thwhtGuardian]

Mine:


1. Frankenstein
2. White Zombie
3. Carnival of Souls
4. Aliens
5. The Horror of Dracula

Honorable mentions to Alien, Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht, Dracula (1931) with Phillip Glass score, Nosferatu (original), Cabinet Der Caligari, Dawn of the Dead (original), Day of the Dead (original), The Bat (original), Friday the 13th parts II and IV, Nightmare on Elm Street parts 3 and 4, Halloween (original).

Also, I nearly put my favorite film, (F.W. Murnau's Faust) at the top of the list, but I wasn't sure I should count it as horror.

Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht is the version by Werner Hezog right? I've heard it was really fantastic but I've yet to see it, I have it marked for this years Halloween marathon though. And I'd totally count Murnau's Faust as horror.

[Greg Anderson]

Ha, yup! You turned me onto it while we were doing the 31 days of Halloween marathon last year and I loved it. I'm a huge fan of shadow play in black and white films and the use of shadows they in the Seventh Victim to create the mood was truly masterful, probably some of the best I've ever seen.

1408 is great, especially with the director's cut ending. It's just down right creepy and I'm a sucker for John Cusack.

I've never understood the need for an R rating, gore and nudity and simulated violence don't do much for me, atmosphere is much more important and you can do that well enough even in modern cinema as evidenced by both 1408 and last winter's The Woman in Black.

You should try and catch Frank Langella's take on Dracula, he really brought a lot of energy to the role and I really liked the muted colors.

Oh, THAT Dracula I caught and LOVED. The scene with him climbing on the walls of the castle was beautiful and beyond creepy. The Dracula I haven't seen was the original with Bela Legosi. I'm surprised I haven't seen it, to be honest, given the popularity of the Universal horror films. I've seen Frankenstein, Mummy, Wolfman, Creature of the Black Lagoon. But no Dracula.

[destro]

Speaking of Dracula, anyone here a fan of the 1931 Spanish version?

[dan bailey]

Repeating myself from the sf thread --

1. Night of the Living Dead
2. The Exorcist
3. The Beyond
4. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
5. Carnival of Souls, probably; maybe Blair Witch Project ... but there are tons of extremely strong contenders, several of which have already been mentioned above -- Seventh Victim, Eraserhead, Gates of Hell, Last Man on Earth, The Haunting, The Innocents ... & that's not even getting into auteurs like Carpenter (Halloween, Prince of Darkness, In the Mouth of Madness), Cronenberg (The Brood, They Came from Within, The Fly, Videodrome), Bava (Black Sunday, Kill Baby Kill) or Argento (Suspiria, Phenomena)

[Slam_Bradley]

I really don't care for horror films...so my list will probably be idiosyncratic.

1. Abbot & Costello Meet Frankenstein
2. The Wicker Man (original)
3. Shaun of the Dead
4. Horror of Dracula
5. Bubba Ho-Tep

[Cei-U!]

Not unlike Slam, I'm really not a horror guy, but here's my list:

1. The Haunting (original)
2. Jurassic Park (I know it's not really horror but it's the *only* movie that ever gave me nightmares)
3. The Birds
4. The Wolf Man (representing the entire Universal monsters cycle)
5. The Golem (1924)

I have no use for gratuitous gore and torture porn so very few modern horror flicks appeal to me. Those that do include Pan's Labyrinth, The Others, The Sixth Sense and The Orphanage.

Cei-U!
Suggestion, please, not spatter!