5 Best Horror Films from the 1970s to Today
A masked killer stalks his prey through the woods, an unsuspecting camp counselor who just broke up with her beer-guzzling boyfriend. A kidnapper, burned to death several decades ago, dons a glove of knives and tortures his newest victims by invading their nightmares. A doll comes to life at night, picks up a razor and creeps down the hallway.
Horror movies are full of colorful characters, but the stars of the show are always the bad guys. Picture the shambling zombies, blood-sucking vampires, giant spiders, or serial killers with an axe to grind. Fans pack into theaters and crowd together on the couch not because of the beautiful young heroine or her dreamy group of friends, but because of the blood-thirsty psychos bent on making their lives a living hell.
Horror occupies a special place in the hearts of moviegoers since they were first known as spook tales, according to Horror Film History. Some of the first films to haunt audiences the world over were the Lumiere brothers’ Le Squelette Joyeux, featuring a dancing skeleton, and Le Manoir du Diable, which terrified audiences with witches, bats, and ghosts. The term horror film wasn’t coined until the 1930s. Since then, directors have been trying to scare the pants off of folks brave enough to try and sit through their latest blood-curdling tale.
In the last five decades, horror films and new offerings hit the box office every year. Dozens arrive on direct-to-DVD or through Internet media providers on a regular basis. Services such as Hulu, Netflix and Vudu overflow with horror movies classic and new. With a high-speed Internet connection from services such as Verizon DSL, the whole world of horror is at your fingertips.
Since Halloween’s on the horizon, journey into the blood-soaked world of horror right at home. The following is a list of bone-chilling recommendations highlighting one of the best horror movies from each of the past five decades. Grab some popcorn and perhaps a blanket to hide under. It’s going to be a spooky ride.
1970s: The Exorcist
The 1970s are the birthplace of modern horror, giving gore fans films, such as the original Alien, Halloween, Jaws, The Omen, Carrie, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But perhaps the most influential of them all was The Exorcist, a film about a young girl who was possessed by the devil, and the poor priest who took on the mission of saving her. The Exorcist horrified an entire generation of moviegoers. It’s still considered one of the genre’s finest offerings.
1980s: The Thing
In the 80s, Michael Meyers, Freddy Krueger, Jason, and Chucky took the center stage of horror. Even more terrifying than all of these familiar killers is the unknown evil that lurks in plain sight. And that’s exactly what makes The Thing so terrifying. When an alien creature invades an arctic research camp, the crew quickly discovers that any one of their own friends could be a killer in disguise. Man turns against man in a mad dash to discover the murderer in their midst or destroy each other in the process.
1990s: The Blair Witch Project
Just as Halloween spawned an entire generation of mascot monsters, few horror films in recent memory have impacted the genre quite like The Blair Witch Project. The film was originally pitched to audiences as real found footage of a group of doomed film students’ quest to chronicle an urban legend. The Blair Witch Project was an instant horror hit thanks to its wait, did this really happen? punch. Found footage films have been horror trends over the past decade even leading up to the chilling Paranormal Activity franchise.
2000s: 28 Days Later
It’s not easy to reinvent an entire genre, but 28 Days Later did exactly that for zombie films. Not only did it help kick-start the love of the walking dead, but it also introduced a whole new level of terror to the genre’s beloved stars: zombies that can run. Getting torn limb from limb by flesh-eating monstrosities isn’t a pretty picture, but at least with old school zombies you could always out-run the threat. Thanks to 28 Days Later, a whole new breed of fast-moving zombies floods the market, knocking your post-apocalyptic survival chances down a peg or two.
2010s: The Cabin in the Woods
A clear contender for best horror film of the decade is Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s 2012 classic The Cabin in the Woods. This film is horror from a whole new angle. Well-known tropes craft a movie that’s equally hilarious and terrifying. Who would have thought a single movie could mash everything moviegoers love about horror movies into a single film, while creating one of the genre’s best offerings at the same time?
Paul Ellison writes movie reviews. He doesn’t care if the movie was released in 1913 or 2013. He’s on it.
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