Gallery: The 25 Best Horror Films of All Time (NSFW)
01freaks-2
<cite>Freaks</cite> (1932) -------------------------- __Chris Alexander:__ Disturbing one-of-a-kind creeper that also effectively killed director [Tod Browning](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tod_Browning)'s career. __Michael Gingold:__ Let's see someone *try* to remake this one today. __Bekah McKendry:__ One of the first cinematic examples of the antihero, and a concept that was way ahead of its time. Plus, the dinner scene reminds me of most *Fango* staff meetings! __Sam Zimmerman:__ Aside from the generally disturbing qualities this film has throughout, the sheer out-of-controlness of the end reveal makes my life better.
02wolfman
<cite>The Wolf Man</cite> (1941) --------------------------------- __Chris Alexander:__ Lon Chaney Jr. hunts for blood on the moors in Universal's emotionally sophisticated shocker. __Michael Gingold:__ The movie that made the full moon what it is today. __Bekah McKendry:__ Dracula and the Invisible Man were always so educated and classy. You could picture the Wolf Man in a seedy bar slamming [Rum Runners](http://www.drinkstreet.com/searchresults.cgi?drinkid=192&drinkname=category:22) before jumping on his Harley. Chaney played the transformation brilliantly and laid the groundwork for many great werewolves to come. __Sam Zimmerman:__ My personal preference of the Universal classics. It's a beautiful, tragic story, plus werewolves will forever be the most boss of monsters.
03househauntedhill
<cite>House on Haunted Hill</cite> (1959) ------------------------------------------ __Chris Alexander:__ The king of the gimmick flick, [William Castle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Castle), teams up with the Prince of Ham, Vincent Price, in this creepy haunted-house classic. __Michael Gingold:__ Quintessential Castle … watch out for floating skeletons! __Bekah McKendry:__ The P.T. Barnum of the film world brings you flying skeletons, an overly dramatic Price and a cinematic experience that is campy yet pure brilliance. __Sam Zimmerman:__ I truly love that in Castle's universe, it's completely normal and even a bit of demented fun that married couples are forever out to kill each other. The only other horror film I smile at as much is [*Creepshow*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepshow).
04eyewoface
<cite>Eyes Without a Face</cite> (1960) --------------------------------------- __Chris Alexander:__ George Franju's epic mad-scientist drama still has the power to turn stomachs. __Michael Gingold:__ Proof that black and white can shock you just as powerfully as color. __Sam Zimmerman:__ An early indicator that the French were up to no good when it came to frights. It's incredible. __Bekah McKendry:__ Like the also-French [Grand Guignol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Guignol), it has been the subject of a long-running debate about whether it is exploitive horror or artistic genius. This film unquestionably shows that horror can be art.
Courtesy Everett Collection05rosemarys-baby-mia-farrow-1968
<cite>Rosemary's Baby</cite> (1968) ------------------------------------ __Chris Alexander:__ The movie that put Polish director Roman Polanski on the U.S. map is nothing short of a masterpiece, with a waifish Mia Farrow carrying Satan's spawn to term. __Michael Gingold:__ Sometimes, the devil you know *is* worse ... __Bekah McKendry:__ One of the best examples of a postmodern horror movie. The horror just keeps on rolling after the film ends. Plus, it is a beautifully subconscious commentary on the 1960s' sexual revolution and control of the female body. __Sam Zimmerman:__ So much of horror relies upon your own emotional connection to the characters. Rosemary is without a doubt one of the sweetest, most well-meaning and adorable protagonists in horror history. Watching what should be a tremendously happy time in her life become a monstrous plague on her body and psyche, via Polanski's expertise with dread, kills me every time.
06exorcist
<cite>The Exorcist</cite> (1973) --------------------------------- __Chris Alexander:__ What more can be said about this theological thriller other than it continues to be one of the most terrifying films ever made? __Michael Gingold:__ A movie that can still turn heads nearly four decades later. __Bekah McKendry:__ This film turned Linda Blair into a horror starlet, and for Washington, D.C., natives (like myself), it turned a long set of stairs into a horror mecca. __Sam Zimmerman:__ Few times have I ever been flat-out horrified at a film. [Captain Howdy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pazuzu_(The_Exorcist))'s terrible powder-white face is one of them.
07wickerman
<cite>The Wicker Man</cite> (1973) ----------------------------------- __Chris Alexander:__ Gothic, earthy and weird thriller that combines sex, paganism, mystery and black humor to grand effect. Builds to one of the most alarming climaxes ever. __Michael Gingold:__ This unique cult item keeps the horror tantalizingly just off screen for most of the running time, before winding up with one of the scariest finales ever. And who knew [Christopher Lee](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Lee) has such a great singing voice? __Bekah McKendry:__ A religion that promotes naked musical dance numbers and wild orgies. Where do I sign up? __Sam Zimmerman:__ Wait, we're not talking about the Nicolas Cage version?
08texas
<cite>The Texas Chain Saw Massacre</cite> (1974) ------------------------------------------------- __Chris Alexander:__ Gritty, filthy and blackly funny, Tobe Hooper's savage shocker is like hell itself unleashed on-screen. __Michael Gingold:__ Perhaps the most notorious horror *title* in film history. __Bekah McKendry:__ There were no grand settings or lavish costumes. Instead, the putrid visual aesthetic of this film oozes off the screen, making it a horror classic. __Sam Zimmerman:__ This was probably the first film in which it was hammered home to me that not everything evil happens at night.
09jaws
<cite>Jaws</cite> (1975) ------------------------- __Chris Alexander:__ Steven Spielberg's nerve-shredding adventure sees a monstrous shark terrorizing a small New England town. Even after multiple viewings, this one still maintains its primal power to manipulate an audience. __Michael Gingold:__ Watch it once for the shark, watch it twice for Spielberg's best-ever work with actors. __Bekah McKendry:__ To this day, I cannot swim in any ocean, lake or oversized bathtub without recalling this movie. __Sam Zimmerman:__ The *Fango* team just called me "Son of Hooper" last week.
10carrie
<cite>Carrie</cite> (1976) --------------------------- __Chris Alexander:__ Sad, stylish and shocking Brian De Palma-directed melodrama improves upon Stephen King's novel and offers a revelatory performance by Sissy Spacek as a tormented teen cursed with telekinesis. Moving [Pino Donnagio](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pino_Donaggio) score and a head-spinning last reel (and final shot!). __Michael Gingold:__ Thanks to King and De Palma, countless people don't feel so bad about how their own proms went. __Bekah McKendry:__ This movie offered a shockingly real depiction of what it is like for girls to come of age in sexually repressive environments ... minus the telekinesis, which, if I had possessed it during my teen years, I would have used to mentally smack up bitches left and right. __Sam Zimmerman:__ I've always been oddly attracted and emotionally drawn to tales of damaged female protagonists, and that can probably be traced back to my extreme love of this film. (P.S. You should see its contemporary spiritual soul mate, *[May](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_(film))*, starring Angela Bettis and directed by Lucky McKee. It's marvelous.)
11suspiria
<cite>Suspiria</cite> (1977) ----------------------------- __Chris Alexander:__ Italian director [Dario Argento](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Argento)'s designer horror show is like a blood-spattered, feature-length rock video, full of sound, fury, style and gore. __Michael Gingold:__ Argento's most popular film and greatest visual feast grabs you by the throat and shakes you for 90-odd minutes ... and makes you love it. __Bekah McKendry:__ This was honestly one of the films that pushed me to study and write about horror instead of just being a die-hard fan. The visuals and sound in this film are a feast for the senses. __Sam Zimmerman:__ While it may not be your favorite Argento (I would say it's mine), it's probably the best introduction into his wild, colorful and often nonsensical universe, one with an absolutely killer soundtrack and that remains eerie, creepy and very affecting.
12halloween
<cite>Halloween</cite> (1978) ------------------------------ __Chris Alexander:__ The first big American body-count movie put [John Carpenter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carpenter) on the map and birthed a wave of stalk-and-slash exploitation. But very little blood is spilled on-screen here, and the picture is a testament to Carpenter's fluid style and intense electronic music. __Michael Gingold:__ The movie that scared the life out of me at an impressionable age and set me on the path I'm still following today. Would that [Michael Myers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Myers_(Halloween)) would go after those responsible for all the awful sequels and rip-offs. __Bekah McKendry:__ Would I be tarred and feathered if I professed my extreme love of *[Halloween III: Season of the Witch](http://www.halloweenmovies.com/filmarchive/h3plot.htm)*? __Sam Zimmerman:__ The juxtaposition during [P.J. Soles](http://www.pjsoles.com/)' death should be enough to justify this film as the classic that it is. Thankfully though, the rest of *Halloween* is just as great.
13dawn
<cite>Dawn of the Dead</cite> (1978) ------------------------------------- __Chris Alexander:__ The *Gone With the Wind* of zombie films, [George A. Romero](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2010/06/george-a-romero-zombies/)'s epic, explicit tale of the living-dead apocalypse gets better with age, featuring revolting gore, multidimensional characters, action, humor and full-blooded horror. Often imitated, rarely duplicated. __Michael Gingold:__ The most conspicuous consumption ever seen on a movie screen, and one of the few films in history to singlehandedly create an entire genre. __Sam Zimmerman:__ That one zombie's flannel is on point. __Bekah McKendry:__ Even during a zombie apocalypse, the mall is packed!
14phantasm
<cite>Phantasm</cite> (1979) ----------------------------- __Chris Alexander:__ Wes Craven may have streamlined the concept, but [Don Coscarelli](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Coscarelli) got there first, blurring dreams and reality in a tale of a Tall Man, haunted graveyards and brain-shredding silver spheres. __Michael Gingold:__ The first R-rated horror film I ever saw in a theater still creeps me out today. Do you have the (silver) balls to sit through this one without flinching? __Bekah McKendry:__ I have read countless internet debates on whether or not this is actually a good movie or just really overhyped. *Yes*, it is a good f'n movie! __Sam Zimmerman:__ I'll never forget the first time I saw *[Phantasm](http://www.phantasm.com/)* and its peek into the other dimension/world, and I realized how much I love horror films that are completely unafraid of having scope and being bat-shit crazy.
