Cold sweats, nervous laughs, stiff muscles, stifled screams – or not – and, if all goes well, some night when it is particularly difficult to fall asleep. These are some of the effects that horror movies have on our bodies and minds and that, you know why we love experiencing fear in a movie theater. With the premiere of ‘We’, Jordan Peele’s second film, the debate has reopened on whether or not we are facing a film that should become part of the best pieces that the genre has given us throughout the history. While you position yourself in this regard, I invite you to review on this list what I consider to be the best horror movies of all time:
The Exorcist ( 1973 )
Leaving aside the eternal debate about whether or not it is the best horror movie in history if we can say that, without a doubt, it is one of the most frightening. It doesn’t matter how many years go by, this wonder signed by William Friedkin continues to be as chilling as the first day thanks to his impolite direction, creepy sound design, and, of course, an immense early Linda Blair in his role as Regan McNeal. An authentic landmark surrounded by a strange, profane halo that suffocates all kinds of spectators equally regardless of their beliefs.
The Shining ( 1980 )
That undisputed genius named Stanley Kubrick dominated each and every genre he addressed throughout his career. It is not surprising given his exceptional talent that his incursion into terror resulted in a masterpiece such as ‘The Shining’. A technical, formal, and conceptual feat that immerses you in the impossible corridors and rooms of the Overlook hotel while inviting you to lose your head next to the crazy Jack Torrance in a nightmare of the highest level.
Halloween ( 1978 )
Rolling in about 20 days and with limited resources, they had to collect reuse until the leaves that appeared on the floor of the street between plane, the teacher John Howard Carpenter revolutionized the terror by sitting chair and marking a before and a later in the subgenre of slasher with this classic. A ghostly look at the purest evil, embodied in a gigantic Michael Myers clinging to the popular imaginary for forty years.
The Thing ( 1982 )
Although my favorite work of John Carpenter is the great ‘In the mouth of fear’, I must admit that the master of horror hit the ceiling in 1982 with this remake of ‘The Enigma of Another World’. Which was directed by his idolized Howard Hawks in 1951 With ‘The thing’, the author refined to his peak his seal, unleashing terror in the middle of Antarctica in a terrifying exercise. With visual effects still fascinating today and with a representation of evil that, again, transcends The limits of the human.