Hellraiser

Countdown to the 100 Best Scary Movies of All-Time (85 to 81)


85.     

Sisters (1973) 

Directed by Brian De Palma (Carrie), Sisters is a twisted suspense thriller featuring Margot Kidder (Black Christmas) and Jennifer Salt (Soap). The film is set in New York and is about a newspaper reporter (Salt) who witnesses, through her apartment window, a violent murder in the apartment across the way. Kidder plays a French Canadian model/actress who may or may not be involved with murder. Years earlier, she had been surgically separated from her Siamese twin. De Palma is a huge fan of Alfred Hitchcock and this movie is a homage to the Master of Suspense.  The film is a well-crafted, dark thriller with great performances from Salt and Kidder. The 2006 remake with Chloe Sevigny ran into trouble from the beginning and became a straight to DVD release.

84.     

[Rec] (2007)

Written and directed by Jaume Balaguero (Darkness) and Paco Plaza, [REC] is a Spanish horror movie about a reporter and her cameraman who are shooting a documentary piece on a local Barcelona fire station. What begins as a routine call about a woman trapped in her apartment soon leads to terror, as the rescue/camera crew discovers an outbreak in the apartment building that turns the residents into flesh-eating zombie-like creatures.  To complicate matters, the building is then quarantined by local authorities, trapping everyone in the building. This effectively frightening, edge of your seat thriller was remade in 2008 as the American film Quarantine, which was a box office hit. The title of the film is short for the word ‘Record’ on video cameras.

83.     

Angel Heart (1987)

Angel Heart is a compelling, film noir style, detective story with a supernatural twist written and directed by Alan Parker (Midnight Express). The film features a strong cast including Mickey Rourke (Iron Man 2), Robert De Niro (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein) and Lisa Bonet (The Cosby Show). The film is set in 1955 and is about a private investigator named Harry Angel (Rourke) who is hired to find a big band singer who has disappeared. The case takes the investigator to New Orléans and the underground world of voodoo and magic. Here, Rourke’s character gets more than he bargained for as he uncovers a sinister, satanic plot. The movie received a lot of controversy when it was released due to a graphic sex scene between Rourke and Bonet (who was appearing in the clean-cut The Cosby Show at the time). 

82.     

Carnival of Souls (1962)

Directed by Herk Harvey, Carnival of Souls is a low-budget, independent film that did not receive a lot of attention when it was first released. It has since gone on to become a cult classic and to influence a number of other independent filmmakers including David Lynch and George A. Romero. After surviving a car accident, a young woman is haunted by the souls of the dead, who lead her to a strange, abandoned amusement park. The film is an effectively haunting piece, notable for its creepy atmosphere and surprise ending.  Carnival of Souls was Harvey’s only directorial effort. The 1998 remake has little to do with the original film and went straight to video.

81.     

Hellraiser (1987)

Hellraiser is the best film in the Hellraiser series of nine horror movies.  A low-budget, British film written and directed by Clive Barker (Lord of Illusions), the film is based on one of Barker’s novellas. A man purchases an ancient puzzle box and unlocks a portal into another realm, releasing mutated creatures that capture and torture him.  Years later, his brother and family move into the same house and become involved in a dangerous life and death game with the brother and the same demented creatures.  The film’s strengths are its horrific imagery, suspenseful storyline and strong performances from a largely unknown cast. It is the film that introduced the Cenobite Pinhead character, which is one of the all-time scariest villains in film. The movie received mixed reviews upon its release and was a moderate success at the box office–though it did spawn a highly successful franchise. Hellraiser is rated #19 on Bravo’s list of the 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

 

Best Scary Movies of All-Time


Ever since I was a small child, I loved scary movies. I remember sneaking into the house and watching Siesta Cinema’s afternoon showing of War of the Worlds and then imaging that the light posts in our neighbourhood were alien spacecraft sent to destroy the earth.  I have not out grown my love of being scared by a great horror movie. 

Here are my favourite Scary Movies of  all-time:

  1. Alien  (1979)
  2. The Exorcist (1973)
  3. Psycho  (1960)
  4. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) 
  5. King Kong (1933)
  6. The Sixth Sense (1999)
  7. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
  8. Bride of Frankenstein  (1935)
  9. Carrie (1976)
  10. The Haunting  (1963)
  11. The Others  (2001)
  12. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
  13. Seven (1995)
  14. The Omen (1976)
  15. Don’t Look Now (1973) 
  16. The Shining (1980) 
  17. The Wicker Man (1973) 
  18. Jaws  (1975)
  19. 28 Days Later (2002)
  20. Frankenstein (1931)
  21. Poltergeist (1982) 
  22. The Vanishing (1988)
  23. The Birds  (1963)
  24. The Innocents (1961)
  25. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
  26. Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte  (1964)
  27. Halloween (1978)
  28. Cat People  (1942)
  29. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
  30. Scream  (1996)
  31. Les Diaboliques (1955)
  32. Audition (1999)
  33. Dracula (1931)
  34. Wolfen (1981)
  35. The Bad Seed (1956) 
  36. Let the Right One In (2008) 
  37. The Thing from Another World (1951) 
  38. The Ring (2002) 
  39. The War of the Worlds (1953)
  40. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
  41. Nosferatu (1922)
  42. Repulsion (1965)
  43. The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976)
  44. M (1931)
  45. The Lost Boys  (1987)
  46. Misery (1990) 
  47. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
  48. Wait Until Dark (1967)
  49. Ginger Snaps (2000)
  50. The Descent (2005)
  51. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
  52. Fright Night (1985)
  53. Near Dark (1987)
  54. The Wolf Man (1941) 
  55. Session 9 (2001)
  56. A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
  57. An American Werewolf In London (1981)
  58. Videodrome (1983)
  59. I’m Not Scared (2003)
  60. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
  61. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
  62. The Grudge (2004) / Ju-on: The Grudge (2002)
  63. Frailty (2001)
  64. The Hunger (1983) 
  65. The Dead Zone (1983)
  66. Cat People (1982) 
  67. Dressed to Kill (1980)
  68. The Mummy (1932)
  69. The Fly (1986)
  70. Village of the Damned (1960)
  71. Below (2002)
  72. Altered States (1980)
  73. The Collector (1965)
  74. The Amityville Horror (1979)
  75. The Legend of Hell House (1973)
  76. The Changeling (1980)
  77. The Uninvited (1944)
  78. The Evil Dead (1981)
  79. Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
  80. The Dead Zone (1983)
  81. The Return (2006)
  82. The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
  83. The Eye (2002)
  84. The Messengers (2007)
  85. Peeping Tom (1960)
  86. Hellraiser (1987)
  87. Pitch Black (2000)
  88. Carnival of Souls (1962)
  89. The Mummy (1932)
  90. Sisters (1973) 
  91. Burnt Offerings (1976)
  92. The Stepford Wives (1975) 
  93. Black Christmas (1974) 
  94. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
  95. The Cell (2000)
  96. The Company of Wolves (1984)
  97. Blood and Chocolate (2007)
  98. House of Wax (1953)
  99. The Mist (2007)
  100. Saw (2004)
  101. The Thing (1982)
  102. Freaks (1932)
  103. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
  104. Stir of Echoes (1999)
  105. The Curse of the Cat People (1944)
  106. Underworld (2003)
  107. 30 Days of Night (2007)
  108. Dead Calm (1989)
  109. Silver Bullet (1985)
  110. Them! (1954)
  111. Magic (1978)
  112. The Other (1972)
  113. Insidious (2010)
  114. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
  115. The Gift (2000)
  116. The Skeleton Key (2005)
  117. Secret Window (2004) 
  118. Mimic (1997)
  119. The Howling (1981)
  120. Identity (2003)
  121. 1408 (2007)
  122. What Lies Beneath (2000)
  123. Dark Water (2005)/Honogurai mizu no soko kara (2002)
  124. Gothika (2003)
  125. The Crazies (2010)
  126. Stigmata (1999)
  127. The Relic (1997)
  128. Suspiria (1977)
  129. Needful Things (1993)
  130. The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
  131. Case 39 (2009)
  132. The Exorcist III (1990) 
  133. Paranormal Activity (2007)
  134. The Seventh Sign (1988)
  135. Hostel (2005)
  136. The Strangers (2008)
  137. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
  138. Scream 2 (1997)
  139. Eyes of Laura Mars  (1978)
  140. Dog Soldiers (2002)
  141. FeardotCom (2002) 
  142. Race with the Devil (1975)
  143. Child’s Play (1988)
  144. The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)
  145. Boogeyman (2005)
  146. They (2002)
  147. The Brood (1979)
  148. New Nightmare (1994)
  149. An American Haunting (2005)
  150. Demon Seed (1977)
  151. Urban Legend (1998)
  152. Candyman (1992)
  153. Scream 3 (2000)
  154. Wolf Creek (2005)
  155. Joy Ride (2001)
  156. Infection (2004)
  157. The Fog (1980)
  158. Darkness Falls (2003)
  159. Vanishing on 7th Street (2010)
  160. Jeepers Creepers (2001)
  161. Ravenous (1999)
  162. Cabin Fever (2002)
  163. Hollow Man (2000)
  164. The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)
  165. The Hills Have Eyes (1977) 
  166. Devil (2010)
  167. Isle of the Dead (1945)
  168. The Ghost Ship (1943)
  169. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
  170. Friday the 13th (1980)
  171. Dementia 13 (1963)
  172. Ghost Ship (2002)
  173. The Funhouse (1981)
  174. Bless the Child (2000)
  175. Lost Souls (2000)