IMDB's "Top 25 Horror Films of the Last 25 Years" Redux
I did not fully agree with IMDB's ranking and there were a few of the films that they included that, in my opinion, have no place on such a list (I'm bumping those films to the bottom of the list along with the few that I have not seen). So I am re-ranking the list, and including a few films that I think should have been included. Just because a movie features monsters and/or gore does not necessarily qualify it to be on a "best horror" list. Some of the films on this list, as great as they may be, make no attempt to be scary. The Dawn of the Dead remake for instance is more of an action film. Any film on a best horror list should at least be attempting to be scary. This list is a work in progress. I will be adding explanations for why I am ranking each film the way I am.
List activity
205 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
- 30 titles
- DirectorTakashi ShimizuStarsSarah Michelle GellarJason BehrClea DuVallAn American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.This was not on IMDB's list. This picture scared the crap out of me at a time in my life when I didn't think that movies could scare me anymore. The timing of the scares was perfect and the concept of an intangible threat such as a ghost or spirit is terrifying to me, which is ironic because I don't believe in them. This was also a very well made film.
- DirectorNeil MarshallStarsShauna MacdonaldNatalie MendozaAlex ReidA caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.This was #24 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorJames WanStarsCary ElwesLeigh WhannellDanny GloverTwo men awaken to find themselves on the opposite sides of a dead body, each with specific instructions to kill the other or face consequences. These two are the latest victims of the Jigsaw Killer.This was #4 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorJim GillespieStarsJennifer Love HewittSarah Michelle GellarAnne HecheFour young friends bound by a tragic accident are reunited when they find themselves being stalked by a hook-wielding maniac in their small seaside town.This was not on IMDB's list. This is one of the best executed slasher films ever made. It is actually a scary movie; it had me squirming in my seat and attempting to communicate to the characters on screen their impending peril.
- DirectorOren PeliStarsKatie FeatherstonMicah SloatMark FredrichsAfter moving into a suburban home, a couple becomes increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence.This was not on the IMDB list. This picture fulfilled the promise of The Blair Witch Project. The "found footage" concept was a great idea that one-upped the "based on true events" gimmick employed by the original Texas Chainsaw; however, while Blair Witch did a great job setting up the audience it just didn't quite close the deal. Paranormal Activity did close the deal, it set the audience up and then knocked them down. It didn't terrify me like The Grudge did, but it was scary. All the gags were great, such as when Katy gets dragged down the hall by an unseen force.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsNeve CampbellCourteney CoxDavid ArquetteA year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.This was #25 on the IMDB list. This film revitalized the horror genre, and it is a rock-solid slasher film. The kitchen scene at the end is one of the most disturbing scenes that I've ever seen.
- DirectorDanny BoyleStarsCillian MurphyNaomie HarrisChristopher EcclestonFour weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the United Kingdom, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.This was #7 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorsJaume BalagueróPaco PlazaStarsManuela VelascoFerran TerrazaJorge-Yamam SerranoA television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.This was #16 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorMarcus NispelStarsJessica BielJonathan TuckerAndrew BryniarskiAfter picking up a traumatized young hitchhiker, five friends find themselves stalked and hunted by a deformed chainsaw-wielding loon and his family of equally psychopathic killers.This was not on the IMDB list.
- DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsNicole KidmanChristopher EcclestonFionnula FlanaganIn 1945, immediately following the end of Second World War, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted.This was #8 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorJames WanStarsPatrick WilsonVera FarmigaRon LivingstonParanormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.This was #15 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorTomas AlfredsonStarsKåre HedebrantLina LeanderssonPer RagnarOskar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl.This was #2 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJodie FosterAnthony HopkinsScott GlennA young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.This was not on IMDB's list, which is inexplicable considering some of the thing that they did include. Considering that they included Bram Stoker's Dracula and Interview the Vampire, which I would argue are dramatic interpretations of the vampire myth that made no attempt to be scary, Silence should have been included as it is a dramatic depiction of serial murder that actually has some scary moments.
- DirectorAdrian LyneStarsTim RobbinsElizabeth PeñaDanny AielloMourning his dead son, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.This was #14 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsGary OldmanWinona RyderAnthony HopkinsThe centuries old vampire Count Dracula comes to England to seduce his barrister Jonathan Harker's fiancée Mina Murray and inflict havoc in the foreign land.This was #17 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsBrad PittTom CruiseAntonio BanderasA vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger.This was #10 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorRobert RodriguezStarsHarvey KeitelGeorge ClooneyJuliette LewisTwo criminals and their hostages unknowingly seek temporary refuge in a truck stop populated by vampires, with chaotic results.This was #22 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppChristina RicciMiranda RichardsonIchabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of three people; the culprit is legendary apparition The Headless Horseman.This was #19 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorRuben FleischerStarsJesse EisenbergEmma StoneWoody HarrelsonA shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun-toting bruiser in search of the last Twinkie and a pair of sisters striving to get to an amusement park join forces in a trek across a zombie-filled America.This was #3 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorEdgar WrightStarsSimon PeggNick FrostKate AshfieldThe uneventful, aimless lives of a London electronics salesman and his layabout roommate are disrupted by the zombie apocalypse.This was #1 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorEli CraigStarsTyler LabineAlan TudykKatrina BowdenAffable hillbillies Tucker and Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are mistaken for murderers by a group of preppy college students.This was #12 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorZack SnyderStarsSarah PolleyVing RhamesMekhi PhiferA nurse, a policeman, a young married couple and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall.This was #20 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorSam RaimiStarsBruce CampbellEmbeth DavidtzMarcus GilbertWhen Ash Williams is accidentally transported to 1300 A.D., he must retrieve the Necronomicon and battle an army of the dead in order to return home.This was #9 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorsRobert RodriguezEli RothQuentin TarantinoStarsKurt RussellRose McGowanDanny TrejoQuentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's homage to exploitation double features in the '60s and '70s with two back-to-back cult films that include previews of coming attractions between them.This was #6 on the IMDB list.
- DirectorPeter JacksonStarsTimothy BalmeDiana PeñalverElizabeth MoodyA young man's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors.This was #11 on the IMDB list.
