Note: This post contains images from horror movies and can be disturbing to some people.
I couldn’t resist the Apocalypse Now (1979) reference in the title. But we aren’t here to talk about Apocalypse Now. We’re here to talk about horror movies in general. I’m not particularly a die-hard fan of them, but I think they are worth talking about right now. Horror as a genre faded out for many years, but I am now convinced that it’s coming back in a good way (okay, this is where my wife covers her eyes and runs from the room).
Let’s start with some classic horror movies. Of course, we have the early ones, like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and Nosferatu (1922). I’m sure these scared the pants off many audiences, so they deserve to be mentioned. And who could forget Universal’s years of great monster classics?
We’ll skip over the B-movie era of the 1940s and 1950s – they were made for entertainment, not quality.
The ‘60s produced some great horror films – too many to list. Alfred Hitchcock, A.K.A. “The Master of Suspense,” upped his game with Psycho (1960), a film that confused movie-goers, I’m sure. They probably wondered why the film started in black and white, but I’m sure the bloody shower scene about midway through answered that question. Hitchcock continued his foray into the horror category with The Birds (1963). I’m sure people were terrified to leave the theater after the credits rolled…not that they wanted to stay and watch it again!
A movie that still sits with me is Rosemary’s Baby (1968). It took forever for me to stop reliving the ending – a fact of which I’m sure Roman Polanski would be proud, many years after he made this horror masterpiece.
More worthy horror films proceeded into the 1970s with films like The Exorcist (1973), dubbed “the scariest movie of all time” by many critics. I had trouble sleeping for days after I watched it for the first time. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) was cheaply made and could be considered a B-movie, but I think it was effective enough – it certainly earned itself quite the cult following.
Carrie (1976) gave me nightmares for at least a month. Halloween (1978) made me think twice about going outside at night, regardless of the date on the calendar.
Scary movies as an art form started going downhill in the 1980s, but the earlier part of the decade produced some greats. The Shining (1980) will likely forever be my favorite horror movie. With superb performances by Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall and amazing direction by Stanley Kubrick, I’m still rendered speechless after every viewing. The Thing (1982) is also a worthy inclusion, especially with its special effects and eerie score.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), however, leaned more toward “slasher” than true “horror.” I don’t recommend it, as it began the slasher trend – I’m not a fan. I mean, sure, Freddy Kruger, one of the iconic faces of horror made his debut here, but it didn’t do much for me. Elm Street ended up spawning a generation of films where the “fright” comes nearly entirely from the outward appearance of the antagonist. Think of The Fly (1986) and Hellraiser (1987) as examples.
Misery (1990) was the perfect start to the 1990s, and The Silence of the Lambs (1991) still resonates with me today. Then Candyman (1992) came around, and it mostly fell flat from there. The only other worthy horror movies of that decade were Se7en (1995) and The Sixth Sense (1999).
I didn’t want anything to do with horror movies when the 2000s began. Maybe that’s because I’ve seen enough of them, both good and bad. At this point, I figured they were just a waste of time. That thought persisted until I saw Paranormal Activity (2007) – I didn’t sleep for two days. I think what got to me was how realistic it was. They made good use of their small budget!
The 2010s are still going strong, and I’ve already seen so many great horror movies. The Conjuring (2013) surprised me and It (2017) far exceeded my expectations. I think production value and direction quality have returned to the genre; it makes me want to give horror movies another chance.
I’ll be on my own watching them, though. My wife would probably never trust me with the remote again if I tricked her into watching these with me!
Happy watching!
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