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“Top 5 Horror Movies” is a part of an ongoing series, The B-Roll, written by Alex Reid
Horror movies tap into something primal that we just can’t quite describe. What sane person would want to be scared? Turns out almost everyone. It’s the exact same reason why you would go on a roller-coaster. The thrill and the adrenaline are intoxicating and keep you coming back for more. Horror movies have been a part of the cinematic world for some time tapping into the very same basic instinct a roller-coaster does. These are the best roller-coaster experiences of the horror genre, some you might expect, some you mightn’t.
5. Rosemary’s Baby
As a species we are inherently religious and from religion comes some of our greatest fears. What if your child turned out to be the spawn of Satan himself? “Rosemary’s Baby” explores the concept in great depth pulling us in with cramped cinematography and haunting imagery to boot.
4. Nosferatu
The absolute classic of the horror genre. Although not technically the first horror movie ever made, as a part of the German New Wave post-WW1, Nosferatu holds up remarkably well to this day using nightmarish sets and lighting to highlight what isn’t actually being shown on screen. F.W. Murnau meticulously manipulates our focus, the real danger lurking just off screen.
3. Jaw
Jaws is the film that created the modern blockbuster as we know it. Most great horror tries to exploit a common phobia, Jaws is solely responsible for creating a phobia, an accolade that hardly any horror movies can claim for themselves. Classic Hitchcockian shots to create disorientation beside a threat that is never clear result in a film that is still terrifying to this day.
2. The Exorcist
The church tried to burn it, parents around the world condemned it hand in hand as the product of the Devil himself and it lived in infamy among kids growing up after it’s release. The Exorcist remains to be one of the most shocking films of all time taking every taboo that we hold dear and shattering it around our heads. It’s memorable to say the least.
1. The Shining
Kubrick is the master of all he touches. The War film in “Paths of Glory”, the Sci-Fi in “2001: A Space Odyssey”, but The Shining is perhaps his crowning achievement. Jack Nicholson lets loose a truly legendary performance truly showing the depths of insanity. The Shining is an exercise in perfection, to such an extent that almost every single shot of the film contains the colour red. That’s dedication to the aesthetic.
