The horror genre has existed for virtually as long as cinema itself has, producing numerous classics during its many evolutions and regenerations.
The advent of the horror genre was at a time when cinema was in its infancy, around the end of the 19th century, but some horror movies have withstood the test of time to be the scariest of all. With myriad popular, contemporary Gothic literature to draw its inspiration from – alongside a growing interest in the supernatural – horror was pioneered throughout the silent era by European filmmakers like Robert Wiene, F.W. Murnau, and Rupert Julian.
23 The House With Laughing Windows Italian horrors experienced an explosion of popularity in the 1970s, just as Italian Westerns had done in the previous decade. Pupi Avati was one of its pioneering directors, developing numerous films that explored the Giallo horror subgenre, which typically portrayed slasher and sexploitation elements. The House With Laughing Windows follows an art restorer as he becomes aware of the dark secrets involved with a graphic fresco painting.
20 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Not many horror films are quite as seminal as Tobe Hooper’s slasher film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, based loosely on the killings of Ed Gein. It’s intense and graphic and yet somehow avoids the gratuitous gore that others of the subgenre might be tempted into. It’s earthy and raw, adopting a low-budget guise that heightens its sense of realism, which itself cultivates a feeling of dread that pervades the runtime.
17 Audition Takashi Mike is a revered Japanese filmmaker who has explored numerous genres and to great acclaim, but Audition is probably his greatest achievement. Based on the novel by Ryu Murakami, it follows Shigeharu, a widower persuaded by a friend to audition women to be his new wife. However, the allure of the younger candidate Asami leads Aoyama into a web of lies that results in madness and violence.
14 The Omen Religious symbolism in horror films is a notoriously difficult avenue to explore. Still, the successful exploration of biblical themes in the 1970s was well-exemplified by Richard Donner’s The Omen starring Gregory Peck. Peck plays an American ambassador who adopts young Damien after the death of his own newborn son but soon begins to question the sinister occurrences around Damien.
11 Dawn Of The Dead When George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead was released in plaintive black-and-white in 1968, American audiences were dumbfounded by the refined maturity of Romero’s social commentary. Though Night probably remains a more precise attack on the many unresolved issues of contemporary culture, cult classic Dawn of the Dead upped the ante when it came to frights and helped keep Romero at the top of the pile when it came to making films about the undead.
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