Can't get enough of movies and TV shows that scare up a good fright? Check out Scary Good, IMDb's Horror Entertainment Guide. Enter if you dare. The horror genre has done far more for cinema than simply scaring its audience. In some cases, a horror film can define an entire generation. ![]() Memorable Horror Movies by Non- Horror Directors! When it comes to horror, there are a number of talented filmmakers that call the genre home. ![]() There’s a developed instinct to bristle at an outsider’s new association with horror, stemming from decades of horror being overlooked. At least not without the crutch of comedy. Yet his new film Get Out is currently sitting at a whopping 1. Rotten Tomatoes based on 7. The truth is, as with all genre of film, fresh perspectives are important. Horror is full of amazing films that happened to be directed by filmmakers that stepped outside of their comfort zone for once, and here are 1. The Exorcist. The seminal possession film to end all possession films is a no- brainer for any horror list with “memorable” in the title, right? Someone with more experience, or film school training, perhaps? It took a while for him to come to terms that it’s considered as such. Yet the realism that he brought from his work on documentaries made Regan’s plight all the more believable. The white faced demon seen throughout the film, though first in Father Karras’ dream sequence, was an outtake from makeup tests. Friedkin was inspired by subliminal editing in a Holocaust documentary and included it last- minute. When most other directors would have taken an artistic or cutaway approach to Regan’s possession, Friedkin remained unflinching in its examination. His stark, honest direction combined with the innovative special effects firmly landed his film into horror, even if he doesn’t think so. The Omen. Director Richard Donner is known for his popular action films, but his break- through film was actually one of the best horror films ever made. He had screenwriter David Seltzer remove all supernatural elements, like witches and demons, making it a request that nothing happen in the script that couldn’t happen in real life. It turned out to be a mutual feeling, as Rob Reiner had wanted to make a Stephen King movie after watching The Shining. It’s a terrifying, hallucinatory trip of paranoia with a lot of depth, bringing the audience to the brink of madness alongside Tim Robbin’s Jacob. Influenced by the art of William Blake, Francis Bacon, and H. ![]() R. Giger, Lyne wanted more human- like, yet bizarre images for the film’s demons, overriding the original screenplay’s more biblical descriptions of them. Lyne fought hard to retain both his vision and the screenplay’s integrity; Paramount dropped the project when he wouldn’t change the ending. Yet, despite audiences’ initial rejection of the film, Ravenous has long since developed a rabid cult following. Both Boyle and Garland developed the idea further, forgoing the traditional idea that zombies ate brains, and altered the foundation of their zombie mythology to be more reflective of modern times. Yet it wasn’t just the viral nature of his zombies that made this film memorable, but his frenetic camera work, characters you actually empathized with, and the even scarier villain in the form of humanity. The Host. Before directing the highest grossing South Korean genre film thus far, Bong Joon- ho had only tested his horror mettle in short format. Drawing inspiration from an actual event in which the U. Other Early Classic Horror Films: Other classic horror films of the 1930s and early 1940s included one of the best adventure/horror films of all. There’s something about Spain that seems to inspire filmmakers to dig deep into the darkest corners of their mind and create some hair-raising, bone-chilling. S. The director sees it more of a kidnapping movie than a horror film, but this genre- bender is a worthy horror entry nonetheless. Let the Right One In. This antithesis to American young adult vampire romances, Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s novel blends its romance with equal parts horror and tragedy. The story centers around 1. The word “vampire” is only mentioned once in the film. Alfredson may not have a deep affinity for horror or vampires, but by narrowing in on the heart wrenching nature of loneliness and bullying, he created a memorably stunning tale of vampiric friendship. His film not only spawned an American remake that followed almost immediately, but an American stage play as well. Creep. Known more for his comedic work in film and television, Mark Duplass developed the story for this found footage terror based on a series of conversations with director and co- star Patrick Brice. The complete improvisation of the film not only gives them film a sense of genuineness, but the awkward nature of certain scenes certainly makes the film live up to its title. Both of whom seemed to have fallen into the horror aspect of this film, soon to become a trilogy. Lucky for us, it was a happy accident that proved the found footage sub- genre still has some life left. The Bababook first made waves in 2014 for being one of the most refreshing horror films in the past decade. The independent Australian-Canadian film by director. A horror film is a movie that seeks to elicit a physiological reaction, such as an elevated heartbeat, through the use of fear and shocking one’s audiences. Horror Films That Defined Their Generation. The horror genre isn’t quite as much of a throwaway as some may consider it to be. It’s not always taken seriously, and it’s not nearly as respected during awards season as it deserves to be, but horror can hold its own. With each generation of fright flicks, we see a new side of the genre that is fresh, unexpected, and very much a product of its time. These films are often the game- changers. They define the generation singlehandedly, creating a definitive approach that breeds replication, and then ultimately expires, only to be replaced by yet another new direction. The horror genre is a shapeshifter (not unlike its monsters), and it’s always adapting. So, that ought to be reason enough for a retrospective. When the world changes, so changes horror. It leans on the weight of the world, so to speak, responding to real life terrors and transforming them into something even more diabolical (or at the very least, more fantastical). So, for your combined dose of history and horror, keep reading to shed some light on 1. Horror Films That Defined Their Generation. The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1. 92. 0s)When it came to fictional horror back in the early 2. So, when horror finally dipped its toes into cinema, the genre was getting an upgrade, so to speak. It was given the chance to scare the hell out of audiences through an entirely new medium, and one film that confidently carried the weight of that duty was The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Oftentimes, the best horror is the kind that can get under your skin, and in 1. Perhaps The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is not as universally recognized as something like Nosferatu, which was released two years later, but ultimately, it’s more definitive of the time in which it was released. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari introduced the world to German, Expressionist horror, and it would be the influence that countless horror films from then on would nod to time and time again. Dracula (1. 93. 0s)The 1. Universal monsters. These were the films that have become staples within the genre, and in a sense, this was unofficially the Golden Age of horror in film. However, it was the crowning jewel, Dracula, that reigned supreme. This was a decade that gave audiences Frankenstein, The Mummy, and The Invisible Man, just to name a few, but Dracula was the creature of the night that became the singular staple within the genre. In fact, Dracula set several precedents for horror, including everything we know and love about vampires, the Gothic influence, and romantic villains. Released in 1. 93. Dracula introduced a villain who was both wealthy and powerful, a drastic antithesis of everything the average man and woman in the United States represented during the time of its release. Horror inspired by horror may as well be a trademark within the genre. The Wolf Man (1. 94. The Universal monsters maintained their presence well into the 1. The Wolf Man. Aside from simply being a fun- to- watch creature feature, The Wolf Man marked a new era in horror. It passed the torch not just in terms of style, but among the actors as well. Lon Chaney, the facial contortionist who set the stage for movie makeup and effects in films like The Phantom of the Opera and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, introduced the world to his son, Lon Chaney Jr. The Wolf Man was released, was a mess of a year, so it was only fitting that this picture had a mess of a character in its lead. A lack of self- control, fighting the beast within, mental collapse. Invasion Of The Body Snatchers/Godzilla (1. In the 1. 95. 0s, Communism was the ultimate boogeyman. Not only were people afraid it might take over, they were afraid of people who might be hiding these ideals in plain sight. So, if you want to scare people, you find out what’s already scaring them, and you simply escalate the dread — which brings us to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The film’s release in 1. Mc. Carthyism, but it was still very much on everybody’s minds. Who could you trust? Who was really who they said they were. Much like the Salem Witch Trials, friend turned against friend, mostly to save their own neck, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers brought this fear to a new level. It just so happens that this particular spin on the topic included aliens and body possession, a theme that would not only epitomize its own era, but pave the way for more aggressive interpretations in the future. Simultaneously, Godzilla was released in Japan around the same time, addressing growing fears of the atom bomb. What sort of horror could the atom bomb bring? A giant reptile seemed about right. Psycho (Early 1. 96. The horror genre simplified itself in the early 1. Instead of monsters (don’t worry, they’ll make a comeback), audiences were treated to psychosis. In fact, the decade was ushered in with the aptly titled Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock, who was already a household name by the time 1. Psycho the quintessential fright flick of this particular decade. The 1. 96. 0s represented a dawn of something new, highlighting the hopeful prospects of ambition and youth. Psycho also highlights these very themes — just with a slightly wickeder twist. If you were young with rose- tinted specs in the 1. Hitchcock was there to remind you that even the most promising pursuits may have some skeletons hiding in the closet. Night Of The Living Dead (Late 1. If the early 1. 96. The concept of zombies had been toyed with before (bringing the dead back to life was hardly a novel idea by this time), but George A. Romero undoubtedly breathed new life into these particular monsters. This was the dawn of the flesh- hungry undead, and its blatant influence is still felt to this day. In fact, “zombie culture” may as well be running too rampant these days, but that’s neither here nor there. In the late 1. 96. Night of the Living Dead was unwelcome by many, especially by those who weren’t keen on stomaching violence, but turned a blind eye to certain social issues like race and blind conformity. While the world was brimming with hope, Romero dashed those dreams with cruel realism, albeit through blatant fiction. The Exorcist/The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Early 1. By the time the 1. Still, they likely didn’t know what to expect by the time The Exorcist was released (even if they had already read the book). This was a movie that dashed the American dream, peeling away the safety net that most people felt blindly comforted by. The monster isn’t just haunting your family, it becomes your family. The Exorcist also toyed with religion and feminism, topics that have been otherwise ignored for the most part in the past. Not unlike Night of the Living Dead, this film ushered in the concept of shock value, but in a way that audiences may not have been entirely prepared for. Honestly, when people are vomiting and passing out in theaters, “effective” is putting it lightly. The Exorcist didn’t just put a stamp on cinema, it made a mark on the overall social culture of the 1. However, it was hardly alone in this. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre introduced the concept of blunt, aimless torture, opening the door for future horror filmmakers hoping to dabble in experimental limit- pushing within the genre. Halloween/Dawn Of The Dead/Alien (Late 1. America in the late 1. A new decade was approaching and hope was ripe; so any evil that might have been lurking was the quiet kind. In Halloween, Michael Myers represented the darkness that people were happy to stow away in exchange for peace of mind. An independent, meagerly- budgeted film, Halloween wanted to scare the hell out of its teenage audience (as well as their unsuspecting parents), reminding them that no matter how bright- eyed they may be, there will always be some discouraging threat ready to tear them down (and possibly even kill them). Assuming you ignore the sequels, there was no explanation for this particular evil. It just shows up, wreaks havoc, and then disappears. One just happened to be a vicious space monster, while the other was all of your worst fears immortalized in a bleached William Shatner mask. Then, to tap off the ’7. George A. Romero returned with Dawn of the Dead. However, this time his point of view shifted, and his goal was to criticize commercialism and its nesting ground within “mall culture” — AKA horror in its purest form. The Shining (Early 1. The early 1. 98. 0s boasted some serious heavyweights in the horror genre. Friday the 1. 3th and A Nightmare on Elm Street were more or less cousins to Halloween, and films like The Thing and Poltergeist were treading on familiar ground to spectacular effect, but when Stanley Kubrick adapted Stephen King’s The Shining, so came a new dawn of horror. Despite being a relatively loose adaptation of the novel, The Shining was a cocktail of various horror elements that hadn’t ever been so masterfully combined until Kubrick had a go at them. Crumbling family, psychosis, and addiction set against the background of a haunted hotel — The Shining encapsulates an updated take on classic horror tropes. Even among a new wave of slashers and ghost stories, the early ’8. The Shining for representing an introduction into something bigger and unfamiliar in the horror genre. Evil Dead II (Late 1. Once audiences were more or less spent when it came to psychological horror, filmmakers took note and invested as much of their imagination as they could muster into a reawakening of the “creature feature.” What’s more is that they made sure to not to take themselves too seriously, introducing us to films like Re- Animator, Child’s Play, and The Lost Boys, among others. But the film that takes the cake in this department is Evil Dead II. While its predecessor, the first entry in the series, is just as much of a classic, Evil Dead II is the epitome of outlandish, gore- infested horror (and in fact, it works just as well as a sequel as it does a remake).
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