Author: Daphne Auza
For many people, the horror genre recalls hapless, poorly developed characters who conveniently run in the direction of their doom, or excessively gory scenes with minimal plot. However, whether its a slasher flick or a psychological thriller, scary movies continue to equally entertain and disgust audiences around the world.
While the ingredients to the perfect scare are subjective, most of these films have the same goal; to exploit the human fear of the unknown. The spike of adrenaline that one experiences after a good jump-scare has made watching scary movies a Halloween tradition. The movies ranked below as the top five in the horror genre contain characteristics that make them scary in their own right.
1. “Dawn of the Dead” (2004)
In the remake of this 1978 classic, the world wakes up one morning to the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. Society disintegrates into chaos as the epidemic of the living dead rapidly spreads.
The 2004 version of this zombie classic does depart from the 1976 original in ways that make it much more terrifying. For one, the zombie makeup appears convincingly grisly in comparison to the fluorescent hue of the blood featured in the original. In addition, the 2004 Dawn of the Dead was the first movie to feature the sprinting zombie. Shrieking zombies that match human physical capability as opposed to sluggish carcasses groaning for brains definitely ups the scare factor.
2. “Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984)
A severely burned spectral figure invades people’s nightmares and viciously murders them in their sleep. Haunted by his image, a group of young people band together to try to bring him out of the dream world and end his ruthless killings for good.
Freddy Krueger is a terrifying villain is because he attacks his victims when they are at their most vulnerable, effectively bringing horror into the realm of everyday life. He has become an iconic figure in horror, with his visual appearance continuing to cause nightmares to this day. The movie best excels at exploiting primal fears and anxieties as the teenagers’ only hope of destroying them is entering their own subconscious.
3. “The Blair Witch Project”
Three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods in Burkittsville, Maryland and the footage was discovered a year later. Presented convincingly as a documentary, it turns out the students were investigating the legend of the Blair Witch. After losing their map, they begin encountering unsettling evidence of the witch’s existence.
“The Blair Witch Project” is an innovator in the genre, inspiring the making of other home-video-style horrors such as “Quarantine” and “Paranormal Activity.” The realistically unsteady movement of the camera, dizzying at times, adds to the panicked uncertainty that pervades the film. The visual absence of the Blair Witch herself elicits anxiety as well as the lack of foreboding music to precede the next scare.
4. “The Ring” (2002)
A videotape unleashes a ghost child who slaughters her victims seven days after they watch it. A woman attempts to find out more about the video’s origins, but after watching the video herself as a part of her investigations, she needs to figure out her own way to break the girl’s curse.
Creepy ghost children have endured for a long time as horror tropes- and “The Ring” exemplifies why. The image of a child as a harbinger of doom is disjointed and incredibly twisted. Also, “The Ring” is another film that excels at turning the everyday into the horrific. You begin to have a hard time getting the story out of your head when nearly every household in America owns a television for little ghost girls to climb through.
5. “The Exorcist” (1973)
When a little girl’s behavior and looks change drastically, her mother seeks the help of a Catholic priest to perform an exorcism when all medical assistance fails. Although the beginning of the movie lags somewhat, it becomes increasingly unnerving as Regan’s violent, profane outbursts and the supernatural occurrences throughout the house become more frequent.
Whether or not you actually believe in demonic possession, one of the most terrifying aspects of the movie is its implication that the nature of possession is indiscriminate. After all, an innocent young girl does become the manifestation of the devil. The movie’s disturbing quality thrives on visuals, evidenced by how the image of possessed Regan has turned into an iconic image of the horror genre.
The majority of the films use visuals to terrify their audiences, but they each have their own unique approaches to messing with the human psyche. These different tropes have been reproduced in scary films until the point of becoming predictable. However, they continue to fascinate us with their gruesome plays on antiquated beliefs concerning innocence and vice.
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