Scary Movie Halloween Series Part 3

TOP 20 HORROR FILMS of all time

(Violent Films)

You’ve seen our picks for the scariest films that aren’t in the slasher market or chalked full of blood and gore.  And you’ve seen our list of the top suspense thrillers, the intellectual’s horror film.  This is the final part of Scary Movie Halloween Series, the bloody, gory, gross violent horror films that seem to inspire a cult following.  Of course there are well over 1,000 films in this genre.

Below are the twenty we consider the
BEST VIOLENT HORROR FILMS of all time #1-10 and #11-20

1) A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (series)

R: 1984 Starring:

DESCRIPTION: I was 18 years old when this film came out and actually saw it in the theater. I found it amazing and quite different than the horror films I’d witnessed up to that point like The Howling, Empire of the Ants, Halloween, Friday the 13th and The Swarm.  Yes, it has the sexed up teens running from a homicidal madman, (a common theme in this genre), but is also very creative.  I like that. The idea of a monster invading your dreams and actually killing you if you fail to wake up…fun!  Freddy Krugger, immortalized by Robert Englund’s portrayal is such an evil yet satirical character, his name has become part of popular culture.  You’ll also see a very young Johnny Depp in this film. 

There is a whole series of these films and my dear friend, acting/voice-over coach and audio book director Thom McFadden has major part in the second. Yes, shameless plug, but what are friends for? As with most horror films, the first is almost always the best yet overall, the entire Nightmare on Elm Street series is fabulous.

2) FINAL DESTINATION (series)

R: 2000. Starring:

DESCRIPTION: What a ride this film about cheating death is!  The basic premise of the Final Destination is that when it is your time to go, it is your time to go and you cannot cheat the Grim Reaper.  It begins with a premonition of death via a plane crash. A young man successfully prevents his friends from dying in the accident, but death gets the last word and one-by-one, each of those saved are killed in a bizarre series of accidents and mishaps. The original film featured inspired several sequels, which are actually pretty good following the same formula.

3) INSIDE

À l'intérieur

R: 2007. STARRING

DESCRIPTION: Pregnant? Then this film will terrify you about a woman in the 3rd trimester who is terrorized by an obsessed socio-pathic woman with one goal only: to get her unborn child, whatever it takes and whatever the cost.   Not for the weak of stomach!

4) NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD

UR: 1968. Starring:

DESCRIPTION: Zombies always seem to scare. There is something about the undead wandering around and trying to kill people that strikes fear in people and Night of the Living Dead is the quintessential zombie movie. Basically a group of townies end up hiding out in a farmhouse in an attempt to escape a band of bloodthirsty zombies that have invaded their small town.  Can they escape? And how exactly do you kill something that’s dead already? This film was also remade in 1990.

5) FROM DUSK TILL DAWN

R: 1996. Starring:

DESCRIPTION: What really stood out in this film for me was Salma Hayek’s dance as the evil Santanico Pandemonium.  This is a scary mix of sexuality, violence, action and fear, something expected with a script written by Quentin Tarantino.  Basically you’ve got some criminals that decide to hole up for the night in what they believe is a night club. It turns out, once the sun goes down, the patrons turn into vampires and the end? Well, I won’t spoil it!

6) VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED

UR: 1960. Starring:

DESCRIPTION: There must be something scary about platinum blonds that look more like albinos because people with this characteristic often appear as the bad guys in films (The Firm, Die Hard, Children of the Corn). Village of the Damned is another.  This film takes place in a village in England where a group of children with near white blond hair and glowing eyes appear from who knows where and terrorize the entire town with their powers, killing along the way.  This is the original.  The film was remade in 1990 and released starring Kirsty Ally and Christopher Reeves.

7) SAW (series)

R: 2004. Starring:

DESCRIPTION:   This could be classified as your worst nightmare.  You’ve been abducted, knocked out and wake up in a chamber with another person and a dead body between you. Watching is a serial killer who delights in torturing both of you with a series of increasingly horrific tasks that if you fail to play, mean death.  At the same time, should you follow you’ll lose not only your morality and soul, but also a few limbs to boot. Like most successful horror films SAW spawned a series of sequels. The first is the best.

8) SCREAM (series)

R: 1994. Starring

DESCRIPTION: What makes this horror film so much fun is writer Kevin Williamson’s tongue and cheek take on horror films as the formula that makes them work being the solution to finding and getting rid of the serial killer hunting teens.  This is great writing and full of several scary scenes. The mask worn by ‘Ghost Face’ has become an iconic symbol in Western cultures and sequels have emerged from the original. What a scream!

9) I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER

R: 1997. Starring:

DESCRIPTION:   Based upon a novel by Lois Duncan, this is a film that plays upon guilt and how that guilt can cause neurosis and paranoia.  It’s also about revenge, which brings that psychological paranoia into the realm of reality. This is a real film, not just a teen slasher film with a story plot, moral lesson and lots of horror. It’s also the second entry on this list by writer Kevin Williamson the screenwriter for the aforementioned Scream.

10) RINGU & THE RING

RINGU: UR: 1998. Starring:

THE RING: PG-13: 2002. Starring: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, Brian Cox. Director: Gore Verbinski. Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller. Awards (7) including the Teen Choice Award for Best Horror/Thriller.  Running Time: 115 min

DESCRIPTION: We’re highlighting both the original Ringu and the American remake The Ring. Both tell the story of a videotape that once seen, kills its viewers.  A favorite with Gen-Y, both films follow a group of people who have the bad luck to watch a movie that in turn kills its viewers.  As with most teen horror films, there is someone who has figured this out and becomes the lone hero trying to stop it.

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