There are countless pages on countless websites on the internet that claim to have the list of the top 100 scary movies of all time. Sure many of these lists vary, sometimes drastically, but there always seem to be a few movies that grace each list. Why do these few movies seem to stick out? What makes them in the top 100? Although there are many different aspects that can add to or detract from the merit of a horror film, generally a film must adhere to these three guidelines; Credibility, staying power and genuine scares.
Scary movies, more often than not, have plots that contain elements that are completely outlandish and almost impossible to imagine as something that could ever happen to you. When a movie can take one of these situations and make you believe it could possibly happen in real life, it hits the mark. When a story is believable, it has the ability to draw the audience into the story and make us forget that what we’re seeing isn’t actually happening and make us feel emotions that we wouldn’t normally feel because of ideas or experiences that we know to be real. An example of this would be Orson Welles’ 1938 radio broadcast of his version of HG Wells’ The War of the Worlds. The first 40 minutes of the hour-long broadcast featured new mock reports that informed listeners of an alleged meteor strike at Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. As the updates continue and become more frequent, it becomes quite clear that Earth is being invaded by hostile Martians! If you asked most people at the beginning of that day if they thought we were ready for a Martian invasion, they would probably laugh at you, but by the time Welles’s radio broadcast ended, most listeners were running for the hills. . Welles was able to take a situation that most thought could never happen and make them think not only that it was possible, but that it was actually happening.
Maintaining power is important in a movie if it is to be relevant years after its release. The horror films that have emerged since the 1970s help prove this point. The ’70s were known for producing countless crash and grindhouse movies that were easily forgettable and exhausting to watch. Of course, there are plenty of movies spawned from this formula that are a lot of fun to watch even today, but this is mainly due to their kitsch storylines, laughable performances, and lame special effects. While this was the trend in the horror genre, the ’70s also gave us many of our most beloved horror movies, including The Exorcist, Jaws, and The Walking Dead’s Dawn of the Dead. 1978’s Dawn of the Dead gave its audience not only a good zombie-killing time, but it also had undertones that reflected North America’s overwhelming need to consume no matter the situation, even if we’ve died and come back as zombies without sense. The mall scenario showed that even in death we all seem to be slaves to consumption. Not only does this message ring true more than 30 years later, it becomes even more relevant in our times. The staying power of this movie even featured a remake in 2004 that told the truth with little change to the story or plot.
A scary movie can have a believable story and a lot of staying power, but what would all that be worth without truly terrifying and shocking moments? The main reason most of us are interested in or watch scary movies is because we want or need to get excited and feel uncomfortable or scared. Many movies are classified as horror because 100 gallons of fake blood were used during production, but they may completely miss the mark on scares. Although the gruesome murder shots and terrifying monsters can scare us to some degree, the psychological elements and questions that remain are the ones that stick with us and keep us scared for days after watching the movie. Movies like The Shining and Rosemary’s Baby rely on our emotions for the situations we’re experiencing, as well as atmospheric sound and music rather than blood and gore. The shocking visuals, gore, and opening moments are part of a well-crafted horror movie, but without the elements that make that scare stick in your mind, the effect will wear off once the movie is over.
We all have different requirements for what would make a movie worthy of our personal Top 100 Horror Movies list. The believability, the staying power, and the really scary moments can help us define those movies and what makes them so great.