Blood and Ballet: A Top 100 in Horror

I've always tried to unpack why horror appeals to me and why I like to tread closely to the edge of some of the most depressing and upsetting violent cinema that there is but I've never been able to come up with a clear cut answer. I think part of it has to do with having grown up feeling fractured and broken, and horror is oftentimes about women who are trying to figure out how to put the pieces back together in their lives. I haven't watched nearly as much horror since I've grown happier, which lends weight to that theory I suppose, so I have to assume it's accurate. Up until last year I lived a pretty miserable life, and horror ended up being the safety net I latched onto oftentimes in all those years prior. Not all of these films fit the bill of being about fractured characters, but a lot of them do. I like horror that lingers and sticks with me. The kind of horror that slips into your bones and can't be scrubbed out. I suppose I like trauma then, and the effects of dealing with it. Laura Palmer comes to mind when I think of horror, and Laurie Strode, Carrie White and Rei. These are broken characters, and up until last year I considered myself among them. I still slip into those modes, but not nearly as often as I used to. I'm grateful I had women who actually felt like me along the way though, and I still sometimes go back to them and wish I could help fix them. 

Having said all that. Suspiria still sits at number one, because above all else just give me witches. For I've been called evil in my life simply for my life choices so why wouldn't I align myself with those of Satan? I appear to be already if my family is any indication.

Hail Satan.....Hail Horror.

1. Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977)

2. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)

3. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (David Lynch, 1992)

4. End of Evangelion (Hideaki Anno, 1997)

5. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hoober, 1974)

6. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

7. The Fly (David Cronenberg, 1986)

8. Possession (Andrzej Zulawski, 1981)

9. Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942)

10. The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)

11. The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)

12. Perfect Blue (Satoshi Kon, 1995)

13. Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)

14. Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983)

15. Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2014)

16. Inside (Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury, 2007)

17. Valerie and her Week of Wonders (Jaromil Jires, 1970)

18. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)

19. The Haunting (Robert Wise, 1963)

20. Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965)

21. The Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935)

22. [SAFE] (Todd Haynes, 1995)

23. Audition (Takashi Miike, 1999)

24. Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju, 1960)

25. Halloween 2 (Rob Zombie, 2009)

26. Day of the Dead (George A. Romero, 1985)

27. In the Mouth of Madness (John Carpenter, 1994)

28. The Happiness of the Katakuris (Takashi Miike, 2001)

29. Gremlins 2: The One With Hulk Hogan (Joe Dante, 1990)

30. Bastards (Claire Denis, 2012)

31. Trouble Every Day (Claire Denis, 2001)

32. Hausu (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977)

33. Dawn of the Dead (George A. Romero, 1978)

34. The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 1963)

35. Ginger Snaps (Jon Fawcett, 2000)

36. The Thing From Another World (Christian Nyby and Howard Hawks, 1951)

37. Martyrs (Pascal Laugier)

38. Manhunter (Michael Mann, 1986)

39. Les Diaboliques (Henri-Georges Clouzout, 1959)

40. Wake in Fright (Ted Kotcheff, 1971)

41. We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)

42. Carrie (Brian De Palma, 1976)

43. Kwaidan (Masaki Kobayashi, 1964)

44. Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)

45. Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

46. I Walked With a Zombie (Jacques Tourneur, 1943)

47. Prince of Darkness (John Carpenter, 1987)

48. Gozu (Takashi Miike, 2003)

49. The Devils (Ken Russell, 1971)

49. After Hours (Martin Scorsese, 1985)

50. Alucarda (Juan Lopez Moctezuma, 1976)

51. The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodovar, 2010)

52. Drag Me to Hell (Sam Raimi, 2009)

53. Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922)

54. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)

56. The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi, 1983)

57. Evil Dead 2 (Sam Raimi, 1987)

58. Tenebrae (Dario Argento, 1982)

59. Rosemarys Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)

60. Don;t Look Now (Nicholas Roeg, 1973)

61. Christine (John Carpenter, 1983)

62. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1919)

63. The Masque of the Red Death (Roger Corman, 1964)

64. Blood and Black Lace (Mario Bava, 1964)

65. Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931)

66. May (Lucky McKee, 2004)

67. The Hitcher (Robert Harmon, 1986)

68. Martin (George A. Romero, 1977)

69. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)

70. Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2009)

71. Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow, 1987)

72. The House of the Devil (Ti West, 2009)

73. The Stepfrod Wives (Bryan Forbes, 1975)

74. 3 Women (Robert Altman, 1977)

75. The Terminator (James Cameron, 1984)

76. The Ghost of Yotsuya (Nobuo Nakagawa, 1959)

77. The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)

79. M (Fritz Lang, 1931)

79. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956)

80. Ghosts of Mars (John Carpenter, 2001)

81. The Loved Ones (Sean Byrne, 2009)

82. Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)

83. The Curse of Frankenstein (Terrence Fisher, 1957)

84. The Addiction (Abel Ferrara, 1995)

85. Cigarette Burns (John Carpenter, 2005)

86. Blue Velvet (David Lynch, 1986)

87. Village of the Damned (John Carpenter, 1995)

88. Trick 'R Treat (Michael Dougherty, 2007)

89. The Virgin Spring (Ingmar Bergman, 1960)

90. Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (Benjamin Christensen, 1922)

91. The Brood (David Cronenberg, 1979)

92. Witches Hammer (Otakar Vavra, 1970)

93. A Nightmare on Elm Street (Wes Craven, 1984)

94. Pulse (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2001)

95. Girly (Freddie Francis, 1970)

96. Sinister (Scott Derrickson, 2012)

97. The Abominable Dr. Phibes (Robert Fuest, 1971)

98. Dracula's Daughter (Lambert Hillyer, 1936)

99. The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014)

100. Shutter Island (Martin Scorsese, 2010)