7. Tremors (1990)

Locals in a small isolated town defend themselves against strange underground creatures known as ‘graboids’, which act like giant carnivorous worms. This is an immensely charismatic movie, and it’s unique premise makes for many original sequences. Kevin Bacon has never been better and his pairing with Fred Ward is magic.

6. Evil Dead 2 (1987)

The lone survivor of an onslaught of flesh-possessing spirits holds up in a cabin with a group of strangers while the demons continue their attack. This year’s ‘Evil Dead’ remake may have been a grim, serious, stomach-churning gore-fest, but the franchise’s highlight, ‘Evil Dead 2’, was a whacked-out comedy-horror. Featuring a legendary central performance by Bruce Campbell and a hilarious, inventive directing style from Sam Raimi that’s all his own.

5. The Omen (1976)

An American ambassador slowly realises that his 5 year old son Damien is actually the Antichrist. A conceptually brilliant film, down to the way the Devil kills (a trick subsequently stolen by ‘Final Destination’), this came from a golden age for horror when big stars (here Gregory Peck) appeared in big budget productions scripted and directed by top talent (see ‘The Exorcist’, ‘The Shining’). It also had balls too, from the graphic decapitation, to a nanny publicly hanging herself at a fifth birthday party. No studio would risk that today on a big budget.

4. Let The Right One In (2008)

An overlooked and bullied boy finds love and revenge through a peculiar girl, who turns out to be a vampire. Credited with liberating the vampire movie from its period trappings, its central narrative of young friendship is well-acted and compelling, punctuated by genuine chills and shocks. From Swedish director Tomas Alfredson, it was remade in the US as ‘Let Me In’.

3. Scream / Scream 2 (1996) (1997)

A masked killer known as Ghostface is murdering teenagers and as the body count rises one girl and her friends find themselves contemplating the “Rules” of horror films, while living a real-life one. Deservedly praised for injecting a dose of post-‘Pulp Fiction’ self-awareness into the moribund slasher subgenre. The knowing audience-nudging works because it understands when to knuckle down and be plain scary. It’s all thanks to screenwriter Kevin Williamson’s witty, surprising storyline, superbly implemented by genre-pro Wes Craven.

2. An American Werewolf In London (1981)

Released along with The Howling in 1981, this represented a new Year Zero for the werewolf movie, finally dragging it out of the long shadow cast by Universal’s The Wolfman and carrying it the era of limb-bending, flesh-rending, hyper-visceral transformations by which it is still defined. Scripted by an inspired teenage John Landis in 1969, the story is simple but wonderfully nuanced. Rick Baker’s Oscar-winning makeups are often breathtaking and the werewolf transformation scene remains the best ever committed to film. The movie is also a vivid record of the sights and sounds of early 80’s London which is strangely fascinating in its own right. If you want to see comedy, horror and pathos done perfectly in a three minute scene, watch the clip above.

1. The Thing (1982)

Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills. Everything works in John Carpenter’s classic – the scares, the sense of paranoia, the wonderfully elaborate evolving whodunit, the creations of effects genius Rob Bottin, and the myriad moments of sheer invention (such as the legendary “You gotta be f*cking kidding'” sequence). But it’s the characters, led by Kurt Russell’s phlegmatic MacReady, who draw you back time after time: cocky roughnecks on the edge of the world, swept up in a cyclone of suspicion as an alien presence walks unseen amongst them.

NETFLIX US – The Awakening (2012), The Innkeepers (2012), The Woman (2011), Dead Snow (2009), The Host (Gwoemul) (2007), Day Watch (2007), Pulse (Kairo) (2005), Land of the Dead (2005), R-Point (2005), A Tale of Two Sisters (Janghwa, Hongryeon) (2003), Ted Bundy (2002), Resident Evil (2002), Jeepers Creepers (2001), Session 9 (2001), The Frighteners (1996), Pet Cemetery (1989), Hellraiser (1987), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), Silver Bullet (1985), Evil Dead (1983), Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Let us know your favourites in the comments. Do you agree or disagree with the order?

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