Top 10 Horror Movies with the Best Plots
#10: “The Shining” (1980)
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Writer Jack Torrance is hoping to find inspiration in the peaceful isolation of the Overlook Hotel. But the hotel itself has other plans. Years of violent crime and other travesties haunt the halls of the mountain resort, sinking their teeth into whatever addled psyche wanders into their lair. What makes this Stephen King adaptation so effective is the film’s focus on Jack’s downward spiral. The more he pines for a drink, and the more he resents his family, the more the Overlook’s ghouls are able to influence and possess. Jack Torrance is the perfect vessel for the monstrous hotel. It’s a match made in hell.
#9: “Night of the Living Dead” (1968)
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Director George A. Romero and his co-writer John Russo wanted to create a horror film that would instill renewed interest in the genre, while paying homage to novels like Richard Matheson’s “I Am Legend.” The end result was “Night of the Living Dead,” a film with a simple yet powerful premise at its core: survival. A group of everyday folks barricade themselves against the swarming undead in an old farmhouse, but how long can they stay alive? With one location, cheap makeup, and lots of unpaid extras, Romero and friends would end up creating one of the most recognizable, emulated, and pivotal horror films of all time.
#8: “Hereditary” (2018)
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Writer-director Ari Aster’s “Hereditary” is built upon the unnerving idea that someone, or something, is controlling every aspect of our lives, and there’s nothing we can do about it. A master of subliminal storytelling, Aster foreshadows the doomed fates of his core characters by having protagonist Annie Graham, played by Toni Collette, earn a living through miniature model-making. Just as Annie looms over the meticulously-carved figurines in her dollhouses, a demonic cult, at one time led by Annie’s deceased mother, puppeteers every facet of Annie’s life, along with the lives of her children. It just goes to show … you can never trust grandma.
#7: “Scream” (1996)
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Wes Craven’s “Scream” is a horror film that satirizes the horror genre as a whole, and the results are ghoulishly good. When a masked murderer descends upon the small town of Woodsboro, the local high school students start dropping like flies. But as it turns out, the elusive slasher seems to be taking sadistic inspiration from classic genre films like “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th.” Horror movies had poked fun at themselves before, but “Scream” goes all-in on the meta commentary. There’s even a scene where one of the characters gives his peers a crash course on how to survive a horror film.
#6: “The Thing” (1982)
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What could be worse than being stranded for months in the Antarctic cold? Try adding a hungry centuries-old extraterrestrial. A remake of the 1951 film “The Thing from Another World,” John Carpenter’s film doubles down on the single-location paranoia that only Antarctica could induce. When an unassuming sled dog is taken in by an Arctic research team, no one knows there’s an alien living inside the dog, until it’s too late. As the alien passes from one human host to another, the survivors have nowhere to flee to, and fewer colleagues to trust. “The Thing” is brilliantly unsettling and very claustrophobic, and it’s why we keep rewatching it.
#5: “The Exorcist” (1973)
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Adapted by William Peter Blatty from his novel of the same name, “The Exorcist” has long been hailed as perhaps the greatest horror film ever made. The film’s standing owes a lot to Blatty’s layered story, which successfully combines crisis of faith, science versus religion, and domestic drama elements, making for an emotional, cohesive, and affecting narrative. While it’s been lauded for its visuals, “The Exorcist’s” set design and grisly makeup are just cherries on top. When the story is this good, all you need is good performers to seal the deal.
#4: “Get Out” (2017)
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Writer-director Jordan Peele’s films are packed with powerful performances, memorable shocks, and lots of socio-political satire. And it all started with his 2017 film “Get Out.” The story follows Chris Washington, a Black New York photographer who travels upstate to meet his white girlfriend’s family. What follows is a nuanced yet searing dissection of the modern zeitgeist, with particular attention paid to racism and xenophobia in America. Peele is a genius when it comes to blending multiple sub-genres, incorporating elements of sci-fi and Hitchcockian mystery in this brilliant directorial debut.
#3: “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968)
In “Rosemary’s Baby,” Mia Farrow plays the titular mother-to-be. Living in Manhattan with her husband, played by John Cassavetes, Rosemary starts to believe her neighbors, spouse, and doctor are part of a Satanic coven, using her to birth the Antichrist. A horror classic that ages like fine wine, “Rosemary’s Baby” presents a world where patriarchal power exerts relentless control. Rosemary is a savvy protagonist who is often on the verge of breaking down the metaphorical walls closing in around her, but society keeps adding bricks as she tears them away.
#2: “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)
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Based on Thomas Harris’s novel, “The Silence of the Lambs” holds the unique distinction of being one of the only horror films to take home the Academy Award for Best Picture. The ingenious narrative has a lot to do with the film’s win. To track down a serial killer, FBI agent Clarice Starling, played by Jodie Foster, must rely on the mad genius of another, the infamous Hannibal Lecter - brought to life in an iconic performance by Anthony Hopkins. These same conversations with Lecter allow him to zero in on Clarice’s fears and motivations, in a dark exploration of what makes us all tick.
#1: “Psycho” (1960)
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Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film “Psycho” is one of the most revered horror films of all time. On top of its excellent acting, camerawork, and score, the plot of the movie is just as responsible for cementing this adaptation of Robert Bloch’s novel into the annals of cinema shock. As the audience, we become acquainted with Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, only to have the character killed off in the first hour of the movie. The story then branches off into the investigation of Crane’s disappearance by her boyfriend and sister, bringing them into contact with the villainous Norman Bates. Unless you read the book beforehand, Marion’s death comes as a total surprise.