Welcome back to the Final Cut Blog's new series: Intro To. This is where we discuss a particular movie genre and the five movies that define it. This time, we take a look at the horror!
As humans, certain things scare most of us on an evolutionary level. These primal fears such as darkness or the unknown are the horror genres bread and butter. While literature held many of these themes as well before that time, Horror made the jump to film in the 1890's with shorts by Georges Melies and has only grown since then. The five movies below are, in my opinion, landmarks in the history of horror:
1. Nosferatu (1922)
Thomas Hutter is sent by his employer to Transylvania to visit a new client, Count Orlok. Little does he know, Orlok is a vampire, feeding on the blood of the living.
Why It Stands Out: There were definitely "horror" movies made before Nosferatu, but this is the first that actually scared people. Even today, the image above of Count Orlok is freaky to say the least. Forget the modern twilight-esque versions. This is what a vampire should be!
2. Psycho (1960)
Why It Stands Out: Alfred Hitchcock is known as one of the geniuses of the horror genre and film making in general. He is the master of suspense; capturing the terror we all feel when our back is turned toward that dark hallway. Psycho serves as inspiration for, among countless others, many of the slasher movies that would come one or two decades after it.
3. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Five strangers barricade themselves inside an abandoned farmhouse to defend against a horde of walking corpses who eat human flesh.
Why It Stands Out: If you have been a fan of any zombie game, movie, TV show, etc. since 1968, you owe George A. Romero and this film a big thank you. Before this one, zombies as we know them now did not exist. Not only that, Romero cast an African-American as his lead character during a very contentious time for race relations.
4. The Exorcist (1973)
A disillusioned priest is tasked with ridding a young girl of a murderous demon that has taken over her body.
Why It Stands Out: Much like Night of the Living dead, the Exorcist spawned an entire sub-genre of film dealing with demon possession and the supernatural. Plus, it featured some of the most disturbing images and dialogue of any movie, possibly rivaling today's movies.
5. Halloween (1978)
Institutionalized since childhood for the gruesome Halloween night murder of his sister, Michael Myers escapes his incarceration and begins spree of killings in his hometown.
Why It Stands Out: If Psycho inspired the slasher sub-genre, Halloween kicked it off in earnest. The film's shots showing murders from Myers' own point of view was controversial and new and has been copied over and over in horror since then. The unstoppable serial killer movie would become a sort of genre in itself.
Horror is such a beloved genre so I'm sure some will say "But what about ____". The movies I choose are my opinion of what someone new horror should sample. I believe they provide a good mix of sub-genres and styles.
If you disagree, what movie is the ultimate intro to horror and why?
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