What are your favorite Horror movies?

Written by thehouseofvines

I have often argued that Horror is a uniquely Dionysian genre and should be given an honored position alongside Tragedy, Comedy, Satyr-plays, Dithyrambs, and Mimes in his dramatic canon. If I had to pick nine films (say, three for each night of the Καταχθόνια) I would probably choose:

  1. Legend dir. by Ridley Scott
  2. The Cell dir. by Tarsem Singh
  3. Candyman dir. by Bernard Rose
  4. Hellbound: Hellraiser II dir. by Tony Randel
  5. Nightbreed dir. by Clive Barker
  6. Baskin dir. by Can Evrenol
  7. The Lords of Salem dir. by Rob Zombie
  8. The Sisterhood of Night dir. by Caryn Waechter
  9. Cat People dir. by Paul Schrader

Okay, maybe call it Φρίκῃ since I included a couple Dark Fantasies as well as conventional Horror, but as you can see they all contain strong Bacchic themes and symbolism (and some even have a touch of Orphism about them.) There are so many others I could have included but I was trying for a particular note. If you prefer your entertainment more episodic I’d recommend Hannibal or Legion. (And if you’re looking for something a little more elevated, consider Galina’s On Prayer and Pain.) 

What are your favorite Horror movies, Dionysian or otherwise?

18 thoughts on “What are your favorite Horror movies?”

  1. Scream. Also, I love Constantine and will watch these two every year. A second Constantine is finally happening. That’s all though. The last horror movie I watched was called Tusk, and I was done. No wait, it was Hereditary. I couldn’t sleep for a long time after that one, but I was in the middle of trauma processing when I watched it, so that definitely heightened things. I did watch the series Orphan Black and Hannibal. I loved them both but looked away a lot during the latter. I have seen The Cell and I watched one of the Hellraisers, but the rest on your list I don’t know of.

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    1. I do have unconventional tastes. *grins*

      Good suggestions — especially Constantine, which I adore. It’s nothing like the comic, but Keanu does such a great job I don’t care. Everything I’ve heard about the sequel has me excited. Part of why it took so long is they were waiting for the right script. I hope they found it.

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  2. Quatermass and the Pit

    Deep Blue Sea

    V for Vendetta

    The Wolfman (1941)

    Creature from the Black Lagoon-Revenge of the Creature-The Creature Walks Among Us

    Leviathan (1989)

    The Thing from Another World (1959) and The Thing (1989)

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      1. I really can’t stand the thing. I don’t like ambiguity in movies. lol. the ending got me. But the others I really like.

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          1. nooooo. lol. no no :) I love horror movies. I think of the ones you listed, my favorite is Nightbreed. It’s just a beautiful movie, and shows that the monsters so often aren’t the ones who look different, but the person who looks just like you, the neighbor, the person next door…banal, indifferent, cruel, disordered. It’s a brilliant movie.

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        1. At the end when Childs and MacReady are sitting in the snow, the monster and everyone else dead, passing a bottle of alcohol back and forth … Childs isn’t breathing, and MacReady is only faking taking swigs. Because the monster isn’t dead, and MacReady knows it, and to prove it he put something deadly in the bottle like gasoline or poison.

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          1. Thank you. I didn’t think the monster was dead and I knew McCready had something up his sleeve.

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            1. I’m not sure I buy the fan theory. It is true that Childs’ breath doesn’t appear to fog up like MacReady’s in the biting cold, but I can’t really tell if he’s swigging the alcohol or not. They say MacReady is not (apparently it’s clearer in the Blue ray) but it’s certainly true that Childs disappeared and then resurfaced without explanation, giving the Thing long enough to turn him. *shrugs*

              I suppose that’s what makes fan theories so much fun.

              My favorite is that the Joker in Dark Knight was a soldier whose convoy got blown up by an IED, which is how he got the facial scars and contempt for order and authority, plus his knowledge of interrogation techniques, explosives, parade dress formations, etc. The closest we come to a confirmation is when he says:

              You know what I’ve noticed? Nobody panics when things go “according to plan.” Even if the plan is horrifying! If, tomorrow, I tell the press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it’s all “part of the plan”. But when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their minds.

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  3. “Nightmare on Elm Street”

    “28 Days Later” ( gave me nightmares)

    “Alien”

    “Predator”

    “Carrie” ( the original )

    “Vampire Hunter D” (before there was Blade, there was D)

    “Lilly Cat” ( Anime that pretty much copied “Alien” )

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      1. Oh mine too! I used to watch it alot on HBO.

        I’m surprised you didn’t mention “The Witch” with the most Dionysian line in movie history:

        “Do you want to live deliciously?”

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        1. I’m sure this will be an unpopular take, but I wasn’t a fan of The Vvitch — with the exception of the Black Phillip scenes, of course. If they cut it down to just that they might have something. But as is, that movie made me want to gouge my eyes out – as pretty much all A24 movies do with very, very rare exceptions. My aversion to A24 is so bad I’ve passed up movies that sounded pretty cool, that I’d have watched in a flash if anyone else had released them, when I saw their logo on it. I’ve just been burnt too often. I readily admit to having pedestrian tastes in cinema, especially for a Dionysian.

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  4. Meanwhile, I’m going to binge watch “Hazbin Hotel” and “Helluva Boss” for Halloween.

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