The guys over at cinematical.com report today that Master of Horror Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street, Last House on the Left) has decided to share his top 5 favorite horror movies with the world! Here’s his list:
Frankenstein (1931) by Director James Whale.
Starring: Colin Clive, Mae Clarke and Boris Karloff.
Synopsis: An obsessed scientist creates a living being from parts of exhumed corpses. No longer so much a movie as it is a genuine part of popular folklore, the film itself shows its age, particularly in the absence of a musical score. But the performances by Colin Clive and particularly the great Boris Karloff are the whole show here, forgiving a multitude of creaks and groans and more than compensating for any lulls in the narrative. Truly a film everyone should see at least once. (Courtesy IMDB.com)
By Director Mervyn LeRoy
Starring Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack and Henry Jones.
Synopsis: Christine Penmark seems to have it all: a lovely home, a loving husband and the most “perfect” daughter in the world. But since childhood, Christine has suffered from the most terrible recurring nightmare. And her “perfect” daughter’s accomplishments include lying, theft and possibly much, much worse. Only Christine knows the truth about her daughter and only Christine’s father knows the truth about her nightmare. (Courtesy IMDB.com)
The Exorcist by Director William Friedkin.
Starring Jason Miller, Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair.
Synopsis: Based on the 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist marries three different scenarios into one extraordinary plot. A visiting actress in Washington, D.C., notices dramatic and dangerous changes in the behavior and physical make-up of her 12-year-old daughter. Meanwhile, a young priest at nearby Georgetown University begins to doubt his faith while dealing with his mother’s terminal sickness. And, book-ending the story, a frail, elderly priest recognizes the necessity for a show-down with an old demonic enemy.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) by Director Tobe Hooper.
Starring Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul Partain and Edwin Neal.
Synopsis: En route to visit their grandfather’s grave (which has apparently been ritualistically desecrated), five teenagers drive past a slaughterhouse, pick up (and quickly drop) a sinister hitch-hiker, eat some delicious home-cured meat at a roadside gas station, before ending up at the old family home… where they’re plunged into a never-ending nightmare as they meet a family of cannibals who more than make up in power tools what they lack in social skills. (Courtesy IMDB.com)
Alien by Director Ridley Scott.
Starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright and John Hurt.
Synopsis: When commercial towing vehicle Nostromo, heading back to Earth, intercepts an SoS signal from a nearby planet, the crew are under obligation to investigate. After a bad landing on the planet, some crew members leave the ship to explore the area. At the same time as they discover a hive colony of some unknown creature, the ship’s computer deciphers the message to be a warning, not a call for help. When one of the eggs is disturbed, the crew do not know the danger they are in until it is too late. (Courtesy IMDB.com)