Top 10 Most Chilling Horror Movies

Written by: Wesley Thomas 

So many movies of the 21st century just don’t seem to hit the spot. They start out with promise and hope, but are sadly disappointing. Is it the execution, unoriginal idea, bad acting, unrealistic effects, cheap production values, or did the movie just plain suck? Even worse, some of these movies are dubbed ‘the best horror movie of the last decade’ and they are horrible. Who the hell dubs these movies so incorrectly? Don’t trust critics, rely on customer reviews! Well, fear no more. I am here to give you ten horror movies sure to give you a few scares. The list ranges from various budgets, and several creatures of the night guaranteed to creep you out!

Okay, so let’s start with ‘Evil Things’. Now this is a low budget gem. A bunch of young adults going to a relative’s cabin in winter for birthday festivities. Wait, these aren’t your typical slutty blonde girls and dumb jocks, these characters are portrayed as genuine American folk. Smart, each with their own unique quirk. A bunch of people just having a few beers and cake, and venturing outside into the cold for some snowball fights and light hiking. But after a shaky journey there, when strange things start to happen, they soon conclude that it can’t be good. Their weekend of celebrations is soon shot to hell when they realise someone, or something, followed them out into a deserted cabin surrounded by snow and a dangerous looking forest. This will give you some of the best chills ever. Possibly the best low budget movie I have ever seen.

The next you will be more familiar with. A Hollywood horror movie franchise, now with a third movie shortly due for release and a fourth rumoured to be on the way. Yes, it’s ‘Insidious’. This was hands down the most terrifying movie I had ever seen. Up until I saw the sequel. But the first movie revolves around a young boy’s ability to dream travel. This is the supernatural gift of travelling into an alternate dimension. Now we all dream, but few are cursed with the special power to explore further into the dream world. Going to a place swarming with souls that are desperate to live again. They can sense when your soul is away from your body in dreamland and plan to take advantage of this fact. This one ticks all this boxes. Great acting, disturbing, endless jumps and thrills, and superb effects. With a worldwide gross of over 97 million, you can expect a great movie.

Moving on, we have another horror with children as a key theme and an abundance of petrifying scenes. ‘Sinister’ is truly disquieting. A crime writer moves into a new house that has seen its fair share of slaughter and mayhem. He plans to research the mystery surrounding the odd murders that took place, and get a book out of it. After finding a bunch of tapes in the attic with each set of murders recorded, this compels him to get to the bottom of this. But will he find out before it’s too late? This is the stuff of nightmares, bringing a new creature into horror fiction. Don’t even bother attempting to figure it out, because you won’t see the ending coming. This movie boasts the truly talented Ethan Hawke who plays the crime writer who will stop at nothing to make sense of these horrifying tapes.

‘Quarantine’ is the best American remake of a foreign movie I have witnessed. Its premise is simple, an apartment building becomes infected, causing people to mutate into cannibalistic monsters. Due to the fact that this one is filmed on a handycam, it is all the more scary. The origin to the contagion turns out to be mind-numbingly hideous. This was a fantastic movie, but I feel it was skilled actors that made it unnerving and edgy. Jennifer Carpenter, the star of ‘The Exorcism Of Emily Rose’ is nothing short of brilliant. She narrates superbly and conveys the desperation of a reporter desperate to find out what exactly is going on in this residential building. A little tip, don’t eat while watching this one, things get very gory and graphic.

Now call me crazy, but I love vampires. And I don’t mean sparkly, glittery, pretty monsters that teenage girls fantasize about. I mean genuinely fearful demons of the night that want to suck your blood, not make out with you and live happily ever after. So if you are also partial to an honestly spooky vamp flick then I highly recommend ’30 Days Of Night’. With the incredibly talented Melissa George and Josh Hartnett, we are taken on a quite a ride. These are pure vampires. Black eyes, unimaginably razor-sharp teeth that they will rip you to pieces with, superhuman strength and relentless appetites. But what really gave me goosebumps when watching this one was the foreign language the beasts use to communicate. A click-clack noise, that whenever is heard, people run screaming. This is also highly original due to the method in their madness. These aren’t just crazed monsters out for a midnight feeding, they have a plan. Their attacks are organized and justifiably motivated. But the ending is sensational and really gives another meaning to the phrase ‘If you can’t beat them, join them.’

Want to see how desperation and greed affects otherwise sane people into acts of madness? To kill or be killed? Then I urge you to check out ‘Would You Rather’. A refreshing horror flick making the innocent and well known game, much more ominous. When rich folk want to be amused and take advantage of lower humans out of luck, they decide to see how far they will go to win a boatload of cash. Brittany Snow is fantastic in this one! Think ‘Saw’ with more adrenaline. A good one for those horror fans who wanna be grossed out and anxious, while also enjoying a social experiment.

Of course, if none of these float your boat, then feel free to go to the ‘Devil.’ No joke. An elevator becomes the scene of unthinkable madness when a gang of seemingly innocent individuals become trapped. This is a high tense, nail-biting horror with bucket loads of adrenaline and suspense. When the lights start to malfunction and carnage takes place in the blackness, it’s not long before the police get involved. The building security and police force work together to get to the bottom of the bizarre scenes playing out on the elevator’s surveillance camera. If that’s not enough, one of the security staff is highly superstitious and believes that the Devil is trapped in there with them. An excellent soundtrack helps us feel just as aghast and claustrophobic as the helpless victims stuck inside.

Not really your speed? Okay, how about a paranormal movie? Malevolent ghosts and spirits out to terrorize and petrify us? Forget ‘Paranormal Activity’, you wanna see ‘Paranormal Entity’. A family who loses their father start to notice unusual occurrences in their house. Given the recently deceased member of the family, they assume it’s their father. But when these otherworldly confrontations become violent and aggressive, it soon becomes obvious this is not the man they knew and loved. This is something else, something evil. Another handycam horror. The teenage boy becomes obsessed with capturing these ghostly happenings on film, but it soon becomes practically glued to his hand, giving us (the viewer) a jump-out-of-your-seat experience. Have you ever been scared? And I mean truly scared. Like all the lights go off in your building, you think your reflection is an intruder, something moves unnaturally or you are convinced you saw a ghost? This one captures that eerie sensation that forces our hair to stand on end.

Let’s not forget a movie that has been remade, and personally I love both. That is of course ‘Fright Night’. Now the original is flawless, but I do feel the remake made it edgier and made it more appealing to a modern audience. Plus how can we leave out the fact that Colin Farrell plays the insidious vampire neighbour? For those of you who haven’t enjoyed either the 1985 or 2011 version I beg you too. A kid who is convinced his new neighbour is an unholy creature of the night. But good luck getting anyone to believe that. The only person he can think of is renowned vampire hunter Peter Vincent. A man who hosts his own horror TV show showcasing movies, some of which he stars in as a tough vampire exterminator. But what happens if Mr Vincent also shrugs off his insane claims? Who can he turn too? It becomes especially dangerous when the vampire discovers the young boy’s accusations and has his eye on the boy’s mother and girlfriend. Let’s not forgot Anton Yelchin who plays the lead, who brings that vulnerable, helpless and stupidly brave character to life.

And last but not least, I thought I would bring something different to the table. If you like space themed horrors them I command you to rent ‘Apollo 18’. In terms of a plot, it isn’t particularly intricate and complex. The enjoyment is gained when two astronauts discover another life form on the moon. But this isn’t an alien coming in peace, this is a small creepy crawly that wants to harm the men. Suspenseful, unnerving, and terrific. Do you envy astronauts due to their wealth and chance to travel to the moon? You won’t after this. In fact you will never want to visit the moon on the off-chance you will be greeted by these creatures.

There you have it. Try those out for a guaranteed scare!