Horror cinema is a monster. Mistreated, misunderstood and subjected to vicious critical attacks, somehow it keeps lumbering forward, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. For some, horror films are little better than pornography, focused purely on evoking a reaction – be it terror, disquiet or disgust – with little thought for ‘higher’ aspirations. For others, they're just a bit of fun: a chance to shriek and snigger at someone’s second-hand nightmare.
But look again,
and the story of horror is also the story of innovation and
non-conformity in cinema, a place where dangerous ideas can be
expressed, radical techniques can be explored, and filmmakers outside
the mainstream can still make a big cultural splash. If cinema itself
has an unconscious, a dark little corner from which new ideas emerge,
blinking and malformed, it must be horror. The question is – which are
the best horror films?
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