Hey there Horror Fans! Got a inkling for a scary clown movie? Do creepy clowns freak you out? How about just plain haunting face paint that rubs you the wrong way? Box Office charts are not always about quality, but these movies at least did something right. Here are the 12 highest grossing horror movies of all time. The Times of Northwest Indiana - the source for crime, business, government, education and sports news and information in the Region. San Francisco, California. San Francisco’s rich cultural makeup, large immigrant population, and a history of natural disasters like earthquakes have helped it.
The 2. 0 Most Underrated Horror Movies of The 2. Century « Taste of Cinema. We live now in the age of the jump scare, the age of Insidious and V/H/S, the age of mass- produced horror with all the artistry of a tin of baked beans. The horror genre is dominated by massive franchises that are all much of a muchness, with the only difference between any two films being what kind of ghost is jumping out at you. In such times, it’s easy to see why so many people think that the twenty- first century has been a bad one for horror. Between the torture porn subgenre started by Saw, and the wave of found- footage jump scare- based films that is currently drowning the marketplace, the horror genre is surely going through a dry spell. This article will highlight some films from the last fifteen years that have been unjustly ignored, in order to show just how much quality horror is being produced today. The Hole (Nick Hamm, 2. What better place to start an article on twenty- first century horror than at the beginning of the twenty- first century? Nick Hamm’s The Hole is all too often categorised as a psychological thriller, or ignored completely, but it is at its core a horror film. It’s about the fear of being trapped, the fear of being at the mercy of someone who wishes you harm, and most of all about the fear that if you were put under enough pressure, the people you are closest to you would turn on you much more quickly than you think. The Hole is based around one of the oldest story- telling devices in the book: take a group of characters who are close to each other, trap them in a confined space and put them under pressure. In this case, the confined space is an abandoned fallout shelter where the four main characters decide to spend the weekend rather than going on a school trip. ![]() However, they soon discover that they are trapped in the bunker and the unspoken tensions between them bubble to the surface. Overall, the film is notable for solid performances from its relatively young cast, the claustrophobia of the scenes in the bunker, and a plot twist that the audience is unlikely to see coming. ![]() IMDb's advanced search allows you to run extremely powerful queries over all people and titles in the database. Find exactly what you're looking for!![]() Dog Soldiers (Neil Marshall, 2. Neil Marshall seems to be one of the most unjustly obscure directors in the UK. Despite having directed the critically and commercially successful The Descent, Marshall’s output since has been largely ignored, except for his work on already- successful television programmes. Dog Soldiers, Marshall’s directorial debut, is a horror thriller about a group of soldiers on an exercise in the Scottish highlands who are attacked by werewolves. It’s a fast- paced film that still manages to take time for character development, making sure that each character matters to the audience – something that many modern horror films fail miserably to do. Another thing that marks the film out is its lush orchestral soundtrack, which is completely unlike the soundtracks of more recent films. Despite being well- reviewed upon its release, Dog Soldiers has been largely forgotten, but it is still very much worth watching. The Last Horror Movie (Julian Richards, 2. Yes, the third film on this list is a found- footage film, but this is one of the very rare instances where a director uses that gimmick to good effect. It probably helps that The Last Horror Movie was made two years before Paranormal Activity was released, so it doesn’t use any of the devices that have become clich. You won’t find any jump scares here – this film is all about getting the audience inside the head of the main character, a serial killer who delights in letting the audience in on his crimes. What makes The Last Horror Movie scary is the matter- of- fact way that Max (Kevin Howarth) dispatches his victims, and the grainy realism of the film, which makes the violence seem far more immediate and affecting. Howarth’s performance is truly chilling, but he achieves this effect without ever hamming it up or indulging in any of the serial killer clich. Stuck (Stuart Gordon, 2. Stuck is, unfortunately, based on a true story. In October 2. 00. Chante Jawan Mallard hit a homeless man with her car. The impact left the man embedded in her windscreen, but instead of getting help or taking him to the hospital, she drove home and left him in her garage to die. She is currently serving a sixty- year sentence for murder and tampering with evidence. In Stuart Gordon’s film, Mallard is played by Mena Suvari, while the man she hits is played by Stephen Rea. Both these actors give note- perfect performances, and after seeing them in Stuck no one can doubt that they deserve far more recognition than they have got thus far. Gordon’s film sticks fairly close to the facts for the first two acts, but near the end of the film he deviates from what actually happened in order to provide a more satisfying conclusion, with Rea’s character escaping and Suvari’s getting her comeuppance. Stuck is a hard film to watch, as the filmmakers pay great attention to the desperation of the homeless man’s predicament, and the cruelty of Suvari’s character and her boyfriend. Nevertheless, it’s a perfectly- paced, well- acted film about the will to survive, and the things people are capable of doing to one another. Naked Fear (Thom Eberhardt, 2. The plot goes like this: a man is abducting women from a small mountain town, stripping them naked and hunting them through the wilderness. Several of his victims have been strippers. Now, when one comes across a film with a plot like that, it’s natural to assume that the film will be a lowbrow exploitation flick designed to make money by having the maximum possible amount of female nudity – and ninety- nine times out of a hundred that assumption will be right. Naked Fear, however, is that one film out of a hundred. Written by Christine Vasquez and directed by Thom Eberhardt, this is a film about the exploitation of women by men. Danielle De Luca plays Diana, a young woman who arrives in a small town to work as a stripper only to find that the man who runs the strip club she is to work at is an exploitative misogynist who pays his workers so little that they have to resort to prostitution to make ends meet. Danielle’s first client just happens to be the killer, who knocks her out and takes her to the mountains, where he intends to hunt and kill her. The rest of the film follows Diana’s attempts to escape the killer, and culminates in a final confrontation between hunter and hunted. The predatory attitude of the film’s male characters towards women is implicitly connected to the extreme misogyny of the killer by Vasquez’s excellent script – this is a film worth watching for its politics as much as its plot. All The Boys Love Mandy Lane (Jonathan Levine, 2. This 2. 00. 8 slasher with a difference is another film that was well publicised upon release but has since fallen into obscurity. Amber Heard stars as the titular character, who goes to a party at a friend’s cattle ranch with several of her schoolmates. Once there, the typical slasher plot unfolds, with the teenagers falling victim one by one to an unidentified assailant. The plot gradually gets further from the conventions of the subgenre as it progresses, leading up to a climactic plot twist that, while not entirely original, is certainly surprising enough to work. Part of the reason why All The Boys Love Mandy Lane received such mixed reviews when it first hit cinemas is that it refuses to be pigeonholed. The plotline is similar to films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (and in fact Levine has stated that this film was an influence) but the style in which it is made is altogether more highbrow, utilising camera techniques that are unusual in teen horror films, and building an almost melancholy atmosphere. As one reviewer in The Washington Post put it, All The Boys Love Mandy Lane is “Too dumb for the arthouse, but too smart for the mall multiplex”. As usual, the critics rejected a film that refused to conform to their expectations. Top 1. 0 Horror Movies - Listverse. Movies and TVJamie Frater. September 2, 2. 00. Horror films have been criticized for their graphic violence and are often dismissed as low budget B- movies and exploitation films. Nonetheless, some major studios and respected directors have made forays into the genre. This is a list of the ten greatest horror films of all time. Ringu. After the death of her cousin Tomoko, reporter Reiko hears stories of a videotape that kills everyone who sees it exactly one week after viewing. At first she discounts the rumors, but when she learns that Tomoko’s friend (who watched the video with her) died at exactly the same time, she begins to investigate. After viewing the tape herself, strange things start happening, and so she teams up with her ex- husband to try to stop the death clock that has once again begun ticking. Buy this movie at Amazon. Or try the terrifying American version of The Ring at Amazon. Jaws. A Great White Shark decides to make the small beach resort town of Amity his private feeding grounds. This greatly frustrates the town police chief who wants to close the beaches to chase the shark away. He is thwarted in his efforts by the town’s mayor who finally relents when nothing else seems to work and the chief, a scientist, and an old fisherman with revenge on his mind take to the sea to kill the beast. Buy this movie at Amazon. Poltergeist. While living an an average family house in a pleasant neighborhood, the youngest daughter of the Freeling family, Carol Anne (Heather O’Rourke), seems to be connecting with the supernatural through a dead channel on the televison. It is not for long when the mysterious beings enter the house’s walls. At first seeming like harmless ghosts, they play tricks and amuse the family, but they take a nasty turn- they horrify the family to death with angry trees and murderous dolls, and finally abduct Carol Anne into her bedroom closet, which seems like the entrance to the other side. Buy this movie at Amazon. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 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. Carrie. Carrie White is a shy young girl who doesn’t make friends easily. After her class mates taunt her about her horrified reaction to her totally unexpected first period one of them takes pity on her and gets Tommy Ross, her boyfriend and class hunk to invite Carrie to the senior prom. Meanwhile another girl who has been banned from the prom for her continued aggressive behaviour is not as forgiving and plans a trick to embarrass Carrie in front of the whole school. What she doesn’t realise is that Carrie is . Les Diaboliques. The wife and mistress of a sadistic boarding school headmaster plot to kill him. They drown him in the bathtub and dump the body in the school’s filthy swimming pool. Rosemary’s Baby. Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move into an apartment in a building with a bad reputation. They discover that their neighbours are a very friendly elderly couple named Roman and Minnie Castevet, and Guy begins to spend a lot of time with them. Strange things start to happen: a woman Rosemary meets in the washroom dies a mysterious death, Rosemary has strange dreams and hears strange noises and Guy becomes remote and distant. Then Rosemary falls pregnant and begins to suspect that her neighbours have special plans for her child. Buy this movie at Amazon. Psycho. Marion Crane is a Phoenix, Arizona working girl fed up with having to sneak away during lunch breaks to meet her lover, Sam Loomis, who cannot get married because most of his money goes towards alimony. One Friday, Marion’s employer asks her to take $4. Desperate to make a change in her life, she impulsively leaves town with the money, determined to start a new life with Sam in California. As night falls and a torrential rain obscures the road ahead of her, Marion turns off the main highway. Exhausted from the long drive and the stress of her criminal act, she decides to spend the night at the desolate Bates Motel. The motel is run by Norman Bates, a peculiar young man dominated by his invalid mother. After Norman fixes her a light dinner, Marion goes back to her room for a shower. The Exorcist. Blatty’s novelization of a real case of possession that happened in a Washington Suburb (Mt. Ranier, MD) puts Regan, an adolescent girl, Living with her mother in Georgetown in Washington, into a more and more difficult situation. She exhibits strange symptoms, including levitation and great strength. When all medical possibilities are exhausted, her mother is sent to a priest who is also a psychiatrist. He becomes convinced that Regan is possessed and he and a second priest experienced in exorcism try to drive the spirit from Regan before she dies. Very graphic for its time. Buy this movie at Amazon. The Shining. Jack Torrance becomes the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel up in the secluded mountains of Colorado. Jack, being a family man, takes his wife and son to the hotel to keep him company throughout the long and isolated nights. During their stay strange things occur when Jack’s son Danny sees gruesome images powered by a force called “The Shining” and Jack is heavily affected by this. Along with writer’s block and the demons of the hotel haunting him Jack has a complete mental breakdown and the situation takes a sinister turn for the worse. Buy this movie at Amazon. Notable Others: Nosferatu, Dawn of the Dead, The Birds. Follow us on Facebook or subscribe to our. He spends his time working on the site, doing research for new lists, and collecting oddities. He is fascinated with all things historic, creepy, and bizarre. Read More: Twitter. Facebook. Gab. ai. Top 1. 0 Most Haunted Cities in America. Visit even the smallest of towns in the U. S. But some American cities have gained the reputation for being particularly ghost- ridden thanks to their rich and often bizarre historical backgrounds. The following are ten of the most haunted cities to steer away from—or toward, if you dare—this Halloween. San Francisco, California. San Francisco’s rich cultural makeup, large immigrant population, and a history of natural disasters like earthquakes have helped it develop a reputation as a Mecca of all things haunted. Chinatown alone is home to countless ghost tours and creepy folklore, but the city also boasts a wealth of haunted hotels, mansions, and army bases. Of these, one of the most famous is the Queen Anne Hotel, which served as a school for girls in the 1. Mary Lake. There are also a number of stories concerning Mary Anne Pleasant, the so- called “Voodoo Queen of San Francisco,” who was a former slave and abolitionist who used a knowledge of the black arts to gain wealth and influence among the city’s elite. Even the trendy San Francisco Art Institute, which is rumored to have been built on top of a graveyard that housed victims of the 1. Most Haunted Place: Alcatraz. Alcatraz Island is one of San Francisco’s most famous landmarks, but the former maximum- security prison is also home to some of the city’s weirdest ghost stories. Visitors to the island often claim to see apparitions walking the cellblocks, and sometimes hear voices emanating from what was once the cafeteria. Key West, Florida. Sunny Key West might not seem like the most probable setting for haunted houses, but this small beach community is home to some of the oldest—and downright creepiest—of all ghost stories. The city’s rich history of buccaneers and rumrunners provides the backdrop for a lot of these ghosts, like those that are said haunt Captain Tony’s Saloon. Before it was a bar, Captain Tony’s was supposedly the location of the island’s morgue, and the tree that grows through the building’s center is said to have been a major site for lynching pirates and other criminals, and many are said to still haunt the premises today. Other local ghost stories concern the writer Ernest Hemingway, who kept a home on Key West for some thirty years. Hemingway’s house, now a museum dedicated to his life and work, is said to house the novelist’s ghost. Some visitors and workers claim to see him walking the grounds, while others have heard the clicking of his typewriter coming from inside the main house. Most Haunted: Robert the Doll. The island’s art and historical museum isn’t haunted, but it does contain one of the creepiest artifacts of Key West’s history in the form of Robert, a large doll that many claim is possessed. The doll was given to painter Gene Otto in the early 1. The boy’s parents would often swear they saw the doll moving, and neighbors claimed they often spotted Robert pacing in front of the windows of the house when the family was away. Athens, Ohio. Athens, Ohio is a small town that is home to the Ohio University as well as some downright strange ghost stories. This small, otherwise peaceful community has inspired stories of hauntings that include everything from a headless train conductor to pagan cults and the violent murders of livestock. Many claim that when plotted on a map, the city’s five major graveyards form the symbol of a pentagram, and strange rituals are at the center of many of Athens’ most famous ghost tales. A lot of these stories date back over a hundred years, when the town became associated with the Spiritualist movement of the 1. The most famous tells of Jonathan Koons, a poor farmer who was instructed by ghosts to build a “spirit room” in which apparitions would then manifest and communicate with him from beyond the grave. Most Haunted Place: Athens Lunatic Asylum. Night Shift Staff. There’s nothing creepier than a good old- fashioned insane asylum, and Athens has one of the most famous in the form of the Athens Lunatic Asylum, which operated from 1. The hospital held many violent patients, and is notorious for being the site of hundreds of lobotomies. Since closing, the hospital has been the at the center of numerous ghost stories, most of which are kept alive by the students at the university, which now owns the asylum grounds. The most famous of these concerns Margaret, a deaf- mute patient who supposedly escaped from her room, accidentally became trapped in an abandoned ward, and eventually died of exposure. Her decomposing body was found weeks later, and supposedly the stain that was left on the floor of the ward can still be seen today. Portland, Oregon. Portland, Oregon has developed a reputation as the most haunted city of the Pacific Northwest thanks to its bizarre history and high number of ghost sightings. One of the city’s most famous haunted houses is Pittock Mansion, an ornate house that was built in 1. Visitors have claimed to have seen apparitions and heard footsteps coming from empty rooms, and doors and windows will sometimes open by themselves. Weirdest of all, a portrait of Mr. Pittock, the man who built the house, will inexplicably be found in different parts of the house, as though it can move itself from room to room. In addition to the Pittock house, other Portland haunted places include the Bagdad theater, a movie theater built during the roaring 2. Willamette river, where in recent years a phantom rowboat has been spotted by several people. Most Haunted Place: Shanghai Tunnels. Portland’s coastal location established it as a shipping hub and port of call for sailors during the 1. This eventually led to the rise of a practice known as shanghaiing, wherein unsuspecting men and women were kidnapped from bars or hotels, shipped to the Orient, and impressed into slave labor or prostitution. Portland was notorious for this practice thanks to a series of labyrinthine underground tunnels that run beneath the city streets, which were used by the Shanghaiiers as a safe way to capture and transfer victims to the harbor without being seen. Today, the tunnels are said to be haunted by the ghosts of the people who were kidnapped, many of whom were never seen or heard from again. Charleston, South Carolina. Known as the “Holy City” for the church spires that dot its skyline, Charleston is one of the oldest cities in the U. S., and also one of the most haunted. Victorian mansions line the downtown area known as the Battery, which was a protective artillery installation during the Civil War, and it is here that many of the city’s most haunted houses can be found. Perhaps the most famous is the Battery Carriage House Inn, a hotel where people have reported seeing everything from strange lights, to the gentlemanly ghost of a student who died after leaping off the roof, to a headless torso that appears at guests’ bedsides in the middle of the night. Charleston is also known for a number of ghost stories that originated with the Gullah, a West African culture that populates parts of South Carolina and Georgia. The most famous Gullah horror stories usually center on Boo Hags, a type of blood- red vampire that wears human skin as a mask and feeds on its victim’s energy while they sleep. Most Haunted Place: the Dock Street Theater. Charleston is full of buildings with a checkered past, and one of the most well known is surely the Dock Street Theater. Built in 1. 80. 9, the theater is said to be the home of two spirits. The first is Nettie, a poor prostitute who was killed near the theater after being struck by lightning. The other is the ghost of Junius Brutus Booth, an actor who is more famous today for being the father of John Wilkes Boothe, the man who killed Abraham Lincoln. Both spirits are said to wander the backstage area of the theater, and many workers and performers claim to have spotted them. Salem, Massachusetts. In 1. 69. 2, Salem, Mass. The trials soon escalated into mass hysteria, with townspeople vehemently accusing neighbors and acquaintances, almost all of them unmarried women, of being witches. Over 1. 50 people were arrested and charged, and as may as 1. Today, the town of Salem encourages its reputation as “Witch City, USA” and has one of the biggest Halloween celebrations in the country. Alongside the tourist shops and museums, though, stand several infamous ghost stories related to the witch trials. One in particular concerns Gallows Hill, the site of several hangings, which is said to be haunted by the spirits of the 1. Most Haunted Place: Joshua Ward House. Known as one of the most haunted houses in America, Joshua Ward House is built on the foundation of the home of George Corwin, the man who served as Sheriff during the Salem witch trials. Corwin is infamous for his role in the death of Giles Corey, a local man who was charged with witchcraft. When Corey refused to enter a plea in court, Corwin used an old English legal precedent and placed him under a board piled with rocks in order to coerce him into talking. Corey never relented, and was eventually crushed to death under the massive weight. To this day, many claim that Corey and Corwin, who is rumored to be buried beneath the foundation of his old home, haunt the Joshua Ward House. Chicago, Illinois. Thanks to its famous great fire and history of gangsters and underworld criminals like Al Capone, Chicago has developed quite a reputation for being haunted. The city has a number of well known ghost stories that are whispered among the locals each Halloween, and perhaps none is more famous that the story of Resurrection Mary. As the story goes, Mary was a young girl who was hit and killed by a car while leaving a dance hall with her boyfriend. She was buried in nearby Resurrection Cemetery, and ever since she can be periodically seen wandering the streets in her white burial dress, still trying to find her way back home.
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