My Top 10 Favorite Horror Movies/Franchises

If you're a fan of horror then you are sure to have already heard of most of these movies. I've gone through and picked out my top 10 favorites of all time. This list ranges everywhere from slasher to vampire to zombie. The movies on this list will be from 1974 to 2005. The reason being that I've always enjoyed more classic horror than modern horror. For each movie I'll give a short description. The movies are not ranked in any order specifically.

'Friday the 13th' (1980)

I can't pick just one Friday the 13th movie since there are about 10 in the entire franchise. However, I can tell you that in my opinion after about movie four they start to lose quality. This franchise is all about a young boy who drowned while at camp. This boy's name was Jason Voorhees. In short, Jason comes back to the camp that he drowned at, camp crystal lake, to make sure no camp counselors or teenagers decide to camp there. You could say that his motive is to get back at the counselors who let him drown years ago. Anyone who steps foot on the grounds of camp crystal lake usually pretty quickly dies an untimely death. I would recommend this movie if you're a fan of older slasher movies that are just a tiny bit cheesy.

'A Nightmare On Elm Street' (1984)

This is another franchise that would be too hard to pick a favorite out of the entire series of movies. Like Friday the 13th, and basically any other movie franchise alike, A Nightmare On Elm Street also falls victim to losing it's quality as the series progressed. Don't get me wrong every movie is still enjoyable to watch, it's just that the movies start to become extremely unrealistic (even more unrealistic than they already are). A Nightmare On Elm Street was unlike any other of it's time. This franchise follows a child predator who was burned to death by the neighborhood parents. The main character, or villain, in A Nightmare On Elm Street is Freddy Kruger. Freddy comes back, not in a person but in teenagers dreams. At first he scares the kids but then it turns out when you die in your dream you die in real life. As you can tell, this would be one horror movie villain who isn't so easy to kill. Also, what sets Freddy aside from a lot of other slasher killers is he actually talks to the kids instead of breathing heavily behind a mask. I would highly recommend this franchise if you haven't seen it yet, it's a timeless classic and Freddy throws in some hilarious insults and punch lines throughout every movie.

'Scream' (1996)

Yet again another franchise, except this time I can pretty confidently say that the quality of these movies stays pretty consistent throughout every movie. This was the first real horror movie I ever watched when I was a young kid and it scared the pants off of me. Watching it as an adult, not so scary, but still entertaining and captivating. This franchise follows a masked killer known as ghost face. Unlike most slashers, in every movie the identity of ghost face is different. This keeps it exciting because you can try to find out who it is. Basically, ghost face will call someone and ask them a series of questions about scary movies. If you get the questions right you live, if you get the questions wrong you die. Or so that's how he brands him or herself, because in the end the only option is usually death. Each movie in the series is centered around a girl named Sidney Prescott whom ghost face is mainly after. In every movie Sidney needs to try to fight to survive and figure out who is doing this to her. I would recommend this movie to someone who likes more suspenseful thrillers, and be ready for a lot of plot twists that will blow your mind.

'The Lost Boys' (1987)

Okay, so lots of people don't consider this movie to be horror, but I give it a special pass, especially because when it came out it was branded as horror. This is probably my favorite movie out of every genre out there. The Lost Boys is a timeless classic in my book and never gets old. If you're looking for a movie that is actually scary I would not recommend it. If you're looking for a movie that's interesting and will win your heart over I would recommend this movie. There is a lot of cheesy comedy and scenes that they definitely could've gone without but something about this movie is just so good. The Lost Boys follows two brothers who have been relocated to Santa Carla, California after their parents get divorced to live with their mom and grandfather. The boys quickly realize that this town is not so normal. The older brother Micheal befriends some dirt bike riding vampires, while the younger brother Sam befriends two kids trying to hunt vampires. This movie is the peak of 1980s fashion and cinematography. It may be a little corny but it is totally worth the watch.

'Halloween' (1978)

Halloween is another slasher franchise from the late 1970s. Halloween is another timeless classic that is played on television for basically the whole month of October. Halloween follows the killer Michael Myers who is very insistent on finding his sister and killing her. As a boy Michael killed his oldest sister Judith on Halloween and was admitted into a mental institution. When he was all grown up he escaped the mental hospital and came back to his home in Haddonfield, New Jersey to kill his sister Laurie Strode. This whole franchise is about how Michael comes back every Halloween to try to kill Laurie, and how she has to fight for her life. The plot may seem boring but the movie keeps you interested the whole way through. I would recommend this movie if you like classic slasher movies.

'The Devil's Rejects' (2005)

This is the most modern movie to make the list. The Devil's Rejects comes from the sick and twisted mind of Rob Zombie. I could have put all of Zombie's movies on this list but instead I picked my favorite. This movie follows a family of fugitives running from the police. The Firefly family is a group of people who love killing, kidnapping, and torturing innocent people. This is the second movie that follows the Firefly family, this time they are wanted for previous crimes. They end up taking a family band hostage with really no motive except they needed to ditch their car and escape, so they stole their vehicle they were touring in. They didn't just steal the vehicle they stole the people too. Basically, if you like movies with a lot of gore, and by a lot I mean A LOT, and you don't have a problem with really demented disturbing images, The Devil's Rejects is for you.

'The Shining' (1980)

This movie comes from the imagination from the novel of Stephen King. First, I will start off by stating that I would really recommend reading the book before watching the movie. Without reading the book there are a lot of open ends and lots of things won't make sense. There's nothing worse than feeling confuse by a movie and needing answers. However, if you do decide to watch this movie without reading the book it is still a good movie. I won't give too much away, but the main character Jack Torrance and his family move to the Stanley hotel because Jack accepted a job to take care of the hotel during the off season. The previous keeper of the hotel supposedly went crazy from cabin fever and killed his whole family. I'll leave the rest up to you to figure out.

'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974)

This movie was a complete game changer. Nothing like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre existed at the time it came out. This movie shook the country and struck fear into the hearts of thousands of people. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows a family of cannibals who kill and eat people. The main character referred to as Leatherface, is infamous for using a chainsaw as his weapon of choice. Leatherface is the one who goes out and finds the victims, then he acts as a butcher, but for people. The movie starts when a group of teenagers are on their way to a concert when their car breaks down. They slowly start getting weeded out one by one. Will anyone survive? That's up for you to find out. I will have to say that this movie takes a while to take off but when it does it gets really good. I would, however, recommend the second movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 because it is more fast-paced and very thrilling.

'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)

The Silence of the Lambs is more of a thriller, crime movie than a horror. Although there are definitely elements of horror and deeply disturbing elements. This movie follows an agent named Clarice Starling in her pursuit to find a man that has been killing and skinning overweight women. In her efforts to catch this man who is referred to as "Buffalo Bill," she seeks help from another serial killer, Hannibal Lecter. Hannibal Lecter is a very intelligent doctor who just so happens to like to kill and eat people, but in a classy manner. This movie is captivating and although is is highly disturbing it will keep you interested and engaged all the way through.

'The Evil Dead' (1981)

This movie was one of the originals that started the plot where a group of teenagers goes to a isolated cabin for a trip and things start to go horribly wrong. Things start to take a turn for the worst when the group goes into the cellar and finds an old book that clearly looks evil. For some reason they decide to open it up and start reading it. Seriously? Yes, seriously. After reading the book aloud the dead start to return to life around them. There are a lot of elements to this movie including possession, creepy creatures and lots and lots of gore. This movie was very different than other movies in it's time period and remains one of the best of it's kind. I would recommend this movie if you don't mind lots of blood and gore.