My Favourite Horror Movies by Decade

 I recently watched a video with James and Mike from Cinnemassacre, where they discussed their favourite horror films from each decade, from 1920's-2010's, and I started thinking what my own list would look like.   Some of my picks align with them, especially James as it seems he and I have very similar tastes in films.   Like them, the list would change obviously depending on my mood of the day, but I feel that these are the films that are pretty consistently on my top horror film lists.   Keep in mind that if your favourite horror film from each decade isn't on my list, that doesn't mean I don't love that film, and in some decades it was very hard to pick my top choice of the many to choose from.   I will choose two from each decade, and in some decades will include a couple that were honorable mentions, and depending on my mood of the day might even make the actual list. 

1920's:

The 1920's were not the first decade of horror films, as horror films have a history that go back as far as 1896, and horror predates the US domination of cinema as well, with many of the early films being French, German, Japanese, and from the UK.   I will be honest, I haven't had a chance to be exposed to many of the pre-1920's horror films, and honestly even my exposure to the 1920's horror films is quite limited.   I do love the silent era of films, and it is amazing seeing the special effects make-up, that was commonly applied by the actors of time, rather than by make-up effects artists.  Lon Chaney Sr. for example was a master of Silent Era horror, and his special effects make-up is still amazing to behold.  Though there are amazing films with Lon Chaney Sr. to choose from, my two picks for the 1920s are The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari from 1920, and Nosferatu from 1922.   Both of my picks are silent films from Germany, and are examples of German Expressionist style.   The German Expressionist style is a style that highly influenced the art in films by director Tim Burton.  I chose these films because of the atmosphere of other-worldly horror that they create, these films disturb the viewer on a deep level, as they are set in a dark and twisted version of the world that we live in, making them feel like we are watching a dream or in the case of these two films a nightmare, and I feel like them being silent further makes them feel unreal and nightmarish, because I can honestly say that in my nightmares, it is more about imagery, and not dialogue.   These two films are must see films, for anyone who is a fan of the horror genre, and even nearly one hundred years after their release, they still work as terrifying films, and are as effective now as they were when they were made. 

1930's  

The 1930's might be my favourite decade of horror films, that is where we saw the birth of the Universal Monsters starting with Dracula and Frankenstein in 1931.  I would say that this was the true golden age of horror.  My top pics for the 1930s is Dracula from 1931 starring Bela Lugosi, and Son of Frankenstein from 1939, where we would see Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Basil Rathbone all together in what is in my opinion the best of the Frankenstein franchise (followed closely by Bride of Frankenstein).    

Dracula, from 1931 starred Bela Lugosi as the suave titular character, and also starred Dwight Frye as the deranged Renfield.  Not only is this my favourite film from the 1930s, but also my favourite film of all-time.  This film is one of the early talkies and it has very little as far as music or background sound, and that helps to create this dark and creepy atmosphere.  I think that is what made the early horror films work so well, is their atmosphere, and Atmosphere is something that Dracula had no shortage of.   Also unlike the other monsters, Dracula is sexy, there is this erotic quality to Bela Lugosi as the enchanting Count.

Son of Frankenstein, which came at the end of the 1930's in 1939 has an all-star cast with horror legends like Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Basil Rathbone, who over the years had become some of the biggest names in the genre, though their series of horror films for Universal.   Though there were other greats in the Frankenstein series, I feel that the writing as well as the casting was at it's best on Son of Frankenstein, and I feel in the films that followed it went downhill, as Universal began try to squeeze every dollar out of the monsters with the monster mash films that would come in the 1940s. Even though, I do love Frankenstein, and Bride of Frankenstein, as they are both amazing films, I encourage you all to check out Son Of Frankenstein, as I feel that is where the franchise was at its best. 

Like I said, the 1930s were my favourite decade of horror, and I feel that I need to mention the 1931 Todd Browning film, Freaks, which is a controversial film that used actual sideshow freaks as characters.   I love this film, and I love that the heroes of the film are the "freaks", and the "normal" people are the villains, and I feel like that speaks to the outsider part of me who has always felt different and outside.  Freaks would also go on to inspire the punk rock band the Ramones as the basis for their chant "Gabba Gabba", from the "Gooble Gobble, we accept you" chant in the film.   Another honourable mention is the 1932 retelling of HG Wells' Island of Dr Moreau, The Island of Lost Souls.   Just a year after becoming a huge star as Dracula, Bela Lugosi was beginning to be shunned by the industry and rarely being cast as anything more than supporting roles, one of those films where Lugosi is a supporting actor is in the haunting Island Of Lost Souls, this film would later go on to be a huge inspiration for the punk rock band Devo, whose chant "Are we not men, we are Devo" was inspired by a repeated line spoken by Lugosi this film.   

1940's:

In the 1940's horror was become more focused on science fiction, however my two picks for the 1940s,, The Wolfman from 1941 and Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein from 1948, which wrapped up the original Universal Monster films, as horror was preparing to enter into the atomic age.   

The Wolfman from 1941 stars one of my favourite actors, Lon Chaney Jr as Larry Talbot, who is cursed to become the Wolfman.   This film also co-stars Claude Raines who was The Invisible Man, and Bela Lugosi who we have already talked about, and by this time in his career Universal was only casting him in bit roles, in this film he plays a "Gypsy" named Bela, and who is only in the film very briefly.     I love the sadness of The Wolfman, he was a gentle man, who was turned into a monster when he was attacked by a werewolf, rather than the other monsters, The Wolfman and Frankenstein's monster are both very tragic monsters, and I feel like that is what works so well about both of them, and why I feel that The Wolfman is my favourite film from the 1940s.   This film brings in a human element of sadness to the creature, and in every Universal film that he would appear in again in the 1940s he was continuing to search for a cure to the curse.   I think that this is the film that really made me appreaciate Lon Chaney Jr as an actor.

Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a monster mash that would see Lon Chaney Jr again reprising his role as The Wolfman (he by the way is the only monster to have been played by the same actor in every film in the franchise), Bela Lugosi would finally wear the cape again as Dracula, and Glen Strange would reprise his role as the Frankenstein Monster in his second to last film.  I love the marriage of comedy in horror in this film, the comedic styling of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello actually work for me, which is surprising, as I am not usually a fan of over the top comedy, but they do really well with situational comedy.   This fil also holds up as monster movie as well, with a decent story, they also did really well when they met The Mummy in Abbot and Costello Meet The Mummy, and the Invisible Man in Abbot and Costello Meet the Invisible Man.   This film will always be one of my favourites from the era. 

1950's:

The 1950's were a big time for the horror genre as we were settling into the atomic age.   This is the decade of the big creature films, with atomic age monsters ruling the big screen, this was also the age of the invaders from space, as we shift from the classic monsters of the early days of horror to the modern monsters of the space age.   This was a very hard decade to pick a favourite from.   

My first pick for the 1950s is Invasion Of The Body Snatchers from 1956, based on the 1954 Jack Finney novel of the same name.  This was an amazing science fiction/horror film that would see several remakes over the years, though I still feel that the 1956 version is the best version of the Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, and does that best at capturing the feeling of the novel.   I like the horror created when the monster looks just like us and we can no longer tell who is safe anymore.  This creates an element of paranoia and fear.  

My other pick for the 1950's is The House On Haunted Hill, from 1959 that stars Vincent Price.  

House On Haunted Hill is a campy horror film from William Castle, and a film that is still enjoyable upon every re-watching.    I love the films where Vincent Price can let his humorous side shine through, because though he is often cast as a dark villain, he is said to have been a really kind and light humored person.  I think this stands out as one of my favourite Vincent Price films, and also one of my favourite films from the 1950s, as it takes the classic horror theme of the old dark house and infuses it with a bit of humour and camp, which makes for a really fun and enjoyable film to watch. 

The 1950s, as I said, were a hard decade to choose from, and I feel it is important to mention three great films from 1954, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, Godzilla, and Bride Of The Monster.   The Creature from the Black Lagoon will always be one of my favourite monster films, and it was hard to not choose it as one of my top two of the decade.   As a kid Godzilla was my favourite film franchise, I loved the idea of a giant monsterous lizard created as a result of the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan during World War II, and it was really the film that turned me on to Japanese cinema as a kid, and the Godzilla franchise is still a huge part of pop-culture.  Then Bride Of The Monster, the film that I though was the best of the Ed Wood films, it was so nice seeing Bela Lugosi as the star in a monster movie.   For all of the trash that was spoken of Ed Wood, Bride Of The Monster was really a great classic monster film, with Bela Lugosi as the mad scientist and Tor Johnson as the monster.   This film is also a testament of how much a love and passion for making films is more important than having skills and money.    But I will be talking much much more about Ed Wood in the future.

1960's

The 1960's saw horror getting more graphic, as audiences seemed less content to be scared by atmosphere and classic monsters, as the films were becoming more independent and focused on gory horror.  Though the two that I chose as my favourite, one relies almost entirely on atmosphere, and the other is the film that completely changed how film goers would see zombies.

My favourite horror film from the 1960's is the 1962 independent horror film Carnival Of Souls.  Interestingly enough Rob Zombie almost named his band after this film, before instead choosing White Zombie.  I first remember seeing this film with my mum when I was a kid, and really falling in love with it.  This is an atmospherically and psychological horror film, which doesn't rely so much on monsters or scary people, but rather on atmosphere, creepy music, and confusion.   I think that this film really works, and it helped to usher in a new generation of independent film makers.   The film starred Candace Hilligoss, and was one of only three films that she was in, which is a shame because she played the role so well in this film.   Interestingly enough due to errors in filing copyrights, Carnival Of Souls went almost instantly into public domain.   

Speaking of public domain, my other top pic for the 1950s is Night of the Living Dead from 1958, which also went almost instantly into public domain because of errors in filing copyrights.   This independent film from George Romero, revolutionized zombie films, though the film never once calls the undead zombies, but rather ghouls.  Many of the rules about how to kill zombies, by shooting them in the head originated in this classic.  This might be one of the best zombie films to date, and it broke a lot of rules, including having the main hero of the film be a black man, who unlike in many films is intelligent, well spoken, and lives throughout the duration of the film, and is never used as comic relief.  This film also broke grounds as far as gore in films, showing the ghouls tearing out the entrails of a victim and fighting over them, and even worse a child eating her mother.   Definitely on the list of best horror films ever. 

1970's:

The 1970's were another really hard decade to choose two favourite films from.  The 1970s was a decade where films were getting much more darker, and more graphic, with the stories taking a deeper more complex tone, and with the violence much gorier.  It was the decade of exploitation films and the birth of the modern slasher films.  Some of the greatest modern horror films were from the 1970's.  

My favourite 1970's horror film is The Wicker Man from 1973, which starred Hammer Horror legend Christopher Lee, as well as Edward Woodword.  This was a British horror film that focused on an isolated island community that had forsaken Christianity for ancient an ancient Pegan religion.  The film is beautifully done, and to a respectable degree is faithful in its description of the Celtic May Day celebrations, but of course taking a much darker turn to create a thrilling climax.  This film along with my other top pic of the 1970's take a look at the darker sides of religions, which was something of a trend in the 1970s, with films like The Wicker Man, The 

Omen, and of course my second pick for favourite horror film of the 1970's, which is The Exorcist.  The Exorcist is a film about a young girl named Regan, played by Linda Blair who is possessed by a demon, and a priest, Father Karras, whose faith is waivering, who performs an exorcist on her.  I remember watching this film at five years old with my mum, and this being the first film to truly terrify me.  I also remember being amazed by the talent of Linda Blair, and as a kid a I had a big crush on her, even though she was so terrifying in the film.   This is the one film from the 1970's that has always stuck with me, and a film that to this day still terrifies me.  A few other films from the 1970's that must be mentioned as honourable mentions for my favourite horror films of the decade would include Dawn of the Dead and Halloween from 1978, and Alien from 1979, all three of these films were groundbreaking films in the horror genre, either pushing the boundaries of horror, or taking the genre in bold new directions, and are must see films of anyone who loves the genre. 

1980's:

The 1980's were a great decade for horror, as we begin the modern age of horror, the 1980's were dominated with the slasher film with franchises like Halloween, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare on Elm Street dominating the genre.  Also in the 1980's we began to see great horror comedies becoming popular as the genre started spoofing itself, with Troma's releases like Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke 'Em High, and Sargent Kabuki Man, as well as more kid friendly horror films like Monster Squad and similar films.  And then of course Stephen King was dominating the horror genre in both book and film.   My favourite film from the 1980's is Pet Sematary from 1989, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King.  The film is set and filmed right here in my home-state of Maine, and has a cameo by King himself.   The film was perfectly cast with Fred Gwynne (famous for playing Herman Munster in the Munsters), Denise Crosby (who played in Star Trek The Next Generation), and amazing child actor Miko Hughes as Gage Creed one of the most terrify and amazing child-monsters I have ever seen in a film.  This film was faithful to the tone of the novel, and I have even been to some of the filming locations around Hancock Maine, including the house that the film was set at.   This has always been one of my favourite films. 

My other pick for favourite horror film from the 1980's is Return of the Living Dead, which failing to secure the copyright for Night Of The Dead, the "of the Living Dead" series took a comedic path, with the 1985 Return Of The Living Dead.  This is the film that introduced us to brain eating zombies, and references Romero's original film as well, making itself an alternative sequel series to Night Of The Living Dead.   I loved this film, from the soundtrack with bands like The Cramps, The Damned, and 45 Grave, and the amazing cheesy acting, and the punk rock girl getting naked in a cemetery for absolutely no reason, but it all just adds to the great cheesy 80's feel, and this is a film that never dares to take itself too seriously.   I just love everything about this film, it just sums up my favourite parts of the 1980's.

A few other films make the list of honorable mentions for the 1980's include Killer Klowns From Outer Space from 1988, which is a great example of the comedic horror of the 1980s, and it's paying homage to The Blob.   I also loved Maximum Overdrive from  1986, and yes, I know that many folks, even Stephen King fans, consider this a terrible film, but to me it was pure magic.  It had a great sound track by ACDC, and a great cast, and Stephen King's cameo always cracks me up ("Honey, this machine just called me an asshole").

1990's

The 1990's, I would consider where the modern era of horror really began, there were modern takes on classic monsters with films like Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, as well as the birth of the found footage trend, and the modern teen horror with films like Scream, and I Know What You Did Last Summer becoming very popular.   My favourite film of the 1990's is Frances Ford Coppola's version of the classic vampire in Bram Stoker's Dracula from 1992.   The film featured a young cast of actors including Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves, Carey Elwes, and Gary Oldman, as well as screen legend Anthony Hopkins.   Many consider the casting of Keanu Reeves as a bad choice, and originally it was proposed that Johnny Depp play the role of Johnathan Harker, but it was decided that Depp was too much of an unknown, and Reeves was cast in an attempt to draw in the teenage crowd.  Before this film he was known for roles in Bill and Ted, and though yes, he was a bit out of his league and his British accent was pretty bad, I think for the most part he works in the role.  The film is absolutely beautiful and the artistic telling of the story is what makes it truly one of my all-time favourite films.   This not only is one of my favourite horror films from the 1990's, but is one of my favourite films ever. 

Me second favourite horror film from the 1990's is the 1990 televion

miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's It.  The 90's saw a lot of amazing film adaptations of Stephen King's works, including The Stand, The Shining, and Tommyknockers, but as nearly perfect as the Shining was, I would say that It is the one that really stands out as not only the best, but the most iconic.  The casting of the film was so perfect, especially in the casting of Tim Curry as the evil clown Pennywise, and the casting of the kids is one of the best ensemble casts I've seen. 

The 1990's had several other great horror films, but one in particular that I wanted to mention was the 1999 The Blaire Witch Project, which popularized the "found footage" style of horror films.   This film broke so many grounds, especially with its internet marketing, and the amazing ability that it truly did convince so many people that it was real.   Definitely a film from that decade that must be mentioned.  

2000's

The 2000's bring us into the modern age of horror, and I will honestly say that I don't appreciate it as much as I did the classic eras of horror, though that being said there are still some great films from the 2000's.   I think my favourite film from the 2000's is the 2008 Swedish film Let The Right One In, based on the novel of the same name by John Aivide Lindqvist.   There was an American version of the film called Let Me in released a few years later, which I feel was quite disapointing compared to the original Swedish film.   This is a beautiful vampire movie set in the 1980s, about a young vampire, who befriends a young boy, and in its own way is a beautiful love story, that can teach us all a bit about acceptance of those different from us, and also is a great story of acceptance of a non-binary gender, and loving that person even if they aren't a "boy" or a "girl", all the while being an amazing horror story.

My second pick for the 2000's is the 2003 film House Of 1000 Corpses by Rob Zombie (the singer for the metal band White Zombie, which took their name from the Bela Lugosi film of the same name. 

When I was in highschool I remember Rob Zombie hosting horror films on the Sy-Fy channel one Halloween, and that is where I first watched some of my favourite films like Carnival Of Souls.   I knew from him hosting films that year, that he had good tastes in horror films, so I was really excited when I found out he was making a horror film of his own.   The originality of the film is not what makes it great, because on the surface it just seems like a rip-off of horror films that we've already seen, but that is what makes this film so great.   Through this film Rob Zombie pays homage to exploitation horror films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and he does a hell of a job.   I loved how over the top and fun, while also disturbing this film was, and it is definitely one of the films that stands out in the 2000's era of horror films.   

Another film I wanted to mention is the 2008 Japanese gory revenge film The Machine Girl, this film is from Tokyo Shock, and the creators of films like Tokyo Gore Police.  I love these over the top Japanese films, and this one is one of my favourites.  Japanese gore horror is a genre that I am definitely finding myself getting more and more into, they are bad in all the best ways.

2010's

As much as I was finding my self not real excited about the 2000's era horror films, I have noticed a trend in the 2010's of horror beginning an new era, with new and exciting ideas, that are continuing to push the boundaries of horror films.  Though at the same time, there is the terrible trend right now of remaking classic films, which I have much less interest in watching a remake/reboot of a classic film, I would much rather see people come up with something new.   I think the best of the current generation of horror films would be A Quiet Place, released in 2018.  This film breaks new ground in horror, as being a film where the primary language spoken in the film is ASL, and one of the main actresses is hearing impaired, rather than casting a person that can hear to play the role.  This film comes from the mind of of John Krasinski (from the American version of the television show The Office), and this is a monster movie for the new generation.  The monsters can't see or smell, and hunt purely by sound, so the family of survivors has to adapt their life to being one without making noise, which includes speaking aloud.  I love what he did with this film, and I can honestly say that this is a film I saw multiple times in the theater when it came out. 

My next pick for best horror film of the 2010's is 2019's Us.   Us, directed by Jordan Peele, is a 

refreshingly new concept of a horror film, and told from a perspective that we don't hear from enough in horror films, which is the perspective of a black person.  Jordan Peele said in an interview that he doesn't cast white people in the leading roles of his films because "we've already seen that film".   He's right we, have seen thousands of horror movies about white people, we have seen so often that people of colour are cast as supporting roles, or background characters, and so often they are among the first to die in horror films, so it is amazing not only seeing that stereotype being smashed by Peele in his films, but we are seeing a new style of horror film where a black voice is being heard, and not just exploited.   Then on top of that this is a really great film, it is a true horror film, that doesn't have to rely on stereotypes and gore to be truly terrifying.  The film has the premise that everyone has a mirror image that lives in the underground all over the world, and that one of them found their way to the top, and made contact with their mirror image above.   This film is really well done, and another one that I had to watch multiple times, to pick up on all of the great twists that the plot had.  Definitely one of the beset films from the decade.

Other 2010 films that bare mentioning are, Gerald's Game (based on a Stephen King novel of the same name) from 2017, The psychological madness of 2019's The Lighthouse, and the 2015 gory horror film The Green Room about a punk band that gets booked at a Neo-Nazi venue in Oregon where all hell breaks loose when something goes seriously wrong.    

I feel like based on the horror films that we saw coming out at the last half of the 2010's that there is a good future for the genre, if only we can continue to magnify the voices of film makers who care about telling a good horror story, rather than focusing on what will make the companies large profits.   As much as I love all things Stephen King, we didn't need a remake of Pet Sematary, we didn't need a new version of It that completely shit all over the book in the second half, we don't need remakes and reboots, there are so many new ideas that should be made into films, that we don't need to remake the Invisible Man, or reboot The Mummy, because let's be honest those aren't good movies.   If you want to see something good, look at some of the independent companies like A24, they are releasing some amazing new horror films like VVitch, Midsommer, Heredity, as well as a few of my top picks for the 2010s.   So horror has a bright future a head of it, and hopefully more independent companies will rise to the top, because the great films will be coming from there rather than the big corporations.   

I hope you've enjoyed my list, and I hope maybe it will inspire you to make your own list.  The past 1000 years has had some amazing films in it, and I am excited to see what lies ahead.