#7 House of 1000 Corpses
When looking for a good horror movie, I tend to appreciate the mind fuck much more than the blood and gore. But if that movie can incorporate the blood and gore, then it's a homerun for me. Like I said, I don't know much, but to me this seems like it's just Rob Zombie's loose re-imagining of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I've never seen TCM, but I know I like the twisted mind of Rob Zombie and the way he can take situations and settings and make them scary without blood and guts and without the element of surprise.
#6 Stir of Echoes
Not so much of a horror movies but more of a psychotic thriller. One of Kevin Bacon's most underrated movies.
#5 The Ring
This is one of the first movies that kind of set off the modern era of horror. I may have received more of an impact from this movies based on the fact that I got to the theater late and sat front row. This is the first movie I can think of that used the loud staccato static sound coupled with images flashing that is synonymous with almost every horror movie now particularly in the trailers. Although there wasn't anything really visually horrifying about it, it was what you didn't see that was scary. Then the one part where you get a glimpse of what you were missing had a huge impact. Not to mention the video itself was disturbing. I did make sure every light in the house was on and played a lot of video games to clear my mind when I got home.
#4 Thirteen Ghosts
I honestly couldn't tell you why I like this movie so much; it has so many things working against it.... Matthew Lillard, Shannon Elizabeth, Tony Shalhoub... But I think it's the variety of ghosts that I like the most. Kind of an odd-ball movie. Kinda cheesy. whatev...
#3 28 Days Later
This is one of those movies in recent memory that I watched multiple times, partly because I didn't have cable at the time, but still... A spin on the prototypical zombie. Zombies have the reputation of being slow and lethargic but 28 Days Later turned all that on its head and featured zombies that not only ran, but ran faster than you could and didn't tire.
#2 Saw
Just the original. Saw was definitely a change in direction for a horror movie. It was twisted and dark and sinister and had basically unknown actors. Had a great opening scene and an unforeseen ending that you couldn't have possibly predicted.
#1 The Shining
Classic movie, not just in the horror genre, but in all movies. You take the creepiness of an empty hotel, the out of the box directing of Stanley Kubrick, the brilliance of Jack Nicholson, a creepy kid, and the ugliness of Shelley Duvall, and you have the makings for a great scary movie. This is another one of those movies that seldom used blood and gore, thus making its imagery that much more powerful. It's the one movie that can still give me the chills no matter how many times I see it.
Now i know there are some obvious omissions; Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, The Exorcist, Poltergeist... but again, I'm just going based on my personal favorites and what I still find either creepy or scary.
Honorable Mentions - Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, The Hills Have Eyes, Hostel
