The horror genre is one of the longest and most prominent in cinema. From their original intent of tapping into the adrenal glands and primal instincts of human beings, they have evolved to include relevant social commentary about certain abstract or non-physical horrors that human beings have created or are afflicted with. As a result, they have become better than just cheap scares from a screen.
The other side of the coin, however, is not that stellar. Suffice to say, there has been a rather balanced serving of good and bad horror movies. There are those which all critics unanimously like and those which none of them did. Here are five examples of each based on Rotten Tomatoes' critic score.
BEST: LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (98%)
If you're a Hollywood horror fan, you most likely have seen Let Me In, a vampire horror movie where a boy befriends a vampire girl and forms a romantic relationship with her. That was just a remake of the Swedish film, Let the Right One In; now, the general consensus is that the original is notably better and the critics and audience say so.
Both of them follow pretty much the same story but Let The Right One In handles its premise a lot better. What makes the film more special is that the horror genre doesn't usually get genuinely scary and tragic vampire movies (you can thank Stephenie Meyer for that), which makes this vampire horror film also the best in its subgenre.
WORST: PLAYBACK (0%)
Playback (2012) is a mixed bag. If you were to go to its Rotten Tomatoes page, you'll see huge discrepancy since no critic likes it but around 76 percent of the audience does. That most likely means it's a film for the masses primarily as it borrows elements heavily from already established horror franchises like The Ring, primarily.
The film is basically about a demon that possessed a hapless young man who then was given the power to kill anyone through video playbacks. While the concept can be intriguing, many critics think the execution fell short of the filmmaker's ambition, leading to the worst score possible.
BEST: THE VANISHING (98%)
True horror is managing to scare the audience without any visible use of blood, gore, or overt violence, contrary to most horror movie tropes these days. Pure psychological dread and terrifying characters are what propelled The Vanishing (1988) to the top of the Rotten Tomatoes list.
It's a simple murder story involving a man and his missing girlfriend. As it turns out, she was killed by someone else, and this psychopath even accompanied the man and gradually unveiled to him what he did with his girlfriend. The film explores the nature of evil and obsession so hauntingly familiar that it made up for the lack of any blatant frights.
WORST: MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE (0%)
Even classic films are not exempt from poor criticism it seems. Manos: The Hands of Fate from 1966, is not only considered as one of the worst horror movies ever but also one of the worst films of all time. Even the audience does not like it, though there were some outliers.
Anyway, the film chronicled the misfortune of a family who was on a vacation. The three of them got lost and happened upon cultists who serve the "god of primal darkness" Manos. The worst part is that the cult leader wants to wife to be his and that they also use severed human hands as a sacrifice. Too bad not even that gimmick could save the film.
BEST: ALIENS (99%)
Sequels with different directors usually don't work half the time but Aliens is an exception. James Cameron took the helm of the franchise from Ridley Scott and turned the franchise's already established slow-burn tension into a proper horror-action flick complete with his trademark production value.
This time around, the Xenomorphs were praying on fully-trained soldiers instead of a doomed ship crew which somehow even made them more terrifying. It was a worthy sequel to the Alien film and solidifies Sigourney Weaver as one of the strongest female leads in film history.
WORST: THE ANGRY RED PLANET (0%)
Despite being an older film than Manos: Hands of Fate, The Angry Red Planet (1959) was also apparently a huge flop. It was a boring and gimmicky B-movie about outer space monsters and cashing in on the idea of whether there is life on Mars or not.
Well, according to the film, there are beings on Mars and they were all viewable in Cinemagic! The whole film is basically like watching a 1950s circus through a screen but with fake creatures and even faker emotions curtained by high-pitched screams and annoying drums to make the silly store-bought Halloween decoration creatures look decent.
BEST: THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (100%)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, despite being a silent film (no spoken dialogue), is revolutionary for many reasons. It was perhaps the first film to use twist ending so common in many horror movies in the 21st century. Moreover, this film was hailed as the most influential German Expressionist movie, a film movement that influenced Tim Burton's style (i.e. Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, The Nightmare Before Christmas).
Last but not least, it's was released in 1920 back in a time when cinema was just at its infancy. The film is about a series of murders perpetrated by a hypnotist and his somnambulist (sleepwalker) where every town the circus duo visits are beset by murders. Make sure to rewatch the remaster of this relatively unknown gem.
WORST: STRANDED (0%)
One of the biggest crimes of a horror movie is the lack of character development or any emotional weight attached to the characters. More often than not, they're fodder characters anyway, which is probably why they're not developed much. Stranded is likely the worst example of this movie sin.
It's about a group of astronauts who got stranded in a moon base after a meteor storm. Unsurprisingly, the meteor storm introduced a shapeshifting alien creature in their base. Apart from that Hollywood cliche, you'll be hard-pressed to find anything or anyone to care about in Stranded.
BEST: THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (100%)
Like Aliens, The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) is a sequel that sured the original critically. It's a follow-up to 1931's original and culturally groundbreaking Frankenstein movie (the one with Boris Karloff). Karloff reprises his role here as Frankenstein's monster and somehow survives the windmill fire at the end of the first movie.
In The Bride of Frankenstein, Frankenstein's monster is now out to find a wife of his own. Oh, and Dr. Frankenstein is also forced to enact his evil genius experiment again in order to create the perfect bride for his monster. Many consider this sequel as one of the greatest achievements of the horror genre.
WORST: BUTCHER BOYS (0%)
One would think that the creation of one of the men behind the writing of the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre wouldn't be in the "worst" half of this list, but unfortunately for him, Butcher Boys is a critical failure of a cannibal film.
It utilizes the standard exhaustive trope of a gang of young adults getting kidnapped and toyed with like animals by cannibals. Even as Butcher Boys borrowed many elements from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it was still doomed to failure with a disproportionate second half and a lack of horror movie bite.
