Fright, fear, terror, disgust or horror. These are the emotions scary movies are meant for. Early horror films often drew inspiration from characters and stories from classic literature, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolf Man, The Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Later horror films, in contrast, often drew inspiration from the insecurities of life since World War Two, giving rise to the three distinct, but related, subgenres of the horror-of-personality film, the horror-of-Armageddon film, and the horror-of-the-demonic film. Ever wondered what the best movies of this genre are? Here is the list, based on the viewers’ votes.

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Cast:
Anthony Perkins - Norman Bates
Janet Leigh - Marion Crane
Vera Miles - Lila Crane
John Gavin - Sam Loomis
Martin Balsam - Detective Milton Arbogast
John McIntire - Sheriff Al Chambers

Alfred Hitchcock’s powerful, complex psychological thriller, Psycho (1960) is the “mother” of all modern horror suspense films - it single-handedly ushered in an era of inferior screen ’slashers’ with blood-letting and graphic, shocking killings (e.g., Homicidal (1961), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974),  Halloween (1978), Motel Hell (1980), and DePalma’s Dressed to Kill (1980) -  with another transvestite killer and shower scene). While this was Hitchcock’s first real horror film, he was mistakenly labeled as a horror film director ever since.

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Cast:
Tom Skerritt - Dallas
Sigourney Weaver - Ripley
Veronica Cartwright - Lambert
Harry Dean Stanton - Brett
John Hurt - Kane
Ian Holm – Ash

Alien (1979) is 20th Century Fox’s extremely suspenseful, space science-fiction horror film about a menacing, unstoppable, carnivorous, stowaway, hermaphroditic Demon beast. The grisly, claustrophobic, action-oriented film without a lot of dialogue contains some very suspenseful, tension-filled moments (deliberately drawn out with slow pacing), visceral thrills and shocks, and special effects and visual effects techniques.

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Cast:
Jack Nicholson - Jack Torrance
Shelley Duvall - Wendy Torrance
Danny Lloyd - Danny Torrance
Scatman Crothers - Dick Hallorann
Barry Nelson - Stuart Ullman
Philip Stone - Delbert Grady
Joe Turkel - Lloyd the Bartender

The Shining is, without doubt, one of Stanley Kubrick’s undisputed masterpieces and a true classic in horror cinema. It is a film that, over the course of the years, has managed to scare the living hell out of its audiences (and still does). The film is an adaptation of Stepehen King’s original novel, written in the late ’70s, and although the film is not very loyal to the book, it still stands as a thing of its own.

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Cast:
Sigourney Weaver - Ellen Ripley
Carrie Henn - Rebecca ‘Newt’ Jorden
Michael Biehn - Cpl. Dwayne Hicks
Lance Henriksen - Bishop
Paul Reiser - Carter Burke
Bill Paxton - Pvt. Hudson

James Cameron is an extremely talented action director because not only does he know great action, but he always backs the action up with a great story and interesting characters. Aliens is his finest achievement, as far as I’m concerned. Of course, I should specify: Aliens Special Edition is his finest achievement.

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