Scary, Shocking, Gory, Weird & Sexy: Heart of Terror

By Steve Hutchison

Here's a selection of 200 horror and horror-adjacent movies. They are ranked, rated, and reviewed by critic Steve Hutchison. All movies are considered scary, shocking, gory, weird, and sexy. How many have you seen? Let's get down and dirty!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Hutchison
• Release date: Feb 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781778870859

Steve Hutchison

Artist, developer and entrepreneur in film, video games and communications Steve Hutchison co-founded Shade.ca Art and Code in 1999, then Terror.ca and its French equivalent Terreur.ca in 2000. With his background as an artist and integrator, Steve worked on such games as Capcom's Street Fighter, PopCap's Bejeweled, Tetris, Bandai/Namco's Pac-Man and Mattel's Skip-Bo & Phase 10 as a localization manager, 2-D artist and usability expert. Having acquired skills in gamification, he invented a unique horror movie review system that is filterable, searchable and sortable by moods, genres, subgenres and antagonists. Horror movie fans love it, and so do horror authors and filmmakers, as it is a great source of inspiration. In March 2013, Steve launched Tales of Terror, with the same goals in mind but with a much finer technology and a complex engine, something that wasn’t possible initially. He has since published countless horror-themed books.

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Tales of Terror’s

Heart of Terror 2020

Scary, Shocking, Gory, Weird & Sexy

INTRODUCTION

Here’s a selection of 200 horror and horror-adjacent movies, ranked, rated, and reviewed by critic Steve Hutchison.

All movies are considered scary, shocking, gory, weird, and sexy.

Let’s get down and dirty!

#1

The Shining

1980

Secluded in a remote hotel for the winter, a family is terrorized by ghosts.

8/8

The Shining is the ultimate ghost movie. It is not only about the dead coming back, but about vice, mental illness and human evil. It is a slow burn that never gets boring because when nothing happens, photography does. It is among Kubrick’s best work and one of the best horror movies ever made. The hotel is a dense psychedelic labyrinth, and the script follows the same theme and logic.

Fans of thrillers get a thick depiction of family violence caused by alcoholism and supernatural lovers get scary ghosts. When mental illness and seclusion are gradually added to the equation, claustrophobia takes a new meaning. This is a long feature that constantly foreshadows, setting a stressful and uncomfortable tone that is as efficient psychologically as it is viscerally.

The set design is right out of a nightmare. The actors are so vigorous and meticulous it is troubling. Family horror, when approached so brilliantly, becomes something we can all relate to. It is never explicit about taboos, but quickly hints at many twisted concepts that make the movie highly rewatchable. Get ready to be immersed and shook up. Prepare for the horror experience of a life time!

#2

Starship Troopers

1997

Recruits of a young generation of space warriors face an increasing alien invasion.

8/8

Starship Troopers is an unlikely genre and subgenre cross-over made by people in perfect knowledge and control of their craft. No aspect of the making is undershot and the CG is great. The result is a virtually flawless production that meets Hollywood standards but not its conventional narrative script structure. It can be called an epic despite the fact that it doesn’t take itself seriously.

It’s a mix of war and science-fiction with scenes and antagonists right out of a horror movie. Aside some jump scares and monstrous creatures, it isn’t exactly scary. The characters are impervious to fear, resilient to pain and their pride and dedication makes them detached from potential danger, but they are vulnerable to the small things: fun, sadness, friendship, love, jealousy, envy…

The beasts look great and are a memorable conceptual design. They are the center of this ground-breaking masterpiece. The actors, their performances and their character are a homogeneous combined delight. Their illustrated chemistry comes out as authentic. Their coming of age is an ironically plausible depiction of a blooming cynical generation born during an alien invasion.

#3

An American Werewolf in London

1981

The survivor of a wolf attack fears he might be cursed by lycanthropy.

8/8

Werewolf movies are often horrifying because the enemy is the curse; not just the beast. This film does it better than most, but transformation is what it does better than all. It features the greatest effects money and grey matter can buy. The werewolf animatronics and the other practical effects used for metamorphosis are pure genius. It’s raw, real, hairy, and it looks as painful as it should.

A few dream sequences, irrelevant and inconsequential, come out as indulgent. Otherwise, the script is clever and well-paced. There is a mind-shattering subplot dealing with ghosts. It implies that the werewolf’s dark fate involves being forever haunted by the spirits of his or her victims. This kind of writing adds depth to a mythology merely alluded to in previous film history, and it’s scary.

The vocal soundtrack is excellent; carefully selected and with lunar references as lyrics, and spices up the omnipresent tongue in cheek humor. The great acting and the intimate shooting locations work hand in hand in delivering a thick ambiance that feels familiar, comfortable, romantic, next door. Everything comes together in creating one of the spookiest werewolf movies out there.

#4

From Dusk Till Dawn

1996

Two criminals take a family hostage in order to cross the Mexican border and take refuge in a bar for the night.

8/8

What starts off as a viciously witty crime and road movie turns into something completely unexpected around the half-way point. Character exposition is cleverly delivered through a very important subplot that tricks the mind into caring for something that is ultimately trivial. Outlaws and bullies eventually turn into an asset and their evil becomes relative as they face a must stronger threat.

Acting-wise, you get the cream of the crop. Each of the spoken lines is scripted in a calculated fashion. This is horror filmmaking of the highest quality, with many cameos, fine photography, generous effects and plenty of good looking gore. The keyword here is cool. The characters’ testosterone level finds a purpose in the second half, as all hell breaks loose.

See, you’re watching two brilliant films in one. You’ve got gangsters, gadgets, one liners, prosthetics, animatronics, nudity and implicit rape wrapped into an unlikely surprise box. A series of intricate atmospheric sets are presented to us in succession, mirroring the different subgenres From Dusk Till Dawn alludes to and the many emotions it takes us through.

#5

Requiem for a Dream

2000

The drug-induced utopias of four people shatter as their addictions deepen.

8/8

TV, fat, sugar, fame, fitness, youth, beauty, money, music, diet pills, alcohol, cigarettes, pot, cocaine, heroin, love, friendship, sex; what do these things have in common? Well, they aren’t exactly free. Addictions are the main theme in Requiem for a Dream, and they come in all shapes and forms. The protagonists are all heavily flawed, from the beginning, and it’s about to get much worse.

The deeper you venture, the sadder and more sinister things get. Jared Leto plays the central character. The three other protagonists are directly linked to him. Jennifer Connelly is sublime. She’s the perfect girlfriend, until shit hits the fan. His mother is popping pills to lose weight for a game show she’s been invited to. Then, there’s Leto’s best friend who grew up too fast and reminisces.

The score intensifies as problems do. The editing is a tour-de-force. Whether he’s trying to emulate a drug trip or speed time up, editor Jay Rabinowitz is always precise. Writer/director Darren Aronofsky is rhythmic and meticulous. Their work is spotless and tragically immersive. Requiem for a Dream does something very effortlessly and it does it constantly; it breaks our hearts time and again.

#6

Re-Animator

1985

Two medical students stir up trouble after experimenting with a scientific formula that brings back the dead.

7/8

Most cinematographic adaptations of H.P. Lovecraft’s stories are completely different in tone from one another, though they mostly feature complex antagonists and the scientists investigating them, as an unspoken rule. This couldn’t apply more to Re-Animator, even considering the dark, contemporary slapstick humor. Few aspects about this film are reproachable.

It wants to gross you out then make you laugh at yourself by the time you realize how ludicrous the script is, despite its pseudo-serious tone. It manages this irony using good but implausible prosthetic effects, more gore than you could ask for, constant banter and keen deliveries from nearly impossible characters that are brilliantly played and directed.

Sometimes titillating, often repulsing but always amusing, Re-Animator is an escalation of combined unfortunate events. The revenant talk. Some are smart, therefore not literal zombies, and most are their own creature. Their design is seemingly the fruit of a genius mind. The film avoids the usual clichés, too , becoming itself an inspiration for horror pictures to come.

#7

Trick ‘r Treat

2007

A Halloween night turns into a blood bath for different groups of people connected to each other.

7/8

This is one of the best horror anthology films ever made. It is right up there with Creepshow and Trilogy of Terror. It sets itself apart from the norm by the way it intertwines 6 segments. Things happen before, during and after another, and we’re never sure in which order. The script is brilliantly layered in a way to juxtapose stories seamlessly. Michael Dougherty orchestrates this like a king.

The photography is so precise and so optimized that Dougherty earns our attention from frame one. The scary parts are scary, the build-up is outstanding, the gore striking, the stories original and the twists surprising. Gore feels real and so does the rest of the effects. Trick ‘r Treat’s major flaw is that its tales feel incomplete despite an intention to innovate with a new kind of narrative.

Story 1 doesn’t stand on its own but sets the tone nicely. Story 2 is about a man who gives a kid poisoned candy. Story 3 follows a bunch of teenagers who play a prank on a friend. Story 4 is about a special party in a remote location. Story 5 introduces a small demonic character who will teach a hermit a lesson. This is the best story in the pack. Story 6 ties the last lose ends nicely.

#8

Cult of Chucky

2017

A possessed doll infiltrates a psychiatric hospital.

7/8

After you’ve gone through an opening so nerve-racking you just might swallow your tongue, you’re transported to a sanitarium, of all places, where all the good stuff is about to take place. Like Curse of Chucky, this film centers on Fiona Dourif’s character; Chucky’s daughter, who’s about the furthest thing there is from a stereotypical final girl.

Cult of Chucky is a fascinating mindfuck with more twists and turns than any of its predecessors. You won’t see most surprises coming until they hit you right in the face. The murders are gory and look cool as hell. The photography surpasses all we’ve seen up to now. Chucky never looked so good and so alive. We can no longer tell how he is animated from shot to shot.

Don Mancini, writer, director and franchise owner, learned a lot from Curse, the previous film. The last thing he wants is another Seed of Chucky. He follows Curse of Chucky’s winning combination to a T: put the scares and the mystery first; the humor and the Easter eggs second. That being said, all Chucky movies should be watched in order. They are first and foremost made for fans.

#9

Shocker

1989

After being sent to the electric chair, a serial killer uses electricity to come back from the dead.

7/8

Shocker is one of the most memorable horror films in Wes Craven’s filmography. The formula is very similar to A Nightmare on Elm Street’s, but it’s more chaotic. There are plot holes from beginning to end, but it doesn’t matter. It’s a tragic love story, it’s about nightmares, premonitions, and witchcraft. The hero is one of the strongest and most resilient we’ve seen in horror cinema.

This is a very cool film. The introduction sequence is amazing. The score and soundtrack are exciting. Horror movies are rarely so action-oriented. It has a subplot about college football, a bunch of fist fights and a couple of chase scenes. It is edited very tightly, giving it a quick pace and good rythm. It has a style that is reminiscent of commercials and music videos.

The worst part of Shocker has the antagonist, a TV repair man, use television to travel. What this entices makes no sense, even in a fantasy film like this one; even if we were prepared. If there is one thing this story does well, it’s making us feel sad every time someone dies, regardless of how long they were exposed. It is as frightening as it is sorrowful. This is one of Craven’s best.

#10

House on Haunted Hill

1999

Six strangers are invited by a rich couple to spend the night in a supposedly haunted asylum in exchange for a million dollars.

7/8

House on Haunted Hill is the remake of a horror movie by the same title released 40 years earlier. It is an upgrade on every level. The budget, the performances, the special effects and the set design; the production as a whole meets Hollywood standards. The story is structured like the original, but with greatly augmented humor, attitude, gore and scares.

The house is an old asylum rigged to lock its occupants in, which occurs sooner than later. It is undoubtedly one of the creepiest in horror history. It keeps us guessing whether this is all a game or if the ghosts of dead patients are more than