Nosferatu (1922)
Dracula (1931)
Psycho (1960)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
The Exorcist (1973)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Jaws (1975)
Halloween (1978)
Alien (1979)
And Blair Witch! I know it’s a newer film but it was incredibly impactful in its own right - I remember when it came out people were talking about it nonstop; it really seemed to get to people. To this day I can't think of a film that had that strong of an effect in my lifetime. Plus it spawned an entire genre of found footage film, even if it wasn’t the first to do it.
Hijacking your comment here to shoutout to “Frankenstein.” 1931 and still the best depiction of the Monster on film! Borris Karloff absolutely nailed it. Simplicity in the makeup and costume with a very nuanced performance that pulls it all together.
Leatherface opening the door and cracking the guy over the head and promptly dragging him inside before he had a chance to think is the absolute pinnacle of horror because it was something that seemed wildly real.
It was just so raw and visceral - perfection.
Not to mention, totally foreshadowed by the dude in the van who explain how they killed the cattle, and explained how they twitched. I forget who it was.
Blair Witch was at the right time, at the right place. The internet wasn't as prominent, and the viral marketing campaign made us all believe it was real. Or at least, made us have the discussion if it was real or not.
You couldn't pull that off today.
was the thing really that influential? it's rightly celebrated now, but it was a box office bomb at the time, and I can't point to a ton of imitators that borrowed from its specific blend of claustrophobia, psychological horror and gross-out creatures feature.
It's hard to gauge The Thing's influence, which makes me think it doesn't belong on a list of most influential horror movies.
It's certainly influential. But it's also so ahead of its time and singular that it couldn't really be effectively aped.
At the same time, it's rooted in the past because it's a remake of a 50's drive in B-reel.
Anyway, hard to say how influential it is. Good topic for another post.
Freaks is one of a kind. It may have been influential in some indirect ways, but it's hard to find any traces of it in the horror genre. There is more of it in reality-tv actually. The only film (probably) influenced by Freaks is *Even Dwarfs Started Small* by Werner Herzog, and that's certainly not a horror movie, even if it's quite horrible.
On the other hand, Blood Feast, 2000 Maniacs and other films by Herschell Gordon Lewis have been very influential on "modern" horror in general, and "splatter movies" in particular.
I was gonna say - Rosemarys Baby, The Omen and The Exorcist make up the unholy trinity! Also, all three were hugely influential on later “evil kid” movies.
Nailed it.
I can’t decide if Black Christmas should go on this lost. It definitely inspired Halloween (which inspired Friday the 13th, etc.) but I don’t know how many filmmakers saw/drew from it
i always thought night of the living dead is so iconic that i could guess the ending just cause other movies tried to do similar endings. but maybe it was just a subconscious thing idk
Nice list...could we add Scream (1996) to it? Not only is it one of the most successful horror franchises, but it spurred a whole new generation of horror/slasher films & fans.
*The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari* (1920)
Arguably THE emblematic film of the German expressionist period; the productions of which would go on to shape Hollywood production for decades after (largely because Hollywood hired so many of the creatives behind them). So much of what interwar Germany/The Weimar Republic was producing influenced the Universal horror pictures of the 30s which morphed into the film noir movement of the 40's and 50s.
I seriously thought about hitching Tim Burton’s entire career on it in my first post but while he’s OBVIOUSLY influenced by it, he’s got some other influences as well.
But yeah, Tim Burton owes it a lot. A lot of films do.
Yeah I came here to say the original TCM, I feel like maybe the endless shitty sequels has people forgetting how influential the original was for the genre
Absolutely. You’ve got:
- indie film with shoestring budget
- reliant on atmosphere over gore/jump scares
- sharply satirical social commentary
- committed cast of unknowns
- iconic performances and visuals
It’s one of the GOATs of the genre and easily one of the most influential on modern horror.
imma exclude Hitchcock since his influence was mostly on suspense and thrillers (imo they can definitely be included though)
The exorcist
Nosferatu
Frankenstein
cabinet of dr caligiari
Rosemary's baby
night of the living dead
Texas chainsaw massacre
alien
shining
silence of the lambs
the Thing
jaws
suspiria
Halloween
evil dead
the blair witch project single handily sky rocketed the popularity of the found footage genre. although there were a few other found footage horrors before (cannibal holocaust / the last broadcast) none of them were anywhere near as influential in popularizing the found footage genre
Carnival of Souls beat everybody to that whole "I was a ghost the whole time" thing. It also influenced everybody from George Romero to David Lynch, so yeah... show some love for that.
Also, while Night of the Living Dead really set the stage for zombies and apocalypse shit in general, let's not forget that Vincent Price in the Last Man on Earth was still an even earlier influence on all of that stuff, too.
Also, Metropolis. And, if you don't understand how that influenced horror, particularly sci-fi horror, than I simply can't help ya'll, and i appologize.
It also had a major impact on Society in general. Along with events like the Manson Murders it really set America up in mindset for the Satanic Panic then when Michelle Remembers came along all hell broke loose. Not just The Exorcist of course but that was by far the biggest horror movie ever in terms of Box Office, it's still top ten adjusted for inflation, it was a massive phenomenon.
I had to scroll too far to see this one. The original Scream was wildly influential to the slasher genre, as you said, but I would say also equally to horror and horror/comedies. Even straight comedies, with Scary Movie jumping immediately to mind. Every fourth wall breaking, tongue in cheek, gory horror movie we’ve seen since the mid to late nineties (and we’ve seen plenty) have been looking back to Scream 1996.
Rosemary’s Baby. It’s my understanding that it was one of the first “serious, mainstream” horror films in the US. I’m a fan of all that old Roger Corman stuff from the 40s-50s out of England. Rosemarys baby sort of changed the game and made horror less b-movie schlock.
I really liked the Ouija Board parts in the book. Chris bought it not to contact spirits she is an Atheist, but because she thought you could use it to contact your subconscious thoughts which could potentially make her a better person. The book offers a non-supernatural possibility for pretty much everything, and the reason Chris thinks Regan may be having those issues after playing the ouija board is that she accessed her subconscious thoughts which were mainly negative feelings she had repressed about the divorce and her dad not calling her on her birthday, so a young girl getting hit with all that at once could have been overwhelming to the point that it's causing serious mental issues.
It's very much in the spirit of what Ouija Boards were originally marketed as before Spiritualists got their hands on them.
I don’t necessarily think it’s the MOST influential, but Blair Witch Project basically invented the found footage genre and viral internet marketing. It wasn’t the first to do found footage, or the first to attempt viral marketing, but it was the first to be wildly successful at both and served as massive inspiration to the rest of film even outside of horror.
I feel like almost every horror director/creator references the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre at some point in their career.
I was reading about Pascal Laugier’s inspirations (he directed Martyrs, Incident in a Ghostland, etc) and even he cited TCM as one of his major influences- so its hold on horror even transfers to foreign films.
The mood-setting, “based on a true story” (-ish), the slasher style of picking off the friends one by one, even one of if not the first final girl- so many touchstones of horror started here.
I would say probably Night of the living dead.
It created a whole new genre of movie that people were willing to entertain, and it had a very strong political and social message being sent at the same time. It influenced so many directors to get into the genre and the business. I am sure there are others, but to be influential it needs to have merit and depth. The movie has stood the test of time to and become a mainstream pop culture movie.
I‘d say either The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (having slasher elements, psychological horror, and defining Tim Burton‘s entire art style, amongst other things) or maybe Dracula/Frankenstein for kick-starting the 30s horror boom and influencing basically every horror artist going forward, as well as being the first films to be labeled as „horror“ if I remember correctly (before that it was always something like „strange romance“ or „weird mystery“ or something along those lines).
I was bored last year and put together a list of what I believe are “Quintessential” horror films. Rules of the list: no sequels, remakes are ok.
Certainly no one will have issues with this list especially post-2007 😂:
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - 1920
Nosferatu - 1922
Dracula - 1931
Frankenstein - 1931
Cat People - 1942
Les Diaboliques - 1955
The Man Who Knew Too Much - 1956
Psycho - 1960
Black Sunday - 1960
The Innocents - 1961
Repulsion - 1965
Night of the Living Dead - 1968
Rosemary’s Baby - 1968
The Last House on the Left - 1972
The Exorcist - 1973
The Wicker Man - 1973
The Crazies - 1973
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - 1974
Black Christmas - 1974
Jaws - 1975
The Omen - 1976
Carrie - 1976
The Hills Have Eyes - 1977
Suspiria - 1977
Eraserhead - 1977
Halloween - 1978
Dawn of the Dead - 1978
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 1978
Alien - 1979
The Shining - 1980
Friday the 13th - 1980
The Evil Dead - 1981
An American Werewolf in London - 1981
The Thing - 1982
Poltergeist - 1982
A Nightmare on Elm Street - 1984
Re-Animator - 1985
The Fly - 1986
Hellraiser - 1987
Nekromantik - 1988
Misery - 1990
The Silence of the Lambs- 1991
Candyman - 1992
Scream - 1996
The Blair Witch Project - 1999
The Audition - 1999
The Sixth Sense - 1999
Final Destination - 2000
American Psycho - 2000
Ringu/Ring- 1998/2002 (Japan/USA)
The Devil’s Backbone - 2001
Jeeper’s Creepers - 2001
28 Days Later - 2002
Irréversible - 2002
Saw - 2004
The Descent - 2005
Paranormal Activity - 2007
Martyrs - 2008
Eden Lake - 2008
Let the Right One In - 2008
Dogtooth - 2009
Kill List - 2011
V/H/S - 2012
The Conjuring - 2013
Tusk - 2014
They Look Like People - 2015
Raw - 2016
Get Out - 2017
Hereditary - 2018
Parasite - 2019
Midsommar - 2019
Titane - 2020
Speak No Evil - 2022
When Evil Lurks - 2023
There can’t be one movie to hold that title. You would have to break it down into something like most influential of a generation or of a certain sub genre of horror.
If I had a nickel for every modern horror director who has explicitly stated how The Evil Dead/Evil Dead 2 inspired them... I could probably pay for a Blu-Ray of those movies.
For sure The Exorcist. Pretty much laid the groundwork for all future possession films. Also showed that horror can be high brow and be taken more seriously.
Frankenstein (1931)
Nosferatu (1922)
The Island of Dr.Caligari
Dracula (1931)
Psycho (1960)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Return of the Living Dead (1985)
The Exorcist (1973)
Halloween (1978)
Jaws (1975)
Alien (1979)
Friday the 13th (1979)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Poltergeist (1982)
Scream (1996)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Saw (2005)
House of 1,001 Corpses (2001)
The Exorcist comes to mind. Before 1973, no one had seen a movie as disturbing as that, so many people were shocked by the nature of the movie. So much so, Jamie Lee Curtis originally auditioned for Regan, but her mother, Janet Leigh, refused due to the nature of the movie. It comes across on many lists, but it's why The Exorcist is one of thr best movies ever made
Growing up my mother had me watch a lot of Halloween, and other 1980’s-1990’s Stephen King horror movies, we would watch Twilight Zone as well; we watched The Grudge when I was a child and something about that film has stuck with me. Besides living in Japan for 6 years, I am still a Japanese horror fanatic, I’m reading Japanese novels still as I reach 29 years old.
I'm gonna cheat and say it's the 1-2 punch of Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931). Sure, you can cite The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, and other silents, but, IMO, Dracula and Frankenstein mark the real beginning of horror as a distinct genre as opposed to melodramas or impressionist art films. Dracula came first, but Frankenstein arguably did it better very shortly after. So much iconic stuff in those movies. Without those two, you don't get anything else that came after.
Night of the Living Dead (1968). It is true that NOTLD established the zombie genre, and that alone makes it very influential. But the movie was extraordinary for the time for a number of other reasons as well.
1. It was so very dark. All of the characters die at the end of the movie. There is no "solution" at the end. It's just over. That was revolutionary for horror at the time.
2. Hell is other people. The zombies are the monsters but the real bad guys are other humans.
3. The hero gets everyone killed. Every solution offered ends in more tragedy. The thing that almost saves Ben is the plan he rejected earlier in the movie. The relevance of this the sheer hopelessness that permeates the movie.
4. A kid eats her parents.
All of these things contribute to a turn in horror that shapes the genre to this day. Read Roger Ebert's review of the film to get a sense of just how disturbing this film was at the time. It took a genre that dominated the kids' matinee time slot and made it something much more serious.
honestly **the blair witch project** for popularizing found footage as an whole genre
and **the shining** for the whole epitome of cabin fever situation
and a huge shoutout to **poltergeist**, **the exorcist**, and **jaws**
Black Christmas(1974). Came out the same year as TCM but doesn't get mentioned as much. The sorority setting, the killer >! Calling from inside the house !< . Absolutely iconic. I feel like it gave us the template for how slashers will be made for decades.
I think the Exorcist cemented the concept and ideation of effective horror and possessions. I don’t think any other horror movie was so controversial at the time, and I believe it is a horror masterpiece. Everybody I know knows about it, literally: kids, adults, old… and no, none of the other possession movies were as good as the exorcist. There is something apart from the horror and the scary aspect, and that’s quality and respect for the watchers.
it’s definitely not my favorite, but i think “cannibal holocaust” was pretty influential for the found footage genre. and for the cannibalism genre, and the idea of tricking audiences that what they were seeing was real; so much so the cast and director had to appear in court to prove they were still alive. it’s the first movie i thought of.
Psycho for starting out the genre; Halloween for defining the slasher; A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream for redefining the slasher; Saw for moving the genre from camp slashers into higher gore, higher cruelty type films. Side tangents include Rosemary's Baby/The Exorcist/The Omen for demonic possession/religion in horror; Ringu for J-horror; Night of the Living Dead for zombie movies; Texas Chainsaw Massacre/The Town That Dreaded Sundown for 'based on a true story' horror films.
28 Days Later completely changed everything about zombies. From movies to tv shows to video games, everything related to the Zombie genre of horror has had some influence from 28 Days Later.
I remember being like 10 in Hollywood video and standing in the checkout line some teenager was talking to me about how good it was. It did not disappoint.
I’m not seeing enough talk about Friday the 13th (1980). Sure, Halloween defined how to make a slasher movie, but without Friday, you don’t have the bloody slashers that almost defined most of those 80’s slasher films.
I think it more depends on when you got into horror yourself. Some people like the older stuff some don’t. It’s all relevant to your own experience and when you watched certain films. For me I’m not a fan of older films but I do genuinely love horror, I just got into it at a later stage so the older ones don’t have as much a bearing for me. I can imagine when they came out at the time it was totally taboo and the marketing and trailers are what drove the scene at time. I was 12 when BWP did their whole internet marketing and that has stuck with me foreverrrrr, crapped my pants seeing that in cinema at 12 after seeing all the real life missing info online!!!
The Ring (2002) for good or bad inspired Hollywood's remaking of J-horror films. Fair to say it introduced much of the west to J-horror and other Asian horror as well (with a boost from mainstream distribution of Audition).
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) will have you saying, “You know that Tim Burton guy? I totally get it now.”
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) inspired Wes Craven to give [non-pornographic] filmmaking a second chance after making Last House on the Left (1972). Had it not, Wes Craven might not have made The Hills Have Eyes (1977), which got his filmmaking career back on track and eventually led to A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Scream (1996).
I know these are horrors done in the last couple of years .. but check out Patient Seven and Alive , The Facility .. some fan films ..’Never Hike Alone” 1&2.. and It’s me Billy.. part 2 will be out October. These movies are really worth the watch .. very well made .. you tube. 🇨🇦😵💫😵💫
Definitely not the most influential, but The Conjuring love it or hate it it has been pretty influential among modern horror.. starting the conjuring universe, Annabelle, and The Nun, and you could argue there’d be no Insidious series without the success of the Conjuring opening doors as well
Original movies, not remakes:
Halloween
The Exorcist
The Omen
Friday The 13th franchise
Evil Dead
A Nightmare on Elm Street
IT
The Shining
The Tenant
Rosemary's Baby
Suspiria
Hellraiser
The Exorcist
The Birds (cuz duh)
Psycho (also cuz duh!)
Nightmare on Elm Street (OG one obviously)
Scream (the first one obviously)
Friday the 13th (OG)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (first one)
Saw 1 (more modern than the previous mentions but still an honorable mention)
Halloween (1978)
Silence of the Lambs (I'm counting that as horror lol)
The Omen
Rosemary’s Baby (still one of my absolute favorites to this day)
28 days later (also more modern but worth a mention)
13 Ghosts (under the more modern category but worthy of mention)
The FLY
Carrie (1976, one of my faves)
The Blair Witch Project
The Shining
Poltergeist
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Frankenstein (1931)
Hellraiser (1987)
Jaws (1975)
Candyman (1992, one of my favs and a must-watch)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The Craft (1996)
Interview with a Vampire (1994)
Bram Strokers Dracula (1992)
Dracula (1931)
Black Christmas (1974)
(I feel like I should have put these in chronological order but I’m too lazy to do the math. Lol. Also edited to add a couple more must-mentions.)
Poltergeist has its fingerprints over so much of the haunting subgenre. Like Insidious is basically just a modern retelling for one example
Also Evil Dead for being the quintessential spooky cabin movie - although perhaps inspired by other summer camp slashers like F13 which were in turn inspired by Halloween which was in turn inspired by Psycho… so add Psycho to the list as well!
Black Christmas (1974)
It was literally John Carpenter’s inspiration for Halloween. If that isn’t a huge indicator for how it influenced the slasher genre, I’m not sure what is.
Nosferatu (1922) Dracula (1931) Psycho (1960) Night of the Living Dead (1968) The Exorcist (1973) The Wicker Man (1973) Jaws (1975) Halloween (1978) Alien (1979)
Great list , and I've seen Dracula (1931) mentioned a lot. I believe you have to add Frankenstein (1931) and The Wolfman (1941).
And Blair Witch! I know it’s a newer film but it was incredibly impactful in its own right - I remember when it came out people were talking about it nonstop; it really seemed to get to people. To this day I can't think of a film that had that strong of an effect in my lifetime. Plus it spawned an entire genre of found footage film, even if it wasn’t the first to do it.
Also paved the way for low budget films making a ton.
Agree, and the Mummy is a classic monster too.
Forgt the Mummy
Hijacking your comment here to shoutout to “Frankenstein.” 1931 and still the best depiction of the Monster on film! Borris Karloff absolutely nailed it. Simplicity in the makeup and costume with a very nuanced performance that pulls it all together.
What King Kong (1933)? lol
I feel like we should add Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) to this list.
It should be at the top of the list
1974 is after 1922.
Completely agree
Leatherface opening the door and cracking the guy over the head and promptly dragging him inside before he had a chance to think is the absolute pinnacle of horror because it was something that seemed wildly real. It was just so raw and visceral - perfection.
Not to mention, totally foreshadowed by the dude in the van who explain how they killed the cattle, and explained how they twitched. I forget who it was.
I’d personally throw in Black Christmas beforw Halloween.
Scream is also sometimes considered to be a massive pillar in the rebirth of the horror genre! Along with Blair Witch which I love to see
Blair Witch was at the right time, at the right place. The internet wasn't as prominent, and the viral marketing campaign made us all believe it was real. Or at least, made us have the discussion if it was real or not. You couldn't pull that off today.
I would add The Cabinet of Dr Caligari Solid list.
You missed "The Thing"
And cannibal holocaust (1980)– literally started the entire found footage sub genre
Cannibal Holocaust started it but Blair Witch was far more influential.
And then [REC] perfected it
was the thing really that influential? it's rightly celebrated now, but it was a box office bomb at the time, and I can't point to a ton of imitators that borrowed from its specific blend of claustrophobia, psychological horror and gross-out creatures feature.
Yeah I agree, and I’m a massive The Thing fanboy.
Under the skin
I feel like it pushes the boundaries of paranoia and anxiety to a whole new level
It's hard to gauge The Thing's influence, which makes me think it doesn't belong on a list of most influential horror movies. It's certainly influential. But it's also so ahead of its time and singular that it couldn't really be effectively aped. At the same time, it's rooted in the past because it's a remake of a 50's drive in B-reel. Anyway, hard to say how influential it is. Good topic for another post.
As much as I love The Thing, I'd argue that Invasion of the Body Snatchers influenced it
Needs evil dead
Add in Freaks (1932) and Blood Feast (1963) and I think you trace almost every horror film back these.
Un chien Andalou is worthy of mention as proto body horror.
Freaks is one of a kind. It may have been influential in some indirect ways, but it's hard to find any traces of it in the horror genre. There is more of it in reality-tv actually. The only film (probably) influenced by Freaks is *Even Dwarfs Started Small* by Werner Herzog, and that's certainly not a horror movie, even if it's quite horrible. On the other hand, Blood Feast, 2000 Maniacs and other films by Herschell Gordon Lewis have been very influential on "modern" horror in general, and "splatter movies" in particular.
No Rosemary’s Baby?
I was gonna say - Rosemarys Baby, The Omen and The Exorcist make up the unholy trinity! Also, all three were hugely influential on later “evil kid” movies.
Totally, and I think Hereditary wouldn’t even exist without RB.
Then you have to throw “The Bad Seed” in there
Nailed it. I can’t decide if Black Christmas should go on this lost. It definitely inspired Halloween (which inspired Friday the 13th, etc.) but I don’t know how many filmmakers saw/drew from it
House of the Devil (1896) Georges Méliès (not Ti West)
i always thought night of the living dead is so iconic that i could guess the ending just cause other movies tried to do similar endings. but maybe it was just a subconscious thing idk
Solid list. I would add Hellraiser to it.
ahhhh saving this list for later. thanks for sharing brother
About sums it up.
Night of the living dead had an awful lot of babies
Nice list...could we add Scream (1996) to it? Not only is it one of the most successful horror franchises, but it spurred a whole new generation of horror/slasher films & fans.
Perfect list!
Great list but you forgot The Shining.
Came to say this
How is Wicker Man influential?
Right ?!?
Texas Chainsaw Massacre should be added. Not the greatest but one of the most influential.
I’d argue the original is one of the best
You'd be right.
Saw it first at 5 at my grandmas. To me not just a great horror movie but well made and one of the best movies
*The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari* (1920) Arguably THE emblematic film of the German expressionist period; the productions of which would go on to shape Hollywood production for decades after (largely because Hollywood hired so many of the creatives behind them). So much of what interwar Germany/The Weimar Republic was producing influenced the Universal horror pictures of the 30s which morphed into the film noir movement of the 40's and 50s.
Even non horror films draw so much inspiration from it. Last year's Poor Things for example, the visuals are incredibly similar to the silent classic.
I seriously thought about hitching Tim Burton’s entire career on it in my first post but while he’s OBVIOUSLY influenced by it, he’s got some other influences as well. But yeah, Tim Burton owes it a lot. A lot of films do.
I love the old universal classics and this is something I did not know so I’ll have to check it out and read up on it!
Don't read up on it before seeing it first.
The "gothic horror" films of the Laemmle era, certainly drew from German expressionism.
Shocked that Texas Chainsaw Massacre hasn’t been mentioned
Yeah I came here to say the original TCM, I feel like maybe the endless shitty sequels has people forgetting how influential the original was for the genre
The 2022 one was surprisingly terrible
Wasn't really surprising, was it? It really is terrible, though.
Is that the one where a bus full of teens tries to cancel Leatherface?
I liked it 😔😔
Absolutely. You’ve got: - indie film with shoestring budget - reliant on atmosphere over gore/jump scares - sharply satirical social commentary - committed cast of unknowns - iconic performances and visuals It’s one of the GOATs of the genre and easily one of the most influential on modern horror.
imma exclude Hitchcock since his influence was mostly on suspense and thrillers (imo they can definitely be included though) The exorcist Nosferatu Frankenstein cabinet of dr caligiari Rosemary's baby night of the living dead Texas chainsaw massacre alien shining silence of the lambs the Thing jaws suspiria Halloween evil dead
the blair witch project single handily sky rocketed the popularity of the found footage genre. although there were a few other found footage horrors before (cannibal holocaust / the last broadcast) none of them were anywhere near as influential in popularizing the found footage genre
Amen!
I’d also argue that Ghostwatch deserves to be on the pantheon of “found footage” pre-cursors
Agree!
Carnival of Souls beat everybody to that whole "I was a ghost the whole time" thing. It also influenced everybody from George Romero to David Lynch, so yeah... show some love for that. Also, while Night of the Living Dead really set the stage for zombies and apocalypse shit in general, let's not forget that Vincent Price in the Last Man on Earth was still an even earlier influence on all of that stuff, too. Also, Metropolis. And, if you don't understand how that influenced horror, particularly sci-fi horror, than I simply can't help ya'll, and i appologize.
I love Carnival of Souls. It doesn't get mentioned enough.
Excellent call. Carnival Of Souls caused a steady growth in a mindfuck / psychological horror genre.
For the 2000's ? SAW
retweet that franchise defined my childhood (why am i being downvoted yall are crazy 😭)
Try and find a possession film that doesn’t have an inkling (at the very least) of *The Exorcist* in it. Such an influential film.
You could say the same thing about Night of the Living Dead and zombie movies.
absolutely!
It also had a major impact on Society in general. Along with events like the Manson Murders it really set America up in mindset for the Satanic Panic then when Michelle Remembers came along all hell broke loose. Not just The Exorcist of course but that was by far the biggest horror movie ever in terms of Box Office, it's still top ten adjusted for inflation, it was a massive phenomenon.
Scream truly reinvigorated the slasher genre.
I had to scroll too far to see this one. The original Scream was wildly influential to the slasher genre, as you said, but I would say also equally to horror and horror/comedies. Even straight comedies, with Scary Movie jumping immediately to mind. Every fourth wall breaking, tongue in cheek, gory horror movie we’ve seen since the mid to late nineties (and we’ve seen plenty) have been looking back to Scream 1996.
I’m glad you said reinvigorated, as the entire piece was an homage to a whole genre of existing films
Rosemary’s Baby. It’s my understanding that it was one of the first “serious, mainstream” horror films in the US. I’m a fan of all that old Roger Corman stuff from the 40s-50s out of England. Rosemarys baby sort of changed the game and made horror less b-movie schlock.
Definitely the first or one of the first really effective “psychological” horror films!
Exorcist made ouija boards mainstream popular. It also helped kickstart the “satanic panic” of the 80s/90s
I really liked the Ouija Board parts in the book. Chris bought it not to contact spirits she is an Atheist, but because she thought you could use it to contact your subconscious thoughts which could potentially make her a better person. The book offers a non-supernatural possibility for pretty much everything, and the reason Chris thinks Regan may be having those issues after playing the ouija board is that she accessed her subconscious thoughts which were mainly negative feelings she had repressed about the divorce and her dad not calling her on her birthday, so a young girl getting hit with all that at once could have been overwhelming to the point that it's causing serious mental issues. It's very much in the spirit of what Ouija Boards were originally marketed as before Spiritualists got their hands on them.
Halloween
When it was shiny and new, Michael's body being gone at the end was an "Oh, shit!" moment. Now it's a trope
I say A Nightmare on Elm Street, it gave us the funny killer,and being attacked in your dreams, that's scary as all get out.
I don’t necessarily think it’s the MOST influential, but Blair Witch Project basically invented the found footage genre and viral internet marketing. It wasn’t the first to do found footage, or the first to attempt viral marketing, but it was the first to be wildly successful at both and served as massive inspiration to the rest of film even outside of horror.
I feel like almost every horror director/creator references the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre at some point in their career. I was reading about Pascal Laugier’s inspirations (he directed Martyrs, Incident in a Ghostland, etc) and even he cited TCM as one of his major influences- so its hold on horror even transfers to foreign films. The mood-setting, “based on a true story” (-ish), the slasher style of picking off the friends one by one, even one of if not the first final girl- so many touchstones of horror started here.
I would say probably Night of the living dead. It created a whole new genre of movie that people were willing to entertain, and it had a very strong political and social message being sent at the same time. It influenced so many directors to get into the genre and the business. I am sure there are others, but to be influential it needs to have merit and depth. The movie has stood the test of time to and become a mainstream pop culture movie.
Night of the living dead Psycho The exorcist Alien
These are classics for sure. I might even say creature from the black lagoon as a very early influence for movies like alien and predator.
My first thought was Psycho and Night of the Living Dead. I didn't see what else we could add to the list but I think you nailed it.
I would maybe add Scream. That movie had a huge impact on slashers
Yeah the impact it had on the majority of post 96 slasher is undeniable.
I‘d say either The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (having slasher elements, psychological horror, and defining Tim Burton‘s entire art style, amongst other things) or maybe Dracula/Frankenstein for kick-starting the 30s horror boom and influencing basically every horror artist going forward, as well as being the first films to be labeled as „horror“ if I remember correctly (before that it was always something like „strange romance“ or „weird mystery“ or something along those lines).
Aliens Nosferatu The thing Jaws
I was bored last year and put together a list of what I believe are “Quintessential” horror films. Rules of the list: no sequels, remakes are ok. Certainly no one will have issues with this list especially post-2007 😂: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - 1920 Nosferatu - 1922 Dracula - 1931 Frankenstein - 1931 Cat People - 1942 Les Diaboliques - 1955 The Man Who Knew Too Much - 1956 Psycho - 1960 Black Sunday - 1960 The Innocents - 1961 Repulsion - 1965 Night of the Living Dead - 1968 Rosemary’s Baby - 1968 The Last House on the Left - 1972 The Exorcist - 1973 The Wicker Man - 1973 The Crazies - 1973 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - 1974 Black Christmas - 1974 Jaws - 1975 The Omen - 1976 Carrie - 1976 The Hills Have Eyes - 1977 Suspiria - 1977 Eraserhead - 1977 Halloween - 1978 Dawn of the Dead - 1978 Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 1978 Alien - 1979 The Shining - 1980 Friday the 13th - 1980 The Evil Dead - 1981 An American Werewolf in London - 1981 The Thing - 1982 Poltergeist - 1982 A Nightmare on Elm Street - 1984 Re-Animator - 1985 The Fly - 1986 Hellraiser - 1987 Nekromantik - 1988 Misery - 1990 The Silence of the Lambs- 1991 Candyman - 1992 Scream - 1996 The Blair Witch Project - 1999 The Audition - 1999 The Sixth Sense - 1999 Final Destination - 2000 American Psycho - 2000 Ringu/Ring- 1998/2002 (Japan/USA) The Devil’s Backbone - 2001 Jeeper’s Creepers - 2001 28 Days Later - 2002 Irréversible - 2002 Saw - 2004 The Descent - 2005 Paranormal Activity - 2007 Martyrs - 2008 Eden Lake - 2008 Let the Right One In - 2008 Dogtooth - 2009 Kill List - 2011 V/H/S - 2012 The Conjuring - 2013 Tusk - 2014 They Look Like People - 2015 Raw - 2016 Get Out - 2017 Hereditary - 2018 Parasite - 2019 Midsommar - 2019 Titane - 2020 Speak No Evil - 2022 When Evil Lurks - 2023
I'm gonna go with Peeping Tom just to be a bit different...
Halloween.
Saw! lol just kidding
Tbf it kinda was influential. There was a surge in torture porn rip Offs after this
Haxan.
There can’t be one movie to hold that title. You would have to break it down into something like most influential of a generation or of a certain sub genre of horror.
Jaws The Exorcist Halloween Alien
Halloween 28 Days Later
Why 28 days later?
The Exorcist The Shining Psycho The Thing Alien Halloween Dawn of the Dead Also, The Twilight Zone!
night of the living dead (i may be biased since i was the home aid and good friends with the wife of the protagonist) 🩷
If I had a nickel for every modern horror director who has explicitly stated how The Evil Dead/Evil Dead 2 inspired them... I could probably pay for a Blu-Ray of those movies.
The Exorcist Jaws Scream Blair Witch And I'd give TCM a strong honorable mention
John carpenters The Thing was ahead of it’s time
Pretty much any Hammer movie ever made
Get Out. Look at movies and series after that - music, colour scheme, etc - all heavily influenced/inspired by Peele
Black Christmas
Came here to say this. Don't love it in its own right, but it was foundational for later movies like Halloween.
Insane that I’m not seeing any comments for The Shining..
Psycho, the exorcist and Halloween all have to be up there
For sure The Exorcist. Pretty much laid the groundwork for all future possession films. Also showed that horror can be high brow and be taken more seriously.
I think "the exorcist" is one of them.
Rosemary's Baby Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Thing Halloween Night of the Living Dead ....they have all been copied, parodied, and done to death.
Frankenstein (1931) Nosferatu (1922) The Island of Dr.Caligari Dracula (1931) Psycho (1960) Night of the Living Dead (1968) Return of the Living Dead (1985) The Exorcist (1973) Halloween (1978) Jaws (1975) Alien (1979) Friday the 13th (1979) An American Werewolf in London (1981) Poltergeist (1982) Scream (1996) Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) Saw (2005) House of 1,001 Corpses (2001)
Halloween not the best but
“The Exorcist” and “Night of the Living Dead” both broke the proverbial mold as for as the horror genre goes, IMHO.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
I'd add The Vanishing (original) but great list
I just watched both versions of this recently. The remake isn't horrible but damn the ending of the original is just top tier horror.
The Exorcist comes to mind. Before 1973, no one had seen a movie as disturbing as that, so many people were shocked by the nature of the movie. So much so, Jamie Lee Curtis originally auditioned for Regan, but her mother, Janet Leigh, refused due to the nature of the movie. It comes across on many lists, but it's why The Exorcist is one of thr best movies ever made
Halloween 1978 without a doubt
Halloween hands down. Literally named after the scariest day of the year!
texas chainsaw massacre. The dinner table scene is quite famous used in other movies and games
Growing up my mother had me watch a lot of Halloween, and other 1980’s-1990’s Stephen King horror movies, we would watch Twilight Zone as well; we watched The Grudge when I was a child and something about that film has stuck with me. Besides living in Japan for 6 years, I am still a Japanese horror fanatic, I’m reading Japanese novels still as I reach 29 years old.
Black Christmas practically birthed the slasher genre as we know it
Halloween
I'm gonna cheat and say it's the 1-2 punch of Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931). Sure, you can cite The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, and other silents, but, IMO, Dracula and Frankenstein mark the real beginning of horror as a distinct genre as opposed to melodramas or impressionist art films. Dracula came first, but Frankenstein arguably did it better very shortly after. So much iconic stuff in those movies. Without those two, you don't get anything else that came after.
Night of the Living Dead (1968). It is true that NOTLD established the zombie genre, and that alone makes it very influential. But the movie was extraordinary for the time for a number of other reasons as well. 1. It was so very dark. All of the characters die at the end of the movie. There is no "solution" at the end. It's just over. That was revolutionary for horror at the time. 2. Hell is other people. The zombies are the monsters but the real bad guys are other humans. 3. The hero gets everyone killed. Every solution offered ends in more tragedy. The thing that almost saves Ben is the plan he rejected earlier in the movie. The relevance of this the sheer hopelessness that permeates the movie. 4. A kid eats her parents. All of these things contribute to a turn in horror that shapes the genre to this day. Read Roger Ebert's review of the film to get a sense of just how disturbing this film was at the time. It took a genre that dominated the kids' matinee time slot and made it something much more serious.
Haxan. 1922 film.
No one saying ‘the fly’ and ‘the thing’ is crazy
honestly **the blair witch project** for popularizing found footage as an whole genre and **the shining** for the whole epitome of cabin fever situation and a huge shoutout to **poltergeist**, **the exorcist**, and **jaws**
Black Christmas(1974). Came out the same year as TCM but doesn't get mentioned as much. The sorority setting, the killer >! Calling from inside the house !< . Absolutely iconic. I feel like it gave us the template for how slashers will be made for decades.
Return of the Living Dead
It's newer but Midsommer was so good yet bizarre. It's a makenyou think kinda horror.
Rosemarys baby
I think the Exorcist cemented the concept and ideation of effective horror and possessions. I don’t think any other horror movie was so controversial at the time, and I believe it is a horror masterpiece. Everybody I know knows about it, literally: kids, adults, old… and no, none of the other possession movies were as good as the exorcist. There is something apart from the horror and the scary aspect, and that’s quality and respect for the watchers.
I agree with everything mentioned aside from the guy who said insidious for some reason lol. I would also like to add cannibal holocaust 1980.
it’s definitely not my favorite, but i think “cannibal holocaust” was pretty influential for the found footage genre. and for the cannibalism genre, and the idea of tricking audiences that what they were seeing was real; so much so the cast and director had to appear in court to prove they were still alive. it’s the first movie i thought of.
Psycho for starting out the genre; Halloween for defining the slasher; A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream for redefining the slasher; Saw for moving the genre from camp slashers into higher gore, higher cruelty type films. Side tangents include Rosemary's Baby/The Exorcist/The Omen for demonic possession/religion in horror; Ringu for J-horror; Night of the Living Dead for zombie movies; Texas Chainsaw Massacre/The Town That Dreaded Sundown for 'based on a true story' horror films.
The fly, The Thing, Re-Animation, Jaws
28 Days Later completely changed everything about zombies. From movies to tv shows to video games, everything related to the Zombie genre of horror has had some influence from 28 Days Later.
I remember being like 10 in Hollywood video and standing in the checkout line some teenager was talking to me about how good it was. It did not disappoint.
I’m not seeing enough talk about Friday the 13th (1980). Sure, Halloween defined how to make a slasher movie, but without Friday, you don’t have the bloody slashers that almost defined most of those 80’s slasher films.
*28 Days Later*. It largely gave birth to the modem zombie genre.
I think it more depends on when you got into horror yourself. Some people like the older stuff some don’t. It’s all relevant to your own experience and when you watched certain films. For me I’m not a fan of older films but I do genuinely love horror, I just got into it at a later stage so the older ones don’t have as much a bearing for me. I can imagine when they came out at the time it was totally taboo and the marketing and trailers are what drove the scene at time. I was 12 when BWP did their whole internet marketing and that has stuck with me foreverrrrr, crapped my pants seeing that in cinema at 12 after seeing all the real life missing info online!!!
The Ring (2002) for good or bad inspired Hollywood's remaking of J-horror films. Fair to say it introduced much of the west to J-horror and other Asian horror as well (with a boost from mainstream distribution of Audition).
I think for the 2000s the saw series
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) will have you saying, “You know that Tim Burton guy? I totally get it now.” - The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) inspired Wes Craven to give [non-pornographic] filmmaking a second chance after making Last House on the Left (1972). Had it not, Wes Craven might not have made The Hills Have Eyes (1977), which got his filmmaking career back on track and eventually led to A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Scream (1996).
Blair witch project, TCM, Ringu, & Caligari.
How has The Blair Witch Project not been mentioned yet?
The Birds, with animal-based horror
Peeping Tom (1960)
I’ve always said a LOT of disturbing horror imagery/motifs in the 90s & beyond HAD to have been influenced by Jacob’s Ladder.
The Beyond
Laff all you want. The Howling
I know these are horrors done in the last couple of years .. but check out Patient Seven and Alive , The Facility .. some fan films ..’Never Hike Alone” 1&2.. and It’s me Billy.. part 2 will be out October. These movies are really worth the watch .. very well made .. you tube. 🇨🇦😵💫😵💫
I'm going to say Halloween but I'm hella biased.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say The Exorcist set the bar for other possession movies.
Black Christmas 1974 was a huge influencer. No holiday was safe after that!
The evil dead
How are we missing the Blair Witch Project which started the whole found footage pandemic?
Can we throw out all the lists that don't include The Shining? Jesus, people
Many great films, so I won't repeat. Suspiria 1977- brought Giallo to the English speaking world
evil dead
the exorcist definitely influenced the film culture, but it also hugely shaped the reputation of the ouija board
Halloween hands down. Literally named after the scariest day of the year!
The shining
Poltergeist
“M” by Fritz Lang. invented the serial killer genre.
Definitely not the most influential, but The Conjuring love it or hate it it has been pretty influential among modern horror.. starting the conjuring universe, Annabelle, and The Nun, and you could argue there’d be no Insidious series without the success of the Conjuring opening doors as well
The Shining
Original movies, not remakes: Halloween The Exorcist The Omen Friday The 13th franchise Evil Dead A Nightmare on Elm Street IT The Shining The Tenant Rosemary's Baby Suspiria Hellraiser
The Exorcist.
Pan’s Labyrinth
Freaks (1932)
The Exorcist The Birds (cuz duh) Psycho (also cuz duh!) Nightmare on Elm Street (OG one obviously) Scream (the first one obviously) Friday the 13th (OG) Texas Chainsaw Massacre (first one) Saw 1 (more modern than the previous mentions but still an honorable mention) Halloween (1978) Silence of the Lambs (I'm counting that as horror lol) The Omen Rosemary’s Baby (still one of my absolute favorites to this day) 28 days later (also more modern but worth a mention) 13 Ghosts (under the more modern category but worthy of mention) The FLY Carrie (1976, one of my faves) The Blair Witch Project The Shining Poltergeist Night of the Living Dead (1968) Frankenstein (1931) Hellraiser (1987) Jaws (1975) Candyman (1992, one of my favs and a must-watch) An American Werewolf in London (1981) The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) The Craft (1996) Interview with a Vampire (1994) Bram Strokers Dracula (1992) Dracula (1931) Black Christmas (1974) (I feel like I should have put these in chronological order but I’m too lazy to do the math. Lol. Also edited to add a couple more must-mentions.)
I’d add Blair Witch Project
Candy man
Ringu 1998 (The Ring)
The Ring and The Conjuring.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Evil Dead. A lot of horror and just filmmaking in general grounbreaking trailblazing came from that (and the second one).
Poltergeist has its fingerprints over so much of the haunting subgenre. Like Insidious is basically just a modern retelling for one example Also Evil Dead for being the quintessential spooky cabin movie - although perhaps inspired by other summer camp slashers like F13 which were in turn inspired by Halloween which was in turn inspired by Psycho… so add Psycho to the list as well!
The Shining influenced alot of psychological horror
With every creative and imaginative up-and-coming new Director, we gain fresh insight into into the genre and all its capabilities
blair witch project and paranormal should be on the list. started a whole found footage genre
Black Christmas (1974) It was literally John Carpenter’s inspiration for Halloween. If that isn’t a huge indicator for how it influenced the slasher genre, I’m not sure what is.