Whether you’re new to horror or a seasoned pro, there are a few genre movies you won’t want to miss. These picks are highly influential, introducing certain tropes to film (both in horror and outside of the genre), and have lasting cultural impact that stands the test of time. Now, “essential” doesn’t necessarily mean “scariest” or “best.” An essential movie doesn’t even have to be something you need to like — it’s more something to appreciate because of its historical significance, influence… or even just because it’s fun!
Halloween (1978)
Michael Myers terrorizes teens on Halloween night, sparking legends that span decades.
- Why it’s essential: Regardless of who you think the first Slasher was, I think everyone can agree that Halloween’s Michael Myers is the template for masked killers to come.
- What to watch for: The soundtrack and accompanying noise cues. John Carpenter is not only a master of filmmaking, but a music maestro, adding a striking and eerie soundtrack with breathing noises coming straight from the darkness.
- Celia’s Take: He’s my favorite Slasher! I may be biased, but anything surrounding Halloween gets an A+ from me.
- Pairs well with: The Ultimate Halloween Horror Guide, Bad Movies Gone Good โ Rob Zombieโs Halloween, Creeping Death
Get Out (2017)
A Black man’s interracial relationship spells trouble, mimicking real fears and historical wrongs.
- Why it’s essential: For the first time in decades — if ever — the Black experience in America was successfully put onto screen.
- What to watch for: Micro-aggressions and code switching. Get Out is a master class on the racial biases some ignore or overlook. (Get your Black friends to explain it to you.)
- Celia’s Take: I wouldn’t be surprised if this movie went down in history for its cultural significance. It made people talk truthfully about race relations in this country, all while doing it tastefully as well as being massively entertaining.
- Pairs well with: 31 Nights of Horror, 2020: Films in Black and White, Black History Month Highlight
The Thing (1982)
Research scientists at the American Antarctic base discover a shape-shifting alien.
- Why it’s essential: When most people think of An American Werewolf in London for its special effects, The Thing rivals, if not beats, it in every way.
- What to watch for: A “whodunit” with a monster that can literally be anyone.
- Celia’s Take: The Thing is known for its effects, but its story about who gets infected when still shines through, causing many a conspiracy even today.
- Pairs well with: Best Monster Revealsโฆ Again!, Art the Clown: Celiaโs Favorite Terrifier Moments, 5 Practical Scenes That Are Better Than โAmerican Werewolf”
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
College students make a film about a local legend, and pay the ultimate price for it.
- Why it’s essential: This is the granddaddy of all found footage films.
- What to watch for: Not so much the movie, but its marketing. The Blair Witch Project had a great marketing strategy in pretending the cast was real (and really missing).
- Celia’s Take: While I find The Blair Witch Project boring (up until the last few minutes or so), I appreciate its legacy and it being the blueprint for both found footage films as well as marketing.
- Pairs well with: My Found Footage, Bad Movies Gone Good: The Fourth Kind, Hell House LLC
The Sixth Sense (1999)
A boy with the ability to see ghosts seeks help from a therapist with problems of his own.
- Why it’s essential: Everyone knows the ending at this point, but it’s still such a good misdirection the entire way through. It packs a hard punch in every way: scares, twist ending, and emotion.
- What to watch for: Small details on the second watch.
- Celia’s Take: This is essential for a minimum of two watches: first to see it through, then to see the things we missed.
- Pairs well with: Watchful Eyes, It Needs Eyes, Juggernaut
Cat People (1942)
A prudish wife releases pent-up sexual energy through feline means, to the horror of her husband and his vivacious coworker.
- Why it’s essential: Cat People is a fun watch for being almost 90 years old. What people don’t know is its pioneering of the “Lewton Bus,” an early version of the jump scare.
- What to watch for: Of course watch for the scares, but listen intentely at the cat noises and shadows stretching across the backgrounds.
- Celia’s Take: Cat People is always a favorite, despite its age. I wouldn’t find it scary, but exotic.
- Pairs well with: Bad Movies Gone Good: The Wolfman, Frankenstein, The Mummy
The Wicker Man (1973)
A policeman learns a painful lesson when he tries to solve a disappearance amongst an island of Pagan people.
- Why it’s essential: A Folk Horror great, starring Christopher Lee.
- What to watch for: The slow dissent into madness and blazing ending.
- Celia’s Take: I feel like Wicker Man is akin to other witch movies, bringing power back to people instead of false idols, and proving that earthly things are worthy of worship.
- Pairs well with: Breathing In, Season of the Witch: Vibing With Newfound Movie Magic
V/H/S (2012)
Multiple stories of found footage murder and madness delivered through lost media.
- Why it’s essential: This movie is the first in a line that blends nostalgia, analog, and anthologies into a powerhouse series that other movies try to imitate.
- What to watch for: All of the different media involved: VHS tapes, handheld devices, etc.
- Celia’s Take: While the first V/H/S isn’t my favorite in the series, this movie brought the scares back to our childhood tech, adding in that nostalgia factor.
- Pairs well with: Arbor Day: The Root of Evil, Hishkenstien: After Dark, Theatre of Darkness: Yamishibai, V/H/S/Halloween
Jaws (1975)
A lone shark swims New York beaches in search of blood.
- Why it’s essential: If any movie brought horror to the big screens to stay, it’s Jaws. Probably the first horror Blockbuster.
- What to watch for: How little you actually see the shark, plus tone changes throughout the film.
- Celia’s Take: Jaws is in the same realm as Jurassic Park, with audiences questioning if it’s really horror. I’d say any animal attack is horrific, especially if it’s hunting you for sport.
- Pairs well with: Chum, Grizzly Night
Alien (1979)
When the crew of a space mining ship discover a chamber of extraterrestrial egg pods, they accidentally let one onboard where it begins its breeding cycle.
- Why it’s essential: Alien brought horrors outside of this world, yet somehow traps you inside with it.
- What to watch for: All of the ways the alien can kill you without touching you (i.e., acid blood?!)
- Celia’s Take: The tagline is right, “In space, no one can hear you scream.” An inescapable non-human entity hellbent on death is more than enough to make me never want to leave the planet.
- Pairs well with: Letโs Talk Aliens: Extraterrestrials in Horror
What are your horror essentials? Leave a comment below!
