William Friedkin's Must-See Horror Movies

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WILLIAM FRIEDKIN's thirteen MUST-SEE horror movies

March 5th 2009 01:43

I found an interesting list on Entertainment Weekly from October of last year compiled by acclaimed original movie brat William Friedkin who made The Exorcist (1973) and the hugely under-rated and rarely seen Sorcerer (1977, a remake of cult French nerve-shredder The Wages of Fear), as well as the exceptional crime thrillers The French Connection and To Live and Die in L.A. (1985, which I plan to review in the future, along with Sorcerer when I find a decent edition on DVD).

Friedkin was asked to select thirteen must-see horror movies and make a statement on each. A few choice picks, and a few I haven’t seen, but I was most taken by Friedkin’s acknowledgment and praise of Dario Argento, who shares with Friedkin (and his fellow movie brat Brian DePalma) a love of pure cinema storytelling (ie a strong visual style, often relying just on sound and image). Argento was the only director on the list who had two movies.

“Suspiria (1977) and Deep Red (1975) are the most pure horror films on this list. The other films I've named have a lot to say about basic human values, and the things that bring about evil. These two films are just finely tuned machines to scare the hell out of you. And they do. They are the classic blood-spattered slasher films that have been imitated, copied, and remade without credit. They're strictly in the realm of fantasy, but Argento, being the great living master of horror, is so talented that they'll scare anyone who sees them.

These two films are just finally tuned machines to scare the hell out of you. And they do. They are the classic blood-spattered slasher films that have been imitated, copied, and remade without credit. They're strictly in the realm of fantasy, but Argento, being the great living master of horror, is so talented that they'll scare anyone who sees them.''

The other movies on Friedkin’s list were Psycho (1960), Alien (1979), Rosemary's Baby (1968), Diabolique (1955), Onibaba (1964), La Boucher (1970, The Butcher), Funny Games (1997), The Lodger (1944), The Spiral Staircase (1946), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and one of the scariest (and new personal favourite) movies of recent years, Ils (2006, Them).

“If you'll notice, most of the films on my list are from many, many years ago. For the most part, I'm not interested in horror films that I see today. But Them is an exception. It's based on a true story, and similar to Funny Games, it's about some young people who go around a small vacation town and kidnap various visitors, take them to a house, torture them, and kill them. For the entire length of the picture, you have no idea who's doing this or why, and then the final scene kind of explains it. Those sequences of hunting, capturing, and torturing are really among the most brilliant that I've ever seen.''

For the rest of Friedkin's comments click here

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