Today sees the opening of "The Cabin In The Woods," one of the freshest, most enjoyable horror movies in years, one that we can only urge you to go see (read our review here). To mark its release, Time Out have polled critics, programmers and filmmakers as to their favorite horror movies, and collated their finds in a mammoth list.
Topped by "The Exorcist," it's an excellent read, and one you'll want to sit down with over the weekend, and as a taste, below you can find the top ten picks of ten of the most notable filmmaker contributors. You can find the full list, as well as picks from many, many more interesting figures, from Antonio Campos and Joe Dante to Simon Pegg and Rob Zombie, over at Time Out's site. And why not weigh in with your own ten picks over in the comments below?
Roger Corman ("The Pit & The Pendulum," "Flesh For Frankenstein")
1. "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" (Robert Wiene, 1920)
2. "Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Grauens" (FW Murnau , 1922)
3. "Psycho" (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
4. "The Shining" (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
5. "Alien" (Ridley Scott, 1979)
6. "The Exorcist" (William Friedkin, 1973)
7. "Les Diaboliques" (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955)
8. "Rosemary's Baby" (Roman Polanski, 1968)
9. "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (Wes Craven, 1984)
10. "Halloween" (John Carpenter, 1978)
Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption," "The Mist," "The Walking Dead")
1. "The Exorcist" (William Friedkin, 1973)
2. "Alien" (Ridley Scott, 1979)
3. "The Thing" (John Carpenter, 1982)
4. "The Fly" (David Cronenberg, 1986)
5. "Night of the Living Dead" (George A Romero, 1968)
6. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (Philip Kaufman, 1978)
7. "Frankenstein" (James Whale, 1931)
8. "The Silence of the Lambs" (Jonathan Demme, 1990)
9. "Se7en" (David Fincher, 1995)
10. "Day of the Dead" (George A Romero, 1985)
Sean Durkin ("Martha Marcy May Marlene")
1. "The Shining" (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
2. "Rosemary's Baby" (Roman Polanski, 1968)
3. "Images" (Robert Altman, 1972)
4. "Black Christmas" (Bob Clark, 1974)
5. "Halloween" (John Carpenter, 1978)
6. "Hour of the Wolf" (Ingmar Bergman, 1967)
7. "The Changeling" (Peter Medak, 1979)
8. "House of The Devil" (Ti West, 2009)
9. "See The Sea" (Francois Ozon, 1997)
10. "Deep End" (Jerzy Skolimowski, 1970)
Drew Goddard ("The Cabin In The Woods")
1. "The Thing" (John Carpenter, 1982)
2. "Alien" (Ridley Scott, 1979)
3. "The Evil Dead" (Sam Raimi, 1981)
4. "Dawn of the Dead" (George A Romero, 1978)
5. "The Descent" (Neil Marshall, 2005)
6. "Halloween" (John Carpenter, 1978)
7. "Suspiria" (Dario Argento, 1977)
8. "Hellraiser" (Clive Barker, 1987)
9. "The Strangers" (Bryan Bertino, 2008)
10. "Shaun of the Dead" (Edgar Wright, 2004)
Monte Hellman ("Two-Lane Blacktop")
1. "Don't Look Now" (Nicolas Roeg, 1973)
2. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (Don Siegel , 1956)
3. "Frankenstein" (James Whale, 1931)
4. "Dracula" (Tod Browning, 1931)
5. "Dead of Night" (Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Deardon, Robert Hamer, 1945)
6. "The Ghost Breakers" (George Marshall, 1945)
7. "The Mummy" (Karl Freund, 1932)
8. "The Picture of Dorian Grey" (Albert Lewin, 1945)
9. "The Shining" (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
10. "Rosemary’s Baby" (Roman Polanski, 1968)
Tom Six ("The Human Centipede: First Sequence")
1. "Saló" (Pier Palo Pasolini, 1975)
2. "Crash" (David Cronenberg, 1996)
3. "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
4. "Nekromantik" (Joerg Buttgereit, 1987)
5. "The Shining" (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
6. "Boxing Helena" (Jennifer Lynch, 1993)
7. "Teeth" (Mitchell Lichtenstein, 2007)
8. "Haze" (Shin'ya Tsukamoto, 2005)
9. "The Exorcist" (William Friedkin, 1973)
10. "The Blair Witch Project" (Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez, 1999)
Guillermo Del Toro ("The Devil's Backbone," "Pan's Labyrinth")
1. "Bride of Frankenstein" (James Whale, 1935)
2. "Possession" (Andrzej Zulawski , 1981)
3. "The Shining" (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
4. "Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie des Grauens" (FW Murnau , 1922)
5. "Rosemary's Baby" (Roman Polanski, 1968)
6. "The Innocents" (Jack Clayton, 1961)
7. "Alien" (Ridley Scott, 1979)
8. "The Night of the Hunter" (Charles Laughton, 1955)
9. "Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages" (Benjamin Christensen, 1922)
10. "Freaks" (Tod Browning, 1932)
James Watkins ("The Woman In Black")
1. "Alien" (Ridley Scott, 1979)
2. "Psycho" (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
3. "Blue Velvet" (David Lynch, 1986)
4. "Dead Ringers" (David Cronenberg. 1988)
5. "Manhunter" (Michael Mann, 1986)
6. "Jaws" (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
7. "Peeping Tom" (Michael Powell, 1960)
8. "The Tenant" (Roman Polanski, 1976)
9. "The Vanishing" (George Sluizer, 1988)
10. "The Abominable Dr Phibes" (Robert Fuest, 1971)
Ti West ("House Of The Devil," "The Innkeepers")
1. "The Shining" (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
2. "The Exorcist" (William Friedkin, 1973)
3. "Rosemary's Baby" (Roman Polanski, 1968)
4. "Jaws" (Steven Spielberg, 1975)
5. "The Changeling" (Peter Medak, 1979)
6. "Psycho" (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
7. "Alien" (Ridley Scott, 1979)
8. "Night of the Living Dead" (George A Romero, 1968)
9. "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
10. "Halloween" (John Carpenter, 1978)
Ben Wheatley ("Kill List")
1. "Come and See" (Elem Klimov, 1985)
2. "Dawn of the Dead" (George A Romero, 1978)
3. "Videodrome" (David Cronenberg, 1982)
4. "The Thing" (John Carpenter, 1982)
5. "The Shining" (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
6. "Scum" (Alan Clark, 1979)
7. "Threads" (Mick Jackson, 1984)
8. "Cannibal Holocaust" (Ruggero Deodato, 1979)
9. "Don't Look Now" (Nicolas Roeg, 1973)
10. "Evil Dead II" (Sam Raimi, 1987)
