Editorials
What Are Some “Perfect” Horror Movies?
Just last night, I watched Jonathan Demme’s 1991 psychological horror/thriller The Silence of the Lambs and, just like every time I pop it in, was absolutely blown away by how near-perfect it is. From the casting choices and their performances to the brilliant direction. From the haunting DP work to the wonderful score. Seriously, it’s one of those movies that I can watch time after time and always find myself absolutely engrossed.
That got me thinking about horror movies that are considered to be “perfect” by the horror community. Are there more films that fall under that banner?
So let’s discuss this! I’ve got a few of my choices below (by no means all of them) and then I want you all to give me some of your own “perfect” favorites in the comments below!
The Shining
This may be one of my all-time favorite horror movies. Look at all those amazing qualities I mentioned above about The Silence of the Lambs and you can easily apply them to Stanley Kubrick’s absolutely terrifying masterpiece. Few movies manage to haunt me as much as The Shining and its brilliant representation of descent into madness.
Dawn of the Dead
Night of the Living Dead might have been the movie that kicked off the zombie craze that we’re still swept in today but it was the sequel that I feel really showed just how important and culturally significant these kinds of movies are. Featuring scathing social commentary, likable characters, and enough gore for any fan, this is the epitome of a brilliantly realized horror film.
The Fly
It’s hard to pick a Cronenberg film that isn’t stunning in some way or another. But this remake took the concept of the original 1958 film and took it in directions darker and more horrific than I think anyone could’ve imagined. Never straying from its tone, this film ends in such a way that we find ourselves questioning the very idea of who plays the villain. An absolute masterpiece.
Suspiria
Obviously this was going to appear somewhere on here. It’s a timeless classic and for damn good reasons. It’s gorgeous, it’s got a razor-thin plot that it never deviates from, and it’s simply a nightmarish yet highly entertaining journey that every horror fan needs to undertake at least once in their life.
The Thing
While many would consider Carpenter’s Halloween to be a better example of his work, I think The Thing is the director’s true masterpiece. Yes, Michael Myers has become a cultural icon but this alien biological virus is where true horror comes forth. I still question the ending every time I rewatch this film, all while marveling at how fresh and gorgeous the practical FX still look to this day.
The Sacrament
This may surprise some of you but I found this film to be an incredible achievement and a way to inject new life into the whole “found footage” craze. Additionally, while many found footage horror movies tackle something supernatural or otherworldly, The Sacrament stay firmly planted in reality, using a real life event as its inspiration. I remember watching this movie and going from horror to grief to anxiety in the third act. I honestly can’t remember a film that made me feel so much in the past several years.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
You must be logged in to post a comment.