Best horror movie of all time?
"Get Out" from 2017.
At least according to voters at Rotten Tomatoes, who gave it 112.84 in an "Adjusted Score" - a formula that takes into account the number of reviews per movie. With that algorithmic determination, films that get a lot of reviews tend to rate higher than those that get fewer.
Shawn RyanBut "Get Out" is the best? It's an effective film about a black man visiting the strangely weird and frightening neighborhood of his white girlfriend's parents, but it's a horror/comedy with a high level of social satire and commentary. Scary? Not so much.
Maybe that's the point. Today's audiences don't want to be scared as much as entertained. And scared often means intense, not terrifying.
Bad films of any kind - horror or not - don't entertain, unless you're watching them because they're so bad they're good. For example: "Plan 9 from Outer Space," "Showgirls" or "Manos: The Hands of Fate."
Horror films, though, follow their own set of rules. Yes, they want to entertain, but by scaring the screams out of you. To make you curl up in your seat. Hands in front of your mouth. Eyes wide or hidden.
Sure, they can include some social commentary or a bit of satire, but when the horror starts, it better be chilling. And many recent horror films are more a question of tense than scary. "A Quiet Place" had a lot of intensity, but wasn't truly scary. "Don't Breathe" is much the same way, as is "10 Cloverfield Lane"
Perhaps it's a matter of perspective. For me, horror generally means supernatural or otherworldly. Something explainable and terrifying happening in a familiar world. "The Exorcist" left permanent mental scars; 1976's "The Omen" did the same.
The original Japanese "Ringu" from 1998 creeped me out of my skin, especially when the girl crawls out of the TV. Don't watch 1963's "The Haunting" late at night by yourself; I did, and it didn't end well.
Then again, 2014's "The Babadook" didn't rattle me all that much; I was more freaked by "The Last Exorcism." "The Blair Witch Project" was just annoying.
"The Conjuring" from 2013 was scary; "The Conjuring 2" in 2016 was essentially "The Conjuring" remade and was overly familiar. Even "It" didn't frighten me, although I think it's a fine film, one of the best Stephen King adaptations.
And, of course, classic horror such as "Frankenstein," "Dracula," "The Wolf Man" and "The Mummy" have their joys, but they were made in an era in which being frightened was a bit tamer.
But "Get Out" the best horror movie ever? Get outta here.
Contact Shawn Ryan at mshawnryan@gmail.com.