Horror is a tricky genre to nail. Filmmakers need to genuinely scare, or at least, unsettle an audience - despite the fact that their audience is fully aware that what they're watching is not real. Horror must also strike a delicate balance with sincerity; too serious and filmmakers lose their audience. Yet, too goofy and it veers into camp.
Horror is one of the most divisive genres of all time. It's also a genre of wildly fluctuating quality. Some horror films are fantastic, others are pure drivel.
Best: Cape Fear (1991) - 7.3
Cape Fear is a strong contender as the best horror remake of all time. This 1991 classic is a remake of the 1962 original starring Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum. This one stars Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte, complete with Jessica Lange and Juliette Lewis. The movie was an enormous success and even received two acting noms at the 1992 Academy Awards (for De Niro and Lewis), a rarity for the horror genre.
Worst: Troll 2 (1990) - 2.9
Troll 2 is widely regarded as one of the worst horror movies ever made, and it's essentially become nothing but a giant meme thanks to the internet. Troll 2 was actually conceived as a comedy before being marketed as a genuine horror film, which could help explain its abysmal qualities. Many of its scenes - including the "Oh my God!" line - have become iconic, and it's rightfully regarded as one of the best worst movies of all time.
Best: Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - 7.4
Bram Stoker's Dracula may be one of the most stylish horror films ever made. Given a budget of $40 million, the movie was directed by the iconic Francis Ford Coppola and starred a wonderful cast, containing the likes of Gary Oldman (as Dracula), Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and Anthony Hopkins. The movie may emphasize style over substance, but what style it is. When it comes to Dracula adaptations, it's hard to beat Coppola's gorgeous masterpiece.
Worst: Zombie Cop (1991) - 2.9
Viewers really shouldn't expect much from a movie called Zombie Cop. Zombie Cop is sort of like Robocop, only involving zombies instead of a robot.
It involves a police officer and a Voodoo priest, both of whom are killed during a shootout. They both rise as undead zombies, and Zombie Cop enlists the help of his police buddies to bring an end to Dr. Death. This is pure cheesy fun, but it definitely doesn't make for a good horror film.
Best: Funny Games (1997) - 7.6
Despite its title, Funny Games is anything but funny. This is a low budget Austrian film that was eventually remade in 2007, but viewers should completely ignore that and watch the 1997 original instead. This movie was infamously entered into the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, where its depravity, violence, and intentionally provocative story earned it some consternation and controversy. But what's a great horror movie without a little controversy?
Worst: Ghoulies IV (1994) - 2.8
Believe it or not, Ghoulies is a franchise. The first film was released in 1985, and Ghoulies IV would prove to be the final film in the series, released straight to video in 1994. The movie was criticized by Ghoulies fans, as prior Ghoulies movies utilized puppets whereas this one used little people in cheesy costumes. The movie is truly terrible, and even the actors in it (like Stacie Randall) have made their embarrassment known.
Best: Misery (1990) - 7.8
Stephen King adaptations are typically quite terrible, but that's certainly not the case with Misery. Misery is essentially a two-man play starring James Caan and Kathy Bates.
A movie like this lives and dies on its performances, but luckily, Misery contains some truly outstanding performances. The breakout star is obviously Kathy Bates, who famously took home the Academy Award for Best Actress at the 1991 Academy Awards.
Worst: Feeders (1996) - 2.4
Feeders is a cult film directed by the Polonia brothers, who would become somewhat famous in the horror circle for directing cheesy B-movies like Splatter Beach and Camp Blood First Slaughter. The story of this film is fairly basic - aliens land on Earth and begin hunting and eating humans. Of course, most people don't care about the story, as the film has become infamous for its terrible filmmaking. The acting, directing, writing, visual effects - everything is terrible.
Best: The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) - 8.6
The Silence of the Lambs expertly toes the line between horror and thriller, but there's no denying that it contains many horrific elements. Of course, most of the praise generally goes to the movie's acting - especially that of Anthony Hopkins, whose Hannibal Lecter remains one of the most iconic villains in movie history. But the movie won the Big Five Academy Awards, proving its quality beyond its acting. It was just the third movie in history to win the Big Five and remains the most recent.
Worst: Night Of The Dribbler (1990) - 2.4
Night of the Dribbler is every bit as terrible as its title suggests. The movie follows a masked stalker who kills and disfigures the members of a college basketball team named The Watergate Plumbers (admittedly pretty creative). But the team name is the best thing about this movie, as nearly everything else about it is dreadful. It doesn't take itself very seriously, but with filmmaking this bad, that doesn't account for much.