A list this complete is going to be long, so it helps to look at the Top 50 as the undebatable canon. Personal opinion aside, they’re the titles you have to include for credibility. Now we round out the Top 100 with films that are not just excellent Horror/Thrillers, they are among my All-Time Favorite Films of any genre.
I’ve already written about Se7en in the Hollywood365 section, so I’ll talk about a recurring theme for me, the debate over what qualifies a film for the list. Se7en is in the Top 100 over at They Shoot Zombies, but Letterboxd and IMDB classifies it as Thriller, Mystery and Crime. The very similar Silence of the Lambs does get the Horror tag, and I would love to hear why one and not the other. This is why I refer to my list as Horror/Thrillers, to show I’m casting a wide net. Even then, there will be debatable titles, including a few that are family-friendly and/or using Halloween for some non-scary fun.
Also, since many official Horror films of the classic era are bland or obvious compared to modern films, it’s only fair to acknowledge the many thrillers that frequently contained stretches of terror that put to shame the efforts of their genuine Horror competition.
As for Se7en, I can think of a number of scary and disturbing moments, including the opening credits and the Sloth crime scene. Anyone who doesn’t think Se7en belongs has their qualifications set impossibly high.
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