Scorsese’s lists the 11 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time

Martin Scorsese scares pretty easy. I understand that these kinds of lists are idiosyncratic by definition, but some of his titles annotated on The Daily Beast must surely come with an asterisk (“*scary when I was 9 years old.”)¬† I’m glad I finally caught up with Dead of Night this week — on the recommendation of a few trusted readers.¬† It’s good to be familiar with the classics that once spooked the pants off audiences, but for me Dead of Night was almost a comedy.¬† The second flashback, with the youngster who met a ghost in the attic, was a hilarious reminder of how many teenage actors of the past had no concept of “act natural.” — “I’m not frightened! I’m not frightened! Oh, please! Hold me tight!” (3:50)

I’ve never seen The Entity or The Uninvited and now I want to. But I can say without hesitation that the only thing scary to me about Dead of Night and Isle of the Dead is their hellishly stilted dialogue and paralyzing pacing.¬† That said, I’m down with Scorsese’s other 9 choices, and I’m hoping his obvious affection for crazed isolation helps him conjure up some of the same classic atmosphere on Shutter Island.

1. THE HAUNTING

• ‚ÄúYou may not believe in ghosts but you cannot deny terror!‚Äù was the tagline for this absolutely terrifying 1963 Robert Wise picture about the investigation of a house plagued by violently assaultive spirits.

2. ISLE OF THE DEAD

3. THE UNINVITED

4. THE ENTITY

• Barbara Hershey plays a woman who is brutally raped and ravished by an invisible force in this truly terrifying picture. The banal settings, the California-modern house, accentuate the unnerving quality.

5. DEAD OF NIGHT

• A British classic: four tales told by four strangers mysteriously gathered in a country house, each one extremely disquieting, climaxing with a montage in which elements from all the stories converge into a crescendo of madness. Like The Uninvited, it‚Äôs very playful‚Ķand then it gets under your skin.

6. THE CHANGELING

7. THE SHINING

8. THE EXORCIST

• A classic, endlessly parodied, very familiar‚Äî and it‚Äôs as utterly horrifying as it was the day it came out. That room‚Äîthe cold, the purple light, the demonic transformations: it really haunts you.

9. NIGHT OF THE DEMON

• Jacques Tourneur made this picture about ancient curses near the end of his career, but it‚Äôs as potent as his films for Val Lewton. Forget the demon itself‚Äîagain, it‚Äôs what you don‚Äôt see that‚Äôs so powerful.

10. THE INNOCENTS

11. PSYCHO

• Again, it‚Äôs so familiar that you think: great movie, but it‚Äôs not so scary anymore. Then you watch it‚Ķand quickly start thinking again. The shower‚Ķthe swamp‚Ķthe relationship between mother and son‚Äîit‚Äôs extremely disturbing on so many levels. It‚Äôs also a great work of art.