Some of my favourite horror films

The granddaddy of horror films. Universal Studio's Dracula came first but is rather staid and talky by comparison. Karloff's performance as the misunderstood monster has never been bettered, and James Whale's direction is pin-sharp. A masterpiece.

Hammer's greatest horror. A brilliant and pacey condensing of the novel, with top class acting from Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. Stylish and gripping from first to last.

From director Jacques Tourneur of Cat People fame comes another classic horror/suspenser. And all the more gripping because WE KNOW Dr. Holden is wrong...there really is a demon out to get him!

What can you say that is new about this film? A dazzling masterpiece of black comedy and horror from director James Whale. As good today as when it was released.

Ground-breaking psychological horror film; a superb excercise in use of light and darkness and the power of suggestion from producer Val Lewton.

Another terrific Karloff performance in this Val Lewton-produced classic. The coach ride at the end is one of the greatest of all horror set-pieces.

A delicious and witty conconction from James Whale, played to the hilt by its largely British cast and full of eccentric fun. "No beds, they can't have beds!"

A film that originally struggled to find an audience; The Wicker Man - a movie about a pagan cult, has inspired a cult of its own. Superb acting from Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee really sell the story. The ending is something you will never forget.

For me one of the scariest films ever. Vincent Price and horror icon Barbara Steele feature in this clever and terrifying adaption of the Poe story, even if it's borrowed from Diaboliques...

A subtle and disturbing film, with a fantastic twist; amongst the best horror films made in recent years, although, by the time you get to the end, you realise there may be nothing of horror in the traditional sense at all about the story.

A terrific remake of a the 1951 sci-fi horror The Thing From Another World; gory but full of suspense and a crackling atmosphere. Never lets up from the word go.

Once seen never forgotten; a tale of murder and subsequent haunting with a startling twist at the end and a climax that will leave you breathless. An obvious influence on Psycho.

A Hammer B movie that is terrifically well-paced, with a legendary grave yard sequence. Possibly the best of Hammer's mid-60s films.

Not really a horror film but as Peter Bogdanovich's film is all about horror, contrasting screen horror with that of real life terror it derserves inclusion for a fine story and one of Karloff's greatest performances.

The return of Hammer films, and they gave us an intelligent update of Let The Right One In for their first new movie in over 30 years.

A superb Vinnie Price extravaganza and a sort of proto-body count flick. Funny, gory and stylish.

A slow-moving but hugely atmospheric horror/romance concerning re-incarnation. It's the opening sequence of the Mummy coming to life that ranks as one of the best and most effective moments in any horror film.

Brutal and gripping. Inspite of the sequel I've always believed that most of the second half of the film is largely in the leading character's imagination, and that she is the killer. Look for the subtle references here and there, and it certainly explains the ending....

A flop on release, Mad Love has grown in stature since. A veritable compendium of horror films made up to that point, there are in-jokes galore for the fan to spot. A character from Tod Browning's Freaks (1932) even turns up at one point! Peter Lorre is brilliantly sinister as the mad surgeon who transplants the hands of a murderer onto a concert pianist.

A superb southern-gothic and easily the best vampire movie of the 80s. The bar scene is particularly memorable.