In order to illustrate how significant an impact the horror film has had on the history of cinema, FEAR has compiled a list of its top 60 horror movies, drawing on the opinions of around 40 contributors—including journalists, film and television personalities, authors, filmmakers and artists—who all share a passion in common: a love of the horror genre. They aren't afraid to admit it—neither should you be.
The final result is a mixture of the obvious (The Exorcist, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and the more obscure (Onibaba, Les Yeux Sans Visage) and includes some of those films which sit precariously on the edge of the horror genre (Blue Velvet, Apocalypse Now, Taxi Driver). I was eventually persuaded to include the latter as they all certainly contain horrific moments, albeit unconventional ones. One of the main difficulties in compiling any list of horror films is deciding where to draw the line. My criteria are fairly loose. Perhaps it's better that way.
—Mark Salisbury, 1990
