You Call Yourself a Horror Fan? Tarantino’s 15 Must-Watch Picks Say Otherwise

Quentin Tarantino is the flesh and blood of the 70s. This is confirmed by the poetics of his films and his taste preferences.

It is not surprising that most of the horror films that impressed him were released in that decade and also in the late 60s. We have collected 15 of the great director’s favorite horror movies for those who want to see the genre through his eyes.

1. The Last House on the Left, 1972

The Last House on the Left is a reimagining of Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring in the language of violence of Wes Craven: two young women get involved with the wrong crowd and instead of a concert they end up in the company of psychopaths.

The Last House on the Left was criticized and banned, but the film still took a significant place in the development of the slasher in particular and the history of horror in general.

2. House of Dark Shadows, 1970

After awakening from a centuries-long sleep, the vampire Barnabas Collins begins to terrorize the local women. One of them, Dr. Julia Hoffman, decides to help Collins and tries to cure him of his vampirism.

Meanwhile, Barnabas meets Maggie and begins to believe that she is the reincarnation of his former lover.

3. Sisters, 1972

Danielle’s life is overshadowed by the presence of a former conjoined twin sister who suffers from a mental disorder. The journalist witnesses a murder and begins her own investigation to find out what role the sisters played in it.

Director Brian De Palma turned to the subject of conjoined twins for a reason: at the time, he was very interested in questions of the duality of society, consciousness and morality – who can demonstrate this dualism better than conjoined sisters?

4. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, 1974

A journey deep into the Texas countryside has become a legend of world cinema. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre conveys an almost olfactory sense of horror – preserved organs and refrigerated rooms, an unforgettable and stifling summer that brings death and a running chainsaw.

In Tobe Hooper’s film, you experience the nightmare of the characters almost physically: the frame is filled with sunset glow, and the mythology of the South is revealed from a new, much more dangerous side.

5. Black Sabbath, 1963

Black Sabbath is an anthology of three horror stories. A woman, coming home from work, hears the phone ringing, picks it up and falls into the abyss of a nightmare.

In the second story, set in the outback, an old man mercilessly deals with his large family. In the third story, a nurse who stole a ring from a dead old woman will soon regret her actions.

6. Deep Red, 1975

Of the many giallo films directed by Dario Argento, Deep Red is perhaps the most stylistically expressive and complete work.

The murder of a parapsychologist by an unknown madman forces a pianist and a journalist to launch an independent investigation. Deep Red is rightly considered the pinnacle of the Italian giallo, largely due to Argento’s vibrant style.

7. Near Dark, 1987

A successful solo debut of Kathryn Bigelow combines such different genres as horror, western, action and romantic drama. The plot revolves around a young guy who gets into a group of difficult teenagers, as it turns out later – vampires and becomes a bloodsucker.

He becomes part of a whole vampire clan that drives around the streets of Texas in an old van. During the day the vampires sleep in motels and at night they go hunting.

8. The Thing, 1982

The Thing is an adaptation of John W. Campbell Jr.’s science fiction novel Who Goes There? This was the beginning of the director’s apocalyptic trilogy, which also included the horror films Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness.

Despite the unique special effects and the rapidly gaining popularity of Kurt Russell in the lead role, the film failed to achieve success and only gained cult status after its release on VHS.

9. Eaten Alive, 1976

Eaten Alive is Tobe Hooper’s follow-up to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It’s a tense slasher, exactly what a concentrated genre movie should be – no wonder that many horror fans and Tarantino himself consider it one of the best movies of its time.

In search of her missing sister, a girl travels to distant islands. She finds her sister in a pseudo-religious commune of fanatics who blindly obey a swindler who takes possession of the newcomers’ wealth.

10. Audition, 1999

Shigeharu has been single for seven years, so a friend suggests he organize a fake audition for the lead role in a non-existent movie so he can choose a wife from among the candidates.

The man finds a woman who resembles his ex-wife – he will regret this decision, but it will be too late. Takashi Miike’s Audition is a Japanese horror film without brakes, in which the drama of the search for love abruptly gives way to bloody violence.

11. Battle Royale, 2000

Long before The Hunger Games, director Kinji Fukasaku, was capturing the rage of young people thrown onto an island to survive. Battle Royale is a Japanese film that has become a cult classic and spawned a wave of projects about deadly trials.

The government initiates a massacre in which only the innocent high school students take part: we see how children become hunters, relying on their own instincts.

12. Carrie, 1976

A pop culture phenomenon, the first Stephen King adaptation, and one of the greatest horror films of all time. A shy teenage girl, Carrie, is cruelly treated not only at school, but also at home.

She is humiliated not only by her classmates, but also by her religious mother. However, the main character, played by Sissy Spacek, turns out to have telekinetic abilities, which means that in the finale, a full-scale apocalypse awaits the oppressors.

13. The Host, 2006

Even before Parasite, Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho had already conquered the screens of South Korea, where The Host was the number one box-office hit of 2006.

Genetic scientists are developing new types of weapons. By accident, some of the secret material ends up in a river through a pipeline. The peaceful landscape turns into a bloodbath when a terrifying monster emerges from the water and begins destroying everything around it, including people.

Tarantino has cited Shaun of the Dead as his favorite British film of all time. In this film, director Edgar Wright looked to the films of George A. Romero and combined their aesthetics with a typical romantic comedy plot: the story of a loser trying to win back his love.

Inspired by horror-comedies like An American Werewolf in London and Braindead, Wright has created an incredibly funny and thoughtful film.

Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s grandson, Frederick, arrives at a castle in Transylvania. He doesn’t believe the stories about his grandfather’s experiments, but soon finds evidence himself – and from that moment on, a phantasmagorical story begins about his attempts to create a man from nothing.

Young Frankenstein is a classic horror parody at its finest, and perhaps one of the best in the genre.

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