It was difficult to narrow it down to five, and I'm sure after I post this I'll think of another five films I should have posted instead, but here it goes:
5. Carnival of Souls - I sometimes see this film written off as "schlock horror" and while the criticism is not entirely unwarranted, Carnival of Souls is nonetheless full of genuinely creepy moments and wrought with incredible atmosphere and a singular--even artful--visual style. It's a horror classic in my book.
4. Phantasm - Two words: Tall Man.
3. Audition - I know this one has already been mentioned, but I couldn't leave it off my list. I love Takashi Miike's work, especially when he ventures into horror, and Audition is one of his finest moments. To the unsuspecting viewer, the final sequence of this film is the movie-going equivalent of being repeatedly bludgeoned in the face with a sledgehammer.
2. In a Glass Cage - This Spanish film by Agustí Villaronga is so emotionally and mentally draining that I've only watched it once; I honestly don't know if I could manage another viewing. It's a psychologically harrowing and uncommonly realistic exploration of the cycles of child abuse, the corruptive effects of power, and the pitiless depths of human depravity. I watched it because I read an interview with John Waters in which he claimed it was more intense than Salo, and boy he wasn't kidding. When the credits started to roll I couldn't move, I just sat in my chair completely numb and stayed there, immobile, for a good 20 minutes. The only other movie that left me feeling so f***ed up after I watched it was The Vanishing, and that was mostly just from shock.
1. Hellraiser - I must admit that this at number one mostly for nostalgic reasons, as it completely captured my imagination when I was a small child and was probably the first horror movie I ever saw. I had absolutely no concept of the plot let alone the philosophical and psychosexual themes running throughout, but that didn't matter. I was wholly drawn in by Barker's now signature aesthetic: sort of BDSM meets Mary Shelley, alluring in its grotesqueness. I had never seen anything like it. I begged my mom to rent the VHS from Blockbuster and watched it repeatedly, obsessed. The Chatterer gave me nightmares I couldn't look away and didn't want to. No other movie has left as much of an impression on me as this one.
And, with the exception of the laughably bad practical effects, I think it's fair to say that Hellraiser has held up remarkably well. I revisit it every so often and each time I'm blown away by how refreshingly unique and atypical it is as a horror film, especially when considered in the context of its production and release at a time when slasher films had reached the zenith of their popularity.