As far ashorrortrends that have been imported from other countries, people usually stay in the French Extreme and J-Horror discussions. Notable for how they reshaped the genre during that specific moment in time when they were alive, these subgenres featured tropes usually imitated, but never matched by American genre cinema. It’s how they became movements. However, what about other countries and their respective movements? Are we that narrow-minded that even when history was made withParasitesweeping the Oscars, audiences mostly complained about having to read subtitles?
Fortunately, there are other countries with remarkable horror history. And as lazy as our proposal will be, we can’t help but celebrate British horror. If you think about it, more than a cultural movement, we should be more appreciative of what their films provided in terms of rules for the genre, aesthetic elements, and the definition of the scare effect. With directors like Alfred Hitchcock, who eventually went all “Hollywoody” with his productions, British genre films had more to do with the foundations of American horror than we imagine and acknowledge.
To support this point, and put together the horror lists that we love to bring to you, here’s a list of the best British horror films ever made.
15Host (2020)
We’re going to start off with a recent film that used our worldwide isolation as the best frame ever. Probablythe most important film of the COVID era, Rob Savage’s 2020 film calledHostwas a screen-life horror film that gave found footage a run for its money. Using Zoom, the technology platform everyone started using during the pandemic, a group of friends holds a séance during a reunion party. Of course, something evil lurks, and it won’t stop until everyone suffers.
According to science, Hostis one of the scariest films ever made, and it was actually the platform that shot Savage right into the Hollywood mainstream.
14Saint Maud (2019)
By late 2019, everyone had become fascinated with the idea ofSaint Maud. However, nobody outside the festival circuit had seen it. Several changes in the schedule pushed the film towards late 2020, when going to the theater was still considered taboo due to the pandemic. But when we finally were able to see it, the descent down therabbit hole was worth it. Absolutely worth it.
The film is about a religious nurse who’s working in private houses, taking care of people. And her latest patient represents a battle she wants to fight. The ending is poetic, extremely violent, and very interesting.
13The Haunting (1963)
Robert Wise’s classic haunted house film,The Haunting, is based on the Shirley Jackson novel The Haunting of Hill House. And from all the adaptations the literary work has gotten, Wise’s version remains the most faithful. It tells the story of a group of people invited to Hill House, a mansion where a paranormal investigator is trying to solve some… incidents.
Scorsese called this the scariest film he’s ever seen, which is only a small fraction ofThe Haunting’s legacy in modern filmmaking. The effect of the bulging door still looks great, even after more than 50 years of the film’s release in 1963.
12Kill List (2011)
Before making films about huge megalodons, Ben Wheatley made other kinds of films. His second feature made in 2011 was calledKill List, and it’s one of the most jarring experiences you could ever have in modern cinema.Kill Listis shrouded in a particular spectrum of nihilism that the story finally justifies. The problem is navigating through a horrific movie about a contract killer whose latest gig is much more intimate than he thinks. The ending is shocking and will leave you breathless.
Related:The 20 Best Horror Movies Ever Made, According to Reddit
11The Innocents (1961)
Two years before Wise madeThe Haunting, Jack Clayton had madeThe Innocents, a film that runs on the same bloodline of Gothic horror that British filmmakers know very well how to tackle. Based on the Henry James novel The Turn of the Screw,The Innocentstells the story of a governess that starts working at a manor where two mysterious children reside. Deborah Kerr is perfect in the starring role of a woman whose mind is broken down by the idea of ghosts lurking in the huge estate, or possessed children that definitely want to harm her.
The cinematography by Freddie Francis (a frequent collaborator of David Lynch) is outstanding.
10Ghostwatch (1992)
Before theBlair Witchand theParanormal Activitymovies,something amazing happened in British televisionin 1992. Broadcast on BBC1 on Halloween night,Ghostwatchwas promoted as a paranormal investigation show. It featured specialists talking live on camera about the supernatural, while real-life investigators entered the home of a family that was getting hassled by poltergeists. Everything appeared to be safe, until Stephen Volk’s teleplay went beyond what people imagined. Suddenly, the ghosts weren’t only in the house of the affected family.
After an unexpected ending, BBC was flooded with over a million phone calls asking what was going on. Was everyone in the studio dead or possessed? Were people at home in danger?Ghostwatchwas aremarkable momentin British pop culture and British horror that will never be repeated.
9The Devils (1971)
Widely regarded asone of the best British directorsof all time, Ken Russell certainly had a sharp vision when blending the works of Aldous Huxley and John Whiting about the Loudun possessions.The Devilsis a remarkable drama that turns into full-blown horror when a priest (Oliver Reed) is accused of witchcraft in the 17th century, after a nun (Vanessa Redgrave) doesn’t find a way to express her sexual drive and accuses the man of casting a spell upon women.
Russell’s director’s cut is famous for being the only version that accomplished his vision of the film, but it’s extremely hard to find out there. If you ever get the chance to watch it, please do.
8Repulsion (1965)
Repulsionis a modern masterpiece that features Catherine Deneuve as Carol Ledoux, an introverted young manicurist who goes through a hallucinatory journey because of a repressed sexual desire that she can’t seem to fulfill. Roman Polanski’s film about the materialization ofwhatever feeds paranoiais inspired by the director’s contact with a schizophrenic woman. This hazy and nightmarish experience strays away from the literal meaning of the story, and will drive you to interpretation, as many experimental films from the ’70s do.
728 Days Later (2002)
Danny Boyle’s horror gem28 Days Latertells the story of Jim, a young man waking up from a coma after an accident. The hospital is deserted. The streets of London are empty. There’s no one in sight. Not much time passes until Jim gets horribly attacked by vicious zombies that are definitely not the Romero-type of the undead. They’re fast and hungry. Luckily, Jim survives the attack and alongside other human survivors, starts a journey towards a sanctuary of some kind.
6The Borderlands (2013)
An underrated found footage film that not many people took the time to watch.The Borderlands(also known as Final Prayer), tells the story of investigators from different backgrounds who agree on heading over to the countryside to research a miraculous church. What they find is nothing short of terrifying. We won’t spoil more because this is typically structured in the style of found footage movies, with a third act that goes berserk in revealing the threats and mysteries. You will never, ever, guess where this goes.
