TAGGED AS: foreign, Horror, movies
(Photo by Weinstein Company/Courtesy Everett Collection)
France has had a long history with horror that dates back to 1896, when Georges Meilies directed the original horror movie, The Haunted Castle. It had bats, and spooky skeletons! Jean Epstein’s The Fall of the House of Usher is one of the early horror masterpieces from the 1920s. And in the 1950s, France produced two of what many consider the greatest horror movies ever: Diabolique and Eyes Without a Face. Not to be outdone by the past, the aughts-bred New French Extremity movement set the new standard in brutality with the likes of Martyrs and Inside, continuing into Julia Ducournau’s 2016 Raw.
2020’s Best Horror Movies | 200 Best Horror Movies Ever
#1
Adjusted Score: 104296%
Critics Consensus: A horrific tale of guilt and obsession, Eyes Without a Face is just as chilling and poetic today as it was when it was first released.
#2
Adjusted Score: 97972%
Critics Consensus: Smart, dynamic, and fast-paced, Saloum mixes tones and genres into a tart, smoothly blended treat.
#3
Adjusted Score: 105646%
Critics Consensus: Cruel, dark, but undeniably effective, Diabolique is a suspense thriller as effective as Hitchcock’s best work and with a brilliant twist ending.
#4
Adjusted Score: 102233%
Critics Consensus: Raw‘s lurid violence and sexuality live up to its title, but they’re anchored with an immersive atmosphere and deep symbolism that linger long after the provocative visuals fade.
#5
Adjusted Score: 99831%
Critics Consensus: Revenge slices and dices genre tropes, working within an exploitation framework while adding a timely — yet never less than viscerally thrilling — feminist spin.
#6
Adjusted Score: 102426%
Critics Consensus: Thrillingly provocative and original, Titane reaffirms writer-director Julia Ducournau’s delightfully disturbing vision.
#7
Adjusted Score: 88737%
Critics Consensus: The Night Eats the World finds a few unexplored corners in the crowded zombie genre, with a refreshing emphasis on atmosphere and character development.
#8
Adjusted Score: 85423%
Critics Consensus: Creepy, provocative, and aesthetically absorbing, Evolution marks a satisfying step forward for director/co-writer Lucile Hadzihalilovic.
#9
Adjusted Score: 84834%
Critics Consensus: Knife + Heart wrings giallo-inspired thrills out of a boldly challenging story that defiantly succeeds on its own stylish merits.
#10
Adjusted Score: 101107%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#11
Adjusted Score: 63434%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#12
Adjusted Score: 90026%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#13
Adjusted Score: 35284%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#14
Adjusted Score: 88914%
Critics Consensus: Uncommonly restrained for a movie about a flesh-eating menace, Ravenous offers a satisfyingly nuanced entry in the crowded zombie apocalypse subgenre.
#15
Adjusted Score: 43987%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#16
Adjusted Score: 87241%
Critics Consensus: A rough-edged thriller that lacks the precision of Polanski’s best work, but makes up for it with its skillful mounting of paranoia, dread, and dark themes.
#17
Adjusted Score: 25430%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#18
Adjusted Score: 72438%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#19
Adjusted Score: 79232%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#20
Adjusted Score: 66749%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#21
Adjusted Score: 26203%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#22
Adjusted Score: 74008%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#23
Adjusted Score: 78834%
Critics Consensus: Challenging and rewarding in equal measure, Climax captures writer-director Gaspar Noé working near his technically brilliant and visually distinctive peak.
#24
Adjusted Score: 69872%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#25
Adjusted Score: 66693%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#26
Adjusted Score: 65785%
Critics Consensus: A real polarising movie, this Gallic torture-porn is graphic, brutal, nasty and gruesome and not to everyone’s taste.
#27
Adjusted Score: 62186%
Critics Consensus: Perhaps slapdash with its aspirations toward message-making, this ultra-gory horror flick nonetheless delivers the bloody goods.
#28
Adjusted Score: 64312%
Critics Consensus: Suspenseful and tense from start to finish, the French horror film Them proves that a lack of gore doesn’t mean a dearth of scares.
#29
Adjusted Score: 13178%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#30
Adjusted Score: 56460%
Critics Consensus: An erotic thriller dulled by a messy narrative.
#31
Adjusted Score: 52083%
Critics Consensus: Calvaire (The Ordeal) has a certain amount of grim potential, but loses effectiveness by too often mistaking disturbing gore for genuine horror.
#32
Adjusted Score: 16651%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#33
Adjusted Score: 39722%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#34
Adjusted Score: 45208%
Critics Consensus: There is indeed a good amount of tension in this French slasher, but the dubbing is bad and the end twist unbelievable.
