Top 50 British horror films

Jae Prowse heads back to 1980s Britain to look at the troubled production of much-derided festive slasher, Don't Open Till Christmas...

Jane Nightshade considers Alfred Hitchcock's last great film, 1972's Frenzy, and examines how this took him home literally, thematically, and stylistically...

Adam Jezard discusses how classic European psychological horror-thriller Les Diaboliques influenced Hammer’s series of psychological dramas...

The mild-mannered serial killer who is obsessed with his parents is such a prevalent horror trope it's easy to overlook how it came into being. Here, Hollie Starling looks at the origin myth of Peeping Tom's gentle voyeur Mark Lewis…

Andrew David Barker shares this ongoing production diary charting the making of the short film Baby On Board, written by Stephen Volk and directed by Andrew...

Slaughter High was Britain's answer to the influx of US-made slashers during the 1980s, but was it actually any good? Chris Andrews goes behind the mask...

Should comedy and horror ever occupy the same space? David Evans-Powell believes so and presents his case with a look at 1973's The House in Nightmare Park...

Horrified's Dean Newman interviews award-winning British horror writer and director Pat Higgins about his forthcoming horror musical, Powertool Cheerleaders vs the Boyband of the Screeching Dead...

Johnny Restall grows horns and takes a personal look at the Satanic highlights of British horror cinema...​

Ray Newman examines Lindsey C. Vickers' obscure 1981 British horror, The Appointment. With a recently announced BFI Blu-ray coming in 2022, the film is notable for being Vickers' one and only feature-length film...​

HOST was the horror phenomenon of 2020, not least because it reflected our own status quo. Here are Andy Roberts' thoughts on the brilliant British horror...

Emma Platt heads off the beaten track to explore the divergent relationships between the male friends of Dog Soldiers (2002) and The Ritual (2017)...​

Ellis Reed examines Ben Steiner’s short horror films, available now via YouTube, and speaks to the British filmmaker about his work...

Created during a nationwide lockdown in 2020, Host captured the zeitgeist to become one of the most popular and discussed horror films of the year. With its impending release on Blu-ray and DVD (amid another lockdown), James Swanton writes exclusively…

Andy Roberts dives head-first into the schlock-and-gore of Norman J. Warren's alleged 'Alien knock-off', 1981's Inseminoid...

In the first of a new series, Jonathan Clode explores the monstrous Hammer films icons, beginning with Frankenstein (and his monsters)...​

Jane Nightshade explores the rich, red tapestry of horror that is Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now...

Nick Bartlett returns to The Awakening, finding a subtle and affecting ghost story beyond the genre tropes...​

Graham Williamson revisits Joe Cornish's 2011 council estate-set alien invasion film, Attack the Block, which brilliantly subverted the notion of faceless 'hoodie horror'...

Graham Le Neve Painter dissects a classic of British Horror, 1987's Hellraiser...

Johnny Restall celebrates 50 years of Dr Anton Phibes - Malevolent Master of Music & Murder...​

The only British video nasty judged to be legally obscene, Exposé (or House on Straw Hill) gets the Horrified treatment from Andy Roberts

In an in-depth feature, cultural historian John J Johnston looks back at the inception of Hammer’s most important productions of the 1970s, and endeavours to reassesses the film’s reputation, fifty years after its release...

Andy Roberts revisits Norman J. Warren's 1977 Sci-Fi horror, Prey, to discuss the film's 'contrasting depictions of gender, sexuality and the role of animals' amid an exploration of human nature...

Andy Roberts enters the world of Norman J. Warren once again, this time exploring his 1978 descent into Terror...​

In the first in an occasional series on less-heralded mainstream horror, Jonathan Clode explores the rather maligned update of Universal's Classic Monster, The Wolfman...

Johnny Restall celebrates 45 satanic years of British horror classic, 1976's The Omen...​

Eleanor Miller discusses 'Hoodie horror', Eden Lake and the media demonisation of British youth for Horrified...

Joe Howsin explores the 'social horror' of Rose Glass' excellent British horror debut film, 2019's Saint Maud...​

Ellis Reed returns to the 2013 British horror classic The Borderlands, a found footage film bringing fresh ideas (and scares) to the sub-genre...

Paul Lewis dives deeply into Urban Ghost Story, an undeservedly obscure film set in Glasgow...

Devin McGrath-Conwell explores the sophomore effort in Edgar Wright's 'Three Flavours Cornetto' trilogy with 2007's Hot Fuzz and finds the film nestling comfortably within the folk horror canon...

Graham Williamson inspects the late author Angela Carter's Vampirella, its abandoned cinematic dramatisation and how more of her exquisite horror tales remain curiously unmade...

Andy Roberts climbs aboard the Horror Express to explore the 1972 sci-fi horror favourite, which was not alone in taking inspiration (and plot points) from John. W. Campbell's influential novella, Who Goes There?​

Paul Lewis latest essay for Horrified is an extensive exploration of the work of director Pete Walker and his collaboration with screenwriter David McGillivray, focusing on three of the former's best-known films...

Jane Nightshade revisits Eye of the Devil: an early, often overlooked example of folk horror cinema…

Johnny Restall revisits drab, wet London for Séance On A Wet Afternoon, a 1964 psychological thriller with supernatural undertones...

Jenny Davies recalls fond memories of 1957 classic Night of the Demon and how trouble behind the scenes have not detracted from a piece of perfectly crafted storytelling...​

Sarah Johnson presents a personal reflection on the films that contributed to her appreciation of the horror genre.

Blurring the line between hero and villain, monster and human. Emma Louise Platt examines the gendered duality of 2005's The Descent….

Ellis Reed reviews She Lives Alone, a rural gothic short from emerging filmmaker, Lucy Rose. He also discusses the film with Lucy for Horrified...

In a previously unpublished interview from 2018, Martin Parsons spoke with legendary director Norman J. Warren about the 70s horror industry, dog-faced aliens and women in peril...

In a companion piece to her absorbing exploration of The Thames and the horror film, Lauren Jane Barnett essays how London and its underground system are deeply intertwined, in life and cinema, from Quatermass and the Pit to Death Line…

Paul Lewis' absorbing essay on Ghost Story (1974), takes an in-depth look at Stephen Weeks' independent haunted house film and its profound sense of Englishness...

David Evans-Powell tackles displacement, trauma and ghosts in His House, the 2020 debut film from writer/director, Remi Weekes...​

A never before published interview with the late Bernard Cribbins, originally conducted almost 30 years ago by Adam Jezard, in which the actor discusses his work in the genres of horror, fantasy, and science fiction...

Witchfinder General is an undisputed classic of British horror, but is it entirely historically accurate? Tristan Shaw goes back to history class to find out

Ellis Reed caught up with author Matt Glasby to discuss his latest work, The Book of Horror: The Anatomy of Fear in Film...​

American filmmaker Andy Milligan's extremely low-budget work was consigned to his homeland until 1968 when he ventured to the UK and made five horror films over a two-year period. Paul Lewis examines Milligan's films in detail...​

Horrified catches up with Charlie Steeds, the man behind Dark Temple Productions, for an exclusive interview with the wunderkind of neo-retro British horror...

With the festive season upon us, what better way to celebrate than with MJ Simpson's curated selection of British Christmas horror? There's one each for the 12 days of Christmas, so plenty to add to your yuletide watchlist...

Horrified's Kira Comerford chats with co-writer and Executive Producer of HOST, Jed Shepherd, about the lockdown horror phenomenon.

In the latest entry for his Horror in the Britcom series, writer A.J. Black explores the transition from beloved television comedy to the big screen with 2005's The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse...​

Paul Lewis explores the oddly prescient The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue, Jorge Grau's 1974 zombie film that explores both the urban and the rural, centre and periphery - the motivation for a significant proportion of English supernatural fiction...

As the folk horror anthology Rewilding lands on Prime Video, its director Ric Rawlins discusses ten of its key inspirations – from Moomins to M.R James…

Johnny Restall examines Richard Fleischer's seminal 1971 British murder masterpiece, 10 Rillington Place...​

Often, somewhat justifiably, derided as a low-rent video nasty, Xtro is a piece of British horror that looks unflinchingly at grief and trauma...

David Evans-Powell explores Piers Haggard’s 1971 folk horror classic, The Blood on Satan's Claw, and offers some reflections on the more troubling aspects of the film...​

Parody or pastiche? Nick Bartlett revisits Shaun of the Dead to explore the balance between horror and humour, finding it a heartfelt homage to Romero's vision...

Indie Filmmaker David Bryant talks about his new psychological chiller Kindred and gives the low down on how to craft a DIY genre film.

Francis Young explores whether the distant past, in and of itself, can be a source of horror, leading to a distinct fear of the past: archaeophobia...

We talk to Terry Cooper about his forthcoming horror comedy, Bloody Students, which is now in development...

James Fleming unpacks the alienating experience of Robin Hardy's 1973 folk horror classic, The Wicker Man...

Lauren Jane Barnett explores how the Thames of horror films is given agency, acting on the narrative aiding both good and evil in films from Hitchcock’s 1927 silent, The Lodger, onwards...

Graham Williamson explores Jonathan Glazer's 2013 unsettling sci-fi horror, Under The Skin...

Freddie Francis' cinematographic brilliance is undisputed but his sojourns into directing produced some British horror favourites among fans. Jane Nightshade selects 10 of his best...

Huw Lloyd presents his argument in defence of the 1981 horror anthology, The Monster Club...​

Readers of Horrified have come together to choose their favourite British horror films, so here is the ultimate top 50 list of British horror films, as chosen by you.... 

Celebrating the British influence in Universal's Classic Monster stable, Johnny Restall explores James Whale's 1933 adaptation of H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man...

Horrified's Jonathan Clode dips into the Hammer monster archives again, this time inviting Dracula in...

Mark Anthony Ayling interviews director Ed Greenberg and actor/executive producer C.J. de Mooi about ‘psychological enigma’ The Renata Road...

Lawrie Brewster has huge plans for the British horror film industry. But can the UK return to the halcyon days of Hammer and Amicus? Horrified's editor, Jae Prowse spoke with the Hex Studios co-owner... 

Graham Williamson digs into the 2021 adaptation of the Arthurian legend...​

Throbbing Gristle have left an uncertain legacy; this piece from Declan Cochran examines that legacy, via the short film After Cease To Exist...​

At once sublime and horrifying, the English countryside is increasingly the backdrop in horror that explores a growing unease about our place in the world. Melissa Elborn digs deeper into why the ground beneath our feet is revealing our darkest…

James Whale is a megalith of early horror cinema. An out gay man, he direct some of the greatest gothic horror films Universal Pictures would ever produce. Retrospectively seen to be saturated with queer subtext Whale's films celebrate 'the outsider'…

An interview with Rubicon Films' George Popov, director of Hex (2017) and The Droving (2020)...

Filmmaker Alex Secker discusses how Vincent Price and Robert Fuest’s early 70s cult classics continue to influence the horror genre...

Rebecca McCallum tackles the controversy of violence and audience complicity through an exploration of the bold and brutal The Last Horror Movie... ​

Graham Williamson speaks with filmmaker, photographer and lecturer, Dean Puckett about his work, particularly the five folk horror shorts including the recently completed, The Devil's Footprints..

Nick Bartlett returns to one of the great British horror anthologies, 1945's Dead Of Night, in this article for Horrified...​

Top 50 British horror films Top 50 British horror films (honourable mentions) Here are the best of the rest – the films that received votes, but not quite enough to make the top 50.  Recall them, recoil at them, add…

Unfairly maligned or a Hammer film low point? Johnny Restall heads back to swinging London for Dracula A.D. 1972...

Graham Williamson looks at the career of the great Tom Baker, including his tenure as the Doctor...

Dean Newman offers his thoughts on the seminal lycanthrope film, An American Werewolf in London (1981) which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2021

K B Morris explores Night of the Eagle where a college professor vies with his wife who has turned to witchcraft to further his career. The article examines rationality versus the irrationality of superstition and the supernatural in a battle…

Jane Nightshade recounts the story of Marlon Brando's strange sojourn into British horror for Michael Winner's The Nightcomers...​

In the final part of Jonathan Clode's ode to Hammer films monsters, he looks at their one-and-done take on the werewolf legend with The Curse of the Werewolf...

Emily McQuade celebrates the absurd delights of the cultish, kitsch and unique Psychomania (1973)...

Filmmaker Sarah McGregor discusses the trials, tribulations and creative joy of making feature-length folk horror film, The Fable of Isabella...

Director Marcus Anthony Thomas, speaks with Christina Brennan about his short film, The Retreat, and the impact of online platforms...​

To celebrate The Wicker Man at 50, English Bob reflects on the soundtrack and the sounds that inspired Paul Giovanni, accompanied by a two-hour radio show ‘Soundtrack to Summerisle’...

Jane Nightshade looks at 10 British ghost stories that deserve adaptation for the big (or small) screen...​

Ellis Reed interviews Michael Fausti, director of the psychosexual thriller, Exit...

Ellis Reed interviews the indie filmmaker, Kemal Yildirim about his horror film, The Haunting of the Lady-Jane...

Jane Nightshade goes behind the camera to take a closer look at the cinematographers who helped give Hammer its 'bright, bold and scary' visual appeal...

In this in-depth essay on the work of José Ramón Larraz, Paul Lewis explores the director's work, focusing on his early films made in 1970s Britain...

Steve Kilpatrick conducts a whistle stop tour of avant-garde composer Elisabeth Lutyens’ musical scores for British horror cinema giants, Hammer and Amicus...

Peter Strickland has forged a career from a desire to reconfigure whichever genre he works in. In this essay, Graham Williamson discusses the British director's work...​

The infamous 'video nasties' list of the early-80s was in fact two separate lists containing five British films. Graham Williamson inspects them for Horrified...