<b>Chosen by The Star’s movie reviewers, listed alphabetically</b></p><p><b>“Alien”</b> (1979): Though set in outer space, it wasn’t really sci-fi. Ridley Scott’s classic was basically a haunted house yarn with an elusive and seemingly unstoppable alien as the ghost that jumps out and yells “Boo!” The suspense is practically unbearable…also Sigourney Weaver’s first big role.</p><p><b>“An American Werewolf in London”</b> (1981): Another film that juxtaposes gore and humor, in this case in the first post-modern werewolf movie. The protagonists are young men who’ve seen the old "Wolf Man" from Universal and are hip to what’s happening, even if they want to deny it. Rick Baker’s werewolf transformation makeup effects were a watershed for his field and led directly to the Outstanding Achievement in Makeup Academy Award.</p><p><b>“The Birds”</b> (1963): Hitchcock’s gifts deployed in service of a fairly conventional horror story. It was the first nature-gone-mad movie and was followed by many inferior imitators (“Day of the Animals,” “The Deadly Bees,” “The Food of the Gods”). What could be scarier than something you see every single day and no longer even bother paying attention to suddenly threatening your life? “The Black Cat” (1934): Honeymooning couple take refuge on a mysterious island run by a Satanist (Boris Karloff at his creepiest). Bela Lugosi plays a good guy in this one…you won’t forget the final scene in which he mercilessly tortures Karloff while awaiting the explosion that will destroy them both.</p><p><b>“The Blair Witch Project”</b> (1999): Yeah, the shakycam made some viewers nauseous. But this story of college filmmakers who disappear in a haunted woods — it’s told through the footage they left behind — is genuinely unnerving.</p><p><b>“The Bride of Frankenstein”</b> (1935): Like “Godfather - Part II,” a sequel that improves in almost every way on its progenitor. James Whale’s sharply-drawn portraits — especially that of Dr. Praetorius — make for a film as darkly humorous as it is terrifying and wide open to interpretation.</p><p><b>“Curse of the Demon” </b>(1957): The producers of this occult thriller forced director Jacques Tourneur to include shots of the title creature, which destroys the story’s intended ambiguity. It’s still one of the creepiest and most intelligent horror films ever made, and the demon is pretty freaky, even if it shouldn’t really be there.</p><p><b>“Cat People”</b> (1942): Val Newton produced cheap horror movies that packed an incredible wallop because of what you don’t see. Here he and director Jacques Tourneur envision a race of women who turn into killer felines when they have sex. In the creepiest scene a young woman treads water in the dark to avoid an unseen panther — its screams are bloodcurdling — that circles the pool and leaves her bathrobe a shredded rag.</p><p><b>“Dawn of the Dead”</b> (2004): All respect to zombiemiester George Romero, but he’s not half the director Zack Snyder is. Snyder here remade Romero’s 1978 effort and improved it in every way…acting, action, blood and the helpless feeling that the world is rapidly going to hell. Great dialogue exchange: “Is everyone there dead?” “Well, dead-ish.”</p><p><b>“Dead Alive”</b> (1992): Before earning a gazillion dollars in Middle-earth, Peter Jackson made a good living with extremely shocking schlock. This take on zombies is stunningly gory and terribly funny. IMDB’s trivia section states that during the famous lawnmower massacre, fake blood was pumped at five gallons per second. That speaks for itself. </p><p><b>“Les Diaboliques”</b> (1955): This effort from French director Henri-Georges Clouzot is one of the great psychological thrillers, with Simone Signoret helping kill her best friend’s husband…and suffering the consequences.