Fox Home Entertainment is bringing several horror classics to hi-def Blu-ray as part of their Feed Your Fear campaign, with most of them already at a store near you. We've joined forces with them to bring you four top 10 lists related to one or more of the titles. In lieu of the classic Stephen King adaptation Misery now available on Blu-ray, we present to you "The Top 10 Claustrophobic Horror Movies". Watch for another three features in the coming weeks leading up to Halloween.
According to Forbes magazine, a fear of enclosed spaces -- or claustrophobia -- is the sixth most common of all phobias. This falls underneath fear of critters (bugs, mice, snakes, bats); fear of heights (acrophobia); fear of water (hydrophobia); fear of public transportation (thanks, Al Qaeda); and fear of storms (here’s looking at you, global warming). For my money though, none of these fears has been exploited to greater cinematic effect than claustrophobia. Sure, at least one good film has come out of all of the above, but I defy you to come up with a list of the “Top Ten Scary Snake Movies” without doing some serious head-scratching and frantic keyword searches on IMDB. Now, not all of the films listed below are specifically concerned with claustrophobia, but all utilize, to a great degree, this all-too-common fear in order to increase the audience’s sense of dread and unease. In other words, let’s just say you’ll have the sudden urge to get outside and breathe some nice, un-recycled air after finishing these babies.
10. Quarantine (2008)
Rec is better, you say? Well guess what -- I haven’t seen it yet, so this American remake will have to do. Ok, so while Quarantine falls far short of “horror classic” status, it was a lot scarier than I expected, and utilized the admittedly over-used “shaky-cam” aesthetic pretty effectively. Not only was the setting itself claustrophobic, but the limited first-person point of view made the whole thing feel that much more stifling. Too bad the marketing executives behind the ad campaign decided it was a good idea to give away the final shot in the trailer.
9. Repulsion (1965)
Sure he’s a child rapist (suck it, Woody Allen), not to mention a certifiable head case, but you’d have to be in major denial not to admit that Roman Polanski, in his prime, knew his way around tight spaces (insert your own joke here) better than any other director. Repulsion was the first in what some might call his “claustrophobia trilogy” (followed by Rosemary’s Baby and The Tenant), and the black-and-white cinematography only serves to heighten the suffocating isolation of Catherine Deneuve’s slow descent into madness. A classic in any genre.
8. Cube (1997)
Forget the lame sequels; Cube remains one of the most ingenious low-budget horror films ever made. The concept is simple: six complete strangers wake up in a maze of interlocking cubes, many of which possess deadly traps. To escape, the six must band together and use their unique skills (one is a math whiz, one is a building designer, etc.) to figure a way out. The spareness and repetition of the setting alone – cubes measuring 14x14x14 feet, differing only by color – is enough to send any claustrophobic running for their psychiatrist’s office.
7. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
So the world is ending, your friends and family have all turned into brain-munching crazy people, and you find yourself trapped in probably the least enjoyable place to wait out Armageddon – a dilapidated farm house. Sigh. Ok, so the shopping mall setting featured in Dawn of the Dead was a lot more fun, but there’s something about the isolated, middle-of-nowhere location in this first of Romero’s never-ending Living Dead series that makes it all the more creepy. At least in a mall, you can stake out your own territory at, say, Hot Topic or Sbarro Pizza. In the house featured here, you’re either stuck upstairs with the crazy blonde chick, or down in the basement with the survivalist nutcase and his glassy-eyed little daughter that keeps eyeing your forearm like it’s a plate of spare ribs.
6. The Thing (1982)
If global warming-alarmists are to be believed, in 30 years or so not only might your tract home in Fresno become prime beach-front real estate, but movies taking place in the Arctic Circle could potentially feature bitchin’ surfing montages and tanned extras sipping umbrella drinks. Luckily, if this ever comes to pass, those of us who prefer our Arctic cold and isolated need only revisit The Thing, one of John Carpenter’s true masterpieces. In it, the celebrated director utilizes the frigid, remote Arctic setting to brilliant effect. While it’s technically a remake of Howard Hawks’ 1951 film The Thing From Another World, this one features a lot of sweet Rob Bottin creature effects. In other words, give me Carpenter’s version any day.
5. The Descent (2005)
I once compared the experience of viewing The Descent, director Neil Marshall’s brilliant exercise in audience manipulation, to being trapped inside an angry lesbian’s vagina during menstruation. I know it’s crude, but I honestly couldn’t think of a more apt description at the time (and sorry, still can’t). The film is all sweaty, cramped spaces that, more than any other movie on this list, utilizes claustrophobia in its most literal sense. Sure, the vicious, cannibalistic human-esque creatures that hunt the featured all-female group of spelunkers are way scary, but the super-confined setting is what’ll really haunt your dreams.
4. Misery (1990)
I recently re-watched Misery, and I was struck once again not only by what a fine movie it is (this is before Rob Reiner went on to direct such delightful gems as EDTV and The Bucket List), but how well it keeps the audience engaged despite the fact that it’s almost exclusively limited to a single location. Of course, I guess that’s the whole point – the film very effectively taps into our fears not only of isolation and confinement, but of being totally dependent upon another human being for our very survival. It doesn’t help when that person is Annie Wilkes, psychotic super-fan, in the performance that netted Kathy Bates a well-deserved Best Actress Oscar.
3. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Again: Roman Polanski is a child rapist, as in he raped a 13-year-old girl after drugging her with Quaaludes (stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Scorcese). That being said, I can’t in good conscience leave Rosemary’s Baby, his elegant horror opus and the second part of his “claustrophobia trilogy”, off this list. It’s not the setting here that evokes cabin fever so much as the slowly-enveloping sense of dread and doom that permeates every frame (not to mention the ultimate Nosy Neighbors From Hell, played to queasy perfection by Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer). Every time you think your neighbors are annoying, just remember – at least they didn’t try to impregnate you with the Antichrist.
2. Alien (1979)
We’ve all heard Alien described as a “haunted house movie on a space ship” before, and really I can’t think of a better description for Ridley Scott’s terrifying sci-fi nightmare, which features the most deliciously phallic monster ever put to celluloid. There are so many reasons why this film works, but at the end of the day it’s all about the setting. This spacecraft isn’t of the gleaming, clean-lined Star Trek variety; rather, it’s a dank, utilitarian labyrinth filled with dark recesses and cramped, anxiety-inducing tunnels and crawl-spaces. In other words, the perfect place for freaky shit to go down.
1. The Shining (1980)
Yeah, Stanley Kubrick made some kick-ass movies in basically every genre, but for horror-hounds it doesn’t get any better than The Shining. The book by Stephen King was good, if typically uneven for an early King effort, but Kubrick really cut to the marrow of what made the story scary. In other words – it’s the location, stupid. The Overlook Hotel is the ultimate “haunted house” – with hallways like constricted arteries, the creepiest hedge maze ever, and doorways that stand like sentinels against secrets that would drive the average person to insanity. Now take Jack Nicholson in a throat-ripping, Grand Guignol-inspired performance, creepy ghost girls that put all the long-haired “J-horror” phantoms to shame, and Shelley Duvall in a performance that makes you wonder how she survived through principal photography without having a complete mental breakdown, and you’ve got yourself the ultimate in cabin-fever horror. - Chris Eggertsen
You havnt seen [REC]. Then get the fuck out you know nothing stereotypical American tool. Any idiot that puts Quarantine on a best of list, and hasnt seen [REC] is nothing short of a moron.
Chris seriously FUCK OFF! or get a clue. Your choice.
Yeah douches like this REALLY annoy me. Mos of what is wrong with cinema these days can be put soundly at the feet of the US audience.
Wow.. I was going to say that a lot of people are going to bag you out for not seeing REC and adding Quarantine to the list here... But just the first 2 have really kicked your ass :( I like both REC and Quarantine so it doesn't bother me which one is on the list.
Am I the only one who didn't like The Descent? I seriously thought it was boring. The only good part was the one bit anyone actually would have jumped at. Before that it was borefest and after was like someone trying to force me into a feminist club and then throwing in a stupid "twist" at the end. I couldn't tell if 1 of the women was lesbian or they were all lesbian or they were all just really tense on that subject or what...
I may as well chime in with the 'you haven't seen REC' chorus of anger. Even if you haven't seen it, Quarantine doesn't deserve to be included in any top 10 list. Well, maybe one titled Useless American Remakes Of Superior Foreign Films. Rest of the list was good though.
For about a month now I've been wanting to make a list of movies that have been in confined spaced thinking of Night of the Living Dead as one of the tops, glad to see this! There are plenty more though, lets make the list 50!
as weird as this sounds is found the 70's version of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS to be EXTREMELY claustrophobic. you can't trust anyone in that movie (pretty much). i know it's not confined to just one space but it's more claustrophobia inducing (for me) than most movies on this list (CUBE, THE DESCENT not included).
Great list, dude. Loved the polanski coments. I had totally forgotten about the descent. great movie. I love how the claustrophobia is like a complete character. And for the record. [rec] was not that good. I HATE shaky-cam, but even besides that, it gets a solid, "Meh." But, quarantine sucked pretty hard.
How about the original "Saw"? It's been years since I've seen it, but I remember most of it taking place in that one room where the two guys were chained. And of course the premise was how to escape from that one room.
REC and Quarantine are the same movies nearly shot for shot you chest puffing self absorbed fuck faces ....... Something doesn't have to be better just because its the original ....... The Ring is a pretty good example of that ..... maybe he's seen Quarantine is on his list because it makes more sense to him seeing as REC is the same exact fucking movie only IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE. God the people on this site are getting worse and worse.
My God, Chris! How dare you make a list based on the movies you've actually seen, rather than rushing out to see EVERY movie which could qualify for that list, or just simply including movies you haven't seen because other horror fans say they're better?!?!? What are you, some kind of sadistic, misogynistic Commie Nazi? And worst of all, you're a filthy, uncultured, lowlife AMERICAN!!!! The unmitigated gall of you to be born and raised in a country like the US, and to be primarily exposed to that country's media rather than shunning it in favor of the obviously superior low budget exploitation films from other, more intellectually and culturally superior countries!!!! It's sickening to hear AMERICANS express their opinions about AMERICAN movies when WE ALL know that AMERICA is dragging the world down the toilet!!!!.....Seriously, how big an asshole do you have to be to A)violently berate another human being for not having seen one movie, and B)include nationalist bigotry in your sociopathic rant? You're right, cryocore, we Americans sure are at fault for all that's wrong with horror. Of course, that's an unfortunate injustice you'll have to live with, since America still produces more horror films every year than most of the rest of the world combined... and since you obviously have neither the creativity nor the balls to confront the "problem" in any way other than bigoted, anonymous internet rants. In fact, you obviously don't even have the courage or talent to write a full column like Mr. Eggertsen's, since B-D made an open invitation for readers to submit original content recently, but you've chosen instead just to spew hatred at others who do contribute.
The list is total shite, where on earth did you grab Cube and Quarantine from? Those films surely fail to make the top ten of ANY list. Cant agree with much of this list (besides Shining, and even that wouldnt make number 1), same narrow minded list that is thrown together over and over again. As for jkrouskop's comment...Stop talking shite and getting flustered over fuck all. I agree the US spews out more horror movies than any other country, but that doesnt make them good movies does it? Personally I find French and Spanish horror far superior (even UK horror has twice the depth), so get your head out of your 10 piece bucket and stop talking fucking bollocks you imbacile!
No, Superfly76, making more doesn't necessarily mean making better. What it does mean, however, is that far more filmmakers get an opportunity to make films in the US, and far more foreign films get worldwide distribution because the market in the US is so lucrative. Considering that SUPERFLY is the title of an American film, it's interesting that you have such a low opinion of them. And bollocks or not, I repeat - you could write your own lists for B-D if you wanted to, but you choose instead to give other people a hard time for theirs. Those who can't do bitch, eh?
I might add, Superfly, that DEXTER is an American series, created by an American author, produced by an American production company, for an American cable network. I suppose it might have more depth if it was created in the UK, but it's still good enough to be your avatar, right?
Descent should have been #1, in my opinion, as it best fulfills the theme of the list. Great list, all-in-all, though. I would add Blair Witch Project. Despite it all being outdoors, it is mercilessly claustrophobic. Characters boxed in on all sides by endless trees, through which they keep going in repetitive, inescapable circles. That's pretty much textbook claustrophobia. To whoever said Descent was boring and feminist, I surely can't see where you are coming from. That movie was intense from the first scene, and it never let up. Just because it had a female cast of (gasp) actual characters with personalities does not make in feminist. And just because a group of women hang out together does not make them lesbians. Would you consider Ocean's Eleven to be masogynistic and gay because it features a group of men working together? Give me a break. Just because Hollywood usually dishes out predominantly male casts does not mean a movie with a female cast is feminist. They're just a bunch of friends that make a stupid choice and have to deal with the consequences.
convicsik: AGREE!!
I also didn't see what the big difference between REC and Quarantine was. I thought REC's ending was much scarier, but that's it. I don't get what all the fuss is about....
Although, I do prefer REC to Quarantine, I have never seen why people bagged on the American remake so much. I thought it was relatively well done.
I've always found the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre to have an oddly claustrophobic feeling to it. Despite multiple settings, I remember it giving me that tense, tightened around the the throat feeling from the way it it is shot.
I thought this was a pretty interesting list.
While I do think rec. is superior being the original I am a little confused as to why it matters or makes him ignorant for choosing Quarantine. Its a shot for shot remake that as far as I could tell (granted ive only seen quarantine once) is in no way different. So chill the fuck out.
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