The 1. 00 Greatest Horror Films of All Time Feature. The common claim of the horror film is that it allows us to vicariously play with our fear of death. Inarguable, really, but that’s also too easy, as one doesn’t have to look too far into a genre often preoccupied with offering simulations of death to conclude that the genre in question is about death.

That’s akin to saying that all an apple ever really symbolizes is an apple, and that symbols and subtexts essentially don’t exist. A more interesting question: Why do we flock to films that revel in what is, in all likelihood, our greatest fear? And why is death our greatest fear?

Catch up on all the latest TV news, photos, videos, and opinion. The common claim of the horror film is that it allows us to vicariously play with our fear of death. Inarguable, really, but that’s also too easy, as one doesn’t. At least 11 dead and 100 injured as wildfires ravage California's wine country: Thousands flee homes as blaze spreads and leaves orange glow over Disneyland. She has kept mum about her seven-year relationship with former Westlife member Brain McFadden since splitting from him in 2011. MRC is a diversified global media company with operations in filmed entertainment, television programming and original digital content. Watch Ready 2 Die Download here. The company is the industry.

Inside Social. The biggest and latest apps and platforms, plus trends and insights on the biggest online discussions.

A startling commonality emerges if you look over the following films in short succession that’s revelatory of the entire horror genre: These works aren’t about the fear of dying, but the fear of dying alone, a subtlety that cuts to the bone of our fear of death anyway—of a life unlived. There’s an explicit current of self- loathing running through this amazing collection of films. What are Norman Bates and Jack Torrance besides eerily all- too- human monsters?

Kevin Weisman, Actor: Alias. Kevin Weisman is internationally known for his work as "Marshall Flinkman" on the ABC series 'Alias', which ran for five critically.

Failures. Success also ultimately eludes Leatherface, as well as the socially stunted lost souls of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse. What is the imposing creature of Nosferatu? He makes for quite the presence, but his hungers ultimately lead him to oblivion. So many films, particularly American, tell us that we can be whatever we want to be, and that people who don’t achieve their desired self- actualization are freaks. The horror film says: Wait Jack, it ain’t that easy. This genre resents platitude (you can count the happy endings among these films on one hand), but the good horror film usually isn’t cynical, as it insists on the humanity that’s inextinguishable even by severe atrocity.

Which is to say there’s hope, and catharsis, offered by the horror film. It tells us bruised romantics that we’re all in this together, thus offering evidence that we may not be as alone as we may think.  Chuck Bowen. Editor’s Note: Click here for a list of the films that came in #’s 1.