Team Experience's October Top 10, part two: following last week's list of the best pre-1973 horror films, the inevitable list of post-1973 horror.
Last week's list was hard for me; this one was goddamn impossible, and the final list is a bizarre hybrid of personal favorites, canonical classics, and a few "well, I'd feel like a jackass not to count that..." titles. I will share with you my ballot, as long as we can all agree not to hold me to it at any point in the future, outside of maybe the titles (but not the ranking) of the Top 3
1. Suspiria (1977)
2. The Shining (1980) [on the TFE list]
3. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) [on the TFE list]
4. The Beyond (1981)
5. Halloween (1978) [on the TFE list]
6. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
7. Evil Dead II (1987)
8. Alien (1979) [on the TFE list]
9. The Descent (2005) [on the TFE list]
10. StageFright: Aquarius (1987)
Runners-up (six, because this was a pigfucker of a list to whittle down even to 15)
Deep Red (1975)
The Burning (1981)
The Evil Dead (1981)
The Thing (1982)
Cemetery Man (1994)
Audition (1999)
22 October 2013
16 comments:
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Damn, this is tough:
ReplyDelete1.) Halloween (One of the five best movies I've ever seen, period.)
2.) Alien
3.) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
4.) Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
5.) Wes Craven's New Nightmare
6.) Dawn of the Dead
7.) A Nightmare on Elm Street
8.) The Shining
9.) The Descent (Hey, we completely agree on one. God damn that movie shattered me.)
10.) The Burning
(It is with some shame I admit I have never seen Suspiria.)
@Brian, oh...my...God...never seen Suspiria? Seriously though watch it.
ReplyDeleteHere we go:
1. The Shining
2. The Exorcist (released in 73 so I'm not sure how that works)
3. Suspiria
4. The Conjuring (yep, I liked it that much).
5. Alien
6. Halloween
7. Evil Dead 2
8. Opera
9. The Burning
10. The Perfume of the Lady in Black (one of the greatest endings I've ever seen in a horror movie, which nudged it out over the descent but barely).
I can't believe Suspiria isn't on the TFE list. Would've thought that was fairly "canonical" by now.
ReplyDeleteI'm still baffled by the appeal of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Suspiria didn't make the cut!? Fuck that!
ReplyDeleteI've never even heard of Stagefright: Aquarius. IMDB, here I come.
Glad to see The Descent get some love. It's the crown jewel of '00's horror.
ReplyDeleteJust trying to think up a list is making my brain hurt. Love that you have StageFright on there; movie gets better everytime I see it.
ReplyDeleteHere goes:
1. Halloween
2. Deep Red
3. Alien
4. The Blair Witch Project
5. Fright Night (1985) - just love the shit out of this movie more than anyone it seems
6. The Shining
7. The Descent
8. An American Werewolf in London
9. The Ring (2002)
10. Scream
I know I'll regret most of these choices later.
My haphazard, spur-of-the-moment list:
ReplyDelete1: Suspiria
2: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
3: Evil Dead II
4: Inland Empire
5: The Thing
6: Perfect Blue
7: The Blair Witch Project
8: Audition
9: Angel Heart
10: Braindead (aka Dead Alive)
I keep telling myself I love Alien, but when it comes to crunch time I can't seem to summon up much gut-level enthusiasm for it. I don't even know why.
Travis:
ReplyDeleteBold move with #4. I'm watching it next Thursday night. I can't wait. Also, isn't The Perfume of the Lady in Black great? I love it, and was shocked when I watched it the first time just how much of the aesthetic Argento used to perfection in Suspiria. It predates Argento's film by three years, and I've noticed that more and more horror fans are beginning to discover this gem. It's a shame Barilli never really continued making horror movies. He was damn good.
Thrash:
See StageFright ASAP. Soavi is a master. And the image of a chainsaw wielding psycho in an owl mascot head is something you won't soon forget.
Tim: Man, I love this list. Allow me a moment to pat myself on the back for #10, hehe. Seriously, though, as hard as a list like this is to make, I think you have yourself a good mix here.
I am elated to see three Italian horror selections on there, especially two Soavi films(if you count the runners-up, which I hope is a hint of things to come for the blogathon).
I could swap #1 and #4 on any given night, and I could take either Halloween or The Thing in my top five, but really, it's all the same. Anyway, I just love that #1 choice, and, like others, am quite shocked it didn't show up on the TFE list--certainly it had to have more than just your vote.
I'm curious, were your votes for The Beyond and StageFright the only votes for those films?
My list would look something like this (of course it could change if you asked me again tomorrow):
1. Halloween
2. The Beyond
3. Alien
4. Suspiria
5. The Thing
6. The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue
7. The Descent
8. My Bloody Valentine
9. The Church/StageFright (yeah, it's a cheat, but I can never decide which Soavi I like the most)
10. Evil Dead II
Runners up (off the top of my head): The House by the Cemetery, Prince of Darkness, Perfume of the Lady in Black, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Christmas, Thirst, The House with Laughing Windows, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Deep Red, The Shining
My top 10!
ReplyDelete1. Halloween (What Brain said, one of the best movies ever period!)
2. Scream (Sorry I love this film and all of its sequels!)
3. Jaws
4. Suspiria
5. Wes Craven's New Nightmare
6. Nightmare on Elm Street
7. The Grudge
8. Paranormal Activity
9. Hellraiser
10. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Except for the top 3, this could change tomorrow!
Kevin - I did have a look at Soavi's filmography after the last blogathon - a lot of his films seem to be elusive on region 2 DVD, but Stagefright seems to be readily available. I'll make a mental note to get 'round to it.
ReplyDeleteHave you seen Dark Night of the Scarecrow? If so, I'd love to hear your opinion even in this thread (if you don't care to review it). It was much subtler and creepier than I expected, especially for a tv movie, and Charles Durning turns in a better performance than I expected from his first appearance on screen.
ReplyDeleteSounds like Perfume of the Lady in Black and Dark Night of the Scarecrow need to go on my "to watch" pile.
ReplyDeleteAs to Kevin's specific questions: I think Suspiria was #12 on the list overall, and the only Italian film in the top 20. I would not be in the least surprised if it was the only Italian film with multiple votes, though I suspect Cemetery Man might have shown up on at least one ballot.
Everyone else: thanks for sharing your lists! Glad to see everyone here has such great taste, not that I'm surprised.
Another reminder for me to see Cemetery Man.
ReplyDeleteMy own Top 10:
1. Jaws (not "pure" horror, but I can't imagine making a significant horror list without it - and it's my favorite film ever, so yeah)
2. Eraserhead (unclassifiable, sure, but I can't think of many films that are more terrifying)
3. The Shining
4. Alien
5. Halloween
6. Suspiria
*At this point, I'll just say that all of the above films would make it on a "best films of all time" list for me*
7. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
8. The Beyond
9. Dawn of the Dead
10. The Fly
@Kevin J. Olson,
ReplyDeleteI have to thank you personally for turning me on to Perfume when I read your Italian horror primer. It's really well done all around, the great moments of surreal horror, but the perfectedly executed final scene really cemented it as one of my favourites. I'll be watching it again next year for my horror movie marathon.
In regard to The Conjuring, I know it's usually prudent to allow for a little historical distance before placing a movie in the pantheon but it completely worked for me and after seeing it twice I can't really think of any nitpicks I have with it, let alone major criticisms. Plus, I found it scarier the second time through (it was the scariest film I've seen in theatre -- "scary" being highly subjective of course), which bodes well for its staying power.
My list (acknowledging that my top pick may not be considered appropriate for the genre for some):
ReplyDelete1. Blue Velvet
2. Halloween
3. Suspiria
4. Picnic at Hanging Rock
5. Alien
6. The Shining
7. The Beyond
8. The Brood
9. Henry - Portrait of a Serial Killer
10. Black Christmas
Special mentions: The Fly, Dawn of the Dead, The Descent, Carrie, The Dead Zone, Let The Right One In, Deep Red, Martin
If I made another level below those films I'd probably get a lot more Italian stuff in there, including Stage Fright, which I find to be tons of fun, and stuff like Torso, Opera, Tenebre, and a lot of giallo. I like a lot of it without thinking that it's top ten quality kind of stuff.
To try something a little different, here's my top ten, straight from my Flickchart. My standard is simple: What movies did I like the most? Not the best, nor the most influential or important. Simply my favorites. I did edit the list to remove some comedy / horror hybrids (I really wanted to include Idle Hands, but thought better of it, though American Werewolf was too good to leave out).
ReplyDelete1) Videodrome
2) Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
3) Evil Dead
4) The Descent
5) An American Werewolf in London
6) The Thing
7) Hellraiser
8) Stephen King's The Shining (TV Miniseries)
9) Prometheus
10) Twilight of the Dark Master