19 June 2014
SUMMER OF BLOOD, WEEK 5 POLL: READERS' CHOICE #1
VOTING CLOSED - WINNER: HOUSE
Thanks to everyone who voted!
As we've already discussed, this is the Summer of Blood's first grand experiment in democracy. The following 35 titles have been nominated by the readers of Antagony & Ecstasy for next week's review, and now it's up to everybody else to pick the final winner! Because of the high number of candidates, I'm going to let everyone vote for up to three titles. Or fewer if you'd like, of course.
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)
From IMDb: "A group of high-schoolers invite Mandy Lane, a good girl who became quite hot over the summer, to a weekend party on a secluded ranch. While the festivities rage on, the number of revelers begins to drop quite mysteriously."
Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)
From IMDb: "Despite being under heavy sedation, Elena tries to make her way out of Arboria, a secluded, quasi-futuristic commune."
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
From IMDb: "Three film students vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind."
Blood Dolls (1999)
From IMDb: "Virgil, an eccentric freak billionaire, spends his days being a 'biological inventor.' The 'blood dolls,' his newest creation, aid him in getting revenge on those who betrayed him."
The Butterfly Murders (1979)
From IMDb: "A journalist attempting to solve a mystery in 'Martial World' enlists the aid of a master fighter and a woman named Green Breeze. They go to a mysterious castle where they come across poisonous butterflies and a black-leather-clad killer."
Cameron's Closet (1988)
From IMDb: "A father who experiments with his sons psychokinetic powers, is unaware that these experiments release a demon from hell."
Candyman (1992)
From IMDb: "The Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster's myth."
Carnival of Souls (1962)
From IMDb: "After a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival."
Cherry Falls (2000)
From IMDb: "In the small town of Cherry Falls a masked murderer is killing off the virgins of the local high school."
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
From IMDb: "A nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman, and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall."
Dead Alive (1992)
From IMDb: "A young man's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors."
Eden Lake (2008)
From IMDb: "Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences."
Fire in the Sky (1993)
From IMDb: "An Arizona logger mysteriously disappears for five days in an alleged encounter with a flying saucer in 1975."
Freaks (1932)
From IMDb: "A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance."
From Beyond (1986)
From IMDb: "A group of scientists have developed the Resonator, a machine which allows whoever is within range to see beyond normal perceptible reality. But when the experiment succeeds, they are immediately attacked by terrible life forms."
Ginger Snaps (2000)
From IMDb: "Two death-obsessed sisters, outcasts in their suburban neighborhood, must deal with the tragic consequences when one of them is bitten by a deadly werewolf."
House (1977)
From IMDb: "Seven girls on their summer trip pay a visit to a possessed house which plans to eat them in extremely bizzare [sic] and surreal ways."
House of Wax (2005)
From IMDb: "A group of unwitting teens are stranded near a strange wax museum and soon must fight to survive and keep from becoming the next exhibit."
Kill, Baby, Kill (1966)
From IMDb: "An 18th century European village is haunted by the ghost of a murderous little girl."
Kill List (2011)
From IMDb: "Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness."
The Last House on the Left (1972)
From IMDb: "A pair of teenage girls are headed to a rock concert for one's birthday. While trying to score marijuana in the city, the girls are kidnapped by a gang of psychotic convicts."
Martin (1976)
From IMDb: "A young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a small Pennsylvania town where he tries to redeem his blood-craving urges."
Martyrs (2008)
From IMDb: "A young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity."
May (2002)
From IMDb: "Psychological horror about a lonely young woman traumatized by a difficult childhood, and her increasingly desperate attempts to connect with the people around her."
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
From IMDb: "Jonathan and Lucy live in Wismar and the Count wants a house there. Varna is a port on the Black Sea, close to Dracula's castle."
The Old Dark House (1932)
From IMDb: "Seeking shelter from a storm, five travelers are in for a bizarre and terrifying night when the stumble upon the Femm family estate."
The Other (1972)
From IMDb: "Down in the farm country of the US twins are born. One of them turns out to be good, while the other becomes rather evil."
Pieces (1982)
From IMDb: "Young co-eds are being cut up by a chainsaw killer on a college campus. The killer is attempting to put together a human jigsaw puzzle made from body parts."
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
From IMDb: "A young couple move into a new apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins controlling her life."
Se7en (1995)
From IMDb: "Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi."
Teeth (2007)
From IMDb: "Still a stranger to her own body, a high school student discovers she has a physical advantage when she becomes the object of male violence."
The Thing (1982)
From IMDb: "Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills." (doubled with The Thing from Another World [1951])
Thr3e (2006)
From IMDb: "Innocent lives hang on the whim of an elusive psychopathic murderer whose strange riddles and impossible timelines force three people into a mission to end the game before one or all of them die."
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)
From IMDb: "Tucker & Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are attacked by a group of preppy college kids."
War of the Worlds (2005)
From IMDb: "As Earth is invaded by alien tripod fighting machines, one family fights for survival."
Nominees removed from the poll owing to their future presence elsewhere on the Summer of Blood schedule:
-Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
-Hell Night
Thanks to everyone who voted!
As we've already discussed, this is the Summer of Blood's first grand experiment in democracy. The following 35 titles have been nominated by the readers of Antagony & Ecstasy for next week's review, and now it's up to everybody else to pick the final winner! Because of the high number of candidates, I'm going to let everyone vote for up to three titles. Or fewer if you'd like, of course.
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006)
From IMDb: "A group of high-schoolers invite Mandy Lane, a good girl who became quite hot over the summer, to a weekend party on a secluded ranch. While the festivities rage on, the number of revelers begins to drop quite mysteriously."
Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)
From IMDb: "Despite being under heavy sedation, Elena tries to make her way out of Arboria, a secluded, quasi-futuristic commune."
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
From IMDb: "Three film students vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind."
Blood Dolls (1999)
From IMDb: "Virgil, an eccentric freak billionaire, spends his days being a 'biological inventor.' The 'blood dolls,' his newest creation, aid him in getting revenge on those who betrayed him."
The Butterfly Murders (1979)
From IMDb: "A journalist attempting to solve a mystery in 'Martial World' enlists the aid of a master fighter and a woman named Green Breeze. They go to a mysterious castle where they come across poisonous butterflies and a black-leather-clad killer."
Cameron's Closet (1988)
From IMDb: "A father who experiments with his sons psychokinetic powers, is unaware that these experiments release a demon from hell."
Candyman (1992)
From IMDb: "The Candyman, a murderous soul with a hook for a hand, is accidentally summoned to reality by a skeptic grad student researching the monster's myth."
Carnival of Souls (1962)
From IMDb: "After a traumatic accident, a woman becomes drawn to a mysterious abandoned carnival."
Cherry Falls (2000)
From IMDb: "In the small town of Cherry Falls a masked murderer is killing off the virgins of the local high school."
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
From IMDb: "A nurse, a policeman, a young married couple, a salesman, and other survivors of a worldwide plague that is producing aggressive, flesh-eating zombies, take refuge in a mega Midwestern shopping mall."
Dead Alive (1992)
From IMDb: "A young man's mother is bitten by a Sumatran rat-monkey. She gets sick and dies, at which time she comes back to life, killing and eating dogs, nurses, friends, and neighbors."
Eden Lake (2008)
From IMDb: "Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences."
Fire in the Sky (1993)
From IMDb: "An Arizona logger mysteriously disappears for five days in an alleged encounter with a flying saucer in 1975."
Freaks (1932)
From IMDb: "A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance."
From Beyond (1986)
From IMDb: "A group of scientists have developed the Resonator, a machine which allows whoever is within range to see beyond normal perceptible reality. But when the experiment succeeds, they are immediately attacked by terrible life forms."
Ginger Snaps (2000)
From IMDb: "Two death-obsessed sisters, outcasts in their suburban neighborhood, must deal with the tragic consequences when one of them is bitten by a deadly werewolf."
House (1977)
From IMDb: "Seven girls on their summer trip pay a visit to a possessed house which plans to eat them in extremely bizzare [sic] and surreal ways."
House of Wax (2005)
From IMDb: "A group of unwitting teens are stranded near a strange wax museum and soon must fight to survive and keep from becoming the next exhibit."
Kill, Baby, Kill (1966)
From IMDb: "An 18th century European village is haunted by the ghost of a murderous little girl."
Kill List (2011)
From IMDb: "Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness."
The Last House on the Left (1972)
From IMDb: "A pair of teenage girls are headed to a rock concert for one's birthday. While trying to score marijuana in the city, the girls are kidnapped by a gang of psychotic convicts."
Martin (1976)
From IMDb: "A young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a small Pennsylvania town where he tries to redeem his blood-craving urges."
Martyrs (2008)
From IMDb: "A young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity."
May (2002)
From IMDb: "Psychological horror about a lonely young woman traumatized by a difficult childhood, and her increasingly desperate attempts to connect with the people around her."
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
From IMDb: "Jonathan and Lucy live in Wismar and the Count wants a house there. Varna is a port on the Black Sea, close to Dracula's castle."
The Old Dark House (1932)
From IMDb: "Seeking shelter from a storm, five travelers are in for a bizarre and terrifying night when the stumble upon the Femm family estate."
The Other (1972)
From IMDb: "Down in the farm country of the US twins are born. One of them turns out to be good, while the other becomes rather evil."
Pieces (1982)
From IMDb: "Young co-eds are being cut up by a chainsaw killer on a college campus. The killer is attempting to put together a human jigsaw puzzle made from body parts."
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
From IMDb: "A young couple move into a new apartment, only to be surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes mysteriously pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins controlling her life."
Se7en (1995)
From IMDb: "Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi."
Teeth (2007)
From IMDb: "Still a stranger to her own body, a high school student discovers she has a physical advantage when she becomes the object of male violence."
The Thing (1982)
From IMDb: "Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills." (doubled with The Thing from Another World [1951])
Thr3e (2006)
From IMDb: "Innocent lives hang on the whim of an elusive psychopathic murderer whose strange riddles and impossible timelines force three people into a mission to end the game before one or all of them die."
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)
From IMDb: "Tucker & Dale are on vacation at their dilapidated mountain cabin when they are attacked by a group of preppy college kids."
War of the Worlds (2005)
From IMDb: "As Earth is invaded by alien tripod fighting machines, one family fights for survival."
Nominees removed from the poll owing to their future presence elsewhere on the Summer of Blood schedule:
-Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon
-Hell Night
31 comments:
Just a few rules so that everybody can have fun: ad hominem attacks on the blogger are fair; ad hominem attacks on other commenters will be deleted. And I will absolutely not stand for anything that is, in my judgment, demeaning, insulting or hateful to any gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion. And though I won't insist on keeping politics out, let's think long and hard before we say anything particularly inflammatory.
Also, sorry about the whole "must be a registered user" thing, but I do deeply hate to get spam, and I refuse to take on the totalitarian mantle of moderating comments, and I am much too lazy to try to migrate over to a better comments system than the one that comes pre-loaded with Blogger.
It appears the poll only lets you vote for three titles.
ReplyDeleteWell, sonofabitch. Enough people have already voted that I'm not going to change the poll; anyway, I dithered on 3 or 4 so long, it was probably my subconscious telling me what I should have done all along. The post has been changed.
ReplyDeleteI kind of wish their was an option to use all three votes for Candyman.
ReplyDelete@bryce Me too!
DeleteOh dear I would love for you to review Kill List. So psyched for Ben Wheatley. Haven't felt something so visceral since House of the Devil.
ReplyDelete@Devin
ReplyDeleteSecond that. Kill List is such an unhinged little movie. Much of the pleasure of it came from me having no fucking idea what was gonna happen!
^Obviously as the one who nominated the film, I'm in agreement, but oh my God, so much this. "Kill List" is FUCKING intense stuff, and the last third in particular is earnestly, piss-yourself-screaming scary.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I voted before I realised there was the option for thee votes: I would also be vey OK for a review of "House" or "The Butterfly Murders." I like my horror good and deranged!
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure you can re-vote to use all three? Maybe not.
ReplyDeleteI voted for Se7en, Teeth, and War of the Worlds.. You've outdone yourself Tim, first that glorious animated gif and now this fine example of democracy.. (please do both again sometime)
ReplyDeleteI nominated Candyman, and I really hope it wins. A horror film made by an art-house director (Bernard Rose, of Immortal Beloved and Paperhouse fame), musical score by Philip Glass, takes place in Chicago–seriously, why the fuck hasn't Tim already written about this film?
ReplyDeleteLooks like my nomination, The Other, doesn't stand a chance, though I hope you get to it someday. I could've sworn you already did Last House on the Left, but it was probably just the remake.
ReplyDeleteI want Blair Witch Project so badly... not because I don't, you know, already know a whole bunch about the movie, but because I really want to hear Tim's take.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see your going to give Hell Night some time; I think it's a very underrated slasher. I apparently need to re-watch Behind the Mask because I was not all that enamored with it when I watched it, but it's getting high praise in the comments section.
ReplyDeleteHopefully my choice wins one of the top three slots, but if not, there's a ton of good stuff here for you to review.
I vote for Nosferatu, because really, isn't it about time this blog had a Herzog retrospective? I'm just trying to push things in that direction.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of which one wins, I hope you'll keep this list around as a source of inspiration for spontaneous horror movie reviews for years to come.
ReplyDeleteSo, Behind the Mask is lurking somewhere later. Excellent [/Monty Burns]
ReplyDeleteAll the Boys Love Mandy Lane is a fairly decent modern slasher. And I like my Summers of Blood full of slashers.
C´mon ya all, vote for The Thing, 2 reviews for the price of one and the films are among the best ever!
ReplyDeleteI'm coming to terms with the idea that I'll have to wait for some new theme season for Tim to ever see Beyond the Black Rainbow.
ReplyDeleteBlair Witch...huh boy.
Oh how I wish more people would vote for Ginger Snaps. Looking forward to the results.
ReplyDeleteActually why can't Tim review the top 3 or 4 in popular order? That would leave more of us satisfied. Maybe Candyman might even have a chance then. What do you say Tim? Have the time or energy for it?
ReplyDelete@Jackie: honestly, I vote for doing that for next Summer of Blood: just have the readership throw a couple dozen movies at him. Goodness knows I want to hear about practically all of these.
ReplyDeleteI've had Thoughts on the subject. It's obvious at this point what the collective Top 5 is, but I also don't want to rush into any decisions that will make me re-watch Se7en when I'm not 100% in the mood, because golly, that movie...
ReplyDeleteAnd I enjoy the aspect of curation that comes from pre-selecting topics and titles for the SOB, but I am also not unmoved by the obvious wishes of my readership. So let's just say that I'm keeping this list in mind, and you can expect a whole lot of these to crop up in review form sometime soon, where I'm defining "soon" as "before Halloween, and hopefully a lot sooner still than that".
I definitely have some movies I am rooting for on here more than others, but literally my only complaint is that I want to read Tim's reviews for ALL OF THESE, which kind of runs into conflict with the fact of him being a human being with a life and mental health needs, and not a trained film criticism monkey who dances for our pleasure.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I am rather enjoying the (as of the time of this writing) three-way race between The Blair Witch Project, House, and The Thing. Regardless of the outcome, the real winner is us!
Come on, it's always a good time to watch Se7en! :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I suggested it I didn't expect it to make it to 3rd place. I guess you can't stop the will of the people. My bad.
What does everyone know about "House" that I don't?
ReplyDeleteC'mon Blair Witch!
@Alison I voted for House, since I watched it about a month or two ago and wanted to share the love.
ReplyDeleteHouse is definitely an experience. It's like a horror movie directed with the sensibilities of a slapstick comedy, and it's one of the most bizarre things I've ever watched. I was more disturbed by it than I have been by more "grounded" horrors, simply because it has absolutely no rules governing what is happening on-screen. Horrible things just happen in inexplicably bizarre ways and the effect is extremely unsettling, like some sort of fever dream.
I'm not sad by how the vote went, I have to admit. Of anything that was even really in the conversation, House is the only one I've never seen (next was Beyond the Black Rainbow, the only other film with more than 25 votes that I haven't seen). So it will, anyway, be an education for me.
ReplyDeleteNot gonna lie, I was pulling for Se7en
ReplyDeleteThis whole week has been a ton of fun, especially with the neck and neck race between Blair Witch, The Thing, and House in the middle there. A great idea, Tim! And thanks everyone who voted for From Beyond! It's always nice to see it get some love. And I am not in the least disappointed to be getting a review of House, so all is right with the world.
ReplyDeleteWe almost got there, didn't we? :) Ah well. If something had to beat BtBR, House is about the only thing worthy of doing so on this list.
ReplyDeleteNot that there aren't other worthy titles, but anyway.
One day.... One day.