Silent hill 2 was indeed terrible. I didn't like te innkeepers. House of the devil was alright. The last entertaining and "good" horror movie that I saw ( horror used lightly) was SINISTER.
I liked sinister alot. I thought there was something about the way it was written and acted that worked really well.
Excellent question. My view is that it's one of those films (of which there have been many in the past several years) that mixes up genres. Some "work," some don't, that one did. Although it is a standout in the vampire canon, I think it uses those tropes in the service of what's basically a coming-of-age film, in a twisted sort of way. Although I've only seen it once, "Kill List" exemplifies this trend for me. At first it seems like an indie domestic drama, then it's a weird crime drama, and in the end it's classic horror of a sort. Not for everyone, but I loved it despite some gruelingly violent scenes. The problem with the list that started this thread is the criteria ... doomed from the get-go for being based on box office and Rotten Tomatoes aggregation. It's much more interesting, even if you disagree, to read one person's "best of" or "scariest" list. There's one that Martin Scorsese offered recently floating out there somewhere. As you'd expect, it's smart, informed, and interesting. And as others have said, there are several titles on that list that shouldn't be there at all. On the other hand, to fully grock the effect that Jaws had in 1975, you have to put yourself in the frame of its original release. At the time, much of what we now think of as "horror" was considered a niche genre in the public mind, a lot of it not particularly scary. Jaws may not scare us today, but at the time it seriously freaked a lot of people out. Audiences weren't quite as desensitized yet. I don't think anyone actually thinks of it as a horror film, but scary, yeah. No denying many found it scary. Some probably still do.
All excellent points Dean, and I agree. To this I will just point to A Serbian Film. Not horror in the classical sense, but I saw it at a genre film festival here, and let me tell you, plenty people were understandably scared/disturbed. And it will definitely NOT be featured on any of these 'lists.'
Oops, yes, necessary post-script: Do not watch Serbian Film. And if you do, understand ahead of time what you are getting in to.
To me it is kind of important that Horror movies contain a fantastic element. I am totally fine with a lot of absurd violence as long as it is not 'things humans are capable of'. All this torture porn stuff is nothing for me. Of course there are exceptions like High Tension or Saw (only the first of course). Same with computer games - I could kill aliens or zombies all day long, but shooters in a realistic setting?! Rather not.
I totally understand what you are saying, the best and most classic horror movies have always had a 'big baddie' to contend with that is the target of your fear. The most effective ones are those which bring this threat to something we could have to face in our real lives (albeit this is a long leap of faith/scare). But now Hollywood seems to think the only solution is to devolve this to invisible ghosts that open cupboards. And the remaining split of it, which generally falls under the slashed genre (e.g. a non-fantastical murderer) has now become more thriller films. Is Audition a horror movie, sure, most would say yes. Is Alien? Probably. Pan's Labyrinth? I am sure it could give many a kid nightmares. And they are all excellent films. It is a hard genre to pin down to any narrow focus, and some of the best examples incorporate elements from other types, such as fantasy or sci-fi. But regardless, it does seem like the industry has lost its way with the 'evil' antagonist aspect.
Nosferatu will probably be one of my favorite movies ever.. notice how the list started off strong and then near the end it just got worse and worse.
Yeah . . . 'Kill List' was so dark and realistic it depressed me a bit, but was still enjoyable. Definite 'The Wicker Man' influence too which was cool. Nice to see Michael Smiley (Tyres from 'Spaced') still getting work . . . i thought he was great as the slightly more 'sane' hitman.
I much prefer noises over things moving on their own. loud bangs breaking silence in a dark house can scare the shit out of you.
Hell yes, great movie. One of the few modern movies that pulled off the creepy 70's slasher vibe really well. Kind of like number 97 on that list above, High Tension. Lots of people try to capture that feeling but it rarely seems to work. When someone gets it right though it is a thing a beauty.
These kinds of lists are dumb and only made to create web traffic (mainly from people like us clicking on it and groaning, of course). With that said, I think Jaws belongs on any list of best horror films. But #1? Nah. As for Ti West, I think I like The Innkeepers more than House of the Devil, although I love both. I saw a double feature of both at a theatre in Chicago where West and the male lead from Innkeepers were there. West said the shot of the female character struggling to take the garbage out is probably his favorite thing he's ever shot, which I think says a lot about him as a filmmaker. He'd rather go for slow and realistic than fast and flashy. Not an approach that works for everybody, but he pulls it off. I've avoided V/H/S only because of all of the negative reviews. Maybe I'll check it out eventually (but probably not).
Ahhhh I just checked out that youtube clip of Mario Bava's 'Black Sabbath' with that old woman again. Still creeps me out!
Very creepy scene. I love almost all horror. I like stuff from Violent shit to the Universal classics.
I just watched John Dies At The End It may not be a real Horror movie but it has some gory scenes and man what a ride. It is far from flawless but it is packed with so many great ideas and awesome ridiculous fun. And it has Paul Giamatti!!! Highly recommended. I am still smirking! ('This door can not be opened!!!') Oh, and try to avoid the trailer - it gives away too much. I will get the Blue Ray - and I do not buy those often.
Since we were discussing it here, I watched v/h/s last night. What a complete load of rubbish. For me, this sums up everything that I think is bad about the horror genre these days. Setting aside the whole 'found footage' terribleness that has become all the rage for a moment, that isn't even the worst part of the film. Collecting an anthology of short horror stories in this way does seem like an interesting idea, but come on, the execution is just awful. From the wiki article: SO I hope it is evident where the fault in that design is, but in case it is not, 'found footage' is not a linking concept. That is basically saying the same thing as someone making an anthology of Seven Samurai, Eraserhead, and The Great Dictator. None of this terribleness is addressing what I feel is ruining horror films now though - this is just a symptom of the root cause. And that is lack of any kind of developed narrative at all. Not only was the compendium of 'tapes' terrible, and the execution of it a failure, I don't think the filmmakers understand the medium they are working with or the purpose of it. Simply having something on the screen does not constitute contributing anything in my mind, you might as well be making TV sitcoms or McDonalds' advertisements then. If there is no commitment to story at all, then why would an audience partake of it? And I don't buy that it is because they are cut off and don't have the space to fully develop - I have seen shorts only a couple minutes long with barrels full of more depth than this. I won't get in to any specifics, in case people out there still want to watch it. Each 'video' has no story, no background, no development, it just is. And as there is no over-arcing narrative between them to tie it all together, they are lacking all that much more. I am seriously disappointed and angry that anyone associated with these kinds of projects would call themselves filmmakers. And that is the issue I have with modern Hollywood horror - we are not all simpletons, and the fact that you can string together 116min of film and call it a movie is BS. Goddammit, is it really too much to ask to give the audience some credit? to at least attempt the job you are supposed to be doing? AARRGGHHH. I could rant for pages about so many aspects of this this movie as a classic symptom of so much else that is wrong in horror. Anyways, watch, don't watch it, either way. Maybe I am in the minority here, as the reviews (Empire, Fangoria, etc.) give it praise. But now I see it already has a sequel - and that my friends is the point I will leave you on.
Bloody awful (v/h/s)!!! There are no good horror movies being made these days. Everything is a CGI PG-13 fuckfest or they try too hard to reinvent the wheel with completely unbelievable outrageous plot lines that a 9 year could write. I really hate CGI- I was forced to sit through Mama on DVD recently and when that character made an appearance I could not stop laughing at how poor the CGI was. Horror directors, keep it simple, don't over expose what people are suppose to be afraid of. Sometimes less is more.
Hated V/H/S !!! It was just a total pile of shit. Every once and awhile you find a horror gem. In all honesty it looks like we are close to a new era in horror. The next crop of filmmakers is influenced by the amazing stuff made in the 80's. It's time for a return to mad cap awesome horror filled with shocks and practical effects.
The only two movies from that 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die list that I haven't seen are Candyman and Scream. Hopefully continuing to avoid that pair will assure me a good, long life! There have actually been a number of pretty excellent horror movies from the past decade or so, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that 2008's The Strangers might be the best of them. Rather than shoving it's exploitation roots in your face, it simply turned up and played out as if the decades of teen-friendly hybrid and CG infested crap baskets had never occurred.
