adkm1979 wrote:

I'm genuinely baffled that The Shining is getting so much love.  Like some other parts of Kubrik's work, there's too much laughably awful stuff spoiling the good stuff to lift the whole experience above average.

It's that thing about it only having to be the thinnest spread of shit through a sandwich that still makes it a shit sandwich.

Are you really "genuinely baffled" when it has been long critically revered and respected by others outside of this forum? I mean it's regarded as one of Kubrick's best, is a part of pop culture, and has had mad followers. You may not like it, but "genuinely baffled"?

@Chief

4 is unbelievably bad. Seriously. It's so much worse than all the others it's actually quite ridiculous. The hook is, um, Kinect... and it's not a good hook.

regmcfly wrote:

2 is shit, 3 turns it into an (intentionally) funnier film and is all the better for it

2 depends on whether you like the idea of Religion coming into it. I did, and I liked it as a result. It even uses some scares in hilariously cheap ways which is always fun.

Saw is a brilliant movie. First one isn't that massively gory, at least not on a stupid Hostel level.

Did go downhill but the first one stands up very well

Saw 1 is excellent - I didn't bother with any sequels though.

Seven would qualify for my list too when I think about it.

I find if I were to accidentally see it playing while channel hopping I would stop and watch and would find it hard to not watch it to completion no matter where in the film I join.

It has a very odd quality to it - maybe it's more about the craft and the fine acting. The sets are usually visually interesting too - the whole thing adds up to more than it should. At least it does for me. I find most Kubrick films have that effect on me.

I'm not a big horror fan but The Descent would make my list.

DS, have you read The Stand yet?

dynamiteReady wrote:

Emile Heskey's Candyman... He was a nightmare in a home game. Say his name three times, and he'll fall over...

Hahahaha

I don't really know what counts as horror and what doesn't, and I'm no fan. But, yeah, The Shining is great. Don't Look Now is another one I'd mention, although it's not something I'd call scary as such (it's more what it has to say about fate, freedom of choice and the way the present can rewrite the past). I also really liked Stoker this year, if that counts.

davyK wrote:

5. The Others
7. Angel Heart
8. The Changeling

Angel Heart nearly made my list, as did Rosemary's Baby. I loved The Others, but I've only seen it once and couldn't really consider it for inclusion because I only have vague memories of most of the film, other than the twist, and as stated, the fact that I loved it. Kudos for The Changeling, it deserves to be as well known as the other big-hitters of the 70s/80s.

Amor - what could be more terrifying than a slow death as your mind slips away from you little by little?

Okay, this is kind of a hard one as I've been watching a lot of horror lately so I need to compare the immediacy of recent experiences with the long lasting favourites. It's 

also hard to decide whether a film that scared you more deserves to be higher than the one that is better made. Here we go:

Honorable Mentions:
- Sinister: One of the only very recent horror films to really get to me, it manages to create such an unsettling tone that it can really get under your skin. The majority is in the little super 8 films but it also does it elsewhere. I also appreciated the unconventional soundtrack and the humour from Ziggy. It just falls apart as many modern horrors do in trying to explain itself.

- Paranormal Activity: Say what you will, my night after seeing this was not an easy one. A very good example of a simple concept done well with modest means.

- Blair Witch: See above with the addition of having one of the greatest horror endings ever.

- American Werewolf in London: I love a film that can combine horror and comedy and drama in equally effective ways. Top special effects too.

- Sleepaway Camp: If the film wasn't largely a curioso I think it would make my list. By the end I was actually shaken and not many films can pull that off, especially after the extreme camp that comes before. The kills are also pretty good.

- Inside: You don't get many horror films centered on a pregnant woman, it's uncomfortable on many levels because of it. Horribly gory too.

- Jaws/Deep Blue Sea/Rogue: I fucking love giant/smart/monster animal films. Just wish one was more horror enough to make the list.

- The Fly: This is a tough one because it's not very scary really apart from the concept, if it was a little more horror I think it'd be on my list. It's just a great movie and I feel Cronenberg needs to be in my list and this one is probably my favourite of his.

- Candyman: It's just creepy throughout. Big black dude with a hook hand, what's scarier than that?!



10. The Thing: Not sure if I need to say more than what already has been said. The best special effects of its time and a gloriously built "who-is-it" tale.

9. The Hills Have Eyes (remake): It's such a horribly bleak and violent movie, a real video-nasty. It takes what others have attempted before and runs away with it, never holding back and once it all kicks off you're in for a very bloody rollercoaster ride. I can dig it.

8. 28 Days Later - I hope Danny Boyle returns to horror at some point as he does it so well. A very well realised reality with solid acting, tasty tension sequences and one where the shaky cam didn't detract from the film experience for once.

7. The Shining: It probably should be higher on my list but it isn't. I do love it though. For it's direction (The axe chopping down the door shots are some of my favourite film shots ever) and for the same reasons I love Kubrick's other films in how he puts them together. I was just a bit bored last time I saw it, I feel like it's a film you have to be in a certain mood for and I wasn't that time. It'll move up and down on my list depending.

6. REC - Another rollercoaster ride but this time moreso in terror and tension, a brilliant use of the handheld "I'm actually there" shtick.

5. Poltergeist - That fucking clown toy. God damn it. It does such a good job of building on the family movie template and slowly ramping up the scares as it goes along

4. The Descent - The only horror film I've watched with a group where someone (my sister) actually screamed at one of the scares. Sure it has a lot of jump scares but the build-up before that and the execution of it makes it work. Plus I think it has one of the best jump scares in any horror film in the first half.

3. Halloween (original) - The one that started it all (so they say). I think I may have only seen this once but what I've seen has stuck with me. Some absolutely brilliant horror moments and visuals, especially when he is stalking her, and a lot of well built tension.

2. The Ring: I prefer the American remake over the original. The step away from the more ghost/supernatural focus that is Ringu (and most Japanese horror) works more for me as it created a much more reality-grounded film and had less that I needed to accept for the film ideas to work. The Ring is also spectacularly shot, it is an utterly beautiful film to look at, something I only properly noticed when I watched it again recently. Both are unsettling films with solid scares but I prefer the remake.

1. Alien: I've seen this movie so many times and it still manages to scare me. For that reason alone it could sit at the top but it's also because it's such a tightly made film and the set-design and overall filmic design is perfect. The direction is wonderful, the character ensemble are all well created even with minimal exposition dialogue and, apart from a couple, the special effects all stand up to the age of the film. It'll be hard to topple this one from its throne and I kind of doubt it ever will be.


I feel like there's so many more films I should have considered. Was a hard list.

I remember some film putting the shits up me in the 80s - The Keep. Never saw it ever again, it's probably woeful shit.

beano wrote:

DS, have you read The Stand yet?

Nah. I am re-reading The Descent by Jeff Long though. That's a damn fine horror novel.

Also, thread success yes!