Okay, so shoot me for being obvious but it's Halloween and I felt the need for a new Film Script Top 7. And when the puzzle pieces fit together, I put one and the other together, thus...
The Film Script's Top 7 - Horrorifying Movies
I found it incredibly difficult to find true "horror" movies that were worthy of a Top 7 list for a couple reasons. 1) Outside of the Victorian-era period pieces, this is probably my least favorite genre. 2) In keeping with the first reason, I’m also missing a large amount of my film history in this category (never seen a Dario Argento film, likewise a 1930s Dracula or Frankenstein picture and only Land of the Dead from George A. Romero). And 3) Not a lot of movies really have an unsettling or frightening effect on me. Sure, some might get me to jump, but I jumped watching Once Upon a Time in America recently too and it was mostly because what happened was surprising, not frightening. For those reasons… this list might start to veer towards ‘thrilling’ over ‘horrifying’ but, whatever, I like what I like. And I’ve also included a list of the bottom of the barrel horror movies at the end, because I also dislike what I dislike…
7. The Sixth Sense
The ending was spoiled for me before I even saw it and it doesn’t ruin the film at all (well, maybe ever so slightly, damn you Jamie). Anyways, this is just a well done film… great story with terrific acting and a twist so good that it has imprisoned M. Night into repeating himself in every subsequent film.
6. Rosemary's Baby
It's eerie mostly because it's played so close to real life - this film could easily just have been about the pesky neighbors who infringe on the newly married couple. Instead, Polanski drops in a deal with the devil, murders, giving birth to the son of the devil himself, and a seriously short Mia Farrow hairdo to completely creep me out.
5. Halloween
The most clear-cut slasher flick on my list is there because Michael Myers is the quintessential horror villain. A demented-from-childhood killer who escaped a mental hospital, went on a murdering rampage and seemingly can never be killed. Also, it never aims to be artful or the mold for all horror films to follow… it just is. And that score. Damn, music can be a killer sometimes.
4. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
This movie is so good they can't stop remaking the damn thing, even in spite of the fact that Don Siegel's original is perfection. The birth of pod people and a communism allegory all in one.
3. Jaws
Spielberg had only done two films before this (Duel for TV and The Sugarland Express). Both were good. This is much more than that. And it earns points for keeping the shocking moments suppressed, for the simple perfection of its score and for focusing on a terrific (and terrifically straightforward) storyline.
2. Psycho
This list would have been overloaded with Hitchcock if I had considered Rear Window, Vertigo and Rope horror films as well. Hitch was king of the psychological thriller, but Psycho fits nicely into both categories and is one of his most purely horrifying films... it can't be left off.
1. The Shining
Truly the one film that totally freaked me the hell out was Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece (Seriously, how can Stephen King not like this adaptation?). Those twin girls, the Outlook hotel, Jack Nicholson's freakish stares and the sheer oddity that is Shelley Duvall. Just spooky as hell.
Honorable Mentions: Carrie, The Thing, Alien, Aliens, Misery, Silence of the Lambs, Basic Instinct, 28 Days Later..., 28 Weeks Later..., The Devil's Rejects, Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead (remake), Red Eye, Death Proof, Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, Rope, Notorious, Vertigo, Scream, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Predator, The Exorcist, Duel (TV), Play Misty for Me, The Birds, Cabin Fever, Scream 2, The Ring
The Film Script's Bottom 7 - Horrorifying Movies
Honestly, these films are so bad and so arbitrarily listed that I could have put any other 7 on here from the runners-up list and been perfectly content, but as it is… here it is…
7. White Noise
6. Hide and Seek
5. The Ring Two
4. Alien vs. Predator
3. Cold Creek Manor
2. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
1. Hollow Man
Dishonorable Mentions: Godsend, Premonition, The Number 23, Hostel, Saw 2, Cry_Wolf, Dark Water, House of Wax (remake), Doom, Van Helsing, The Butterfly Effect, The Grudge, The Mothman Prophecies, From Hell, Domestic Disturbance, Don't Say a Word, Hannibal, Scream 3, Teaching Mrs. Tingle, The House on Haunted Hill (remake), The Faculty, Disturbing Behavior, Jack Frost, Urban Legend, Psycho (remake), From Dusk ‘til Dawn, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Children of the Corn, The Keep
Happy Halloween
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Film Script's Top 7 - Horrorifying Movies
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3 comments:
I, for the life of me, can not widdle this list down to simply 7. Like usual, I have far too many I want to mention, especially since you, Mulligan, aren't as familiar with this genre as you are with others.
This list could wind up in a different order any day of the week, except for my number 1 and 2. They consistently scare me to this day, which I can't say that is the case for many of these other films. Naturally they scared me upon initial viewing, but since than I know when the scares are coming. Only 1 and 2 still scare me.
Also I left of some obvious ones that surely we can all agree are among the best horror films ever and are so recognized in all the top horror listings. Some examples include Exorcist, Shining, Alien, Jaws, Rosemary's Baby, Halloween. Man, it was hard as hell not to have some of these films on here simply because there is a reason they are known as the best of the best, but for the sake of originality I will leave them off.
10. Open Water- I was so physically exhausted after watching this film. This presented a much different type of scare for me...absolutely uncompromising continuous dread. We literally follow this tale of two scuba divers left out in the middle of the ocean. That is the most terrifying scenario next to being left in the middle of the ocean inside a coffin. I was so drained that I just have to acknowledge what a impact in left on me. Fantastic film.
9. Cronenberg's library...this goes more towards Videodrome, Dead Ringers, and the Fly, but Cronenberg has always had some of the creepiest most unsettling images even in his less frightening works. Videodrome is all about how the images and media can alter the human state be it physical or mental. Snuff films...literal hand guns...stomach vaginas...Deborah Harry...scary shit. Dead Ringers is beyond eerie. Plus Fly is like the most disgusting yet heart-breaking film ever.
8. Evil Dead II- my personal fave among the trilogy infuses some frightening camera work with some hysterical Stooges comedy. I guess I like it more for its laughs than its scares, but the rapid forward camera representing the evil is really quite scary.
7. The Thing- some outstanding creature FX, cold climate, underground facility...they all add up to one of John Carpenters best films. Plus Kurt Russell's beard is impressive, but in a scary way.
6. Descent- "scariest film in twenty years." That is what I said when I left the theater and I stand by it today. A lady ripped her earring out of her ear during one of the scenes. If you haven't seen it, see the unrated cut which has the original downbeat ending. And by me saying "downbeat" would be like me saying Scientologists are "unique." It is brutal stuff.
5. Freaks- "one of us, one of us, gooble, gobble"...Tod Browning's film is better and more frightening than his Dracula. Also has one of the most unsettling yet oddly "happy" endings ever.
4. American Werewolf in London- This would also probably make my list of best comedies ever too, but that is the genius behind this film. It uses comedy to cause you to let your guard down, only to slay you with some terrifying images. David Naughton's transformation is agonizing to watch, yet you can't help but marvel at rick Baker's makeup design. Griffin Dunne plays a friend who gets killed early on, only to reappear throughout as his body slowly decays more and more. The transformation is both played for laughs and scares. Brilliant film with perhaps the best makeup ever. Suck on that Memoirs of a Geisha.
3. Night of the Living Dead- as a film, I prefer Dawn of the Dead, but as a horror film, this one is much scarier. Family trapped in house must battle zombies and oddly enough, racism. The lighting is so washed out that it makes it all that much harder to discern the living from the dead. Completely revolutionized the genre and probably is the reason it is such a profitable one at that. The ending is such a unbelievable downer...I mean it almost pisses you off if it weren't for that fact that it is absolutely genius.
2. Psyhco- naturally this would fall under the quintessential horror films list I mentioned previously, but it is one of two films that can still startle me and leave me feeling uneasy. Anthony Perkins is perfect here as Norman Bates. The shower scene is naturally a marvel with pitch perfect imagery and music to cause anyone with a pulse to speed up. The above shot of Mother killing the detective and pushing him down the stairs never gets any mention, but it too is quite effective. For me, just seeing the ending as Norman confronts his intruders and the truth is revealed. A perfect film in my opinion. Yet not so perfect that I needed a shot by shot remake.
1. Texas Chainsaw Massacre- Nowhere to be found even among your Honorable Mentions Mulligan, you must not have seen it because surely you would have mentioned it. Brutal and unrelentless, people actually believe it to be gorier than it actually is simply because they conjured up such a terrifying image from Tobe Hooper's film. There is a moment when Leatherface puts a victim on a meat hook. We don't see it pierce the skin. We don't see any blood. All we see is the front view of the person as they scream and writhe in pain. We thus create a image even worse than what was actually shown. The dinner scene probably more widely regarded as the most terrifying scene ever, but the scene that really gets me is the simple chase of our heroine and Leatherface. I always compare him to Pepe le Pew. Leatherface does not give up. He hobbles along wailing around his chainsaw ever so slowly. A bad guy with no real motives except to eat. All he wants is food and like anyone else he must catch it. He doesn't want to rape you, he doesn't want to hold you hostage, he doesn't want money,..he wants to eat you and what can be more demeaning than being eaten by a bunch of hillbillies. My favorite horror film and one that I wish was never tarnished with the awful remakes. And when I say "awful" it is like me saying that Robin Williams has "some" arm hair.
Alright, I commend you both on excellent lists...I hate getting to these things last, because you two steal all the good ones (Chachi...Freaks and all of Cronenberg...jackass). So, here's me list, which will not feature any of the films you've already mentioned (I have no qualms with either list, so consider all you picks to be among my favs as well.)
7. Near Dark
This movie is so freakin fantastic. Probably one of the best vampire movies ever, it's an extremely funny, very creepy western/vampire flick with a poignant family tale as well. Lance Henriksen and Bill Paxton are awesome. God I hope the remake of this never happens.
6. Candyman
I stand almost alone in my view of this film. (But recently found out that Guillermo Del Toro lists it among his favorite horror films, so that makes me feel better). I just watched this the other day actually, and am still blown away by how beautiful a film it is. Bernard Rose knows how to direct a smart, poetic horror film. I could go on and on about how this isn't a slasher flick, and how it adds racial, class, and sex issues into what had become a mindless genre, but I won't bore everyone. This isn't the scariest film every, but goddamn it is unsettling. Tony Todd has the lowest voice in the history of the world, and never has the "villain" of a horror film been more hypnotizing or more sympathetic. While this is regularly written off as a by-product of the 80's slasher craze, it truly is more of a smart, slightly subversive psychological thriller that features a slasher-esque villain and a decent amount of blood.
5. Don't Look Now
I only saw this fairly recently. Great performances from Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie drive this thriller from director Nicholas Roeg (The Man Who Fell to Earth). The editing and score are amazing, and Roeg does a great job of slowly ratcheting up the tension. The building dread makes this one of the most unsettlingly films I've seen recently. It all builds to a fantastically horrifying and shocking conclusion. A really great film for those that enjoy being scared and thrilled, but don't care for the blood and gore of the genre.
4. Frankenstein
I've talked about my love for this film before. It more or less invented the horror genre. It may not be the scariest horror film, but it is arguably the most effective. It has an extremely minimalist approach that isn't often seen in horror films today. There isn't a lot of dialogue. Director James Whale uses what at the time where revolutionary visual techniques to move the story along. And then there's Boris Karloff. In my book, this is one of the best performances ever. He has very little screen time. Absolutely no dialogue. Yet he creates a complex, intimidating, yet wholly sympathetic character. Between all of that, the character and set design, and fantastic make up work, Frankenstein remains a truly haunting film that hasn't lost any of its punch.
3. The Night of the Hunter
Saw this recently as well. Goddamn. This is some great filmmaking. This is probably Robert Mitchum's best role. He is amazing as the religious fanatic Harry Powell. This is a meditation of good and evil, and is just downright scary. Shelly Winters is great as well. Beautifully shot and directed by Charles Laughton, this is just a classic.
2. The Evil Dead
Chachi went with the sequel, which I love as well, but I think this is a far more effective horror film. A very innovative film that has gone on to influence countless others, this is the quintessential "cabin in the woods" movie. It may not have the best effects (the clay-mation effects at the end are kinda laughable), but the overall atmosphere of the film still spooks. It introduced us to the awesomeness that can only be called Bruce "The Chin" Campbell, and had a woman get raped by a tree. The camera work is still fantastic, and the scares still hold up (for the most part).
1. The Devil's Backbone
I'm unabashedly a Del Toro fan. Aside from the amazing Pan's Labyrinth, this is his best work, and probably my favorite ghost movie ever. Not only a great ghost movie, this is an examination of the horrors of real life, which gives this film a one-two punch that few others can beat. Chilling, atmospheric, haunting, and just downright creepy, this came out the same year as The Others, but, for my money, this beats it any day. Just brilliant.
Good list pengin. I knew you would have Frankenstein and Candyman on your list so I left them for you to talk about, but I don't think either would have made my list though. Also I would agree that Evil Dead is a more effective horror film, but I prefer the second one as a film though. Kudos to your Near Dark pic, that is probably the best vampire film. Finally devils Backbone almost made my list, but as you can see there were just so many for me to choose from.
Also could Clockwork Orange rank on this list. If so, it would probably be in my top 3.
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