♪ "One more day 'til Halloween! Halloween, Halloween..." ♫
#20
Sion Sono's
SUICIDE CLUB (Jisatsu sâkuru)
Japan, 2001
A complex, thought-provoking and mindblowing mindfuck of a movie. "Suicide Club", one of Japan's most bizarre movies. In terms and themes a bit similar to "Pulse", but way more disturbing and terrifying, especially because of a few incredibly scary sequences, many remarkably unsettling images and, of course, all the uber-amazing suicide scenes (subway mass suicide, school roof mass suicide, kitchen suicides...).
So weird, so absurd, so awesome!
"We'll pass out flyers: 'Join our Suicide Club!', 'Come die with us!', 'Let's shed blood together!'"
#19
Alfred Hitchcock's
PSYCHO
USA, 1960
I have no idea what to say about Psycho that hasn't already been said. With this landmark milestone, Hitchcock reached the zenith of hsi career. It's one of the greatest and most iconic horror-thrillers in movie history, including one of the coolest set pieces (the Bates mansion), one of the best-filmed, best-edited kills (the infamous shower scene) and one of the most interesting split-personailty killers (Anthony Perkins as the strangely sympathetic Norman Bates).
Genius, pure genius!
"Mother! Oh god, mother! Blood! Blood!!!"
#18
Neil Marshall's
THE DESCENT
UK, 2005
Greatest and scariest survival horror movie ever made, thrilling and bloodcurdling from the first to the last minute. The female cast is simply stunning, the cave systems look terrific and the underground creatures are just horrifying.
Wonderfully filmed and executed, tightly directed and brilliantly written - and scenes like the shocking opening or the blood-pit attack are unforgettable.
A powerful and breathtaking Brit-masterpiece!
"Where are we?" - "It hasn't got a name. It's a new system. I wanted us all to discover it! No one's ever been down here before." - "Are you fucking kidding me?"
#17
Tom Holland's
FRIGHT NIGHT
USA, 1985
Next to "Lost Boys" and "Near Dark" the coolest and most entertaining vampire flicks from the 80s.
Director Holland created an incredible cult horror comedy, full of amazing actors, hilarious characters, fabulous one-liners, stunning-looking special effects and many remarkable and highly memorable scenes. The awesome cinematography, the well-designed settings and the outstanding build-up keeps you glued to the screen.
A movie I could watch over and over and over again.
"I have just been fired because nobody wants to see vampire killers anymore, or vampires either. Apparently all they want see to are demented madmen running around in ski-masks, hacking up young virgins."
#16
Gore Verbinski's
THE RING
USA, 2002
The very first movie in my life that actually scared me half to death - and it's still one helluva scarefest. The Japanese original is brilliant but the remake is just mindblowingly awesome - btw, it's the only US remake of an Asian movie that works.
Wonderfully written and directed, highly atmospheric and thrilling, with a top notch cast, an awesome soundtrack and many scenes that are so scary, you'll wet your pants.
Ring-tastic!
"Don't you understand, Rachel? She never sleeps."
#15
THE CHURCH (La Chiesa)
Italy, 1989
Michele Soavi, the underestimated genius of Italian horror cinema, directed 4 horror movies: all 4 of them are excellent, especially "The Church", IMO the greatest Italian horror film of all time.
Packed with visually stunning images and eerie-looking set pieces, terrific actors, great special effects, awesome-looking demons and super-hauting pieces of music.
The whole movie is incredibly atmospheric and almost hypnotic from beginning to end, incl. loads of extremely suspenseful, extremely scary scenes and a few remarkable sequences that are just unforgettable (especially the breathtaking opening and the stunning climax).
"Behold! The stigmata... the sign of the demon!" - "Kill them, all of them! Not one must be allowed to live!"
#14
Peter Jackson's
BRAINDEAD (a.k.a. Dead Alive)
New Zealand, 1992
Fuck "Lord Of The Rings" - THIS is the greatest New Zealandian movie of all time: "Braindead", one of the bloodiest and goriest AND one of the funniest and most hilarious horror comedies ever made.
Everything, I repeat EVERYTHING about this movie is just terrific: the rat-monkey, the lawnmower massacre, the zombie outbreak at the house party, the zombie baby, the zombie mother, the martial-arts priest, the ear-custard, the nose injections, the humping zombie couple etc. etc.
People who don't like this movie are pathetic.
"The devil is amongst us. Stay back, boy! This calls for divine intervention. I kick ass for the lord!!"
#13
Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury's
INSIDE (À l'intérieur)
France, 2007
One of the 3 French movies from the 00s that blew my mind:
the unbelievably brutal and emotionally intense "Inside", a movie packed to the brim with incredibly horrifying and uber-disgusting death scenes, but also full of outstanding atmosphere and staggering suspense, thanx to a compelling score and some stunning camera work.
Plus: super-awesome performances from the insanely genius Béatrice Dalle and the overwhelming Alysson Paradis.
A sick but outstanding violence-fest.
"There's a strange woman by my door. Please hurry up. I don't know what she wants. She knows my name... she knows everything about me..."
#12
Steven Spielberg's
DUEL
USA, 1971
As much as I love "Jaws" or "Jurassic Park", this one will always be my absolute favorite Spielberg-flick:
"Duel", the greatest car-chase movie ever, the greatest TV movie ever.
Incredibly tense, suspenseful and thrilling from beginning to end, brilliantly written and directed, brilliantly filmed and edited, including one of the greatest acting performances I've ever seen (the marvellous Dennis Weaver) and one of the ugliest yet coolest and scariest vehicles in movie history (the Peterbilt 281).
Incredibly tense, suspenseful and thrilling from beginning to end, brilliantly written and directed, brilliantly filmed and edited, including one of the greatest acting performances I've ever seen (the marvellous Dennis Weaver) and one of the ugliest yet coolest and scariest vehicles in movie history (the Peterbilt 281).
An overwhelming 70s masterpiece.
"Come on you miserable fat-head, get that fat-ass truck outta my way."
#11
John Carpenter's
PRINCE OF DARKNESS
USA, 1987
One of the most underrated, most underestimated horror films of all time:
Carpenter's super-amazing late 80s masterpiece "Prince Of Darkness", a highly intelligent and incredibly suspenseful religion-themed shocker with a great plot, a stunning cast, terrific characters, many uber-eerie images, loads of breathtaking atmosphere and one of the most awesome musical scores ever composed.
Posts
Wow, what a great list and write up, Harry! I've never seen SUICIDE CLUB nor THE RING remake, but have been curious about both. I pretty agree about the greatness of everything else, although I didn't care for PRINCE OF DARKNESS when I first saw it. But that was years ago, so a rewatch is in order!
ReplyDeleteTHE DESCENT was friggin amazing, imo and the best thing Marshall has done. Hopefully he won't be a one hit wonder.
BRAINDEAD is hilarious and it was cool to the see the Sumatran Rat Monkey onboard the ship in Jackson's KING KONG remake.
INSIDE blew me away, too. I had to watch it a second time after it finished the first time just to make sure I hadn't somehow dreamt the whole thing!
Fans of Jackson's later films would be shocked by Dead Alive! But I dug it. Killing the zombies with a lawn mower was priceless.
ReplyDeleteAll excellent choices! Except I haven't seen Prince of Darkness, The Church, or all of Suicide Club (seen a little bit of it). Inside is amazing, Dead Alive is phenomenally awesome, The Descent is one of my best friends, Duel is a new love, Fright Night is mountains of fun, and The Ring is creepy as fuck! Can't wait to see the top ten!
ReplyDelete@Venom:
ReplyDeleteThank you Brian! Highly recommend Suicide Club, one of the weirdest, yet most interesting Asian horror films of the last 10 years.
The Ring is scary fun and Prince Of Darkness... well, it might be flawed but due to the impressive soundtrack, a compelling atmosphere and Pleasence's performance, I totally adore it.
Plus: I'm a sucker for John Carpenter :)
Yep, DESCENT is Marshall's best flick indeed. Have you seen the sequel? I thought it was also pretty... um, decent :)
Haha yeah! Next to the T-Rex, that was clearly the best part of King Kong :)
LOL I understand what you mean. I remember being a complete wreck after watching INSIDE
Oh, yeah, I've seen DESCENT PART 2. I reviewed it back when it came out on disc. I liked it, too, but thought it started out kind of wobbly and got better from there.
ReplyDeleteNice list. I haven't seen Descent part two. Dead Alive is probably my favorite choice on your list. Love that movie!
ReplyDelete@Alex:
ReplyDeleteLOL Yeah! A friend of mine is a huge fan of the LOTR saga. When I heard that he was interested in watching other stuff from Jackson, I gave him Bad Taste and Braindead - well, he was pretty shocked indeed :D
@Michele:
ReplyDeleteThank you, dudette
You totally need to see POD, Church and all of Suicide Club, it's worth it!
@Brian:
ReplyDeleteyeah, it's not perfect but I ended up pretty satisfied.
Would love to see a third part.
@Kweeny:
ReplyDeleteThanx!
Yes, Dead Alive is adorable, and Descent 2 is far better than its reputation.
Nice list! Samara crawling out of the T.V. always scared the junk out of me! :)
ReplyDelete@Jenny:
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Omg yes, that girl is sooo fucking creepy!
PSYCHO fer sure. :D One of the most infinitely re-watchable movies I can think of. There's never NOT a good time to watch that one.
ReplyDeleteOh man there are some good ones on here, but I definitely will disagree with you on the Ring and Prince of Darkness. PoD actually made my Worst movies ever list because the devil as green goo so did not work for me. And in the Ring, Naomi Watts sucked out loud along with her creepy kid. I think I am the only person on Earth who found this movie completely un-scary. :)
ReplyDelete@Astro:
ReplyDeleteYep, Psycho is one of those movies I could watch over and over without ever getting bored.
@Mel:
ReplyDeleteReally? Well, I understand you if you don't like POD (green goo might not work for everyone indeed) but The Ring unscary??? Gee, that's harsh :)
Nothing says Halloween like typical Carpenter Apocalypse! haha
ReplyDelete@Kaijinu:
ReplyDeletehaha yeah! :)