The results raised a veritable sandstorm of discussion, debate, name-calling, and lots of other stuff. And like the consummate puppet master I am, I watched the proceedings with great interest. One of the legit complaints that was raised about the original list was that we had neglected flicks of recent years in favor of more time-honored "classics" of earlier eras. And while I felt there were definitely some explainable reasons for this, I also couldn't help but agree, since the vast majority of our picks went back 20 or more years.
So, I thought, why not attempt to remedy the situation by putting together another poll--this time focusing strictly on horror's "modern era"? For the purposes of the poll, I chose to define "modern era" as 1990 to the present. I was tempted to restrict it strictly to this century, but I decided that would steal the thunder of any "Best of the Decade" lists that are sure to pop up among my peers and I at this time next year.
As I did last time, I compiled the list using a points system. If a participant ranked a movie number one, it received 10 points, 9 points for number two, etc. Now, to diffuse some expected critiques, let me say this: Yes, there are some interesting anomalies. For example, The Mist, which was the only movie from the 21st century to make the all-time list, is here ranked below two other 21st century movies, neither of which made the all-time list. On the flipside, The Addiction made the all-time list, yet paradoxically did not make this list. My best explanation for this is that this time, our participants were slightly different, with a couple of folks dropping out, and a couple of new pundits taking part for the first time.
But enough of this palaver! Let's get on with the show:
1. The Descent (2005) dir: Neil Marshall
2. The Blair Witch Project (1999) dir: Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez
3. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) dir: Jonathan Demme
4. The Ring (2002) dir: Gore Verbinski
5. Scream (1996) dir: Wes Craven
6. The Mist (2007) dir: Frank Darabont
7. 28 Days Later (2002) dir: Danny Boyle
8. Braindead (Dead Alive) (1992) dir: Peter Jackson
9. Inside (2007) dir: Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury
10. Shaun of the Dead (2004) dir: Edgar Wright
11. Saw (2004) dir: James Wan
12. [REC] (2007) dir: Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza
13. Audition (1999) dir: Takashi Miike
14. Ginger Snaps (2000) dir: John Fawcett
15. American Psycho (2000) dir: Mary Harron
16. Session 9 (2001) dir: Brad Anderson
17. Dawn of the Dead (2004) dir: Zack Snyder
18. Army of Darkness (1993) dir: Sam Raimi
19. Dog Soldiers (2002) dir: Neil Marshall
20. Cabin Fever (2002) dir: Eli Roth
21. Let the Right One In (2008) dir: Tomas Alfredson
22. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) dir: Francis Ford Coppola
23. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) dir: Stanley Kubrick
24. Halloween: 20 Years Later (1998) dir: Steve Miner
25. Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) (1994) dir: Michele Soavi
Some other prominent vote-getters: Ringu, Hostel, Jacob's Ladder, The Orphanage, Candyman, Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door, The Sixth Sense, Jeepers Creepers
The inevitable stats:
- Earliest movie on the list: The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
- Most recent movie on the list: Let the Right One In (the only 2008 entry)
- Only five of the 25 were made in the last five years (further supporting the theory that movies need time to ferment in the mind)
- Director listed the most times: Neil Marshall (2)
Eleven movies from outside the U.S.
- United Kingdom: The Descent, 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Dog Soliders
- New Zealand: Braindead
- France: Inside
- Spain: [REC]
- Japan: Audition
- Canada: Ginger Snaps
- Sweden: Let the Right One In
- Italy: Cemetery Man
(Very interesting that while only eight of the top 50 of all-time were non-American, eleven of the top 25 of the modern era come from outside the U.S.)
Yearly breakdown:
- 1991: 1
- 1992: 2
- 1993: 1
- 1994: 1
- 1996: 1
- 1998: 1
- 1999: 3
- 2000: 2
- 2001: 1
- 2002: 4
- 2004: 3
- 2005: 1
- 2007: 3
- 2008: 1
Our participants this time around included:
Wes Fierce of Horror Film Magazine
Vince Liaguno of Slasher Speak, horror novelist
Max Cheney of The Drunken Severed Head, 2007 Rondo nominee for Best Website
Karswell of The Horrors of It All
Stacie Ponder of Final Girl and AMC's Horror Hacker
Ryne Barber of The Moon Is a Dead World
Brad Miska of Bloody-Disgusting
John W. Morehead of Theofantastique
The Lightning Bug of The Lightning Bug's Lair
Sean T. Collins of Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat, Marvel.com and Maxim
CRwM of And Now the Screaming Starts
The Horror Guy
Justin of Send More Cops
Gary D. Macabre of Blogue Macabre and The Many Faces of the Frankenstein Monster
Garg the Unzola of The Necro Files
BC of Horror-Movie-a-Day
Peter Hall of Horror's Not Dead
Unkle Lancifer and Aunt John of Kindertrauma
John Kenneth Muir, horror critic (Booklist Editor's Choice)
Pax Romano of Billy Loves Stu
Curt Purcell of The Groovy Age of Horror and Cinema Nocturna
Scott Weinberg of FEARnet, Cinematical, Horror.com and Rotten Tomatoes
Brian Matus of FangoriaOnline
Jo of Nightly Accounts
Nate Yapp of Classic-Horror.com
And yours truly, of course.
Vince Liaguno of Slasher Speak, horror novelist
Max Cheney of The Drunken Severed Head, 2007 Rondo nominee for Best Website
Karswell of The Horrors of It All
Stacie Ponder of Final Girl and AMC's Horror Hacker
Ryne Barber of The Moon Is a Dead World
Brad Miska of Bloody-Disgusting
John W. Morehead of Theofantastique
The Lightning Bug of The Lightning Bug's Lair
Sean T. Collins of Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat, Marvel.com and Maxim
CRwM of And Now the Screaming Starts
The Horror Guy
Justin of Send More Cops
Gary D. Macabre of Blogue Macabre and The Many Faces of the Frankenstein Monster
Garg the Unzola of The Necro Files
BC of Horror-Movie-a-Day
Peter Hall of Horror's Not Dead
Unkle Lancifer and Aunt John of Kindertrauma
John Kenneth Muir, horror critic (Booklist Editor's Choice)
Pax Romano of Billy Loves Stu
Curt Purcell of The Groovy Age of Horror and Cinema Nocturna
Scott Weinberg of FEARnet, Cinematical, Horror.com and Rotten Tomatoes
Brian Matus of FangoriaOnline
Jo of Nightly Accounts
Nate Yapp of Classic-Horror.com
And yours truly, of course.
Digest. Discuss. Debate. Distribute.
Not a bad list. I love The Descent but I'm still surprised that it hit #1 (not that it's not deserving, just that I didn't know enough people loved it to get that many votes).
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling that if this were done in another year or so, Let the Right One In would be higher on the list. As of now, I don't think enough people have seen it for it to get their votes (myself included). We'll see where it lands on those Best of the Decade lists you mentioned.
The Descent isn't that surprising when you remember that the participants here are people who are horror fanatics, as opposed to casual fans. As for Let the Right One In, I just caught it myself, and I'd call it the best horror movie I've seen this year. It's a testament to how good it is that it made this list despite a limited exposure thus far.
ReplyDeleteThat's so awesome that Halloween H20 made it haha, love that. And nice that Let the Right One In made it. Not a bad list but still boring haha, everybody knows these movies are good/kind of the best. Still cool thing though fun!!!
ReplyDeleteVery nice, and thanks for inviting me to participate!
ReplyDeleteHalloween H20 tho?? really????? ;)
Scream, [REC], The Mist, Eyes Wide Shut WTF?? (REC was utter drek!!) Okay, you can stop joking around... seriously this isn't funny! I could have come up with a better list if I'd gone to my local DVD rental, blind folded & pointed randomly at the shelf! Sure there are some decent additions i.e The Descent, The Ring, Army of Darkness to name but a few. Where's the classics like: Severance, Mulberry Street, The Signal, May, Ravenous?
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing the leg work on this thing again. You're a prince among bloggers.
ReplyDeleteThe Descent!? Number 1?!?!? I knew it would be, I was just hoping it wouldn't. That movie is so mediocre it hurts me.
ReplyDeleteJimmi said:
ReplyDelete"Where's the classics like: Severance, Mulberry Street, The Signal, May, Ravenous?"
Wouldn't say those are "classics"...
Overall I am fairly happy with how the list came out, but the inclusion of Eyes Wide Shut boggles my mind. Thanks for inviting me to participate again and Happy Holidays to everyone involved.
ReplyDeleteI'm Happy about Army of Darkness. I'm surprised by Halloween: water. Good list.
ReplyDeleteOK, time for me to chime in...
ReplyDeleteJoshua: "Everybody knows these movies are good." That would be the point, sir. Am I missing something?
Jimmi: I'm once again saddened that the rise of the internet has generally degraded the tenor of intelligent discourse.
Peter: I'm sorry for your pain, but alas, it would seem you're very much in the minority. Sorry, I know the feeling...
And to all who say thank you, I say, you're very welcome. Once again a pleasure!
The Descent at nr. 1? Am I the only one who find that movie slightly overrated. And The Ring should be replaced by the original, it's way better. A great list overall, I'm missing A Tale Of Two Sisters though.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit surprised to see Blair Witch at #2 (or on this list at all, for that matter.) Did I miss something? It's not scary, it has long stretches of poorly-acted, boring dialogue ("OMG, where's the map,") and it certainly isn't original. Where's the merit here?
ReplyDeleteIf you support this placement, I'd like to hear why. Just curious.
Count me among those Philistines who actually prefer the American version of The Ring to the original. And judging by the list, I'm not the only one. As for Blair Witch, I'm not a fan, and never have been. But in that, I was decidedly in the minority. But that's the beauty of the list--it supersedes any individual's opinion. I may not agree with every one on there, but it still makes for very interesting debate.
ReplyDeleteB-Sol,
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot. I love lists. They're funny. I dig your courage too. Anyone who compiles a list of "bests" is going to take some shit because lists are so subjective.
Like my list:
The Ring
The Ruins
Dawn of the Dead
Descent
Ginger Snaps
The Mist
Twenty Eight Weeks Later
Twenty Eight Days Later
Shaun of the Dead
Saw
Silence of the Lambs is notable regardless of genre.
American Psycho is a better book.
I haven't seen Rec, Inside, or Let the Right One in yet. :-) I'm sure once I do my list will change. I'm jonsing for rocking vampire flick.
I love zombies movies and want to see that Nazi one.
One question, a serious one: What's Eyes Wide Shut doing on a list of horror films? The only thing horrifying about that film is the lack of sexual chemistry between Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman.
Nicole, though: she was hot.
Maybe I need to see the movie again and reevaluate the horror factor. I just don't remember it well enough: perhaps it's forgettable.
Peace,
A
I forgot to mention The Strangers, which I'd definitely list in my top twenty: freaked me out.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I understand this isn't Your list of the twenty-five modern era horror flicks. Still, you're posting the list, so who are people going to complain to? :-)
Thanks again.
A
was kindve hoping to see Severance, Candyman and High Tension on there. Love the Descent but i'm really surprised that it hit no1.
ReplyDeletei really like seeing eyes wide shut on there, thats pretty freaking cool.
blair witch, session 9, the ring- really?
Re: Eyes Wide Shut...
ReplyDeleteI too was a bit surprised when a number of people included that one, as I didn't consider it horror. And while it isn't per se, it certainly has some horrifying elements. Much of the masquerade stuff is creepy as all hell, and definitely had a psychological horror vibe to it. In any event, with a bunch of people choosing to including it--independent of one another--I wasn't going to be the one to disqualify it based on my own opinion.
I definitely think this is a pretty good, well rounded list. There are some that I agree with (The Descent, Let the Right One In, 28 Days Later), several that I don't agree with (The Mist, Halloween H20, Dawn of the Dead), and quiet a few that I still haven't seen.
ReplyDeleteThere are some unique choices on the list and that is a pretty good thing. Most lists like this you will see the same 10 movies listed over and over again.
While I might not put The Descent at number 1, I will say that it totally freaked me out when I saw it. The claustrophobic atmosphere had me tense as hell before the creatures even showed up.
Someone else mentioned High Tension and in spite of its ending I totally agree. Everything that leads up to the ending is so good that it doesn't even matter to me that they decided to go with a crappy, cop-out, twist ending.
It's a solid list. I don't pretend to be an expert -- I haven't seen everything that made the final list (and apparently, I really need to see "Descent")-- but I do second the off-list love for "Candyman," "High Tension" and "Severance." I'd also make an argument for "Grindhouse," which I loved. And maybe, believe it or not, for "Freddy vs. Jason," which I realize wasn't a great film, but finally gave audiences a match-up they'd been craving forever. Not sure what I'd ditch save for "Eyes Wide Shut" and "Halloween: Water," though. Oh, and I'd probably have "Shaun of the Dead" on top.
ReplyDeleteShaun of the Dead is not horror, it's comedy. I would also argue that American Psycho isn't horror either, it's one of my favorite movies and I'd label it a satire/drama but I guess it was billed as horror for somewhat obvious reasons. Jacob's Ladder deserves to be higher on the list for sure. As for Eyes Wide Shut, I'm happy to see it on the list it was definitely horror on a psychological level.
ReplyDeleteOkay, after a second look I've got some more comments. Cabin Fever? It was a nice flick but not THAT good. Another notable movie missing is Funny Games (The original), that movie really creeped me out.
ReplyDeleteThe Descent as #1 & Eyes Wide Shut - WTF??? The original list was better. Again, there are some movies on there that I don't consider horror.
ReplyDeleteHorror comedy is fair game. Personally speaking, Shaun of the Dead was my number-one pick.
ReplyDeleteEYES WIDE SHUT - nominated as a horror? because people fear having to sit through that lame drama?...
ReplyDeleteand 'Modern Era' what exactly does that non-specific description actually mean? Do people actually read dictionaries any more? You might as well have said "top 25 horror films of all time"
Now Horror-Comedy is fair game, is that only b/c Shaun was your #1 pick - lol. Never thought that movie was that great, over hyped IMO.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of those, but god I hated The Descent. FUCK!
ReplyDeleteAnd I completely agree with you that while American Psycho was a pretty good movie, it absolutely butchered the book. Though Bale was fantastic as Bateman.
Sad though that Gremlins missed the cut off point since it's my fave horror/comedy film.
Although Audition made the list, it would have nice to see A Tale of Two Sisters on there as well. I'm not a big Asian horror fan but those two movies were great.
dear anonymous,
ReplyDeletemost horror movies are 'satire', 'satire' is not a genre.
Tis is a comment I posted a few weeks ago on Zombos' Closet of Horror and I thought It was relevent today.
ReplyDeleteHorror Cinema is like wine, there really is no bad wine, just different flavors for different pallets. If we all agreed that the same films were all worthy of the top 50 honor, these blogs and forums would be painfully boring to read. Obviously the age of fan surveyed will determine there answer, also look at the demographic who shops at HMV or Big box stores, these are not the same group who will be at suspect video on Queen st. (Toronto plug) trying to find a copy of I spit on your grave. I have a 15 year old cousin who loves the Saw franchise but has no Idea who Bela Lugosi is, can you blame him? he has "I only like what's cool" blinders on. All I can hope for is that a film like saw or (gasp) I know what you did last summer will be what I call "the gateway film" in to the horror genre, and as his tastes mature he will discover more mature films. We all have guilty pleasure films and it's nothing to be ashamed of. I'll start , House, Monster squad and Children shouldn't play with dead things. These are not great for everyone but what it all boils down to is, we are a community, we are all voices for the love of horror cinema and life time members of the macabre.
Later days,
Christopher Zenga
thedayafterart.blogspot.com
I believe there is more than 1 anonymous on here!
ReplyDelete"The Descent" is indeed number one.
ReplyDeleteLee: In this case, "Modern Era" means exactly what I defined it as in my post...1990 to the present. Not sure what "reading dictionaries" has to do with the whole issue, although I'm not sure people ever read them--consult, maybe. I still do, is that OK?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: Horror-comedy was always fair game. That's why the previous list contained Bride of Frankenstein, Rosemary's Baby, An American Werewolf in London, Evil Dead II and The Return of the Living Dead. Why shouldn't they be included? If we were doing a list of the greatest romances of all time, would romantic comedies be disqualified? Should humorous westerns or gangster pictures be left out of their respective genre lists? A horror movie is a horror movie, whether drama or comedy--sometimes they can even be scary and funny at the same time.
Hmmmm - Well, I guess when your topic is "Horror" films, I stick w/ horror movies minus the comedy. To me that's a separate topic. Great romance novels, I would not include romantic comedies, again, to me that's a separate topic. or, in this case, separate "LISTS" I guess when I go to see a scary horror movie, I'm not looking for the comedy.
ReplyDeleteI'm talking about romance films, not romance novels. For example, if I were putting together a list of all-time greatest romances (ahem, not that I ever would, right fellas...?) I'd be just as apt to include something like Annie Hall or When Harry Met Sally as I would The Notebook or Dr. Zhivago.
ReplyDeleteI noticed I put novels, but you knew what I meant. I got home to see that Shaun of the Dead is on TV, right now - Oh the Karma!
ReplyDeleteHey Gord,
ReplyDeleteAgreed. American Psycho feels more like satire/drama with a gore factor. The book was amazing, eerie as heck, much better than the film, but again I agree with you: Bale was an errie, spot-on Bateman.
I, for one, hate genre in literature, and so I could probably get annoyed with genre in movies as well. So perhaps the fact this list is broader than say standard fare horror is cool.
:-)
era |ˈɪərə|
ReplyDeletenoun
"a LONG and DISTINCT period of history with a particular feature or characteristic"
The title "modern Era" does not communicate that this refers to the period from 1990 onwards, which is neither particularly noteworthy or distinct as a period in cinematic history.
Sorry for being a pedant, but why pick a random period and then call it an era?
Ha, suck it Hostel! I'm SO glad Cabin Fever made the list, as it's clearly Eli Roth's best film. I've been extolling the virtues of Cabin Fever over Hostel for years. Finally, the external validation I so dearly craved. Thank You! this list rocks.
ReplyDeleteI still need to watch Let The Right One In but I can't complain about any of the others.
Sigh.
ReplyDelete"For the purposes of the poll, I chose to define 'modern era' as 1990 to the present."
That's what I wrote above, I thought that would make it perfectly clear. YES, I meant "era" in a more colloquial sense than, say, "Mesozoic Era".
Lee, I'm not sure you were on board for the first list we did, but it was a "Top 50 of All Time" type thingee, and we caught some flak for not having much in the way of recent films. So out of curiosity, I decided to do another poll on more recent films. That's the basic gist of the whole endeavor.
For those who've commented on Eyes Wide Shut: I was one of the people who put that movie on my list. I made a lengthy argument in favor of viewing the movie as horror here. Nutshell version: It's a horror movie with sex where the violence should be.
ReplyDeletei still dont understand how people are saying american psycho isnt horror because its satire. that doesnt make sense.
ReplyDeleteSorry, but the list sux.. I love Descent, but it is not #1, espically after the dude release doomsday, wtf!? and blair witch project!? wtf!? u guys suck. and wtf is [rec] doing so far down... people involved in the voting of the list are shit... one thing i am happy about is the fact that there are no movies on the list made before 1980's
ReplyDeleteplease do the list again, your doing it wrong
We are doomed as a race.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe order can be debated... but I made my last based on quality of production, relevance, and creep factor.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I'll be flamed LOL
1- The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
2- Let the Right One In (2008)
3- Inside (2007)
4- Saw (2004)
5- Army of Darkness (1993)
6- American Psycho (2000)
7- Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
8- The Descent (2005)
9- The Ring (2002)
10- Martyrs (2008)
11- Session 9
12- Audition (1999)
13- Dellamorte Dellamore (1994)
14- Zodiac (2007)
15- The Blair Witch Project(1999)
16- Scream (1996)
17- 28 Days Later (2002)
18- The Devil's Reject's (2005)
19- Battle Royale (2000)
20- The Mist (2007)
21- [REC] (2007)
22- Haute Tension (2003)
23- From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
24- Shaun of the Dead (2004)
25- Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Very interesting list, thanks!
ReplyDeleteHere's why I picked the 10 movies I voted for. - http://is.gd/diM7
ReplyDeleteSean - re your excellent argument for EYES WIDE SHUT - I totally understand your argument as far as replacing violence with sex, and you've clearly put much thought into it. But there are many other films that are worthier of making the top 25. is it just a Kubrick thing?
ReplyDeleteThe film has a few moments of 'unease' but nothing worthy of it's placement in this list.
I'd have put "Uwakizuma: Chijokuzeme" (aka THE BEDROOM) far above EYES WIDE SHUT if sex etc were the requirements. Or films like Polanski's THE NINTH GATE above it.
Okay, since the other guy made one, I will do a list too.
ReplyDelete1. Pulse (2001)
2. Inside (2007)
3. Let The Right One In (2008)
4. Audition (1999)
5. A Tale Of Two Sisters (2004)
6. Noroi: The Curse (2005)
7. REC (2007)
8. 28 Days Later (2001)
9. Ringu (1999)
10. Jacob's Ladder (1990)
11. Battle Royale (2001)
12. The Orphanage (2007)
13. Whispering Corridors (1998)
14. Funny Games (1996)
15. Army Of Darkness (1993)
16. Blair Witch Project (1999)
17. Ju-On the Grudge (2001)
18. Saw (2004)
19. The Sixth Sense (1999)
20. The Others (2001)
21. Braindead (2002)
22. Dark Water (2002)
23. Sleepy Hollow (1999)
24. Shutter (2004)
25. Uzumaki (2000)
I did not include some movies which I thought strayed to far from horror, otherwise I would hvae also included Silence Of The Lambs, Heavenly Creatures and Tell Me Something.
I would've definitely included Let the Right One In--alas, I saw it mere days after voting! Probably would've put it at number 2 or 3. Also, I agree about Silence of the Lambs. I don't quite feel comfortable calling it a horror movie.
ReplyDeleteOne of these days I'll figure out how to post links that work. In the meantime, you can copy & paste this link to see the "annotated" Top 10 list I submitted.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fangoriaonline.com/blogs/raising-hell.html
I know this thread is dead, having just gotten back in town I just saw this list...Halloween H20? Really? With LL Cool J and Josh Hartnett? That has to be a joke
ReplyDeleteI, for one, really enjoyed H20. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteH20 was a fun movie for sure, but top 25 of the last 2 decades?
ReplyDeleteHalloween IV was fun. But H20, in my opinion, really helped breathe life into a tired series--and a tired subgenre, for that matter. Even if it was squandered on the installments that followed. It made Michael Myers scary again, in a way he hadn't been since the original Halloween. While it wasn't on my top 10, it came pretty close, and I wasn't surprised when it made the amalgamated 25.
ReplyDeleteHooray! Delighted to see my favourite movie get number one. I don't think the evil bastards that run the Australian cinema industry are bringing Let The Right One In over, but I'll be sure to find it when it comes out on DVD.
ReplyDeletei'm so happy that this movies make the top: The Ring,Scream,28 Days Later,Saw,Ginger Snaps...and about the Let the Right One In ..is a good movie?
ReplyDeleteRoby, it's miraculous.
ReplyDeletei would have put somewhere in there.. The blob, the deadly spawn, (slither or night of the creeps), maybe the host... i know no one likes it but i have a soft spot for 13 ghosts remake (awesome makeup)
ReplyDeletevery miraculous indeed!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great list!!!! Thanks for all of the time that you put into this!
ReplyDelete