Top 25 Horror Films 2011: Writers Needed

[Anna J]

We need volunteers willing to write brief, 2-3 sentence (NOT 2-3 paragraph) blurbs about A&F's first Top 20 list.

For these, we are interested less in summaries than in highlighting the brilliance and significance of the films.

For example, something like this (clipped and slightly altered from Darryl's review here): A refreshing twist on the romantic comedy, Punch-Drunk Love focuses on lonely small business owner Barry (Adam Sandler) overcoming his own problems rather than relying on external plot conflict. Memorable for the bold, striking colors and lighting that fill Punch-Drunk Love’s frames, and complemented by the late artist Jeremy Blake’s swirling, tie-dye like visual interludes, Anderson’s film is a true bounty of moving pictures. Punch-Drunk Love is quirky and short, but it’s a complete package worth exploring more than once.

1 The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

2 Vampyr (1932)

3 The Exorcist (1973)

4 Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror (1922)

5 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

6 Let Me In (2010)/Let the Right One In (2008)

7 Psycho (1960)

8 Night of the Living Dead (1968)

9 The Fly (1986)

10 Frankenstein (1931)

11 Peeping Tom (1960)

12 The Shining (1980)

13 Repulsion (1965)

14 The Thing (1982)

15 I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

16 The Haunting (1963)

17 Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

18 Freaks (1932)

19 Alien (1979)

20 Eraserhead (1976)

21 Don’t Look Now (1974)

22 Dracula (1931)

23 The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

24 Curse of the Demon (1957)

25 Onibaba (1964)

Don't over-promise. Take on 1-4 films and if you finish those you can take on more. As films are taken we will remove them from this post.

PM me (not Greg this time) to respond or to ask questions. Blurbs may be PMed to me or emailed to ajohnson@imagejournal.org.

Blurbs are due February 4.

ONE film left!

Edited February 1, 2011 by Anna J

[SDG]

I'll do these two.

3 The Exorcist (1973)

4 Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror (1922)

[Tyler]

I'll take Caligari.

[John Drew]

I'll take Night of the Living Dead and The Thing.

[Anna J]

THANKS, everyone who has volunteered so far! 14 films left!

[Persona]

When are these three sentences due?

I'll take Vampyr, Frankenstein and Eraserhead. I happen to be writing on two of those three black and whites in the next two weeks anyway.

Edited January 26, 2011 by Persona

[Anna J]

Please send your blurbs to me by February 4.

[Mr. Arkadin]

I'll take PEEPING TOM.

[J.A.A. Purves]

I can take Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

[Overstreet]

I'll take Alien and Let Me In / Let the Right One In.

[Anna J]

Only seven left!

[SDG]

Only seven left!

Or 11, if the powers that be accept the suggestion of the undersigned to expand to 25:

And I may be speaking out of school here, but is there any chance we could make this a top 25 list instead of top 20? If we did we'd get Don't Look Now, Dracula (1931), The Silence of the Lambs, Curse of the Demon, and Onibaba. 25 seems to me like it's a better "top films" number list anyway, and we'd be getting five more outstanding films.

I, also, will heartily drink to that.

I vote for a Top 25.

As do I.

Me too.

Oh, I have to admit I like that idea too.

I'll even take a third film, The Silence of the Lambs.

[Jason Panella]

Steve, that's...quite the quote cluster. It's beautiful.

[SDG]

Steve, that's...quite the quote cluster. It's beautiful.

Hey, I just hit the multi quote button ... Invision did the rest.

Well. I may have added or removed line breaks as needed for optimal aesthetic effect. I am neurotic that way.

[J.A.A. Purves]

With the exception of the #6 dilemma (I still wince at equating those two movies) ...

I'll take ... Let Me In / Let the Right One In.

lol ... and, I trust, not give into what must be a strong temptation to somehow hint at the superiority of one version over the other.

[Anna J]

Top 20 is now extended to 25, contingent upon volunteers for the final five.

So....eleven left!

[Mr. Arkadin]

Oh, if we extend it to 25, I'll gladly take DON'T LOOK NOW.

[Anna J]

Excellent. Thanks, Ryan.

[Scott Derrickson]

I'll take Onibaba, since I nominated it and so so so wanted it to make the list.

[Anna J]

Thanks, Scott!

[Jason Panella]

I'll gladly take Curse of the Demon. (Thanks for nominating that, Scott (I think?))

[Scott Derrickson]

You are welcome.

I gotta say, I think this is the best top horror films list I've ever seen.

[SDG]

I gotta say, I think this is the best top horror films list I've ever seen.

I can think of an exorcism movie I wish had made this particular list.

Also, more of you need to see Carnival of Souls.

But yeah, it's a very good list.

[SDG]

Oh, and the low placement of The Devil Rides Out is unfortunate. A Fisher would have been nice on the list.

Also, I'm really surprised that The Sixth Sense placed so low. I understand that not everyone has seen The Devil Rides Out, but The Sixth Sense should have been near the top of this particular list, IMO.

[Tyler]

The Sixth Sense should have been near the top of this particular list, IMO.

I don't think of it as a horror movie.

I'll do the blurb for Freaks.

Edited January 27, 2011 by Tyler