Top 25 Horror Films 2011: Results and Discussion

[Jason Panella]

Knowing DON'T LOOK NOW was film #21 makes me both happy and sad. So close.

Yeah, I watched it the other day (based on your plug) and gave it a 5. Maybe next year!

I'm also glad to see The Call of Cthulhu on the top 50, since maybe three of us have seen it.

[M. Leary]

Knowing DON'T LOOK NOW was film #21 makes me both happy and sad. So close.

Don't get me wrong, I like our top 20. But honestly... 21-40 make an arguably more interesting list.

Can't believe Halloween took 48th. I guess we have The Thing representing for Carpenter, but that is surprising. And the second appearance of Cronenberg isn't until #58. Also surprising.

Edited January 26, 2011 by M. Leary

[Mr. Arkadin]

Knowing DON'T LOOK NOW was film #21 makes me both happy and sad. So close.

Don't get me wrong, I like our top 20. But honestly... 21-40 make an arguably more interesting list.

If only our list was a top 40. Or even a top 30.

Edited January 26, 2011 by Ryan H.

[Scott Derrickson]

It's interesting -- I thought that the last years A&F Top 100 list was way overloaded on foreign films, but then this list, if anything, is short on foreign films. I'm guessing that Japanes classics like Onibaba and Kwaidan didn't make the cut because too few people have seen them. Probably Del Toro's The Devil's Backbone is the most disappointing absence for me.

But as I said, this is a fantastic list. Might be my favorite top horror list I've seen. And I do like very much that it's topped by Caligari and not The Exorcist, even though the latter is my favorite horror film.

Those of us who do not think Alien is any more a horror film than Cries and Whispers or An Inconvenient Truth or Vertigo would have been happier if Alien were left off the list completely.

Anyone who doesn't think ALIEN is a horror film is crazy.

Agreed. If it is not a horror film...what is it?

Ridley Scott's one line pitch for the film when he sold it to the studio was "It's a haunted house/monster movie set in space". The setting is science fiction, but the movie itself is a horror film.

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.

Edited January 26, 2011 by Scott Derrickson

[Christian]

Near Dark at #91? Good thing I nominated that one, along with #103. And I seconded the nominations of several other titles in that same range.

It was fun anyway. And [gulp - should I admit this?] I've never seen our #1 choice! Gotta remedy that.

Edited January 26, 2011 by Christian

[Overstreet]

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 vote for a Top 25.

Edited January 26, 2011 by Overstreet

[Jason Panella]

I vote for a Top 25.

As do I.

[Persona]

Mutiny! The chickens are running the hen house!

[John Drew]

It's been a long time since I've seen a genre list like this where 40% of the films chosen are from the World War II era or earlier. I wonder if it would have come out quite the same had the list been a Top 50 or 100. I think limiting it to 20 films really helped focus the voting. I know I rated some films lower than I probably would have if this list was going to be larger (I think that makes sense).

Can't believe Halloween took 48th. I guess we have The Thing representing for Carpenter, but that is surprising. And the second appearance of Cronenberg isn't until #58. Also surprising.

I would have rated this higher based on my viewing of 25 years ago. However, I rewatched it this past Halloween. I know it ushered in a whole new wave of horror, but I was bored to tears.

The Thing still rocks (and I'm not just saying that because I nominated it ).

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'd support this.

And [gulp - should I admit this?] I've never seen our #1 choice! Gotta remedy that.

Count me in this group as well. Plus four others (six, if the list expands).

Edited January 26, 2011 by Baal_T'shuvah

[Jason Panella]

I'm amazed that one of my nominated films made the list...maybe because Stef hasn't watched it yet?

[Persona]

Which one is that?

[Darren H]

With no offense to whomever nominated and seconded it, I am so glad to see The Cell come in at #122. Whenever I get into that "name one film you absolutely hate" discussion, I always pick The Cell. I didn't even know my Eyes Wide Shut nomination had been seconded until I voted for it. Someday I'll write an essay defending that nomination, but for now I'll wear its last-place finish with a bit of pride.

[SDG]

With no offense to whomever nominated and seconded it, I am so glad to see The Cell come in at #122. Whenever I get into that "name one film you absolutely hate" discussion, I always pick The Cell.

Sharing the love!

[Overstreet]

With no offense to whomever nominated and seconded it, I am so glad to see The Cell come in at #122. Whenever I get into that "name one film you absolutely hate" discussion, I always pick The Cell. I didn't even know my Eyes Wide Shut nomination had been seconded until I voted for it. Someday I'll write an essay defending that nomination, but for now I'll wear its last-place finish with a bit of pride.

Hey, I rated Eyes Wide Shut highly too! What is this last-place nonsense?

And The Cell is the movie that springs to my mind too whenever the "one film you absolutely hate" comes up. On occasion, it might be replaced by The Life of David Gale or Dreamcatcher. (I still cannot believe that the latter was directed by Lawrence Kasdan. I can only assume that he was temporarily taken over by a monster that invaded him in the same appalling way that the monster in the movie invades its victims.)

Edited January 26, 2011 by Overstreet

[Jason Panella]

Which one is that?

I Walked With a Zombie.

[John Drew]

This just caught my eye... #66. Antichrist.... hmmmmmmm

[J.A.A. Purves]

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.

[Mr. Arkadin]

I vote for a Top 25.

As do I.

Me too.

[Overstreet]

[SDG]

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

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

[Mr. Arkadin]

Someday I'll write an essay defending that nomination, but for now I'll wear its last-place finish with a bit of pride.

I eagerly anticipate it. As I've said before, I've spent quite a time with EYES WIDE SHUT, from reading the original novel on which it was based, to studying early drafts of the screenplay, exploring Frederic Raphael's memoir of the experience of writing it with Kubrick, and seeking out countless essays about the film. I'm not inclined to see the film as horror, but I'm always open to new readings of this fascinating and flawed film.

Edited January 26, 2011 by Ryan H.

[Anders]

I didn't even know my Eyes Wide Shut nomination had been seconded until I voted for it. Someday I'll write an essay defending that nomination, but for now I'll wear its last-place finish with a bit of pride.

I really like the film. But like Ryan H. I just didn't think it fit on a list of Top Horror films, especially a list of 20 (or 25).

[Anna J]

If we get four more volunteers to write for Don't Look Now, Dracula (1931), Curse of the Demon, and Onibaba, we'll do a Top 25 list instead.

[Christian]

Anna: If you extend the list to a Top 103, I'll take Re-Animator.

Edited January 26, 2011 by Christian

[Mr. Arkadin]

If we get four more volunteers to write for Don't Look Now, Dracula (1931), Curse of the Demon, and Onibaba, we'll do a Top 25 list instead.

I call DON'T LOOK NOW.