The fact that this of all movies has a vote from a mysterious, unknown entity who could be any one of us is :chefkiss:
I guess we're just gonna have to take blood samples of each vote and put a hot wire to each of them and see what happens!
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The fact that this of all movies has a vote from a mysterious, unknown entity who could be any one of us is :chefkiss:
John Carpenter has made a lot of great films but the Thing is one of his strongest. Its a clever, cynical film in which the mistrust tearing our heroes apart is sadly quite justified, as there's no easy answer to stopping the title threat. In terms of special effects, its one of the most accomplished film even after decades of film spectacle. The film keeps you guessing on first watch and on second you can ask "wait, when did he get infected?" Its a film where you must question intentions and just because you killed a regular human didn't mean you made the wrong move. Its a movie that bombed on release but thankfully its been reconsidered and is rightly considered a true classic.
Aw maaaaaaan! If I didn't know any better, I'd think we were in some sort of semi-ironic comic story!
At least it's a great movie to end on.
I'm disappointed. I think Alien 3 is the best one of the series.
You may have saved movie night, but now you're also banned from it.
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O'Bannon. Based on a story by O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, it follows the crew of the commercial space tug Nostromo, who encounter the eponymous Alien, an aggressive and deadly extraterrestrial set loose on the ship.
Lately I've really waffled between whether Prince of Darkness or The Thing is my favorite Carpenter movie.Incidnetally, I also put Thing above Prince of Darkness because while I like PoD more, i can’t argue that The Thing isn’t a better movie
This.Great job on the list. This was fun.
David Bowie and Trent Reznor's working song title.Americans are also scary
Can't believe I was the only person who voted for The Black Hole. Y'all don't know what horror is:
In terms of set and monster design, Alien is astounding but the real strength of Alien is how sparse the film is. Not much music, the camera work is very matter of fact even in the face of an increasingly strange and terrifying monster. Its not "realistic" in terms of story but in the way the story is told it is immediate and knows how to use its quiet, a skill I feel would improve a lot of horror movies. We start in a future both fantastic and mundane with blue collar space men and it doesn't change its look but manages it be insanely tense throughout.
13. Dawn of the Dead (1978)I love horror movies but I'm rarely scared by them. Black Christmas, a film I saw for the first time a few years ago, genuinely scared me. It was one of two films released in the same year with "the calls are coming from inside the house" but while the first twenty minutes of When a Stranger Calls is perfect (because it was made as a short film originally), the remaining film is a bit of a weird and flawed film. Black Christmas is the superior take on the tale. But both do what surprisingly few films seem to be good at: preying on my fear of being alone in a house. I'm not hard to scare but I feel like not enough films properly exploit this scaredy cat part of me.
16. Suspiria (1977)Featuring Christopher Lee's finest performance, this is a folk horror story about the terror of faith and specifically those with faith using it to justify horrific things. The protagonist, Sgt. Howie, is actually pretty unlikable and spends much of the film being shitty about the pagans. Do they turn out to be plotting something evil? Yes. But Howie is being a jerk far before it turns out these dudes are planning something monstrous. Its really about two belief systems and they fall into similar traps, and different ones, such has Howie's intolerance and Summerisle being willing to do something terrible to justify things and the hint that things might turn on Lord Summerisle if things don't change next season.
20. The OthersThe films of Val Lewton were supposed to be an answer to the Universal monster series but very much became its own thing, a sort of moody horror-adjacent series of thrillers, psycho-dramas and dark fantasies. Most of them are great but I'd only consider a small few to be real "horror" movies. Cat People is a wonderful psychological horror movie of fear of female sexuality by both men and women. I still haven't seen the "almost in name only sequel" which is supposed to be great and really a melancholy fantasy, but Cat People is a great horror noir that made psychological horror a cinematic genre.
23. Deep RedOne of the best haunted house movie that only needs good writing, directing and a few wraps on the door to be completely effective.
24. The OrphanageMy favourite giallo movie. These films are so good with titles and over the top deaths. Also, that scene with the doll is perfect. Its moving in a way that is fast but not too fast. Like, it feels like reaching you will be inevitable (even though it turns out to be a harmless distraction).
25. Eyes Without a FaceNothing like a ghost story that is both truly scary but also truly touching. (If its ever on Netflix, I think JBear would like it)
A strange arthouse Frankenstein film. People remember it being as bloodier than a lot of contemporary films but its also strangely beautiful, with a soundtrack more appropriate for a gentle fairy tale.