Just Keep Telling Yourself It's Only a Thread: Talking Time's Top 50 Horror Movies!

[Dracula]

No. 47 The Sixth Sense (1999)
Points: 66 | Lists: Sabrecat (#14); Issun (#23); Jbear (#8)
“I see dead people…”

The Sixth Sense is a 1999 American supernatural psychological thriller film[2] written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The film tells the story of Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), a boy who is able to see and talk to the dead, and Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), a child psychologist who tries to help him. The film established Shyamalan as a writer and director, and introduced the cinema public to his traits, most notably his affinity for surprise endings.

Released by Hollywood Pictures on August 6, 1999, the film was well-received by critics; praise was given to its acting performances (particularly Willis, Osment, and Toni Collette), atmosphere, and twist conclusion. The Sixth Sense was the second-highest-grossing film of 1999 (behind Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace), taking about $293 million in the US and $379 million in other markets.

The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Shyamalan, Best Supporting Actor for Osment, and Best Supporting Actress for Collette.

Drac’s Notes: Everyone was talking about this movie in 1999, but I was too much of a scaredy cat at the time, so I didn’t see it until much later. As far as Shymalan movies go, it’s probably one of his that stands up the best, but of course it works best if you don’t know much about it going in. If you’re somehow still unaware of how this film plays out, give it a watch!

Look, if I found out that everyone I knew was a ghost, I'd be happy, not scared!

Blast. The movies are having the opposite effect on the skeleton! Perhaps we can crank up the intensity. Video Knight, do we have another film slated for today?

No sir.

Dash the rules! Summon another!

Very well!

No. 46. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Points: 67 | Lists: Torzelbaum (#1); Johnny Unusual (#21); Shakewell (#22)
“Yeah, be rational, for sure. I'm a fucking werewolf, for Christ's sake!"

An American Werewolf in London is a 1981 horror comedy film written and directed by John Landis. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, the film stars David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, and Griffin Dunne. The film's plot follows two American backpackers, David and Jack, who are attacked by a creature while traveling in England, causing David to question whether he will become a werewolf under the next full moon.

Drac’s Notes: I first saw this film in high school when I was generally still too terrified of horror films to give them a chance. I’m glad I did with this one. The 80s was lousy with great werewolf movies, for some reason, and this is probably the best one ever. It’s another top-notch horror comedy which humanizes the concept of what it might be like to be infected with lycanthropy. It's a punchy horror-comedy that expertly balances the laughs and the scares, but the film is ultimately characterized by the sadness and the mounting realization that the characters you've grown to like are all doomed. Also I still kinda have a huge crush on Jenny Agutter for this movie and her other genre pic masterpiece, Logan’s Run. Anyway I don’t really like John Landis, but I can’t deny that he’s absolutely essential in the pantheon of great 1980s horror directors.

Skeletons can’t become werewolves, right guys? ...guys??

Oh hey, by the way, if you're in America, happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

Saw AAWiL when I was too young and apparently reacted badly to a jump scare so my parents didn't want me watching other horror movies. I have no memory of this scare (something to do with a deer, they said) but I was highly sensitive to jump scares until at least my mid-20s.

I didn't remember what scared me but for whatever reason this film did leave me with the knowledge that there is something called "the moors." I've since rewatched this and its sequel as an adult but it's been awhile.

 

[Dracula]

Yes, the moors exist, and you need to stay off of them. Keep to the road.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Having seen neither, I often confuse AAWiL with The Howling.

I’m aware that one is more jokey and one is more body-horrory, and I kind of feeling like watching the wrong one when not in the right headspace would not result in an ideal movie going situation

 

[Falselogic]

But the moors are so romantic!

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Both have a lot of jokes. Its more about where they are placed in the story. I wasn't as big on the Howling but the toxic masculinity message aged pretty good.

 

[Issun]

I was fortunate that, even though I didn't watch Sixth Sense until around '02/'03, I went in unspoiled. That'd be a lot harder today I'm sure.

And I just realized I forgot to put on my list a certain well-known 1980s werewolf movie that shall remain unnamed in case it shows up.

 

[Torzelbaum]

Video Knight is a title you have to earn

From a Video King or Video Queen.

Spoiler: My (edited) blurb about An American Werewolf in London

No movie I have ever seen has portrayed the physical horror and excruciating pain of transforming from a person into a wolf in such a gruesome and realistic seeming fashion as this one.

I think that scene alone makes it worthy of being my favorite horror movie but the quality scares don't stop there - they continue with the movie showing the ever worsening decay of the best friend / first victim and the "Werewolves of the SS" nightmare sequence.

Skeletons can’t become werewolves, right guys? ...guys??

I don't think so. I mean maybe it could happen if a werewolf bit into you hard enough to reach marrow but that does seem unlikely.

I think it's possible for a werewolf to become a skeleton but I think that is also just as unlikely. (Unless you're on the planet Luminaire.)

 

[Octopus Prime]

According to the MST3K episode Whillwherf Worfwelf Whalewallf Werewolf, yes, absolutely

 

[SabreCat]

A Brief Explanation of Werewolves by Jenna Moran

 

[YangusKhan]

I kind of forgot about Shyamalan's entire ouevre when making my list. I think mentally I lump into the "thriller/modern fantasy" genre instead of horror, which is why I made that mistake.

 

[ShakeWell]

Going back to Suspiria for a moment, Daria Nicolodi died at age 70 today. She was Dario Argento's ex-wife, Asia Argento's mother, the co-writer of Suspiria, and the star of Deep Red, among other things. Pour one out.

 

[Dracula]

No. 45 The Mist (2007)
Points: 68 | Lists: Zef (#19); Vaeran (#3); Octopus Prime (#21)

The Mist (also known as Stephen King's The Mist) is a 2007 American science-fiction horror film based on the 1980 novella "The Mist" by Stephen King. The film was written and directed by Frank Darabont. Darabont had been interested in adapting "The Mist" for the big screen since the 1980s. The film features an ensemble cast, including Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Nathan Gamble, Andre Braugher, Toby Jones, Frances Sternhagen, Buck Taylor, William Sadler, Sam Witwer, Alexa Davalos, Chris Owen, Andy Stahl, and future The Walking Dead actors Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Melissa McBride, and Juan Gabriel Pareja.

Although a monster movie, the central theme explores what ordinary people are driven to do under extraordinary circumstances. The plot revolves around members of the small town of Bridgton, Maine, who after a severe thunderstorm causes the power to go out the night before, meet in a supermarket to pick up supplies. While they struggle to survive, an unnatural mist envelops the town and conceals vicious, Lovecraftian monsters as extreme tensions rise among the survivors.

Drac’s Notes: I know this one well, but I truly can't remember if I've actually seen the film or if I'm just remembering the short story. I’m unabashedly a fan of King, and this was a story that really stuck with me after I read it. In television parlance, this movie might be called a “bottle episode,” meaning the majority of the action takes place in a single location. The horror comes from being trapped in a place with the “unknown” outside. The genius comes from the “what if” of it all - it puts you in the place of imagining what you might do if you only had your neighbors to rely on in a deadly situation. Sure, the monsters are scary, but the “unknowns” in your fellow man might be scarier.

Okay I’m sufficiently spooked. I never want to see mist or fog again. Are we done? Is the experiment over?

Ha! Fool! Of course we are not done. This has merely been the first week of the experiment. It will only get more frightening from here!

oh noooooooo

 

[Zef]

AFAIK, this is not only one of those rare King adaptations that he actually likes, but he prefers the film's ending to his own.

 

[YangusKhan]

It's been a minute since I've seen the movie or read the book, but I did enjoy both. IIRC I bought the book on a whim at the airport and finished something like 80% of it on the flight.

 

[SabreCat]

So, who's got a Plex library I can tap to start getting caught up on these?

 

[Issun]

IIRC this was one that was popular to shit on when it first released, but has become more appreciated with time.

I haven't seen it, so I'll assume this is the movie where Tom Jane gets his kid back.

 

[Octopus Prime]

Ehhhhhhhh... Kinda?!?

Rewatching it after binging Brooklyn 99 really put me in a weird frame of reference seeing Andre Baugher in it

 

[Dracula]

I didn't include it on my submission list and I don't think it'll make it to the final list, but I highly recommend 2010's Monsters for anyone who wants a movie that's just that. It's just a roadtrip through an abandoned Mexico and there are always gigantic beautiful spider-octopus monsters just out of view. It rules.

YES! I watched Monsters after I learned that Gareth Edwards had been given the Godzilla directorial reins. I loved it at the time, and I need to rewatch it.

 

[Octopus Prime]

The scene in Godzilla where the MUTOs snuggle up for bug-hugs was pretty much directly from Monsters

 

[Vaeran]

The Mist is a banger in both short story and movie form, and I find myself revisiting one or the other just about every October.

Part of what I like is that the creatures that appear aren't demonic or even necessarily malevolent; they're animals, albeit from a dimension that is clearly orders of magnitude more hardcore than our own, and they're just doing what animals do: hunt and reproduce. They just happen to be scary beyond all reason. I don't know much about the short-lived TV adaptation that got made, but I'm given to understand that, uniquely to that version, the mist itself appears to be intelligent and evil. No me gusta.

As Tegan noted the final sequence is incredible, and in particular the moment of awe as they watch a gargantuan creature lumber slowly past them, either unaware or uninterested in their presence. No one says anything, but the implication is that they're all realizing that this world doesn't belong to us anymore... or so they think, anyway.

I don't know that anything more needs to be said about the film's infamous kick-you-in-the-stomach ending... except that I wish they'd gone with a different take of Thomas Jane wailing in anguish after he spends all the bullets, as the one used in the movie feels kind of silly and awkward for what should be a heartbreaking moment. Oh well, can't have everything.

 

[Neo Skimbleshanks]

The show was apparently created and showrun by the guy who also made the long-running Danish dramedy Rita. Just watched the final season. Not a horror show at all. Maybe I'll check out The Mist adaptation though I haven't heard good things.

Movie's great! I think the sole time I watched it was like on some sketchy video sharing website in high school.

 

[Dracula]

The WNUF Halloween Special (2013)
Points: 31 | Lists: Dracula (#6)
“And now back to...the WNUF Halloween special!”

As per tradition, on weekends I’m going to take a moment to highlight some movies which didn’t make it on the big list. This is an obscure one. I learned about it from a Tumblr master list of found-footage horror films, and I’ve never met another person who’s heard of it. It was pretty hard to track down, existing only on a DVD which for years was only available via the publisher’s own website. It presents itself as a “lost broadcast” from 1987, in which a newscaster takes two paranormal investigators into a supposedly haunted house...on live TV. The brilliance of this film is its lovingly crafted fake newscasts and commercials, which all feel so authentic to the era of local television that you’d almost believe it was actually recorded from TV in 1987. If you have any sort of fondness for the feeling of watching public access TV late at night before the cable era, this one will get you right in the feels. It’s got a perfect nostalgic Halloween feel, and an ending that is actually fairly shocking. If you can find this one, check it out!

 

[Falselogic]

@Dracula if someone wanted to watch it how would they go about that now?

 

[Dracula]

@Dracula if someone wanted to watch it how would they go about that now?

I'm not super sure. The DVD is for sale on Amazon, but it doesn't seem to be on Prime Video anymore. It looks like it might be on Shudder, if that's an option for you.

 

[ShakeWell]

As per tradition, on weekends I’m going to take a moment to highlight some movies which didn’t make it on the big list. This is an obscure one. I learned about it from a Tumblr master list of found-footage horror films, and I’ve never met another person who’s heard of it. It was pretty hard to track down, existing only on a DVD which for years was only available via the publisher’s own website. It presents itself as a “lost broadcast” from 1987, in which a newscaster takes two paranormal investigators into a supposedly haunted house...on live TV. The brilliance of this film is its lovingly crafted fake newscasts and commercials, which all feel so authentic to the era of local television that you’d almost believe it was actually recorded from TV in 1987. If you have any sort of fondness for the feeling of watching public access TV late at night before the cable era, this one will get you right in the feels. It’s got a perfect nostalgic Halloween feel, and an ending that is actually fairly shocking. If you can find this one, check it out!​

This one is... I don't know, I wanted to like it more than I did like it. I certainly didn't dislike it, you can feel the passion behind it, for sure, but maybe it was just too hyped-up in horror circles by the time I watched it for it to take me the way it did with other folks.

@Dracula if someone wanted to watch it how would they go about that now?

It's on Shudder. A service that, if you're a horror hound, is absolutely worth the like six bucks a month. If you're not, I think code SHUTIN still works for a full monthlong trial. (Otherwise, THEBITE works for seven days.)

 

[Johnny Unusual]

I almost committed to Shudder this year but Criterion unloaded a ton of awesome movies so I figured I didn't need it for a while (I did put a subscription on my Christmas list). I wanted to watch that movie since I heard of it but never had the chance yet.

 

[SabreCat]

if someone wanted to watch it how would they go about that now?

I kinda want to ask this for every entry on the list...

 

[Falselogic]

I haven't used it, so I can't attest to how up to date it is but Just Watch might be helpful? (@SabreCat and others)

 

[Dracula]

The Monster Squad (1987)
Points: 48 | Lists: Dracula (#16); Octopus Prime (#10)
“Wolfman’s got nards!”

​

This is a personal favorite of mine which almost made it onto the Top 50, but got pushed off after I tallied the last several lists. Directed by the underrated Fred Dekker, this film ultimately represented another nail in the poor director’s coffin, since it got clobbered at the box office by The Lost Boys. The Monster Squad pits a group of bike-riding kids against a team of classic movie monsters like Dracula, the Wolfman, the mummy, Frankenstein’s monster, and the Creature From the Black Lagoon. It’s a revival of the 1940s Universal creature features set in the 1980s and it’s about as joyful as it could possibly be. It’s got a few gory scenes, but it’s a PG-13 movie and a great gateway into 80s horror comedies.