No. 26 TIE
Scream (1996)
Points: 101 | Lists Neo Skimbleshanks (#1); Patrick (#25); Issun (#6); Beta Metroid (#15)
“There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie.”
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson. The film stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, and Drew Barrymore. Released on December 20, it follows the character of Sidney Prescott (Campbell), a high school student in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California, who becomes the target of a mysterious killer in a Halloween costume known as Ghostface. The film combines black comedy and "whodunit" mystery with the violence of the slasher genre to satirize the clichés of the horror movie genre.
Drac’s Notes: Perhaps the most decade-characteristic horror movie of the 90s,
Scream seeks to disassemble the tropes present in slasher films from the 70s and 80s. Like many of the sneering parodies of the 90s, it picks at the surface-level qualities of slashers, but doesn’t quite cut all the way to the heart. However,
Scream isn’t quite a parody - it’s funny, at times, sure, but in practice it’s itself a legitimately frightening film, and I think this part of it is the part that ages well and keeps it firmly in the pantheon of great horror films. Tarantino once said you can’t really subvert the slasher genre, because it has to be rote or else it ceases to be a slasher.
Scream takes it about as far from the genre roots as it can go.
Oh, and we should talk about ghostface. It’s easy to forget that, before
Scream, the ghostface mask was actually a common Halloween accoutrement (apparently designed by the Fun World costume company). Nowadays, when you see it, it’s almost always Scream-branded. But the masked killer was popular enough to spawn a series of sequels and spin-offs which I’ve never seen and don’t much care to. Hey, if you’re a
Scream franchise superfan, let’s hear about it!
Predator (1987)
Points: 101 | Lists: Sabrecat (#12); Kishi (#15); Beta Metroid (#12); Shakewell (#8)
“If it bleeds...we can kill it.”
Predator is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by John McTiernan and written by brothers Jim and John Thomas. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leader of an elite paramilitary rescue team on a mission to save hostages in guerrilla-held territory in Central America, who encounter the deadly Predator (Kevin Peter Hall), a technologically-advanced alien who stalks and hunts them down.
Drac’s Notes: Speaking of iconic, franchise-building costumes, here we have another entry that may end up being a bit contentious. Is
Predator a horror film? Oh, I dunno. It certainly feels like one in some ways - here we have a group of people being stalked through the woods by an unknowable, monstrous killer with nigh-on supernatural powers. The difference is, instead of screaming, horny, teenage victims, we follow a group of roided-up yelling
totally straight manly men with machine guns. I’m not sure what I think.
Well, I think I want to see more of that big muscly guy. I liked him. He made me feel safe.
Oh, did he? Perhaps you'd like to see another movie.
I mean...okay...but now I'm worried...
No. 25 The Terminator (1984)
Points: 103 | Lists: Kishi (#16); Beta Metroid (#9); Shakewell (#7); Jbear (#13)
“It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop... ever, until you are dead!”
The Terminator is a 1984 American science fiction film directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cyborg assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whose son will one day become a savior against machines in a post-apocalyptic future.
Drac’s Notes: Y’all decided, not me, to put two high-octane Schwarzenegger films on a list of horror movies. Before the
Terminator franchise was about ever-more-convoluted time travel shenanigans and armies of skeleton robots, it was a fairly simple film about a woman fleeing a robotic murder-machine. Schwarzenegger is possibly better remembered as the reformed, heroic murder machine from
Terminator 2, but in the first film, he is nothing more than a silent killer, walking slowly through crowded bars and killing whoever he wants with total calm. Actually, I have no problem deeming this film as horror. I’ve had literal nightmares where I’m being pursued by a terminator. The idea of an unkillable monster who slowly follows you until you die is fucking horrifying, and Cameron’s movie does a fantastic job expressing this horror. So what separates this from the similar
Predator? Well, the main thing is, the characters in
Predator have more autonomy. They’re better equipped to deal with the threat. Sarah Connor becomes an action hero later, but in the first film, she’s just a waitress, and Kyle Reese, the soldier sent from the future to help her, is no match for the might of a single killer robot. Ultimately Sarah has only herself to depend on, and it’s really easy to feel that fear as she flees. Great film. Maybe the best
Terminator movie. Oops!
GREAT, now I'm gonna have nightmares about the big muscly guy. Thanks, Video Knight!
A pleasure to be of service.