TR's Top Ten horror flicks of all time

[ThereIsNoAbsurdistOnlyZuul]

Takashi Miike, reaffirming my worldview, one friggin' movie at a time.

[Seth Drakin of Monster Crap]

Audition......creeping out any person who has ever known an insane person personally.

[Lick Ness Monster]

Oct 20, 2008 22:26:02 GMT -5 Seth Drakin of Monster Crap said:

Audition......creeping out any person who has ever known an insane person personally.

Speaking from experience?

[Strotha]

I love this list so far.Takashi Miike is one of my favorite directors.

[Lick Ness Monster]

#8.



SLEEPAWAY CAMP
1983
Director: Robert Hiltzik

Brief, brief plot synopsis: Two cousins – shy girl Angela (Felissa Rose) and foul-mouthed, tough guy Ricky (Jonathan Tiersten) are sent to summer camp by their eccentric aunt. Once there, Angela is met with ruthless ridicule and humiliation by the other female campers, while Ricky does his best to protect her. Meanwhile, an unseen assailant is killing the very young teens inhabiting the camp – and all victims, in some way, have wronged Angela. But who is the killer?



TR’s thoughts: To this day, I still have yet to see a movie top the sheer shock that is the ending to Sleepaway Camp. For years, I had been told about this film’s truly shocking epitaph, and I believed that nothing could possibly live up to the hype. It did. On the surface, this film appears to be just another typical “body count” movie of the early ‘80s, but if you look deeper, this is the story of repressed sexuality, teenage angst, and a fascinating, haunting character study of a girl named Angela trying to find her place in the world. And yeah, the film’s final scene is truly jaw-dropping and nightmare-inducing. Particularly if you saw it like I did – at 3:00 in the morning in an empty apartment.

Villain ruminations: Well, the ruminations on this film’s villain are a huge spoiler for those who haven’t seen the movie. Most of the fun of Sleepaway Camp is the fact that, for the vast majority of the audience, the identity of the killer really catches you off guard – but nonetheless, the killer in this film is indeed a sick, twisted individual who comes up with some truly creative murder methods – perhaps the best being the very graphic boiling walter scalding sequence.



Why it deserves to be in this spot: Sleepaway Camp is more than just a horror film – this is a movie that absolutely rips your heart out on so many levels, that tugs on so many emotional heartstrings throughout the movie, and truly makes you identify with the film’s two protagonists. The interaction between the teenage characters is as good as it gets in a movie of this caliber. Felissa Rose turns in a legendary performance. And this is a movie that boasts perhaps the best single attribute a movie can have - it gets better with repeat viewings. Once you know the secret, many of the scenes in the film take on a whole new meaning, with some passages being debated and dissected by fans to this day.

[Big DSR Energy]

Sleepaway Camp is indeed a quality picture. I honestly don't know why I didn't put it on my list for big countdown we just had. It's really very good.

[Banjo Is Broken]

Ew, Sleepaway Camp is terrible.

[Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action]

Sleepaway Camp! Unique choice for a top 10 there TR!

[Rorschach]

Enjoying this immensely.....and I will chime in with my two cents that the original TCM is very much one of those things that you either respond to IMMEDIATELY and love....or you just don't get it at all.

I think much of it may have to do with the viewer's age when they first see it, and also with how many horror films they've seen before it. Myself, I was much like Karisma when I first saw it....young, impressionable, and goddamn scared silly by not only Leatherface, but the constant, soul wrenching screaming of Marilyn Burns at the end.

The lameass PD remake couldn't hold a CANDLE to the visceral raw edge of Hooper's masterpiece.

[Klutch]

Oct 22, 2008 1:52:15 GMT -5 Banjo Is Broken said:

Ew, Sleepaway Camp is terrible.

Take that back you, monster!

[Jiren]

Forget "Friday the 13th", forget "Halloween" THIS is one of the creepiest, weirdest movies ever.

The Beavis & Butthead Porno (Don't worry there's no nudity)


Beleave me the full movie is worse

[Rorschach]

Ok Doom....THAT was.....I really have no words for what that was.

[Lick Ness Monster]

Oct 22, 2008 17:09:11 GMT -5 Rorschach said:

Enjoying this immensely.....and I will chime in with my two cents that the original TCM is very much one of those things that you either respond to IMMEDIATELY and love....or you just don't get it at all.

I think much of it may have to do with the viewer's age when they first see it, and also with how many horror films they've seen before it. Myself, I was much like Karisma when I first saw it....young, impressionable, and goddamn scared silly by not only Leatherface, but the constant, soul wrenching screaming of Marilyn Burns at the end.

The lameass PD remake couldn't hold a CANDLE to the visceral raw edge of Hooper's masterpiece.

I agree and approve of your post 110%, Rorschach. I actually had a very rough time deciding just what movie was going to get that #10 cutoff point - it came down to either TCM, Dressed to Kill or Ju-On. But as I often do, I went with the movie that had the strongest impression the FIRST time I saw it.

And I just saw the movie for the first time four years ago! TCM is dynamite.

[Lick Ness Monster]

#7.



RINGU
1998
Director: Hideo Nakata

Brief, brief plot synopsis: The film begins with two teenagers discussing a cursed videotape that kills anyone who watches it – and in a very slow-moving, tense opener, one of the teens dies. Her aunt, Reiko Asakawa, is a reporter who begins to track down the urban legend-like story of the cursed videotape – and gets a lot more than she bargained for in the search. Finding the videotape at a resort where many teens who saw the tape stayed, Reiko curses both herself and her son in the process of her investigation, and in a frantic race against the clock tries to save herself from the video’s ominous seven-day death deadline.



TR’s thoughts: The movie that launched the “Japanese remakes in America” craze, Ringu is Japanese horror at its very finest – unrelenting, creative and plausibly horrific. While the American remake with Naomi Watts tries and is definitely an entertaining watch, it effectively retains none of this movie’s rawness and breathtaking power. In its original form, Ringu is a mesmerizingly haunting film with a truly complex, labyrinthine story, a stunning visual style by director Nakata, one of the rare movies that improves upon a source novel – and this movie is such an awesome example of the slow burn. One big buildup to one creepy climax.

Villain ruminations: Once again, Ringu is a film that improves upon its source novel. In the book, Sadako’s cursed videotape kills via a virus that passes through the retina of the watcher while watching the tape. In effect, the novel is much more concerned with being a medical sci-fi thriller than a horror piece. Nakata’s change is stunning – his version of Sadako is evil, vengeful and very disturbingly shot (that great herky-jerky walk, which was achieved by an actor walking backwards shot in reverse) – and much more, shall we say, hands-on in her approach.



Why it deserves to be in this spot: Ringu is one of the most influential films on this list. While there are exceptions, American horror films tend to be interested in the slashery details, while Japanese horror films are fascinated with ghosts. It was definitely something different from what American audiences were used to – and within ten years of this film’s release, we were bombarded with remakes of J-horror classics such as this, Ju-On (“The Grudge”) and The Eye. But it all started with this – the most successful and, in my humble opinion, best J-horror film of all time.

[Rorschach]

A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is pretty badass in it's own right....but I agree with the influential effect of RINGU entirely.

And you can add such craptastic American remakes as SHUTTER and PULSE to the list.

[Arturo Classico]

Oct 22, 2008 23:48:15 GMT -5 Rorschach said:

A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is pretty badass in it's own right....but I agree with the influential effect of RINGU entirely.

And you can add such craptastic American remakes as SHUTTER and PULSE to the list.

Talking about A Tale of Two Sisters it's being remade as " The Uninvited" and will most likely suck as almost all remakes do.

Also on another note the original Pulse was awesome and made me really sad in a way no movie really effected me in a way that only Requiem for a Dream did. Truly an amazing movie, although not scary per say.

[Lick Ness Monster]

Oct 23, 2008 0:02:43 GMT -5 Arturo Classico said:

Oct 22, 2008 23:48:15 GMT -5 Rorschach said:

A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is pretty badass in it's own right....but I agree with the influential effect of RINGU entirely.

And you can add such craptastic American remakes as SHUTTER and PULSE to the list.

Talking about A Tale of Two Sisters it's being remade as " The Uninvited" and will most likely suck as almost all remakes do.

Also on another note the original Pulse was awesome and made me really sad in a way no movie really effected me in a way that only Requiem for a Dream did. Truly an amazing movie, although not scary per say.

A Tale of Two Sisters is on its way to me as I speak. I've heard nothing but good things about it; hopefully it lives up to the hype.

Oct 22, 2008 23:48:15 GMT -5 Rorschach said:

A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is pretty badass in it's own right....but I agree with the influential effect of RINGU entirely.

And you can add such craptastic American remakes as SHUTTER and PULSE to the list.

Oh God, Shutter was bad, wasn't it? That being said, in the American version I actually think there was one REALLY scary scene - the part where Joshua Jackson hears a woman humming a creepy song, thinks it's his wife, then answers the phone - and it's his wife.

Other than that, though, 90 minutes of my life that I'll never get back.

[Lick Ness Monster]

#6.



PSYCHO
1960
Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Brief, brief plot synopsis: Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) has just stolen a large sum of money and plans to run away with her boyfriend, Sam (John Gavin). On her way to see Sam, she stops at the Bates Motel and meets the motel’s quirky owner, Norman (Anthony Perkins). After having a heart-to-heart with Norman and deciding to give her stolen money back, Marion is killed, and just like that, we are left with one major character to attach ourselves to - Norman Bates.



TR’s thoughts: If you were to read a book on “how to engage people’s emotions in film,” the first picture under that chapter’s heading would probably be a picture of Norman Bates. Psycho is more than just a black-and-white horror film – it is the story of one man’s very soul, a heart-tugging take on how a man must kill for love. What makes Psycho immortal is that this is the very first movie to make you truly identify with the vicious lust murderer – Norman Bates, as played by Anthony Perkins, is one of the greatest movie villains of all time, but after this flick’s first act, the audience truly gets behind the character, and actually understands why he does the things he does. Such a thing in 1960 was unheard of, and laid the groundwork for all psychological horror today.

Villain ruminations: In the novel Psycho by Robert Bloch, Norman is older, fatter, and a very dislikable character. In a brilliant move, Hitchcock chose to cast a young, likable, handsome actor in the role, making him instantly relatable to audiences and making the film’s shocking ending just that much more hard-hitting. In the film’s final passages, we see Norman for what he really is – but in a stunning twist, while we are repulsed, we also understand the sheer amount of love that Norman must have for another human being in order to do the things that he does.



Why it deserves to be in this spot: Try to imagine this movie’s basic scenario played out today – the film’s lead, perhaps played by someone along the lines of, say, Julia Roberts, dominates the film’s plot for the first thirty minutes. After the first act, said leading lady - who is majorly famous - is suddenly and savagely murdered, leaving the character’s sister, perhaps played by someone like Maggie Gylenhaal or Toni Collette, to wrap up the plot. Imagine ANYONE being daring enough to make a move like that today.

[erisi236]

I always liked the Ju-On flicks more then the Ringu ones, except for Ju-On: Curse 2 which was pretty odd to say the least.

I was quite smitten with Takako Fuji who played the ghost girl Kayako in all the versions and I was ticked pink when I got to get her autograph when they were doing the rounds for Grudge 2.

[amsiraK]

It's a classic for a reason. Anthony Perkins was completely perfect in this role - nervous and almost endearing and ultimately psychotic. That look at the end said it all.

Hitchcock was the master.