THE VAULT OF ILX Top 100 HORROR Movies Poll Voting Thread (voting closes May 9 *~*~*~*2012*~*~*~*)

Oh damn didn't even see it on there. Add about 49 points to the final tally.

night of the hunter is clearly a borderline case, but it exemplifies much of what i want out of a horror movie: it's inventive, dreamlike, wildly stylized, lushly atmospheric, and suffused with a particularly voluptuous sort of dread. this is what i want more of in horror. what i want less of are the things i expect i'll find in threads: harrowingly realistic depictions of human suffering. what night of the hunter lacks are supernatural elements, jump scares and a clear relationship with horror as an established genre, but that's okay with me. i see it as a forerunner of lynch, and lynch is easily my single favorite horror filmmaker.

It also looks back, I think, to some of the dreamlike qualities of the earliest horror films. The amazing scene in the kids' bedroom when Mitchum's shadow is thrown on the wall reminds me of Caligari, other shots remind me of Whale's Frankenstein, etc. I voted for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N9LnkKQfuc

I think rewatching that clip convinced me that I should vote for Night of the Hunter in every poll, genre be damned.

The first time I saw it and she says, "It's a hard world for little things" I might have cheered, that scene is just that good.

it is the best movie

It also looks back, I think, to some of the dreamlike qualities of the earliest horror films. The amazing scene in the kids' bedroom when Mitchum's shadow is thrown on the wall reminds me of Caligari, other shots remind me of Whale's Frankenstein, etc.

OTM

and yeah, that does give it a "clear relationship with horror as an established genre"

i'd put night of the hunter on the horror film side of the ledger b/c it contains so many essential elements of that genre -- an evil, almost supernatural villain (Mitchum); atmospheric mise-en-scene; scared little children running in legitimate fear of their lives; a magic talisman of sorts (the little doll!).

i have a harder time w/ stuff like 3 women or straw dogs as horror.

my current poll dilemna is which one of the 2 robert aldrich/bette davis-as-crazy-old-biddy films to include on my ballot ... to wit, whatever happened to baby jane? or hush ... hush, sweet charlotte. my inclination is to vote for both -- and both are worthy and given you LOL philistines mine may be the only votes that either gets -- but including both is a bit excessive.

I went through first and bolded my no-question absolute mortal locks and came away with 28, which leaves me 22 slots to play with. And gives me opportunity to watch a few things before I send in my ballot.

btw Eric are you doing stills, or do you have someone doing them for you?

i called dibs on doing the stills, but if any of you have any nice screengrabs you'd like to have included, plz feel free to email them to s t g e r t z @gmail

Lol Apaches.

I can understand every 3rd word these kids are saying. So far the dialog doesn't seem too necessary for understanding what leads to each incident.

Wot in Christ's name are they saying, though??

Except for the inter-mortality parts, and WTF @ those?

LOL the kiddies' American accents are amazing!

got it down to 57 on a second pass. gonna be tough from here on out, specially cuz i got a bunch of stuff to watch before ranking and submitting.

You all convinced me to vote for NotH. I hope you're happy.

http://www.motivationalmemo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/old-and-happy.jpg

I can't believe Audrey Rose didn't get nominated.

The nomination's list looks great! Can't think of anything that should be there but isn't. Reading this thread, however, has made me feel like I have missed a lot essential films. Can someone recommend a few (5 or so) titles that more on the side of eerie, spooky sets/soundtracks (rather than "jump scares")? I'm thinking of stuff like Kairo, perhaps or the videos from the ring movies (obv. I have seen both of these).

Kwaidan
Onibaba
The Cremator
Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders
Martin

could be that kind of thing I guess, although most of those are borderline horror.

you could try 'cure', also by kiyoshi kurosawa, which relies heavily on low frequency drones and ominous wind sounds for atmosphere. same goes for 'eraserhead', but you probably knew that.

I can't believe Audrey Rose didn't get nominated.

Before I rewatched it a couple of years ago I probably would have nominated and voted for it purely on personal impact. My mom and I watched that when I was a youngin' and to this day we still whisper "Is she Ivy Templeton… or AUDREY ROSE?" at each other and mime burning our hands on cold window glass. But you know what? That movie is boring.

xpost

RANDOM THOUGHT, AFTER ANOTHER GLANCE AT THIS POLL:

Who'd be keen on a poll on God Told Me To vs. Cure?

xxpost- Thanks ☆ and Matt. Yes, Eraserhead is the perfect example!

But you know what? That movie is boring.

POSSIBLE SPOILER I can't believe at what's his name's trial his defense is based on selling the jury on reincarnation. That lecture on Hinduism ran a little long. The whole trial drags on waaay too long. There are a few creepy parts and I like the actor who played Ivy/Audrey. Anyway, yeh, it's fairly boring.

okay, so i watched apaches earlier this evening. lol is all i can say. won't make my ballot, but i did enjoy it.

i see your apaches british people, and i raise you the wonders of american drivers ed films (machanized death, red asphalt, etc.)

this is not an endorsement, do not watch these, unless you are looking to vote for faces of death and then fill out the rest of your ballot

Whittling it down to 50 was so painful I've made a list of 51-100 too, just to calm myself down.

i called dibs on doing the stills, but if any of you have any nice screengrabs you'd like to have included, plz feel free to email them to s t g e r t z @gmail
― picture jean rollin (Pillbox), Wednesday, April 18, 2012 8:03 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yes. I am eternally grateful too, btw.

Obviously this is Eric's and Pillbox's call, but my own feeling on stills: atmospheric/moody rather than bloody corpses/exploding heads. I know many would strongly disagree.

atmospheric/moody would keep things unambiguously SFW, for those for whom that's a consideration

(although I'm not sure atmospheric/moody would capture what people were attracted to with movies like "Dead/Alive")

It is possible to like more than one style within a genre. I consider Dead/Alive more of a comedy, but might put it in the 40s if I get that far.

That some of you you are sufficiently immersed to make an individual list of 100 top horror films might give you an idea of my emotions during the comedy poll, when ppl were throwing their votes together in 15 minutes.

I'm not pissed off at the people who are throwing their horror movie ballots together in 15 minutes. I'm happy they feel enthusiastic enough to contribute to a horror movie poll.

sure, but Matt #2 may feel differently.

I am struggling with my ballot, probably largely because of the many movies I know I liked but that I don't remember very well. I would like to rewatch some things, especially Anguish, Night of the Demon/Curse of the Demon, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, and Dementia/Daughter of Horror, but also Black Cat, Blood on Satan's Claw, Burn Witch Burn, Kill Baby Kill, God Told Me To and others.

I think I nominated the 1926 Student of Prague but really meant the 1913 version.

I watched Apaches last night.

Sadly, netflix seems to have neither Threads nor Testament on dvd (I don't have streaming). Not that I would probably vote for them here anyway but after what people have been saying I would really like to see them.

Link posted upthread by strongo - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2023790698427111488

(Threads)

I saw Testament on PBS when it was new. It was OK; it's not horror. It's not "top" material list, except maybe Top Jane Alexander Films.

She sorta vanished after becoming SAG prez, no?

my first pass has 123 movies, yikes. time to get out the scissors. and the butcher's knife. and the axe. and the scythe. and the chainsaw.

Jane does tons of theatre, always has. You remember theatre, tha thing nobody goes to.

xp

I only meant movies since that's the poll; she's a Living Legend onstage.

Jane Alexander missed her window of opportunity to be the next Linnea Quigley.

Taking my time. I appreciate a slow heart sinking reveal as much as a quick scream out loud scare.

I also regret not participating in the nomination stage :(

Will survive