The Haunt Of Fear: ILX Top 100 HORROR Movies Poll Results Thread

"the dull quotidian"

That's where you find the most insidious evil! A bunch of elderly well-to-do Upper West Siders.

Ditto--incredible. I don't think there's anything Polanski could have shown in terms of actually seeing the baby that would match the look of "unspeakable" (Rosemary's word) terror we see on Mia Farrow's face. I love everything about that scene from the moment she sets foot in Roman and Minnie's apartment--the way people are arranged around the room as the camera hops from one to another ("And his feet!"), the jokes (Laura-Louise sticking her tongue out is sublime), Rosemary's contemptuous reaction to Guy, etc.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NUwfkgXncHg/TgEA9kY0a1I/AAAAAAAAAVE/4UUknoNeY_Q/s1600/Rosemarys_Baby.jpg

i find the ending of rosemary's baby a letdown not because it collapses the ambiguity, but because having done that and intimated the awful unknown, it retreats to the dull quotidian.

I find its retreat to the quotidian genius. It's sort of like the end of "Some Like It Hot:" "Nobody's perfect!" After all this horror and torment, she holds the baby and, well, yeah, it might be the spawn of Satan, but it's her spawn of Satan, dammit!

Or: "You're trying to get me to be his mother."
"Aren't you his mother?"

Perfect.

or we'll kill ya milk or no milk

Yeah, I agree with the quotidian-defenders on that count. While I may prefer an ambiguous line, if you're going to break through the ambiguity then banality of evil is much scarier to me than spooky superpowered evil.

i like that you can read it either way -- either rosemary has given birth to the son of satan, or she's fallen -- inextricably, forever -- into the hands of a bunch of maniacs.

I don't think there's anything Polanski could have shown in terms of actually seeing the baby that would match the look of "unspeakable" (Rosemary's word) terror we see on Mia Farrow's face.

come on, it's p unambiguous, you see his devil eyes.

I always appreciated the "well...ok" ending of RB because it shows how surprisingly at peace she is with the idea of her life not going exactly as she planned. She just acquiesces and life goes on. Maybe.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/60/Satan_is_Real.jpg/220px-Satan_is_Real.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVOMJDL3hEI

"Ah, Twin Peaks. My favorite little town, where you can truly TROUBLE your DOUBLE!"

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5119/7211432328_e5f94b6d05_o.jpg

85. TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
David Lynch, USA, 1992
(218 points, 8 votes)

Not to unduly separate him from filmmakers I have a greater (Hitchcock, Lang) and lesser (De Palma) regard for, but DL is kind of a fucked-up misogynist.
― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Sunday, February 26, 2012 3:11 AM (2 months ago)

someone said (i think on a previous thread) that FWWM was more of a "free jazz" take on the story whereas the series was more (creepy?) doo-wop.
― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, August 31, 2004 3:43 PM (7 years ago)

every time I watch it I go from "lol what the hell is this mess" to terrified and crying by the end of it
― time to put it in hi geir (WmC), Monday, August 1, 2011 4:40 PM (9 months ago)

"Wanna hear about our specials? We haven't got any."
― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Friday, January 7, 2005 11:50 AM (7 years ago)

you see his devil eyes

Rosemary does; we don't.

I'm randomly gonna out myself here as a fan of found-footage horror movies (though I didn't go too nuts with these in my voting). Stuff like Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity, Diary of the Dead, Cannibal Holocaust, REC, Cloverfield, The Last Exorcism, Troll Hunter, Home Movie, Apollo 18 -- I've even enjoyed rip-offs like Paranormal Entity. I don't set out to like these; in fact, I arrive to each one dubious, then end up finding each one effective. Anyone else a sucker like me?

xpost

ive been thinking that i should rewatch FWWM for a while now

That image is SO GREAT. And vvv scary!
I have had so many petrifying Bob-spotting moments since I first watched Twin Peaks when it aired.

I don't think I ended up voting Twin Peaks. I guess I was on the verge of whether it was truly a horror or more a mystery/drama/something else, but realistically I have no problem with it being horror. The main thing that would have stopped me was that I take all the Twin Peaks stuff as a package these days - my vote would be for the film, but influenced unduly by the series, and I don't feel that it's right to vote like that.

you see his devil eyes

Rosemary does; we don't.

um, yeah we do? is there a different cut where we don't see the yellow devil eyes in the hirsute face?

Saw FWWM for the first time in February. While better than I expected (it was almost unanimously excoriated in '92), and effective in being relentlessly doomy in its last 2/3, I guess I just don't find it essential. Laura Palmer is still a cipher; aside from MacLachlan's Cooper, all the compelling characters in the TP series were around the edges.

I recall the RB baby eyes as being a double exposure w/ Farrow's face, that never goes dissolves all the way to its own 'pure' shot?

i was 13 when fwwm came out in theaters & tried to go see it w/ a friend (we'd be into twin peaks big time) who's mom bought us tickets and then left. still remember that the ticket taker turned us away saying 'you dont wanna see that, theres some sick and twisted stuff in it' (we know!)

I recall the RB baby eyes as being a double exposure w/ Farrow's face, that never goes dissolves all the way to its own 'pure' shot?

It's actually Rosemary recalling her eyes meeting Satan's during the earlier impregnation/dream sequence.

really? oh wow... i never thought of it that way... hmm

are we sure? what about the "he has his father's eyes" quote?

Yeah, it's the same shot that they dissolved to in that sequence, so I always interpreted as her fully processing "He has his father's eyes."

Never saw FWWM because I never completed season 2

that makes sense. i always thought that shot ruined the ending a little, so thanks for the reinterpretation i guess! xp.

You have to hand it to FWWM -- when Lynch finally, finally gets to Laura Palmer's murder, it does not disappoint.

I saw FWWM years before I saw the series! SPOILER: the series is better.

"I can still remember a time when American vampire movies didn't ... SUCK!"

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8154/7211432536_f633e8ef0a_o.jpg

84. NEAR DARK
Kathryn Bigelow, USA, 1987
(219 points, 10 votes)

The roadhouse scene alone -- Bill Paxton just on the verge of exploding, edits and camera cuts just right, and the slow dawning realization among the bar staff and patrons that they're going to die. Riveting -- and they pulled it off to a muted soundtrack that's not only the Cramps' version of "Fever" but included Jools Holland and George Strait. Tarantino was taking note, I tells ya.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, June 12, 2003 12:18 AM (8 years ago)

What happened to Adrian Pasdar? Not only is he gorgeous, his physical performance in the first half when he's constantly nauseous and suffering from his new vampiric status is really committed; you feel the cold sweats... I also forgot how funny Bill Paxton is doing a shitkicker Nicholson.
― Indiana Morbs and the Curse of the Ivy League Chorister (Dr Morbius), Saturday, August 29, 2009 12:36 PM (2 years ago)

xp I only did the TP series / FWWM marathon viewing for the first time last year. As a continuation / ending of the series it's pretty frustrating, but it's certainly one hell of an unnerving movie on its own.

If anyone wants to see Adrian Pasdar in another horrir flick, I can mildly recommend the found-footage / evil-kids flick Home Movie.

I love Near Dark, so stripped down and logical -- if there were vampires, this is probably the kind of life they'd have to lead.

Plus Lance Henriksen is on my short list of favorite vamps ever.

"Ah, Twin Peaks. My favorite little town, where you can truly TROUBLE your DOUBLE!"

amazing

Backing up Simon: HOME MOVIE is one of my recent faves, with one of the scariest final shots I've ever seen.

Def. the most underseen/rated of the found-footage lot.

I've only ever seen Near Dark the one time and it was several years ago, so it wasn't front-of-mind enough to consider voting for it, but I do remember really, really liking it.

Bill Paxton! Found a quote from Near Dark: I hate 'em when they ain't been shaved.

FWWM, while it does provide some backstory, isn't really essential viewing within the context of Twin Peaks proper. I love them both for slightly different reasons. And I never really understood the initial critical drubbing FWWM received (particularly since I think it's better than the initially critically-lauded Wild At Heart) except as a reaction to it not being Twin Peaks-y enough.

"Maria's going on an ICKNIC and she's bringing apples, bananas, children and DEATH!"

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7225/7211432692_2f95640a7d_o.jpg

83. PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK
Peter Weir, Australia, 1975
(220 points, 7 votes)

Hanging Rock is the most boring overrated place on Earth. And people actually go out of their way to come here and see it. And it costs a fortune to get in.
― Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Sunday, February 6, 2005 6:58 PM (7 years ago)

I remember writing an essay about this years ago at university, all about the alien wildness of the landscape - although what struck me last night on seeing it again was the relentless personification of nature - all those creepy shots of rocks looking like heads and more precisely all those cave entrances designed to look like vaginas, like the shot in the first post. Nature = human, human = wild and uncontrollable = nature.
― armchair theorist, Friday, August 6, 2004 5:14 AM (7 years ago)

Never considered voting for this either. It delivers unease rather than horror.

love hanging rock, but i didn't vote for it b/c i don't think of it as a horror film (for reasons similar to why i don't think of curse of the cat people as horror).

it is a lovely film, though.

found Picnic at Hanging Rock to be rather dull tbh

i will also back HOME MOVIE, its not bad at all.

this message is hugely appealing and somewhat horrifying but also not really a horror movie message in my brain, more of a crushing reality message than anything else.
Nature = human, human = wild and uncontrollable = nature

but mostly hanging rock is filed under "women, dresses" in my brain

Picnic was the last thing I cut! I kind of feel that it works as a horror, but it's a very subtle one, and its mystery side is pretty strong... it's such a beautiful film, though. If I felt certain it was a horror it would've stayed on my ballot.

btw with all my frothing abt pontypool i forgot the greater evil potential in this poll, which is people shoehorning 6 goddamn david lynch films into it. IT BEGINS

Also, I wanted to make room for a couple of silly films at the bottom of my ballot as I was worried I was getting too canonical, ha.