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

i do think that it's safe to say that now that cat people has placed, that this will be the last Val Lewton joint we'll see on this poll amirite?

yeah I think jacques and val are done now

How far are we going today? 55? 50?

Three more. May have to post them in quick succession here.

"As SCARY Belafonte once sang -- Man smart, Woman s'MARTYR!"

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5231/7222540584_29b0b235e3_o.jpg

58. MARTYRS
Pascal Laugier, France, 2008
(319 points, 10 votes)

well fuck me,
that's another level
― jumpskins, Tuesday, June 14, 2011 7:46 PM (11 months ago)

the biggest thing in martyrs favor at least versus cheap cinema of discomfort garbage like anti-christ is that its never really distancing and its not really playing games w/ implication or meaning if anything its antirational in a way that gives it real power
― Lamp, Sunday, August 28, 2011 3:23 PM (8 months ago)

I thought this movie was totally shallow and padded the fuck out. It's like it was one of those weaker five page long short stories stretched out to feature film length. Didn't have much to say about anything, except how to make something out of nothing. All the portent of the intro scenes, or the home invasion scenes, or the escape from hallucinated horrors while the friend cleaned up the mess scenes ... pointless. Bunch of wheel spinning.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, September 5, 2011 3:19 PM (8 months ago)

sort of a one trick pony. But oh sheesh, what a fucking trick.
― Cass McCars (Stevie D(eux)), Sunday, August 28, 2011 1:33 PM (8 months ago)

martyrs was the best horror movie I've seen in years. it's french torture porn, and then again, it's not... which is what makes it so great. it totally transcends the genre and I can guarantee you won't guess where it's going.
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Thursday, October 22, 2009 1:21 PM (2 years ago)

ok, about to watch martyrs, will report back in about 1:45
― PHEAR MY POORAPULT (jjjusten), Wednesday, October 28, 2009 11:33 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oof. that was rough.
― PHEAR MY POORAPULT (jjjusten), Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:29 AM (2 years ago)

"As SCARY Belafonte once sang -- Man smart, Woman s'MARTYR!"

roffle

Sorry to backtrack here, but this thread moves much faster than I do.

lol what was "erotic" about IE or Eraserhead

― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, May 18, 2012 12:48 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"Erotic" is maybe not the right term since they aren't necessarily sexy, but most Lynch films including IE and Eraserhead are largely concerned with worlds shaped by sexual anxiety

lol it wasn't until this one that I realized these were crypt-keeper quotes and not old school poster taglines

"This BITCHLORETTE PARTY had me in absolute STITCHES!"

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5456/7222540708_88af231b84_o.jpg

57. THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
James Whale, USA, 1935
(326 points, 9 votes)

Bride of Frankenstein is the best. Wes Craven, Clive Barker et al couldn't make something that good if their lives depended on it.
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Saturday, May 14, 2005 10:03 AM (7 years ago)

gorgeous james whale flick, superior in every way to its predecessor. so strange, inventive, touching and beautiful. a nearly perfect film.
― And the piano, it sounds like a carnivore (contenderizer), Wednesday, June 8, 2011 9:29 PM (11 months ago)

I seem to recall Richard Schickel is a big homophobe, btw, which could explain why Bride of Frankenstein is the queerest film on the list (leaving the problematic LOTR aside)...
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, May 25, 2005 2:21 PM (6 years ago)

have not been able to bring myself to watch Martyrs, based on the wikipedia plot summary

Me, neither but I'm going to one of these days.

Probably while sitting in an adjoining room and watching the TV from around the corner, tbh.

may have to wait until the wife goes out of town, no way will she sit through this

josh in chicago otm re: martyrs. a bunch of loud noises in the first half, protracted agonies in the second, nothing gained.

bride of frankenstein: TOO LOW!

"Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'til it's GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH OH GOD NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO?"

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8162/7223230696_12412dc5fd_o.jpg

56. THE VANISHING [aka SPOORLOOS]
George Sluizer, France/Netherlands, 1988
(326 points, 11 votes)

Can't seem to search this one without landing on hundreds of posts from De Subjectivisten.
― Count-Dracula-Down (Eric H.), Friday, May 18, 2012 3:30 PM (0 minutes ago)

HOORAY!

well there's three more i figured would be top 50 locks... can psycho, the exorcist and the shining show up soon please?

glad to see my top 10 placing lobbed martyrs this high up the list. on one hand I feel like it runs the danger of being overhyped, on the other hand it's akin to audition, where no amount of prep can really prepare you for the hammering it will deliver. somebody upthread described the exorcist as feeling out of control which in turn amps up its scariness. martyrs has some of that same chutzpah. there are moments where I'm like "is this movie actively trying to drive me insane?"

"The Vanishing" is such a fucked up movie. Like watching a really slow car crash that you can't avoid. One of the few movies where knowing/guessing how it ends makes it even more unnerving.

Audition>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Martyrs.

kind of shocked about bride, too. would've figured that to be top 30. morbz will be by later to castigate you.

I am way excited to watch The Vanishing. That looks amazing.

Oh man, Martyrs was in my top 5 I think. It sort of redefined the genre IMO and it stands as one of the best horror films of all time.

DIE the way, i'm loving the TOE TAG-lines, SCARE-ic:

You can lead a country girl to city water, but you can't make her SINK INTO DEPRESSION!
Ah, Twin Peaks. My favorite little town, where you can truly TROUBLE your DOUBLE!
...And they sure solve that pesky RING around the COLLAR ... you know, down there. THAT collar!
Oh HENRY you're so SICK, you're so SICK you'd slice a DICK!*
...This one comes from Henry James' The Turn of the EWWW!
As SCARY Belafonte once sang -- Man smart, Woman s'MARTYR!

* to the tune of "oh mickey", genius

i had martyrs p high but i never want to see it again, i would never recommend it to anybody and there's a couple of images i wish i could wash away from my brain forever.

'The Vanishing' is one of those films I haven't watched because the concept of it is so terrifying to me. In a way it should be my #1 choice as the thought of it is more scary than nearly all of the films I voted for.

audition>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>a whole lot of stuff

never seen Audition either. I guess I should.

Oh man, Martyrs was in my top 5 I think. It sort of redefined the genre IMO and it stands as one of the best horror films of all time.

nothing personal, and everyone is allowed to like whatever, but i just do not get this. it starts off as dumb but exciting slam-bang action movie, and winds up with a long imprisonment and torture section. how does it redefine the genre? you mean that it finally breaks the "peeling a person like a grape (in a fakey but still kinda gross way)" barrier? or are you talking about the meta implications?

Hellraiser broke the peeling person barrier, better.

love the vanishing, but i disagree that it'd be improved by foreknowledge. saw it totally blind, and it just about did me in.

xp - good point

I'm with carl agatha on Martyrs. Been on my radar forever but I'm scared to see it. Shocked to see it ranked so high; I'm re-evaluating my fears. I'm going to assume there's no chance of Hostel showing up on here.

Martyrs: nice when screenpic informs me I will never see

re Bride's 9/55: goddamn the other 46 of you gore-lapping savages

xp to The Thnig - Have you seen Them or Inside or Frontiers? I (unfairly?) lump all of them together as nihilistic movies with way too realistic gore/pain that I am afraid to see, but I feel like if you've made it through one, you can make it through the others.

gore-lapping savages

^ you should work this into one of your crypt-keeper intros, eric

martyrs put me through the ringer, made me actively think about what I was witnessing, and found creative and surprising ways out of its narrative dead ends. I'm a pretty critical horror movie watcher and I can't find fault with it on any level. it sets out to do something and it succeeds on all fronts with stridency and confidence. whether you've gained anything, or found the experience worthwhile, is for each viewer to answer themselves. it certainly is not a pleasurable experience.

Oh yeah, I totally disagree that foreknowledge is a good thing re: The Vanishing. Might have already said this on one of these horror threads, but I find a large bulk of it remarkably prosaic, but that just works so well as the critical moment comes...

See, now I don't want to see Martyrs anymore. I'm not entirely sure seeing a movie that is not a pleasurable experience and will put me through the ringer is something I need to do.

EdIII otm abt Martyrs.

"The Vanishing" is such a fucked up movie. Like watching a really slow car crash that you can't avoid. - dunno what it says about that I agree wholeheartedly w/ this & would add that I thoroughly enjoyed said car crash to the extent that I put this in my top five.

as i've said elsewhere, i tend to viscerally dislike prolonged depictions of helpless suffering, especially when the victim is female and the torment is unrelieved (maybe this says something weird about me, i dunno). martyrs definitely pushes those buttons, so it's likely that i wasn't going to be a huge fan no matter what. thing is, i just didn't find it very engaging on any level. i didn't even find it disturbing so much as irritating. the action scenes in the opening act are satisfactorily kinetic, but i was bored whenever people weren't getting blown through doorways with a shotgun.

then again, my momentary mood often distorts my perceptions of a film's worth. i was hung over and grouchy when i saw martyrs, so maybe it never stood a chance.

Yeah, Carl, I've been dodging not just Martyrs but also Inside. I did see Them. And I did, at long last, gather my courage to see Human Centipede. And I'm glad I saw those two, so I should probably just bite the bullets.

Trying to ask this without being spoileriffic, but am I right in thinking that the American version of The Vanishing changes the ending and thereby ruins it? Have never seen the remake, but that's what I gathered from what I heard about it.

i tend to viscerally dislike prolonged depictions of helpless suffering, especially when the victim is female and the torment is unrelieved (maybe this says something weird about me, i dunno).

If anybody thinks this makes contenderizer weird, speak up so I know you write you off as a worthwhile human being.

"The Vanishing" is such a fucked up movie. Like watching a really slow car crash that you can't avoid.

it occurs to me that the vanishing and audition have quite a bit in common, both structurally and thematically

I'm with carl agatha on Martyrs. Been on my radar forever but I'm scared to see it. Shocked to see it ranked so high; I'm re-evaluating my fears. I'm going to assume there's no chance of Hostel showing up on here.

I'm not necessarily anti-Hostel (it was OK), but imo Martyrs so outclasses the films perceived to be its peers, in terms of art and intelligence, that it doesn't deserve to be mentioned alongside them.

The American Vanishing is one of the worst remakes ever.

Them is great, and really scary/intense. Inside is ridiculous. Human Centipede, more ridiculous. Martyrs is just a pretentious hodgepodge of vague philosophy. The profound "reveal" at the end is so lame. I can't imagine someone not finding fault with it, though I can easily imagine people finding reasons to like/appreciate it.

yeah, unless you're a hardcore distress junkie I just don't recommend martyrs. I love it, I think it's perfect, but it's not for everyone. it doesn't resort to cheap tricks like sexual violence or leering psychos or killing animals, but it will raise your blood pressure, bum you out, then wink at you as it sashays out the door. it's pretty telling that it gives jaded folks like jjjusten pause.

but you know, it's only a movie... it's only a movie... it's only a movie

Martyrs, I will concede, had potential, but like Inside - or even High Tension - it goes a little too far. It's undisciplined (unlike, say, Wolf Creek, which is also unpleasant, but focused).

contenderizer I was very impressed w the way it seemed to just abandon p much all conventions of narrative storytelling but did so in a way that was deliberate and crucial, as opposed to, say, Cube where it was just "hey let's just do this cool idea w/o trying to deal w coherence". Incoherence (or really just how yr left in the dark for so long and evn after the ending) w/in Martyrs is utilized extremely skillfully and it felt like a very fresh and unique approach to filmmaking. Though because of that, it's also kind of a one-time-use thing: you open it, you consume it, and it's done. There's little point in rewatching it unless you're with people who haven't seen it, and the more you know about the plot beforehand the more the purpose of watching the film is defeated.