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

BL is brilliant I didn't think that was controversial anymore

Annoyingly, I missed voting in this but I did want to throw some points to the original The Hills Have Eyes - endless source of "watch out for the mutants!" quotes for desert camping adventures.

motel hell gots a number of best things about it:

head feeding system
pig mask
chainsaw duel
cheerful redneck murder couple
"meat's meat, and a man's gotta eat"

and lol hippies!
I voted for it.

I also voted for Cathy's Curse and Island of Dr. Moreau and The 1977 Hills Have Eyes

Island of Dr. Moreau

Hells yes

Movies like Cathy's Curse make me realize how deeply people underrate Ed Wood's sanity and competence as a filmmaker. But, also, I love it?

Evil children movies fill me with such joy - especially the ones where the children are normal-looking/attractive (as opposed to demonically possessed Exorcist style).

The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut and Barry Lyndon are Kubrick's 3 best features and I claim your prize.

In any case, I'm sort of saddened by the movies that didn't get but 4 or 5 comments today.

what was the name of that fairly recent one with the children that infect each other with evil during the holidays? i think it was british. that was pretty good as far as evil children movies go.

I'm going to go ahead and start being sad that Child's Play will not place.

I'm hoping enough other ILXors share my love of The Omen

Couldn't keep up today. When someone gets a minute, please explain the Schindler's List joke to me. (Does it hinge on familiarity with Don't Look Now? I hope so--I haven't seen it for years and years, so that'll give me an excuse.)

the missing child in Don't Look Now was wearing red; there was the mythic girl in a red dress in Schindler's List

I didn't vote, and there's a list of movies I didn't see but am psyched to do so that I've been rooting for (Tetsuo, God Told Me To, Suspiria, Repulsion, Reflecting Skin*) Suspiria and Repulsion seem like locks. Tetsuo has an outside chance. RIP the rest

*I did actually see Reflecting Skin, and am not convinced it's a horror movie.

^oh yeah, Possession too

oh man, Reflecting Skin was way scarier than a lot of the stuff that placed. I also voted for it.

lol I've been looking for a US DVD release for that movie for like ever, only to find one just chilling at a local KMart for $5 a month ago

(lol @ 'just chilling')

For not being part of the really obvious, mainstream canon, I'm extremely interested to see where Possession falls (I, too, think it's a lock, but maybe only because it's ILX).

Thanks, sarahell. I only feel semi-stupid.

I think I could guess at least 20 of the remaining 25, but I'll hold off. (I was wondering about Basket Case too, even though I didn't vote for it.)

what was the name of that fairly recent one with the children that infect each other with evil during the holidays? i think it was british. that was pretty good as far as evil children movies go.

The Children. That was great. Totally forgot about it for the purposes of this poll.

Speaking of Don't Look Now echoes, the repeated opera house dream sequence in Battlestar Galactica, with the little girl running up and down stairs in her cloak and hat, seemed to me like a direct lift from/tribute to Roeg.

Seconding the love for The Children.

Man, "Barry Lyndon" is sooooo much better than "The Shining." Because, you know, historical accuracy, helicopter shadow, etc.

Just kidding. Except for the "Barry Lyndon" being better than "The Shining" part. But "Full Metal Jacket" is worse than "The Shining," so Morbs is only close to right.

Also, in randomlay recapping the day, the '78 Body Snatchers was my #2 -- partly because I think it's great, partly because of how much it scared me as a kid. I rewatched it recently and still really liked it, it's so cold and creepy from the very beginning (Robert Duvall as the priest on the swing, a great wtf cameo). The San Francisco setting is almost too pat for a death-of-the-'60s allegory, but then again where else would you set it? And I had forgotten how over-the-top expressionistic it is, all those long shadows on the walls and everything. The built-in alienation of the form is right in sync with the story.

'a clockwork orange,' except for the first minute or two, is pretty useless.

whereas 'the shining' has its flaws but is still scary and interesting to talk about, and has maybe the best opening credit sequence in film history.

I'll give you that, to a degree. Regardless, "Barry Lyndon" rules.

you know i'm amazed how popular the 78 Body Snatchers is. it's really under the radar, at least in the UK. i'd never have imagined it even going Top 100, let alone so far ahead of Jaws etc. i do love it though.

Sort of wish I'd required ballot submissions to be accompanied by notation of whether the voter was American, British, or else.

Robert Duvall as the priest on the swing, a great wtf cameo

Yeah, thanks for mentioning this! The first time I saw it, I was like, "Oh, Robert Duvall is in this? Cool." And upon repeat viewings, I've been like, "Wait, Robert Duvall's in this? I don't remember that." Or "Is that maybe just a guy who looks like Robert Duvall?" And then I subsequently forget all about it once the batshittery starts. So weird.

xpost

Yeah, I'd be interested in seeing those stats contrasted against the results.

Attention Exorcist people: if you live in one of (x) states you can see it in at your local Cinemark theater on June 6th

http://www.cinemark.com/cinemark-classic-series

I for one am going to go :D

I saw the re-release with the reinserted spider walk scene. It'll never get any better than that pants-shitting moment, I tells ya.

seems like this is the Extended Director's Cut which is the spider-walk version, yes?

becuase I've never seen it in the theater, and I can't even remember the last time I watched so I'm kinda pysched to see it

has the orig cut disappeared, a la Star Wars?

Kevin McCarthy's cameo in the '78 Invasion is also fantastic; always thought Jerry Garcia was in it too, but I just read on IMDB that it's his voice only.

The spider walk is great, but there are other changes in the director's cut I find intrusive--minor stuff, but you'll notice them right away.

xxpost

I think so. It was billed as 'The Version You've Never Seen' or something similarly unwieldy when it was initially rereleased. My only real complaint about it was overuse (and subsequent descarification of) The Subliminal Face.

xpost

Yeah, and that stupid joke tacked on to the very end was pretty stupid, I recall now.

i remember after seeing it a couple times someone started talking about the spider walk scene and i was like what huh and was so confused/annoyed that somehow i didn't remember this supposedly classic scene from a movie i loved, then got the extended cut and finally saw it and figured out why i didn't know about it

Seconding the love for The Children.

― Simon H., Tuesday, May 22, 2012 7:54 PM (58 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The Children is fantastic

or thirding or w/e

still don't get barry lyndon. i figure one day it'll click for me cuz everyone else in the world thinks it's omg a masterpiece, but that thing just bores me to tears. postcard pretty but dull as dirt. otoh, i like the shining and prefer eyes wide shut to every kubrick movie that isn't the killing, so maybe i average out somewhere near the ILX consensus?

i think 'barry lyndon' is a flippin' masterpiece and prob the kube's best movie objectively but i was holding back going on about it since, well, this is the horror poll.

OTOH jonathan rosenbaum had a point when he wrote, somewhere, that every kubrick film is scary and creepy to some degree. '2001' is still the only movie i've seen that captures how terrifying outer space really is, and i think 'strangelove' cranks up the tension in an impressive way (espec if you see it in a theater).

hope all those repping for the children actually voted for it.

Dunno if it was mentioned, but afaik the original version of "The Exorcist" has never been out of circulation.

I highly recommend the commentary track to Kaufman's "Body Snatchers." Smart guy, smart movie. Once you hear it, you notice how many scenes have broken windows, cracked glass, etc.

Oh rats. I've never seen the Exorcist in the theater* and it's playing all over Chicago, but of course we'll be visiting family in a tiny podunk town.

*According to my mother, she and my father went to see The Exorcist at the drive in when I was a toddler. They couldn't get a babysitter and put me in the back of the VW Squareback with some blankets and toys. I slept at first but right about when things got really ramped up, I woke up and watched the movie. Mom said I had a good time, but I don't remember it so it doesn't count.

Speaking of movies in theaters, I saw The Shining in the theater a few years ago (maybe with La Lech and The Thnig? At the Gene Siskel Film Center?) and it was amazing. Seeing the Overlook decor on the big screen and hearing that incredible soundtrack was so disorienting and even though I've seen The Shining approx. one billion times, it scared me all over again. I have a lot more to say about this movie, but I'll wait until it places.

I saw The Exorcist in a theater back in the late 90s when they first did the theatrical release w/the restored footage. Had to drive up to Michigan from Cleveland to see it, but thoroughly enjoyed it. Most of the audience laughed at both the 70s anachronisms (smoking in the doctor's office) and the scary parts. Savages.

man, I will be bummed if basket case doesn't even place.