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

And now, I leave you to police yourselves about the movies that have yet to place.

I made a post on ilx once about the rampant symbolism in repulsion and someone asked what the rabbit symbolized and I was like, really?

Edward III I think if you say jjjusten's name 3 times he shows up, isn't that how it works?

only if you're posting drunk at midnight

The Fly is the first one that's placed exactly where it was on my ballot!

repulsion is a great movie to intermittently nap to

i am way less concerned w/ballot guessing now that weve hit the top ten, although obv i prefer to do mine by gnashing my teeth and wailing about stuff that has no chance of placing and thus got shut out of the top 100 in favor of lesser trifles.

Everyone who saw and liked "Black Swan" should be forced to watch "Repulsion" until they know better.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, May 23, 2012 6:45 PM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark

^ this

no hostel or other roth stuff, no human centipede, day of the dead not going to make it but thank goodness pontypool and the cabin in the woods got their fair shake huh

I love Repulsion, and though I prefer it, I'm tired of the "I liked it the first time, when it was called Repulsion" attitude towards Black Swan. Different films with similar themes and, to a degree, styles. Big fan of both.

repulsion is a great movie to intermittently nap to

― I want L'interieur chicken, not Hausu chicken (jjjusten), Wednesday, May 23, 2012 11:59 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well. It's clear that SOMEONE on this thread has never been a woman with mental troubles. *flounces*

I missed a few days and had to just scroll through to see what placed, but I hope at the end of this there will be separate page/tumblr/whatever with just the image countdown. Got some friends who would love to see this.

so I guess Valerie and Her Week of Wonders is way past the chance of making it now

so in no order:

The Shining
Rosemary's Baby
Alien
The Thing
Suspiria
Wicker Man
Last House
Carrie
Psycho
Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Oh yeah, would definitely love that. There's a precedent for it, so nobody should mind.

xpost

The Fly was my #1. It goes back to what I said about Jacob's Ladder--for me the best horror movies are the ones that work as horror but also move me. And I don't know that any movie devastates me like The Fly. There's so much hope in that relationship, so much promise, and it's all undone by a moment's impulse (going into the pod) and a tiny thing gone wrong (the entry of the fly). The physical decay fucking hurts when you see (and I'm sure most of us have) what terrible diseases can do to a person, not just their body but their mind. And you can see Geena Davis trying to so hard to hang on and be supportive but after a while it's just not possible anymore -- Brundle's changing body has changed his mind. Dammit, body and mind should be separate, but they're not, and this is what the film mercilessly throws at us. Plus, it's my absolute model of efficiency in screenwriting: there are 3 damn characters in this thing and never a boring minute. Maybe it's easy to take for granted now, but for Cronenberg to look at the silly original Fly and then come up with this masterpiece that never -- never -- flinches, not even at the heartbreaking end, is like a miracle. Plus there is humor(!) and excessive gore used to rare perfect effect, and that part where she has to decide to abort the baby because of possible deformities, even though she doesn't want to. I could go on and on.

I give up what does the rabbit symbolize. Deneuve herself? her libido?

anyway now we're on to the really classic shit, I see.

I don't think Last House is gonna place

That's a great write-up, Thnig. It didn't make my ballot but I have plenty of love for that film.

got my doubts about carrie and last house for sure, wondering if there was enough backlash vis a vis action poll to keep people from voting for the thing, psycho could be victim to the "oh shit everyone else is going to vote for that" curse

surprised Tenebre didn't place at all, even if it's not quite horror

repulsion is a great movie to intermittently nap to

― I want L'interieur chicken, not Hausu chicken (jjjusten), Wednesday, May 23, 2012 11:59 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well. It's clear that SOMEONE on this thread has never been a woman with mental troubles. *flounces*

― emil.y, Wednesday, May 23, 2012 7:04 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Actually LOL'd

xxpost nicely done, Thnig

Thing OTM to ∞

The Shining
Rosemary's Baby
Alien
The Thing
Suspiria
Wicker Man
Last House
Carrie
Psycho
Texas Chain Saw Massacre

sub NOLD for last house

Carrie is totally going to place gtfo. there are hardcore depalma stans around here

yeah, well put Thnig. honestly, The Fly is almost too much for me to take sometimes

Carrie was #3 for me, after Carnival of Souls and Rosemary's Baby at #1, but could easily take first on other days

Sad regrets to La Lechera: Sybil will not be in the Top 10.

Random notes from a busy day:
-A bunch of friends and I watched Poltergeist a few years back, expecting to have a fun & easygoing evening. I think it spooked all of us more than we ever expected it to, especially given the fact that we'd all seen it multiple times as kids. So, yeah, it still packs a wallop.
-Oh, look. HallowMEH made it, unsurprisingly.
-Videodrome has some "lovely" things to look at, but (again) Cronenberg mostly doesn't do a whole lot for me (this most recent result being one of the rare exceptions).
-Much as I love The Exorcist, I was surprised that I ultimately dropped it down to #10 on my ballot. So this seems like a decent spot for it.
-Repulsion has one of the greatest movie scares of all time. It would have earned its spot for that alone even if it wasn't a great movie otherwise.
-Dawn of the Dead: TOO LOW. And as soon as I saw it place, I knew that was Day of the Dead and Return of the Living Dead (not a sequel, as someone upthread puzzlingly suggested) were out of the running. For which this poll should be arrested because that is CRIMINAL.
-Around the time (described upthread) when I first saw Repulsion, I started going to sleep while watching Eraserhead. Every night. For weeks. I found it strangely soothing, if only because it offered some solace from the general headspace I was in at the time. Still a horror film.

I'd be surprised if Sybil got more than two votes! (mine and yours)
Are we going to get those crazy stats where you see everyone plotted on a graph and whatnot?

Repulsion & Eraserhead would make an excellent double feature

xp

Damnit, I meant to say around the time I first saw Possession.

But those two would probably make a pretty excellent and horrifying double feature.

not a sequel, as someone upthread puzzlingly suggested

I know it's not a sequel and it's not even Romero or part of the series but let's not pretend like the other sequels would have even been made without Return's success. I think of it like Halloween III, part of the franchise but not really.

Deric, your going to sleep watching Eraserhead explains a great many things to me (joeks)

no hostel or other roth stuff, no human centipede, day of the dead not going to make it but thank goodness pontypool and the cabin in the woods got their fair shake huh

― I want L'interieur chicken, not Hausu chicken (jjjusten), Wednesday, May 23, 2012 4:03 PM (7 minutes ago)

lol, much respect jjj, but are you really surprised that the former films aren't terribly well loved outside dedicated "extreme horror"/gorehound circles? i mean, i like hostel 2, love day of the dead and dieter laser's performance in the human centipede, but i'm completely unsurprised that they didn't make the ILX countdown.

i mean, i'm seriously bummed by the fact that only five of my top ten films are gonna place, but i knew i was staking a lot on my favorite dark horses: Dementia, Dagon, Blood and Black Lace, Daughters of Darkness, Trouble Every Day

Return of the Living Dead need to place because this thing needs some damn punk rock lol

repulsion is a great movie to intermittently nap to

― I want L'interieur chicken, not Hausu chicken (jjjusten), Wednesday, May 23, 2012 10:59 PM (24 minutes ago

yeah rly, it's no human centipede

contenderizer I am more curious about your dark horse choices than some of the spooky art films that actually placed. was what I was hoping for out of this poll honestly

yeah when i rewatched the fly for the first time in a buncha of years, maybe about six-twelve months ago, i was amazed all over again at how full the film's world seemed despite there only being like like five other speaking roles (not counting the leads and davis's ex-bf/publisher), and most of those roles have like three, four lines tops. it could almost be a play.

idk contenderizer, i think a pretty good case can be made for the hostel stuff being pretty core for anyone who pays attention to any modern horror film making! i mean throw in the fact that martyrs and wolf creek made the countdown (and i like that movie a lot) and i get very confused.

Return of the Living Dead need to place because this thing needs some damn punk rock lol

I'm okay with people considering the Romero peaks better but otoh: SEND MORE BRAINS and punk rock cemetary scene

jjj i think the problem is that you're still expecting "poll of horror fans" when with 50-plus ballots what you're gonna get is "poll of 'cultured' internet types from their 20s through their 50s who've seen a bunch of horror movies in their lives"

looking over my list, only 3 of my top ten are going to make it, two of which are oldster movies and one of which is wolf creek. and yeah i am not surprised by most of that but hostel not making it (or for that matter saw, which i am not crazy about) and paranormal activity getting in is just bizarre to me (no offense to PA supporters)

xpost yeah yeah i know

pour one out for Return of the Living Dead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhyJlMHa8XQ

rip awesome punk rock horror movie

also torture porn is a turn-off to most people, no matter how many lolz it has

and i say that as someone who laughed harder at the final scene from hostel ii than many comedies i've seen in the last decade

jjj modern horror movies need to know their place, ie outside the top 10

I think only one of my top 10 picks (God Told Me To) isn't going to place but we'll see

so far this list has NO Larry Cohen, which is fucking wrong.

i also say all this as someone who only voted for two 21st-century movies in his top ten, one of which was inland empire and another that was a non-audition miike, but i swear i'm on your side here.

on the plus side my two aforementioned oldster movies are "black christmas" and "sleepaway camp" neither of which (esp black christmas) i thought had the slightest shot of making the countdown so shut up me