Films are ranked in order, based on (1) quality, (2) scares, (3) influence. Here are the results:
1) The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 73)
2) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 74)
3) Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 60)
4) Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 68)
5) Halloween (John Carpenter, 78)
6) Frankenstein (James Whale, 31)
7) The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 80)
8) Eraserhead (David Lynch, 77)
9) The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 61)
10) Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 65)
11) The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi, 81)
12) Alien (Ridley Scott, 79)
13) Vampyr (Carl Th. Dreyer, 32)
14) Seven (David Fincher, 95)
15) Les Diaboliques (Henri Georges-Clouzot, 55)
16) Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 97)
17) Dawn of the Dead (George A Romero, 78)
18) An American Werewolf in London (John Landis, 81)
19) Phantasm (Don Coscarelli, 79)
20) Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 75)
21) Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 22)
22) Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 68)
23) The Honeymoon Killers (Leonard Kastle, 70)
24) Targets (Peter Bogdanovich, 68)
25) The Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 35)
26) Night of the Demon (Jacques Tourneur, 57)
27) The Other (Robert Mulligan, 72)
28) Deep Red (Dario Argento, 75)
29) Deliverance (John Boorman, 72)
30) Freaks (Tod Browning, 32)
31) Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 75)
32) Witchfinder General (Michael Reeves, 68)
33) The Reflecting Skin (Philip Ridley, 90)
34) Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju, 60)
35) Hour of the Wolf (Ingmar Bergman, 68)
36) The Thing (John Carpenter, 82)
37) Carrie (Brian De Palma, 76)
38) Punishment Park (Peter Watkins, 71)
39) Jigoku (Nobuo Nakagawa, 60)
40) The Vanishing (George Sluizer, 88)
41) Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey, 62)
42) Quatermass and the Pit (Roy Ward Baker, 67)
43) Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 60)
44) The Changeling (Peter Medak, 80)
45) Jacob’s Ladder (Adrian Lyne, 90)
46) The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 25)
47) Theater of Blood (Douglas Hickox, 73)
48) Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 42)
49) Tales from the Crypt (Freddie Francis, 72)
50) The Nanny (Seth Holt, 65)
51) Safe (Todd Haynes, 95)
52) The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 73)
53) Evil Dead 2 (Sam Raimi, 88)
54) The Fly (David Cronenberg, 86)
55) The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, 99)
56) Don’t Look Now (Nicholas Roeg, 73)
57) Frankenstein: The True Story (Jack Smight, 73)
58) Ringu (Hideo Nakata, 98)
59) The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 63)
60) The Horror of Dracula (Terrence Fisher, 58)
61) Martin (George A. Romero, 77)
62) The Tenant (Roman Polanski, 76)
63) Duel (Steven Spielberg, 71)
64) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (John McNaughton, 86)
65) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 20)
66) Dracula (Tod Browning, 32)
67) Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
68) Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow, 87)
69) The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 91)
70) Poltergeist (Tobe Hooper, 82)
71) The Body Snatcher (Robert Wise, 45)
72) Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007)
73) Paperhouse (Bernard Rose, 88)
74) Play Misty For Me (Clint Eastwood, 71)
75) Wolf Creek (Greg Mclean, 2005)
76) The Company of Wolves (Neil Jordan, 84)
77) The Old Dark House (James Whale, 32)
78) House on Haunted Hill (William Castle, 59)
79) Signs (M. Night Shamalyan, 2002)
80) The Haunting (Robert Wise, 63)
81) Cape Fear (Martin Scorsese, 90)
82) [rec] (Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza, 2007)
83) Sisters (Brian De Palma, 73)
84) Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
85) The Entity (Sidney J. Furie, 81)
86) The Fog (John Carpenter, 80)
87) At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (Jose Mojica Marins, 64)
88) The Lords of Salem (Rob Zombie, 2012)
89) Audition (Takashi Miike, 99)
90) The Hills Have Eyes (Wes Craven, 77)
91) The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2005)
92) The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard, 2012)
93) Thesis (Alejandro Amenabar, 96)
94) The Curse of Frankenstein (Terrence Fisher, 57)
95) Of Unknown Origin (George Pan Cosmatos, 82)
96) The Dead Zone (David Cronenberg, 83)
97) We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay, 2011)
98) Magic (Richard Attenbourough, 78)
99) God Told Me To (Larry Cohen, 76)
100) Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)
101) The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014)
LIST BREAKDOWNS:
BREAKDOWN BY FILMMAKER:
DIRECTORS WITH THREE FILMS EACH:1) George A. Romero: Night of the Living Dead (4), Dawn of the Dead (17), Martin (61)
2) Roman Polanski: Repulsion (10), Rosemary's Baby (22), The Tenant (62)
3) James Whale: Frankenstein (6), Bride of Frankenstein (25), The Old Dark House (77)
4) John Carpenter: Halloween (5), The Thing (36), The Fog (86)
DIRECTORS WITH TWO FILMS EACH:
5) Alfred Hitchcock: Psycho (3), The Birds (59)
6) Sam Raimi: The Evil Dead (11), Evil Dead 2 (53)
7) Tobe Hooper: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2), Poltergeist (70)
8) Jacques Tourneur: Night of the Demon (26), Cat People (48)
9) Steven Spielberg: Jaws (31); Duel (63)
10) Tod Browning: Freaks (30), Dracula (66)
11) Brian De Palma: Carrie (37); Sisters (83)
12) David Cronenberg: The Fly (54); The Dead Zone (96)
13) Terrence Fisher: The Horror of Dracula (60), Curse of Frankenstein (94)
14) Robert Wise: The Body Snatcher (71), The Haunting (63)
15) David Fincher: Seven (95), Zodiac (2007)
BREAKDOWN BY DECADES:
1920s (3): The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (65), Nosferatu (21), The Phantom of the Opera (46)
1930s (6): 1931: Frankenstein (6), 1932 (OFFICIALLY THE FIRST GREAT YEAR IN HORROR MOVIE HISTORY): Vampyr (13), Freaks (30), Dracula (66), The Old Dark House (77), 1935: The Bride of Frankenstein (25)
1940s (2): Cat People (48), The Body Snatcher (71)
1950s (5): Les Diaboliques (15), Night of the Demon (26), The Curse of Frankenstein (94), The Horror of Dracula (60), House on Haunted Hill (78)
1960s (17): 1960: Psycho (3), Eyes Without a Face (34), Jigoku (39), Peeping Tom (43); 1961: The Innocents (9); 1962: Carnival of Souls (41); 1963: The Birds (59), The Haunting (80); 1964: At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (87); 1965: Repulsion (10), The Nanny (50); 1967: Quatermass and the Pit/Five Million Years to Earth (42); 1968 (OFFICIALLY THE SCARIEST MOVIE YEAR): Night of the Living Dead (4), Rosemary's Baby (22), Targets (24), Witchfinder General/The Conqueror Worm (32), Hour of the Wolf (35)
1970s (29) (OFFICIALLY THE SCARIEST MOVIE DECADE): 1970: The Honeymoon Killers (23); 1971: Punishment Park (38), Duel (63), Play Misty For Me (74); 1972: The Other (27), Deliverance (29), Tales from the Crypt (49); 1973 (OFFICIALLY THE 2ND SCARIEST MOVIE YEAR): The Exorcist (1), Theater of Blood (47), The Wicker Man (52), Don’t Look Now (56), Frankenstein: The True Story (57), Sisters (83); 1974: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2); 1975: Black Christmas (20), Deep Red (28), Jaws (31); 1976: Carrie (37), The Tenant (62), God Told Me To (99); 1977: Eraserhead (8), Martin (61), The Hills Have Eyes (90), Suspiria (100); 1978: Halloween (5), Dawn of the Dead (17), Magic (98); 1979: Alien (12), Phantasm (19)
The 1980s (19): 1980: The Shining (7), The Changeling (44), The Fog (86); 1981: The Evil Dead (11), An American Werewolf in London (18), The Entity (85); 1982: The Thing (36), Poltergeist (70), Of Unknown Origin (95); 1983: The Dead Zone (96); 1984: The Company of Wolves (76); Razorback (98); 1986: The Fly (54), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (64), The Street of Crocodiles (92); 1987: Near Dark (68); 1988: The Vanishing (40) Evil Dead 2 (53), Paperhouse (73)
The 1990s (13): 1990: The Reflecting Skin (33), Jacob’s Ladder (45); 1991: The Silence of the Lambs (69), Cape Fear (81); 1995: Seven (14), Safe (51); 1996: Thesis (93); 1997: Funny Games (16); 1998: Ringu (58); 1999: The Blair Witch Project (55), Audition (89)
The 2000s (11): Signs (79), Shaun of the Dead (67), Zodiac (72), Wolf Creek (75), Let The Right One In (84), [rec] (84)), The Lords of Salem (88), The Descent (91), We Need to Talk About Kevin (97), Get Out (100), The Babadook (101)
WHO'S DOIN' THE SCARIN': A MONSTER BREAKDOWN
PSYCHO KILLERS (28): The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2), Psycho (3), Halloween (6), Repulsion (10), Seven (14), Les Diaboliques (15), Funny Games (16), Black Christmas (20), The Honeymoon Killers (23) , Targets (24), Deep Red (28), Deliverance (29), The Vanishing (40), Peeping Tom (43), Theater of Blood (47), The Nanny (50), Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (64), The Silence of the Lambs (69), The Body Snatcher (71), Zodiac (72), Wolf Creek (75), Cape Fear (81), Sisters (83), Audition (89), The Hills Have Eyes (90), Thesis (93), We Need to Talk About Kevin (97)
PURE EEEEEVIL (14): The Evil Dead (11), Night of the Demon (26), Hour of the Wolf (35), Jigoku (39), Carnival of Souls (41), Jacob’s Ladder (45), Tales from the Crypt (49), Evil Dead 2 (53), Don’t Look Now (56), Ringu (58), Duel (63), At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (87), The Cabin in the Woods (92), The Babadook (101)
DAMAGED PEOPLE (12): Eraserhead (8), The Other (27), Freaks (30), Eyes Without a Face (34), Carrie (37), The Phantom of the Opera (46), The Tenant (62), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (65), Magic (72), Paperhouse (73), Play Misty For Me (74), The Dead Zone (96), Get Out (100)
GHOSTS (9): The Shining (7), The Innocents (9), The Changeling (44), Poltergeist (70), The Old Dark House (77), House on Haunted Hill (78), The Haunting (80), The Entity (85), The Fog (86)
VAMPIRES (8): Vampyr (13), Nosferatu (21), The Reflecting Skin (33), The Horror of Dracula (60), Martin (61), Dracula (66), Near Dark (68), Let The Right One In (84)
ALIENS (7): Alien (12), Phantasm (19), The Thing (36), Quatermass and the Pit/Five Million Years to Earth (42), Signs (79), The Descent (91), God Told Me To (99)
ZOMBIES (5): Night of the Living Dead (5), Dawn of the Dead (17), Shaun of the Dead (67), [rec] (2007)
FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER (KING OF ALL MONSTERS) (4): Frankenstein (7), The Bride of Frankenstein (25), Frankenstein: The True Story (57), The Curse of Frankenstein (97)
ANIMALS (4): Jaws (31), The Birds (59), Of Unknown Origin (95), Razorback (98)
PEOPLE WHO TURN INTO ANIMALS (4): An American Werewolf in London (18), The Company of Wolves (76), Cat People (48), The Fly (54)
WITCHES (4): Witchfinder General/The Conqueror Worm (32), The Wicker Man (52), The Blair Witch Project (55), The Lords of Salem (88)
SATAN (2): The Exorcist (1), Rosemary's Baby (22)
POLLUTION (1): Safe (51)
THE GOVERNMENT (1): Punishment Park (38)
How about Cronenberg's "Shiver" or "Rabid?"
ReplyDeleteThose would be in the 125-145 range, for me. Very good movies, though!
ReplyDeleteSchrader's Cat People? Spirits of the Dead? Vampire Lovers? Curse of the Werewolf?
ReplyDeleteAnd Sluizer's original version of The Vanishing puts the American version to shame. You should really see that one, and its cruel ending.
Schrader's CAT PEOPLE falls apart and becomes as dull as most of his other films after the first thirty minutes.
ReplyDeleteSpirits of the Dead has only the Fellini film TOBY DAMMIT to raise it up. Never seen VAMPIRE LOVERS. And I like CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF but it would be in the 110-120 range, along with many other dull but visually vibrant Hammer horror films. The version of THE VANISHING that I meant to site was the 1991 version. My bad. Sluzier's remake of his movie was one of the worst abominations ever to hit the silver screen.
My favorite scenes or characters from this list of horror films...
ReplyDeletewould be fun if somebody else came up with their own list of favorite scenes as well....
1) The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 73) - head turning around 360 degrees
2) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 74) - kids hoisted on meat hook / dinner table scene with grandpa
3) Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 60) - don't know why but scene where she is stopped by the cop
4) Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 68) - good old boys taking out the dead guys
5) Halloween (John Carpenter, 78) - dressed in white sheet with glasses
6) Frankenstein (James Whale, 31)
7) The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 80) - sea of blood coming out of the elevator / bar scene
8) Eraserhead (David Lynch, 77)
9) The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 61)
10) Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 65)
11) The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi, 81) - the witch trying to get out of the basement
12) Alien (Ridley Scott, 79) - finding the Aliens
13) Vampyr (Carl Th. Dreyer, 32) - guy with the scythe shot
14) Se7en (David Fincher, 95)
15) Les Diaboliques (Henri Georges-Clouzot, 55)
16) Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 97)
17) Dawn of the Dead (George A Romero, 78) - checking off the calendar shot
18) An American Werewolf in London (John Landis, 81)
19) Phantasm (Don Coscarelli, 79)
20) Black Christmas (Bob Clark, 75)
21) Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 22)
22) Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 68) - everyone gathered around the baby after it is born
23) The Honeymoon Killers (Leonard Kastle, 70)
24) Targets (Peter Bogdanovich, 68)
25) The Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 35) - the bride comes to life
26) Night of the Demon (Jacques Tourneur, 57) - the clown scene
27) The Other (Robert Mulligan, 72)
28) Deep Red (Dario Argento, 75)
29) Deliverance (John Boorman, 72)
30) Freaks (Tod Browning, 32)
31) Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 75)
32) Witchfinder General/The Conqueror Worm (Michael Reeves, 68) - the smile on Price's lips when he is torturing people
33) The Reflecting Skin (Philip Ridley, 90)
34) Eyes Without a Face (Georges Franju, 60) - the eyes!
35) Hour of the Wolf (Ingmar Bergman, 68) - the broken glass
36) The Thing (John Carpenter, 82) - the opening scene with the dog and helicopter
37) Carrie (Brian De Palma, 76) - the blood on the dress of course
38) Punishment Park (Peter Watkins, 71)
39) Jigoku (Nobuo Nakagawa, 60)
40) The Vanishing (George Sluizer, 88)
41) Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey, 62)
42) Quatermass and the Pit/Five Million Years to Earth (Roy Ward Baker, 67)
43) Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 60) - the close up
44) The Changeling (Peter Medak, 80)
45) Jacob’s Ladder (Adrian Lyne, 90)
46) The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 25)
47) Theater of Blood (Douglas Hickox, 73)
48) Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 42) - the "my sister" scene / the pool scene
49) Tales from the Crypt (Freddie Francis, 72)
50) The Nanny (Seth Holt, 65)
51) Safe (Todd Haynes, 95)
52) The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 73) - the ending
53) Evil Dead 2 (Sam Raimi, 88) - chopping his arm off
54) The Fly (David Cronenberg, 86) - the love scene
55) The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez, 99) - the end credits
56) Don’t Look Now (Nicholas Roeg, 73)
57) Frankenstein: The True Story (Jack Smight, 73)
58) Ringu (Hideo Nakata, 98)
59) The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock, 63) - the gas station scene / the schoolyard scene
60) The Horror of Dracula (Terrence Fisher, 58)
61) Martin (George A. Romero, 77)
62) The Tenant (Roman Polanski, 76) - trashing her apartment
63) Duel (Steven Spielberg, 71)
64) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (John McNaughton, 86) - the last scene with the girl
65) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 20) - the opening
66) Dracula (Tod Browning, 32)
67) Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)
68) Near Dark (Kathryn Bigelow, 87)
69) The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 91) - when she is jogging
70) Poltergeist (Tobe Hooper, 82) - the hands on the TV
71) The Body Snatcher (Robert Wise, 45)
72) Magic (Richard Attenborough, 78)
73) Paperhouse (Bernard Rose, 88)
74) Play Misty For Me (Clint Eastwood, 71)
75) Wolf Creek (Greg Mclean, 2005)
76) The Company of Wolves (Neil Jordan, 84) - going through the forest
77) The Old Dark House (James Whale, 32)
78) House on Haunted Hill (William Castle, 59)
79) Signs (M. Night Shamalyan, 2002)
80) The Haunting (Robert Wise, 63)
81) Cape Fear (Martin Scorsese, 90) - the dollhouse scene
82) Dying Breed (Jody Dwyer, 2009)
83) Sisters (Brian De Palma, 73) - the murder
84) Final Destination (James Wong, 2000)
85) The Entity (Sidney J. Furie, 81)
86) The Fog (John Carpenter, 80) - early shots of the fog rolling in
87) At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (Jose Mojica Marins, 64)
88) Dead of Night/Deathdream (Bob Clark, 74)
89) Audition (Takashi Miike, 99)
90) The Hills Have Eyes (Wes Craven, 77)
91) The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2005)
92) The Street of Crocodiles (Stephen and Timothy Quay, 86)
93) Thesis (Alejandro Amenabar, 96)
94) The Curse of Frankenstein (Terrence Fisher, 57)
95) Of Unknown Origin (George Pan Cosmatos, 82)
96) The Dead Zone (David Cronenberg, 83) - what would you do? scene
97) Cemetery Man / Dellamorte Dellemore (Michele Soavi, 94)
98) Razorback (Russell Mulcahy, 84)
99) God Told Me To (Larry Cohen, 76)
100) Suspiria (Dario Argento, 77)
101) Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)
weir's picnic at hanging rock? fulci's the beyond? bava's black sunday and kill baby kill? nyby's the thing? tourneur's curse of the demon? 1945's dead of night? and would this list be complete w/o craven's a nightmare on elm street?
ReplyDeletepicnic at hanging rock--creepy and haunting yes...but a horror movie? No.
ReplyDeletethe beyond--I despise Fulci. Gore for gore's sake, and the progenitir of the terrible torture porn movement. Hate, hate, hate Fulci and almost all Italian horror. black sunday and kill baby kill? Have to say...never seen 'em. I know, I know....
nyby's the thing--boring, boring, boring.
tourneur's curse of the demon--resides at number 26 under its original title
dead of night--one good episode does not a movie make.
a nightmare on elm street--I'm in the definite minority in hating this film. More of a comedy than a horror movie.
check out black sunday...i know you'll love it. it's probably my favorite gothic horror of all time.
ReplyDeletenightmare scared the hell out of me when i was a kid. it was one of those movies a big group of kids (boys and girls) would watch together. this was right around the time i discovered girls so this and evil dead remind me of so much more than just being scared stupid. i rewatched it recently and yeah it wasn't quite as terrifying, but it really is in the progression of classic horror films. it's iconic.
props for putting the reflecting skin in. i've been pushing this one of people for years since so few have seen it. and martin - possibly my fav vampire film.