SHOCKtober: 10-1

Well, well, here we are. The end of our long, difficult journey has arrived. Let's throw that ring into the lava and get on with it, shall we? Without further ado, here are the ten films that have scared you guys the most. The number in bold is the number of votes received.

10. Poltergeist -- 1982, Tobe Hooper -- 17

9. A Nightmare on Elm Street -- 1984, Wes Craven -- 17

8. The Ring -- 2002, Gore Verbinski -- 18

7. The Descent -- 2005, Neil Marshall -- 22

6. Alien -- 1979, Ridley Scott -- 23

5. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre -- 1974, Tobe Hooper -- 25

4. The Shining -- 1980, Stanley Kubrick -- 25

3. The Blair Witch Project -- 1999, Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez -- 27

2. Halloween -- 1978, John Carpenter -- 28

1. The Exorcist -- 1973, William Friedkin -- 36

And there you have it. That's a mighty fine Top 10, folks! It wouldn't exactly match up to mine (I should maybe get around to posting that some time), but I would gladly take it.

I was interested to see how it stacks up against your 2010 list of favorite horror films, so I made this scientific chart:

Now, there are some major discrepancies in terms of vote numbers, so that's worth bearing in mind. In 2010, I asked for your Top 20 favorites...I learned my lesson from the madness that wrought and this year, I only asked for ten movies. Also, the voter turnout this year was decidedly lower. But still, a comparison is noteworthy.

Look at that, in 2013, not a zombie in sight! 2010, not a Blair Witch to be found! Freddy Krueger earned the same spot on both lists! Leatherface and Jack Torrance swapped places! The WOW FACTOR is immense.

Anyway. Good job, everyone. Pat yourself on the back! Unless you didn't submit your list...in that case, punch yourself in the face! With candy. It's Halloween!

By: Unknown On 10.07

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amazon one-star reviews: THE DESCENT

Anyone who knows me knows I loves me some The Descent (2005 oh muh gahd, 2005? how is that movie eight years old already). I loved it the first time I saw it, I loved it the last time I saw it (which will not be the last time I see it), and I loved it every time I saw it in between. It's in my Top 20 favorites, and I imagine it will remain there until I am dead and gone. It will remain on the physical manifestation of my list until Blogger vanishes one day due to a nuclear/zombie/SARS/SkyNet apocalypse.

But I am as magnanimous as I am beautiful, and I realize that this terrific film may not be in everyone's Top 20 favorites. That's okay. Variety makes the world and all the Hometown Buffets within that world go 'round.

In fact, The Descent is so far removed from some peoples' Top 20s that they feel it deserves but one star! Out of five! Hey, I may find that to be a crazy notion, but when the critiques are well-reasoned and thoughtful, like this one, I ain't fixin' to argue about it.

I SAW THE MOVIE BUT IT'S BORED AT ALL. ALSO IT'S NOT ENJOYMENT. THE CREATURE WAS STRANGE AND DISGUSTING. I THOUGHT THIS MOVIE WAS GOOD-LOOKING BUT IT WAS NOT. ANYWAY THIS MOVIE WAS A FAILURE.

As I said, it's okay if some folks find The Descent to be not enjoyment. I find it to be do enjoyment, and that's all that matters to me.

By: Unknown On 11.04

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I done talked...

...a whole bunch with Shauna MacDonald of The Descent and The Descent 2. Now you- yes, you!- can read that interview right here at Pretty/Scary.


Now that I've interviewed her and Alex Reid, I've talked with my two favorite cavers from one of my favorite horror films. What else is left?

Ah, this Diet Coke!

By: Unknown On 16.44

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5 sweet reveals

I'm cranky today. Therefore, I decided to post about a subject that makes me happy: great reveals in horror movies. I don't mean, like, when we find out that Mrs. Bates is actually Norman Bates (PS- spoiler alert) or a simple jump scare or something along those lines. I'm talking about movies that take their sweet-ass time revealing what, exactly, is killing all the pretty young things. Or what will soon be killing all the pretty young things. You know- the monster. It's all about anticipation capped with a mind-blowing holycrapdidyoujustseethat moment. Here are my five favorite examples in no particular order; you may disagree with my choices, but that's your beeswax. (PPS- more spoiler alerts)

Salem's Lot

I talked about this a bit in my review of the 1979 made-for-TV miniseries Salem's Lot oh so many moons ago- it's just that amazing.

Aside: this was made for TV. MADE FOR TV. Made for TV and it's got more scares than most of the crap at your local thee-ay-ter. The old days were better, etc etc.

Anyway, while there's plenty of vampire action and weird goings-on going on in the Lot, all everyone keeps talking about is "Mr. Barlow this" and "Mr. Barlow that". Who is this guy? Some shy, old antiques dealer? More than two hours into the production, we meet this Mr. Barlow, and...well...

Actually, "meet" is too gentle a word to use for our introduction to this mystery man. Suddenly, oh so suddenly, he's there- BAM, in your face like an edgy comedian or an energy drink. We may have suspected that Mr. Barlow was the king of the new crop of vamps floating and biting their way around town, but no one could have suspected he'd look like that, like your worst possible nightmare come to life. Not. Cool.

The Ring

I don't care what you say, I love The Ring. Certainly the waterlogged ghost-girl idea has become boring since this film hit in 2002, and there's no denying that the herky-jerky camera style has been overused in horror like an old man's handkerchief, but come on. When we were introduced to Samara all those years ago we were innocent! It was a novel concept! The endeavor was as invigorating as a York Peppermint Pattie with only half the calories (no, that doesn't make sense).

Anyway, The Ring. Sure, we see Samara a bit on the eeeevil videotape, and we see the results of...whatever it is she does to victims seven days after they watch said tape. But it's not until the film passes the 90-minute mark- not until we think everything's gonna be a-ok, that Samara has gone off into the light- that we see her in all her water-logged, stinky glory. It's bitchin'. No, we still don't really know what she actually does to people, but I don't really care. She crawls out of TVs, and that's all I need to know.




Oh, and when getting these screencaps I noticed that this...

...is a copy of The Craft. Thought you might like to know.

Alien

I don't usually find monster movies scary, but Alien is a huge exception to that. Part of the reason why the film works so well is because it keeps building and building- the crew of the towing vessel Nostromo faces an enemy that quickly adapts to its environment as it grows. We get a glimpse of the titular xenomorph more than an hour into the proceedings, when Brett (Harry Dean Stanton) heads into the bowels of the ship to find the tiny alien which burst from the chest of a crewmate just hours earlier. The alien is no longer a chestburster, though: it's grown into a hugely tall, drooling, dual-mouth-wielding, acid-blood-squirting badass. Yeah, didn't expect that.




In related news, I want to open a sci-fi-themed strip club called The Titular Xenomorph.

The Descent

Our plucky spelunkers of Neil Marshall's The Descent are pretty well fucked about 20 minutes in. After a section of the uncharted cave they're exploring collapses, they desperately search for a way out...and then stupid ol' Holly (Nora-Jane Noone) goes and injures herself, putting a serious damper on a decidedly crappy day. Oh yeah- and they're not alone.

Marshall gives us quick glances here and there, enough to let us know that there's something in the depths with the women, but we don't get a good look at the crawlers for almost an hour...but when we do, it's a complete shock. As their dire situation causes the women to begin to panic, their night-vision camera pans around and a crawler is THERE, having snuck up behind them silently. Yes, I use "snuck" even though it's not a real word, because it sounds cooler than "sneaked". My tenuous grasp on the English language aside, the sequence is fucking brilliant, a highlight of the terrifically terrifying film.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

Holy crap, whaddayou know: Tobe Hooper is responsible for two out of my five choices!

In the first half hour of the film, a van full of teenagers deals with a lot of bad stuff- the unrelenting Texas sun, the crazy hitchhiker who brandishes a knife at them (and himself), Franklin whining and eating a sausage- but it all leads up to the horrors inside the isolated farmhouse that Kirk and Pam find. There's a generator running, but no one seems to be home...when Kirk heads inside to investigate, his curiosity is piqued by the squeals of a pig emanating from a strange doorway that's bedecked with animal skulls. Of course, it's not a pig- it's Leatherface. He appears in a close-up, and before we even know what's happening, he's bashed Kirk over the head and dragged him inside the mysterious room. He slams the door shut without a word, and it's on. It's absolute horror movie perfection.




So there you go, my five faves. I must say, I'm slightly less cranky now, having written about some of the best scenes horror has to offer...unless it's just the Thunderbird I've chugged while writing this. Either way, I feel so pretty!

By: Unknown On 13.12

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