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23 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said:

All the Fulci movies, all the Argento movies, the Romero zombie films after NOTLD, new stuff that both of us end up watching like The Sickness... all of these are splatter movies, like it or not. 

Eh, if the only qualifier for splatter horror is gore factor, then nearly all horror films are splatter horror.  I tend to have more defined lines of demarcation.  

Yes, zombie movies have a lot of gory effects in them, but they are much different than something like August Underground: Mordum, Guinea Pig / Flowers of Flesh & Blood, The Red Room, or Men Behind the Sun.  For starters, not very many splatter horror films have the acidic critique of society in general that most zombie movies have.  Most zombie movies are remarkably substantive while most splatter movies are not, IMO.

I also do not classify most giallo as splatter, because I think that does a disservice to the giallo genre.  "Splatter" has a very negative connotation with me, so I tend to classify movies that are gory and violent for the sake of being gory and violent and also ones that I don't particularly care for as "splatter" for the most part, with Pieces and Dead Alive being notable exceptions.

I am a snob and an elitist.  Yes, I am.

Edited by J.T.
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13 hours ago, J.T. said:

I didn't want to be a hypocrite.  You can't critique something you haven't experienced for yourself. ?

I've seen them all so now I can honestly say that they all have no redeeming or endearing qualities. ?

a buddy of mine (huge Star Wars fan) got tired of people saying other space shows/movies were better. So, he watched absolutely everything that he could find so that he could make this exact argument.

He was running down the Star Trek list and i couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He dedicated SO much time watching the entire output of the Star Trek franchise, and it was essentially out of spite. I mean, it's hilarious the lengths he went to, but my gods man. 

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1 hour ago, odessasteps said:

I’m the exact opposite now. Why waste time and energy on something you know you aren’t going to like? 

Because we're being scholarly.  

One of the best Biblical theologians I knew was a Muslim.  It was amazing how he could debate and discuss scripture with so-called Christians that confronted him about his own faith and he could tell immediately that they'd never cracked open a Bible in their lives.

You cannot debate or criticize something that you don't have a point of reference.

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ABSENTIA (MIKE FLANAGAN, 2011)

IMDB

ROTTEN TOMATOES

AVAILABILITY VIA JUSTWATCH

SELECTED BY @No Point Stance

I'm picking Mike Flanagan's ABSENTIA from 2010, for no more obscure reason than I remember it being a good little indie feature

REVIEWED BY @Execproducer

*Some spoilers ahead, though I won't give away the ending.

Absentia (2011) begins with Callie (Katie Parker) arriving on her older sister's doorstep. Her sister, Tricia, (Courtney Bell) is in the process of having her husband Daniel (Morgan Peter Brown) declared dead in absentia. Daniel disappeared seven years previous and Callie, who herself is basically the black sheep of the family, drifting from place to place, has come home to offer Tricia support. Tricia is very much pregnant by Mallory (Dave Levine), the most recent detective assigned to Daniel's case. Nevertheless, she has struggled with moving on. She still replaces the missing person fliers for Daniel as they become old and damaged. Det. Mallory has pushed for her to move out of her neighborhood, not only to make a fresh start, but for her safety as well. It seems the general vicinity has seen a lot of people go missing over the years and more recently, a lot of pets as well.

Callie, who isn't known for sticking around when things get hard, is also hoping for a fresh start after battling a drug addiction and wants to help Tricia with closing the chapter on Daniel and getting through her pregnancy. Since beginning the in absentia process, Tricia has suffered both waking visions and nightmares of Daniel tormenting her for trying to forget him and having another man's child. Her therapist assures her that it is her mind processing grief and guilt. He asks her if she is still meditating and Tricia replies in the affirmative.  Callie gives Tricia gifts for her unborn child including a Three Billy Goats Gruff book. While jogging through a nearby pedestrian tunnel Callie encounters a man (Doug Jones, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) lying in the tunnel who she assumes is a homeless person. Amazed that she can see him, he tells her his name is Walter Lambert then he begs her to make a trade . Freaked out at first, she runs off but tells him she'll return with food. She is a born-again Christian and feels compelled to offer him at least that much. When she returns Walter and the pile of trinkets that were next to him are both gone. The next day after returning home from another jog she sees the trinkets piled on the doorstep. When she takes them back to the tunnel she is approached by a different man who tells her she shouldn't leave them there even as he himself leaves behind a bag at the tunnel entrance. 

At a lawyers office, Tricia and Callie complete the in absentia paperwork. Later while meditating Tricia has another vision of Daniel. Preparing for bed, Callie finds the tunnel trinkets beneath her covers. The police are called and Det. Mallory and his partner Det. Lonergan (Justin Gordon) question Callie about Walter though she has already forgotten his name. Mallory chastises Tricia about not moving, in the process exposing himself as the father of her child. Callie makes a cute duck face. The next day while Tricia is at work, Callie pulls a small box from under her bed and gives in to temptation. When Tricia arrives home Daniel's death certificate awaits her in the mailbox. Later that night something stirs in the tunnel.

Tricia and Callie go apartment hunting and Tricia finally decides to go on an official date with Mallory. As they leave for their date, Tricia once again sees Daniel out on the street. But this time Mallory sees him as well. Because it is really Daniel, live and in the flesh. Daniel collapses and an ambulance is called. At the hospital, Tricia calls Daniel's parents to deliver the news. A doctor explains to Tricia that Daniel is severely malnourished and appears to have not been exposed to sunlight for a lengthy period of time. Mallory and Lonergan question Daniel but all he can tell them is that he has been "underneath". Tricia and Callie take Daniel home. Tricia is very stressed. Daniel just wants to sleep. Mallory and Lonergan come by to further question Daniel. They find him cowering in the corner of the bedroom. They tell him that the doctors have discovered that Daniel had animal bones in his stomach and that his clothes are the same he was wearing when he disappeared. Believing Daniel is hiding something, Mallory loses his cool. As they leave, Tricia agrees to meet Mallory later that night. Tricia angrily confronts Daniel then breaks down crying in his arms. Callie uses again.

That night, Tricia and Mallory talk in his car as he pleads his case. He tells her that he'll do whatever he can to help Daniel, but the death certificate is accurate. Daniel isn't the same and she should leave him. Meanwhile a very high Callie is surprised by Daniel at the head of her bed. He is reading the Three Billy Goats Gruff book and, referring to the troll, tells Callie "That's not what it looks like, though. It's more like an insect. It has skin like silverfish.".  He tells Callie that she shouldn't have traded with it because it fixates. Daniel and Callie both hear a sound and something scuttles past the doorway. Callie goes to investigate and is knocked over by something in the bathroom. Back in the car Tricia breaks it off with Mallory. Going back to the apartment, she sees the door wide open. As Mallory goes to check it out, Callie runs from the direction of the tunnel, sobbing hysterically. She tells Tricia that Daniel is gone. Mallory discovers the apartment is wrecked. He questions a now nearly catatonic Callie.

We flashback to about 10 minutes earlier where Callie comes to in the bathroom and sees the creature that Daniel described earlier dragging him away. Callie pursues them to the tunnel where they disappear into the walls. Back at the apartment, now filled with police, Lonergan listens to Callie's story and observes her dilated pupils. Lonergan and Mallory talk. Both agree that Mallory's personal involvement is a problem but someone needs to tell Tricia.....she needs to file a missing persons report!  It is set-up like the punchline to a bad joke and it is indeed groan inducing. And it is going to come up again. I'm going to end the synopsis right there because there is still about a half hour of movie to go and I said I wouldn't give away the ending. I will say that Walter Lambert will come up again and the second man that Callie encountered at the tunnel will be key. That no one will believe Callie's story and that we haven't heard the last of the Creature of the Tunnel.

I think that Absentia is more interesting than it is good. So interesting that I watched it twice more with first the actor's, then the producer's commentary before I started writing this review. And both commentaries also included director and writer Mike Flanagan. If this had been a studio backed horror film I wouldn't be nearly as forgiving but they apparently pulled this off with a $70,000 budget, partly funded through Kickstarter. Shot over a fifteen day period mostly in Flanagan's apartment and surrounding neighborhood where the tunnel was located and making extensive use of natural lighting, the film actually looks quite good. Flanagan also utilized every available resource. The lawyer's office was borrowed from an attorney that appeared in a documentary he shot. With a little redressing and use of different camera angles it also doubled as Tricia's workplace. The apartment hunting scene was accomplished by pretending to go apartment hunting and using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, which looks just like a still camera. Only the hospital and police station scenes were shot at a budget studio with standing sets. They got assistance from Glendale, where the film was shot, in order to use the pedestrian tunnel. They scored Doug Jones because the DP on the film had worked with him on a Doritos commercial. In the actor's commentary they talked about how great it was for the one day Jones was on set because craft services went from donuts and pizza to steaks and other amenities that were rolled out specifically for his involvement. An embarrassed Jones chimed in that the red carpet treatment wasn't necessary and you believe him. The film's score was created by Ryan David Leack, a guy Flanagan found on Myspace. All of their interactions were conducted online. The music Callie listens to while jogging was an indie band that was friends with one of the producers. Besides friends and family, the film's extras were filled out with Kickstarter contributors, including the doctor, an actual doctor who wrote out and delivered the diagnosis for Daniel.

I said that the film was more interesting than good but that is not to say that it is bad. Crafting a horror film around the Three Billy Goats Gruff fairy-tale is a very neat idea. Flanagan took this suggestion from his brother Jamie Flanagan, who also has a role in the film, and ran with it. This "troll" though is a more Lovecraftian creature and the bargains made with it don't go as well as it did for the goats. The two leads, Katie Parker and Courtney Bell are both fantastic. Bell at that time was in a relationship with Flanagan and she became pregnant during pre-production. Her pregnancy had to be written into the script and actually adds to the character and her issues with moving forward. Morgan Peter Brown is also quite good as the ill-fated Daniel. Flanagan guides the film with a sure hand. He and DP Rustin Cerveny do a masterful job of overcoming the film's budgetary limits creating a consistent look. Leack's score and the overall sound design are both well done.  Flanagan edited the film as well and it is generally well-paced. I bit on the major jump scare even though I saw it coming a mile away.

Alas, there are issues. For all of the good work they did making it look like there was an extra zero in the budget there are little things that are truly jarring. For example, the family photos look like someone's first attempt at Photoshop, to the point where a childhood picture of the two sisters looks like someone badly trimmed youthful photos of Parker and Bell and glued them to a random background.  Just unnecessary props that detract from the presentation. Levine and Gordon, as the two cops, feel like they're acting in a different film. A B film I might enjoy, but it's not the one I'm trying to watch. Levine is an old friend of Flanagan's and Gordon, along with Brown, is part of the production company that helped Flanagan get his film made. It doesn't seem like they were getting too many notes. To be fair, Levine is mostly acceptable in his scenes with Bell. There isn't any stunt work to speak of, and likely no insurance for the film, so the creature attacks are strictly DIY. It might bring a tear of nostalgia to your eye if your childhood was filled with making Super 8 movies, but it doesn't quite fit very well here. As for the creature itself,  the less-is-more philosophy was wisely employed. However, when they felt the need to show you something, the practical effects used are far more successful than the digital ones added in post. I could call out a few more things but they did this for 70K and it is really quite impressive.

The only other thing I've seen by Flanagan was the Netflix limited series Midnight Mass which I enjoyed quite a bit. Judging from those two works alone Flanagan, who is an atheist, has a thing for religion. Tricia the practicing Buddhist and born-again Callie are ultimately not protected by their beliefs. This is a film about loss and how we as humans try to cope with that inevitable reality. Faults aside, Absentia is worth your time.

EDITOR'S NOTE

I asked Exec to do this one because I had an extra movie and he wasn't a fan of his first movie ?

This is not to be confused with the Amazon TV series that started in 2017

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I have two more reviews to post and possible some more Bonus Reviews

I legit can't find where I saved my review - I am hoping its on my work computer because it isn't on any of the ones I have here at my place

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1 hour ago, J.T. said:

Because we're being scholarly.  

One of the best Biblical theologians I knew was a Muslim.  It was amazing how he could debate and discuss scripture with so-called Christians that confronted him about his own faith and he could tell immediately that they'd never cracked open a Bible in their lives.

You cannot debate or criticize something that you don't have a point of reference.

True. If it's your job as an academic or film critic, you're at least doing it for a reason.

I saw plenty of crap when I was junior film critic (Dutch, Problem Child 2, Cats Eye) or in film class (I'm looking at you, Last Year at Marianbad). 

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20 hours ago, J.T. said:

Eh, if the only qualifier for splatter horror is gore factor, then nearly all horror films are splatter horror.  I tend to have more defined lines of demarcation.  

Yes, zombie movies have a lot of gory effects in them, but they are much different than something like August Underground: Mordum, Guinea Pig / Flowers of Flesh & Blood, The Red Room, or Men Behind the Sun.  For starters, not very many splatter horror films have the acidic critique of society in general that most zombie movies have.  Most zombie movies are remarkably substantive while most splatter movies are not, IMO.

I also do not classify most giallo as splatter, because I think that does a disservice to the giallo genre.  "Splatter" has a very negative connotation with me, so I tend to classify movies that are gory and violent for the sake of being gory and violent and also ones that I don't particularly care for as "splatter" for the most part, with Pieces and Dead Alive being notable exceptions.

I am a snob and an elitist.  Yes, I am.

I'm pretty much in tune with all of this. It's not so much gore that I don't like but what is the purpose for it's presence. Gore in a war film? No problem. Gore in a TV show like Banshee? Thinking specifically of the Burton vs. Nola Longshadow fight, there is so much going on in that scene that the gore bits have a useful plot purpose. Giallos have a mystery element that makes the story engaging. It's fine not to like them but they're not just women getting slashed to death left and right. I also agree with your point about zombie films even though there are very few of those (aside from the comedic ones) that I care to watch. Any type of gore film with a heavy supernatural element is potentially something I can enjoy because of course there is going to be dire consequences for dealing with these forces. That's as old as storytelling, from Prometheus getting his liver eaten by an eagle to giants grinding human bones for bread. Some of the fairy-tales that were in the libraries of my youth were gory as hell.

But gore films where the sole purpose is to show you how awful human beings can be? You can keep all of that. I'm not interested in real-life serial killer stuff or torture porn or crazy fuckers putting limbs through meat grinders or anything like it.

Edited by Execproducer
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If a movie’s killer or bystander gets covered in arterial spray, and the act is not a recreation of a known historical event, that’s a splatter pic. To paraphrase Dino:

When blood gets in your eye 

From some poor chopped up guy

That’s A Splatter

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@Execproducer Yeah, Absentia is an interesting concept, but it is a bit of a slog.  Mike has really hit his stride recently with Doctor Sleep, Gerald's Game, and The Legend of Hill House miniseries so he is one of those rare horror directors that was good to begin with but has come into his own after working with larger budgets.  Most horror guys are minimalists that make miracles out of shoestrings in the fine tradition of Tobe Hooper and George Romero.  However, if you give them a bunch of money, they collapse under the weight.

I also recommend watching Hush, Ouija: Origin of Evil, and Oculus as they all represent steps in his evolution into arguably the best horror director currently walking the face of the planet.  Sorry, Jordan Peele.

He has had a misstep or two since his run of awesomeness.  Before I Wake was also a good concept that turned out okay, but it could have been much better.

Edited by J.T.
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DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (Kumel, 1971)

Trailer is NSFW due to boobies

IMDB

ROTTEN TOMATOES

AVAILABILITY VIA JUSTWATCH

 

SELECTED BY RIPPA

I had a reason. Fuck if I can remember what it was.

REVIEWED BY @No Point Stance

A Belgian-French-German-USA-Canada co-production, with the kind of similarly internationally-diverse cast you might expect, D.o.D. is set and shot in director Harry Kumel’s native Belgium. It’s no fawning travelogue, however, and most of the film is interiors, in particular the nice, opulent, 1920s-esque art deco splendour of the Ostend seafront hotel where our cast gathers. The first arrivals are a newlywed couple, Stefan (played by Cagney and Lacey’s ‘Harve Sr.’, John Karlen!) and Valerie (Danielle Ouimet), but they are soon joined by Elizabet (Delphine Seyrig), a Hungarian countess, and her maid/companion/lover, Ilona (Andrea Rau, who reminded me a lot of Lina Romay). The countess makes no secret of her family name, Bathory, and Stefan seems greatly excited to discuss her notorious ‘ancestor’. This quartet, along with the hotel’s concierge, seem to be the off-season hotel’s only occupants, and they waste little time in getting to know one another. The Countess, as played by Seyrig, exudes old world class, like a golden age screen goddess. She is charming, though her predatory nature is evident from the start, and she seems fascinated with her new friends while appearing to lose interest in Ilona. She also appears playfully unconcerned about concealing her true age, even referencing a conversation she once had with – presumably – Archbishop Franz Ferdinand, and seeming to savour the disconcerted concierge’s unease when he becomes convinced that she has stayed at the hotel before, forty years previously. Meanwhile Stefan is reluctant to contact his mother with the news of his marriage, telling Valerie “She already hates you without even knowing you exist”. When he eventually does make contact with this aloof parent, we discover that ‘mother’ is actually an effeminate older man and presumably a sugar daddy to mixed-up Stefan, who follows their conversation by subjecting Valerie to a frenzied and sadistic beating with a belt as a storm rages outside. Understandably upset, Valerie packs her bag and tries to slip away but is followed by Elizabet, while Ilona (at the countess’ behest) seduces Stefan. Things go from bad to worse when Stefan accidentally kills Ilona just as Valerie and Elizabet return. Apparently unmoved by this loss, the countess supervises a cover-up, masterminding a late-night trip down the beach to bury Ilona in the dunes. Returning to the hotel once again, Elizabet finally seals the deal with Valerie, though ‘the bite’ is never shown and is only alluded to in a moment of post-vampirism verbal aftercare, Elizabet asking Valerie “Does it hurt?”. Stefan tries to extricate himself from the ever-worsening situation by fleeing the hotel but Valerie has other ideas…

I’ll leave the synopsis there, in case anyone who hasn’t seen DoD is interested in checking it out. This was actually my 2nd time around with this film and, while I’m not sure that I enjoyed it quite as much this time, there’s a lot to like here. It is firmly in the Carmilla mould of sapphic vampirism depicted throughout the decade in films like The Blood Spattered Bride, The Vampire Lovers and Vampyres. As a gallic-tinged 70s Euro bloodsucker film it is more refined and thoughtful than the works of Jean Rollin (of whom I am a bit of a fan) but never tries to pretend that it is not a vampire horror film; it is also perhaps not as ‘arty’ as its reputation might suggest. Despite this it is sometimes ambiguous about Elisabet’s true nature (and by extension that of Ilona, and later Valerie). At one point she seems to cast no reflection and yet later she is clearly, and intentionally, shown in a mirror helping Valerie dress. We see no fangs, no transformations into bats or wolves or mist are implied, and yet other tropes appear; our vampires fear sunlight and running water and are driven by hunger. Only the climax removes any doubt that Elisabet is the genuine article. A would-be vampire hunter who is introduced early in the story turns out to be little more than footnote. Interestingly, the few scenes of violence are arguably the DoD’s weakest moments. Ilona’s death is staged in a somewhat clumsy and unlikely manner, for example, and the aforementioned Van Helsing substitute is casually dispatched in the second act when a car driven by the countess knocks him off his bicycle (!). It could be that these were the elements that least interested Kumel and he treated them with less care, but I’m only speculating. In any case, the film as a whole deserves its respected status and rewards the viewer with a well-told, well-acted mood piece, and a (still) reasonably fresh approach to the sub-genre. ***1/2 out of *****

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BONUS REVIEW: THE 101 SCARIEST HORROR MOVIE MOMENTS OF ALL TIME~!  THE SHUDDER ERA~!

 

REVIEWED BY @J.T.

The List~!

Spoiler

101. It Follows (2014) - Intro / Beach scene.

100. The Orphanage /   El orfanato (2007) – The “Knock on the Wall” Scene.

99. ‘Salem’s Lot (1979) – Danny Glick comes to Mark’s window.

98. Horror of Dracula (1958) – Dracula saves Harker from the vampire bride.

97. Black Sabbath (1963) – The Drop of Water segment.

96. Pulse / Kairo (2001) – The Hallway Ghost scene.

95. The Strangers (2008) – Why Are You Doing This To Us? / “Because You Were Home.”

94. The Wolf Man (1941) – Talbot’s first transformation.

93. Cat People (1942) – The Pool Scene.

92. The Birds (1963) – The Phone Booth Scene. (RANKED WAY TOO LOW!)

91. Mulholland Drive (2001) – Winkie’s Diner.

90. Child’s Play (1988) – Chucky comes alive.

89. American Werewolf in London (1981) – David’s Nazi Ghouls nightmare.

88. Us (2019) - First appearance of the Tethered.

87. The VVitch (2015) - Caleb meets the Woman in the Woods.

86. Zombi / Zombi 2 (1979) – The “Eyeball” Scene.

85. The Changeling (1980) Cathy’s ball bounces down the steps…. Again…

84. The Phantom of the Opera (1925) – The Phantom is unmasked. (ALSO RANKED WAY TOO LOW!)

83. The Brood (1979) – Nola gives birth to a new brood.

82. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) – The ghost under the kitchen sink.

81. Demons / Demoni (1985) – Girl transforms into a demon on the movie stage.

80. Doctor Sleep (2019) – The True Knot tortures and murders the Baseball Boy.

79. Candyman (1992) – “Are those real live bees in his mouth?”

78. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) – Donald Sutherland screams.

77. The Evil Dead (1981) – The Playing Cards Scene / PENCIL GOES STRAIGHT THROUGH THE ANKLE~!  FUCK~! 

"I would not be surprised if Raimi had read the part in Stephen King's Pet Sematary where Zombie Gage cuts Jud's Achilles tendon with a scalpel and said to himself 'I need to put something like that in this screenplay I'm working on.'" 

76. Dawn of the Dead (2004) – Zombie Apocalypse Day One.  My God, the chaos.

75. Annihilation (2018) – The Mutant Bear Scene.  Holy fuck, dude.

74. Cujo (1983) – First appearance of rabid Cujo.

73. The Fly (1986) – Seth Brundle breaks a man’s arm in a bar.  I nearly puked.  That scene was hardcore

72. The Wicker Man (1973) – Edward Woodward is burned alive.

71. Nosferatu (1922) – First appearance of Count Orlok.

70. The Night House (2020) – Beth meets Nothing.

69. Aliens (1986) – The infirmary scene. / Burke tries to kill Ripley and Newt.

68. The Babadook (2014) – The Babadook haunts Amelia.

67. Last House on the Left (1972) – Mari and Phyllis are murdered.

66. Terrified (Atterados) (2017) – The dead boy at the table. (Yeah, this freaked me out.)

65. Friday the 13th (1980) – Alice’s nightmare (Jason pulls her into the lake).

64. Dawn of the Dead (1978) – The first zombie bite. (YUCK~!)

63. Peeping Tom (1960) – The ending scene.  Watching you watching yourself die.

62. A Quiet Place (2018) – Intro / The aliens kill the Abbot’s youngest son.

61. The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) – The Peeling Flesh Scene.

60. Phantasm (1979) – Ending Jump Scare / Mike is pulled through the mirror by the Tall Man’s minions.

59. Ju-On / The Grudge (2002) – Kayoko and Takashi come for Mariko in her apartment.

58. When a Stranger Calls (2979) – Intro / “Have you checked the children?”

57. Black Christmas (1974) – Billy kills Claire with a plastic bag. 

56. Jacob’s Ladder (1990) – Jezebel and the demon on the dance floor.

55. Threads (1984) – Ending / The “daughter” gives birth to a mutant / Cut to Black.

54. The Howling (1981) – Eddie transforms in front of Karen.

53. Gerald’s Game (2017) – Jessica de-gloves her own hand to escape her handcuffs.

52. Misery (1990) – Annie breaks Paul’s ankles.

51. Frankenstein (1931) – First appearance of the Monster.  (He walks in backwards!)

50. Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) – Nancy’s first encounter with Freddy / The Body Bag Scene.

49. A Bay of Blood / Twitch of the Death Nerve / Carnage (1971) – The impaled couple / Friday the 13th Pt. 2 ripped off this scene.

48. The Conjuring (2013) – The “Hide and Clap” Scene.  (See also 100. The Orphanage /   El orfanato (2007))

47. Get Out (2017) – Chris goes into the Sunken Place.

46. Twin Peaks on Showtime E8 (2017) – The Atomic Episode.

45. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – Ofelia and the Pale Man.

44. Rosemary’s Baby (1968) – Rosemary’s dream is not a dream.

43. Inside / À l'intérieur (2007) – The Mother kills her own mother thinking it’s the Woman.

42. Se7en (1995) – Sloth is not dead. / Sloth is still alive.

41. Zodiac (2007) – The re-enactment of the Lake Herman Road murders

[David Fincher has back to back entries with Zodiac and Se7en]

40. 28 Days Later (2002) – Dad gets the drop of blood in his eye.

39. 30 Days of Night (2007) – The vampires attack Barrow and kill nearly everyone.

38. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – The FBI is at the wrong house. / Clarice is alone with Buffalo Bill.

37. Suspiria (1977) – The Goblin murders Pat. / The Skylight Hanging Scene.

36. The Blair Witch Project (1999) –Heather sees Mike standing in the corner.  Oh, shit.

35. Paranormal Activity (2007) – Night #21 (Katie stands over Micah for hours while he sleeps).

34. The Sixth Sense (1999) – The ghost of the poisoned girl appears to Cole.

33. Let the Right One In (2008) – Eli rescues Oskar / The bloodbath at the pool.

32. The Invisible Man (2020) – The Restaurant Scene / Adrian frames Cecilia for her sister’s murder.

31. Wait Until Dark (1967) – Roat leaps out and tries to kill Suzy.

30. Don’t Breathe (2016) – The Blind Man isn’t the hero; he is the bad guy. / The “Turkey Baster” scene.

29. Hostel (2005) – The Dutch businessman tortures Josh.

28. Lake Mungo (2008) – Alice’s cell phone footage.

27. The Haunting of Hill House (2018) – (Episode 5) The identity of the Bent Neck Lady revealed.

26. IT:  Chapter One (2017) – Pennywise kills Georgie and drags him into the sewer.

25. I Saw The Devil (2010) – Intro / Jang Kyung-chul bludgeons Jang Joo-yun, kidnaps her, and then dismembers her off camera.

24. Hellraiser (1987) – The Cenobites return to claim Frank’s soul. / “Jesus wept.”

23. The Descent (2005) – Original UK Ending / Happy birthday, Jessica… or not..

22. Saw (2014) – The man in the middle of the room is not dead.  It is Jigsaw.

21. Scanners (1981) – The Exploding Head Scene.

20. [REC] (2007) – Ending / Angela is dragged away into the dark.

19. Carrie (1976) – Ending / Sue’s nightmare.

18. The Omen (1976) – Keith Jennings is beheaded by a pane of glass. / Greg Nicotero owns the severed head prop from the movie

17. Night of the Living Dead (1968) – Ben survives zombies only to be killed by racists.

16. Exorcist III (1990) – The nurse is murdered by the Gemini Killer. (Best Jump Scare Ever?)

15. Final Destination 2 (2003) – Intro / Everyone on the highway dies!

14. Jaws (1975) – The shark kills Chrissie Watkins, the skinny dipping girl.

13. Scream (1996) – Drew Barrymore is going to survive to the end of the movie isn’t she?  No, she is not.

12. Halloween (1978) – Michael Myers sits up behind Laurie after she stabs him. / You can’t kill the Boogeyman.

11. Alien (1979) –The chest burster kills Kane at dinner.

10. Ringu (1998) – Sadako comes out of the television set

9. Train to Busan (2016) - The first zombie attack on the train.

8. Sinister (2012) – The “Lawn Work” home movie.

7. The Exorcist (1973) – Regan’s first sign of possession / The “Spinning Head” Scene.

6. The Shining (1980) – Here’s Johnny!

5. Psycho (1960) – The Shower Scene.

4. Audition (1999) – Kiri kiri kiri kiri!

3. Hereditary (2018) – Possessed Annie attacks decapitates herself with piano wire.

2. The Thing (1982) – The Blood Test Scene.

1. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) – Leatherface puts Pam on the meat hook.  (The very first “walker scene” aka when movie patrons have had enough and bail before the movie is over.)

Like its spiritual predecessors on Bravo, the collection of authority figures offering their analysis is quite extensive.  The panel includes Shudder Network standards like Joe Bob Briggs, Greg Nicotero, and Tananarive Due (film scholar and featured member of the Horror Noire panel) as well as scary movie icons like Tony Todd, Keith David, Mike Flanagan, Joe Dante, Mick Gattis, Tom Savini, Jeffrey Riddick, and Tom Holland.

This list itself is very extensive and yet, it has some head scratching placement for some films (The Birds and The Phantom of the Opera are ranked way too fucking low for my tastes).  Also, there are some non-horror and non-movie entries that are quite jarring ("The Winkie's Diner Scene in Mulholland Drive ranks higher than the Phonebooth Scene from The Birds?" "Threads and Zodiac both had chilling moments, but are they really 'horror' movies in the traditional sense?"  "I fucking loved The Legend of Hill House, 'Salem's Lot, and Twin Peaks on Showtime.  I can see some folks crying 'foul' for the inclusion of miniseries content, but I'd let it slide in order to give deserving mentions some exposure.").

It was nice to see the list showcase recent instant classics and overlooked gems ("Yes, Exorcist III has the best jump scare ever engineered. There, I said it."  "Are there better horror movie intros than the first ten minutes of It Follows?  Maybe not."  "That fucking mutant bear in Annihilation, yo.  That's the good shit right there." "The Night House is great because Rebecca Hall carried it on her back over the finish line.   The premise avoids being cliche and tropeish because she fucking sells it like it was original.  Is the key scene better than the reveal in Phantom of the Opera?  Nah..."), but I feel that there are still some films that are not getting their fair due like Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cure or the absolutely heartbreaking South Korean supernatural epic, The Wailing. 

And how can you talk about the greatness of [REC], Lake Mungo, and the rise of the Found Footage phenomenon without considering the placement of NOROI:  The Curse, Trollhunter, or The Last Broadcast somewhere on the list?   What is your reflex as a horror movie snob?  Do you call bullshit or do you reexamine your own personal picks?  Are they as good as you think they are?

There were times when I felt the panel's horizon should have been a little broader:

("Should Mia Goth get an Oscar nom for Pearl?  Abso-fucking-lutely." "Does Martyr(s) have the most philosophically profound ending in horrordom or does it belong to the Shudder limited series, deadwax?  Aren't they kinda the same?" "If the ending of Saint Maud does not shake you to the core, something is wrong with you."  "Train to Busan, The Sadness, Gwoemul / The Host, Gojira.  Zack Snyder's brilliant intro to his Dawn of the Dead reboot is balls-to-the-wall apocalyptic chaos given form (if you are dumb and believe in fast zombies) but as a group, does anyone do collective crowd panic and societal bedlam better than Asia?  My Magic 8-Ball says "Signs Point to No."  If this is the case, then why is Train to Busan the only movie out of all of these with that element to make the 101 cut?" "The dissolving dude in Under the Skin?  WHERE IS THE LOVE FOR THAT SCENE~??")

but overall, I think the eight episodes had their desired effect.  You will either stick to your guns or perhaps you will introspectively examine your own list to see how well it stacks up   When you listen to the comments, you cannot help but know in your heart that these worthy horror scholars put more than a little bit of thought into making of this list so there is weight in their choices..  Excellent work, Shudder!

EDITOR'S NOTE

I reviewed some of the Bravo version back in 2019. First Part can be found HERE

Shudder has posted some of the individual selections on their Youtube channel if you don't have Shudder (there are far too many to link to individually here)

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On 11/3/2022 at 3:16 AM, J.T. said:

...Mike has really hit his stride recently with Doctor Sleep, Gerald's Game, and The Legend of Hill House miniseries...

Jesus, I hated that one, and the model it seemingly popularised for Netflix horror fare; take a premise that is barely sufficient to sustain interest for a 90-minute feature and stretch it absurdly thin in order to fill up 10 hours of content. 
I haven't seen his King adaptations though. The word-of-mouth and general critical of reception to Doctor Sleep was almost uniformly lukewarm, IIRC.

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I enjoyed Doctor Sleep and Gerald's Game.  I didn't expect much from them because in the past, most Stephen King adaptations tend to be total disasters.

I am pretty notorious for my hate of most revisionism, but I feel that Hill House was horror done right and arguably one of the best shows ever on Netflix. 

It bums me that Flanagan now seems to be padding his career by doing things that have already been done or retreading old ground ala Stephen King content, but at least this stuff is in the hands of a man that clearly has respect for the genre.

 

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NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (Tom Savini, 1990)

IMDB

ROTTEN TOMATOES

SELECTED BY @Travis Sheldon

To me this is one of the best remakes of all time.

Romero wrote the screenplay and kept everything that worked and tweaked some of the things that weren't as great from the original.

REVIEWED BY RIPPA

Before we go any further, let me make sure I make this perfectly clear. THIS IS THE REMAKE OF NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD! NOT THE ORIGINAL! Just wanna make sure that is established before someone gets all enraged because I might have said something unkind about the original.

There is nothing wrong with remakes. I think the current “popular opinion” is that “our” (our being a very very loose catch-all for 90s kids) childhood is being raped and pillaged since this is the latest time period that Hollywood has focused on since they are creatively barren. The irony being all the movies they loved from the 90s that in and of themselves were remakes (Father of the Bride, Parent Trap, Cape Fear and several others I would list I could remember that fucking movie ranking website we all used to use. No, not Letterboxd you fucks. FLICKCHART!!! On thank Christ. That was gonna haunt me for awhile if I didn’t remember its name.) You can only probably think of projects that have been announced in the last few years that would trigger you like remaking Night of the Living Dead undoubtedly triggered folks.

We all go through stages in our lives

  • Too young to care
  • Care way too much about things that aren’t important
  • Too old to care

Those who are in the "care way too much stage" would be the ones in the "remakes are a pox upon our houses camp" and they will eventually calm down. Those too young who watch things unburdened by the historical context a movie is coming from. Too old is all of us now. So fucking old. Does that mean remakes/reimagines/reboots are all good or all bad. Of course, not! Each one should be taken on its own merits. That all being noted – the quality of the thing you are remaking/reimagining/rebooting will set a different high bar and to clear some of them, your movie better be Serqey Bubka.

In this case – the high bar is a Top 10? Top 5? Horror movie of all time. George Romero’s 1968 original version of Night of the Living Dead is basically the OG Zombie. Even if you don’t think highly of the movie, its cinematography or the themes it addressed – it has a rep and lead to SO many imitators.

One of those “imitators” was from crazy ass George Romero himself. And this is where I think poor Tom Savini was set up to fail. Romero wanted the remake since he was still bitter of the rights/profit issues of the original.  So he writes a screenplay. The legendary Savini was hired to do special effects because… duh… and Romero suddenly was all ‘HEY TOM! YOU DIRECT INSTEAD!!!!” So now you have someone directing their first film and it a remake of one of the greatest horror movies of all time. And production wise… it was a nightmare for him.

I am just gonna quote Wiki since I am lazy
“The production was not easy for Savini, who described it as "the worst nightmare of my life". Savini said that only 40% of his ideas made it into the final film. Without Romero on set, he clashed with the producers, who did not allow him to explore his vision for the film.” It should also be noted that Savini had to basically butcher the film to avoid a NC-17 rating.

If you squint hard enough, it might as well be Bill Guthridge replacing Dean Smith.

I realize I am starting to sound like I didn’t like it (I should note here that this was the first time I watched the remake). There are definitely parts to like. But I am not like Travis and his praise above (more on that in a minute). I have two biases. 1) The original is so fucking good. 2) Boy, for me early 90s movies do not age well (in terms of their look). Everything seems so… dated. 1990 was right on that cusp before things in cinema made their next leap and my simple brain frequently punishes movies from around this time for it. I do want to make clear though that I have zero problem with the remake being in color.

Tony Todd is great as Ben but that really isn’t that shocking of a sentence. In my head cannon, the Candyman is actually Ben.

Patricia Tallman is Barbara and hoo boy, they give her red hair and a pixie cut and… mercy… is it hot in here. Just me? Good Lord. (I am trying to ignoring that they basically do the trope of how she suddenly gets more confidence (and hotter) because she loses her glasses. At least, due to the circumstances of the movie, it makes more sense than when it happens because she wants to fuck the quarterback.)

I really don’t know how I feel about the switch from the theme of racism to misogyny. That might just be because I like the ending of the original way more than the ending of the remake. That being said – I much prefer the way the daughter was handled in the remake (BTW – I don’t know why it was done but the daughter’s name is switched from Karen to Sarah. It confused me because I am an idiot. Plus, there is some now humor in the fact in this moment in time, Karen works so much better as a name). It doesn’t really matter because if the movie was released now either theme would have people yelling about how the movie is “too woke”.

Now to Travis point about the greatest of remakes – that I much prefer the Dawn of the Dead remake (the one with Sarah Polley and Ving Rhames that was Zach Snyder’s directorial debut). I think A LOT of that has to do with seeing around the time it came out (I caught it on which ever movie channel it was on after its theatrical run). As opposed to 30 years after the fact. Fuck... do I have the energy to bonus review that...?

Anyway, in conclusion, I guess for a guy who doesn’t want to be labelled as a horror director, George Romero makes a lot of horror movies. And is really fucking weird.

EDITOR'S NOTE

I basically didn't edit this.

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Remakes are a funny thing, I wouldn't think twice if someone told me that Psycho was their favorite film. But if they followed that up with "Van Sant really knew what he wanted and didn't let up.", I would probably be looking for a new person to talk with about cinema. But there are good remakes, I am not as fond of Dawn Of The Dead (2004) as Rippa is, but I do consider '04 a quality remake. The thing that works for me with NotLD '90 is that Romero seemed to want to trim the fat with the screenplay and I think he succeeded. Racism was not something that ever really stood out to me with the original, so having the misogyny versus racism talk sort of throws me. Barbra being more proactive was a bright spot as Tallman does a great job with the character. I guess having a more upbeat ending puts a perfect bookend to contrast the original vs remake.

Was it the Day of the Dead (2008) remake that had a zombie crawling on the ceiling? Good times.

 

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A remake that updates a story or has a clever spin can be good.
 

a shot by shot remake just seems like an unnecessary vanity project. 
 

the odd remake is when it’s done by the original creator, like Hitchcock remaking The ManWho Knew Too Much. 

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I should note that my review was the last one to be posted. I will double check to make sure I didn't forget to post anything so if you sent me something and I didn't post it - shoot me a message.

I plan on running this again this year with a few tweaks as I think I figured out a way to do it where everyone can select movies but you can also get some sort of bad luck protection

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