Brainbugs Top 50 Best Horror movies of all time - Baumer's top 50 starts on page 18

[baumer]

39) The Conjuring (2013)

US

319 million

Person of interest:  James Wan

Memorable quote:  The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges upon which one we elect to follow.

 

 

In 1971, Carolyn and Roger Perron move their family into a dilapidated Rhode Island farm house and soon strange things start happening around it with escalating nightmarish terror. In desperation, Carolyn contacts the noted paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, to examine the house. What the Warrens discover is a whole area steeped in a satanic haunting that is now targeting the Perron family wherever they go. To stop this evil, the Warrens will have to call upon all their skills and spiritual strength to defeat this spectral menace at its source that threatens to destroy everyone involved.

 

 

This is just one more example of the haunted house film.  I just love them...when they are done right.  This one is, almost to perfection.  There are some scenes that are iconic already.....one of them being the hand clap.  There are some scenes that have scared audiences so bad that they have caused some to leave the theatre.  It didn't happen to me personally with this one, but I had heard of it happening to others in theatres around the globe.   

 

n 1971, Roger and Carolyn Perron move into a dilapidated farmhouse in Harrisville, Rhode Island, with their five daughters Andrea, Nancy, Christine, Cindy, and April. Their dog Sadie refuses to enter the house and one of the children, while playing a game of "hide and clap", finds a boarded-up entrance to a cellar.

Paranormal events occur within the first few nights: all of the clocks stop at exactly 3:07 AM and Sadie is found dead in the backyard. One night in bed, Christine encounters a malevolent spirit only she can see, prompting her to claim that the spirit wants her family dead. Another night, Carolyn hears clapping in the hallway. When she goes to investigate, following the noises, she gets trapped in the basement by the spirit. At the same moment, Andrea and Cindy are attacked by the spirit on top of the wardrobe.

Carolyn decides to contact demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, who have recently investigated a possessed doll called Annabelle. The Warrens agree to take on the case, conduct an initial investigation and conclude that the house may require an exorcism, but they need authorization from the Catholic Church and further evidence before they can proceed. Ed and Lorraine discover that the house once belonged to an accused witch, Bathsheba (a relative of Mary Towne Eastey), who sacrificed her week-old child to the devil and killed herself in 1863 after cursing all who would take her land. They find reports of numerous murders and suicides in houses that had since been built on the property.

 

Vera Fermiga was born to play this role.  Patrick Wilson is terrific as well but Fermiga carries this one.  She makes us believe in the Warrens.  She's soft when she needs to be and tough as nails when the time calls for it.  The fact that these are real people makes it that much more intriguing.  People say they don't believe in stuff like this...haunted houses, demons, sacrifices and so on.  I do.  I believe in spiritual malevolence.  It's not an area I choose to investigate or dabble in myself, but I have read enough and seen enough movies to believe it exists.  The Warrens are also responsible for investigating the Amityville case.  That just adds a layer of awesomeness to the film.  

 

 

[Brainbug]

The first Conjuring is really really good. Its just that i found its sequel in nearly all aspects that little bit better, otherwise it would have been in my Top 50.

[Daxtreme]

wow I remember reading on Near Dark on your last top @baumer but I forgot to put it on my watchlist and then it slipped out of memory.

 

Now is the time to put it on my watchlist properly! Thanks

[baumer]

38) The Sixth Sense (1999)

US

Box office:  672 million

Person of interest: M. Night Shyamalan

Memorable quote:  I see dead people!

 

 

Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is a successful child psychiatrist who takes on the task to help a terrified boy (Haley Joel Osment) who seems to be plagued by visions of ghosts. But as his relationship with the boy deepens, he learns some very disturbing truths about the boy's visions.

 

What can be said about the Sixth Sense that hasn't already been said before? The summer of 1999 was truly one to remember for film.  The Matrix was still playing into the summer.  The Phantom Menace launched the summer and legs like you wouldn't believe.  The sequel to Austin Powers shocked everyone and made gobs of money.  The Blair Witch Project, made for 60 grand came and scared the hell out of everyone and then The Sixth Sense came along and topped it all off by introducing us to a twist in a movie that we had never experienced before.  

 

 

The Sixth Sense was M. Night Shyamalan's debut.  He of course went on to direct two more incredibly successful films before perhaps the accolades got to him and he started putting out horrible films like After Earth and Lady in the Water.  His name is synonymous with greatness again with films like Split and The Visit.  

The Sixth Sense follows a tale of a 9-year-old child who is extraordinarily different compared to the fellow kids around his age. When adults think of 9-year-old kids, they are exceedingly cute, and just wanna squeeze their cheeks. However, Cole (Haley Joel Osment) is explicitly the opposite.  Cole has an extraordinary talent in which he can communicate with ghosts, dead people and he feels threatened by them and this causes him to pull away from his mom at times.  His mother is played by a then relatively unknown Toni Collette.   

 

Young Cole starts to understand that not all of the spirits he encounters are malevolent or evil, and with the help of his psychologist, played by Bruce Willis, he begins to come to terms with the notion that some of them might need his help.  

Aside from the interesting and original plot, the performances are excellent. Cole played by Haley Joel Osment gives one of the best young child performances in cinema history.  I likened this performance to that of Henry Thomas as Elliot in E.T.  They both seem years beyond their actual age.  Toni Collette is terrific as the panicked and slightly neurotic single mom who is trying her best to raise her son but at times is having difficulties doing so.  And then there is John McClane himself, in what is perhaps one of his best performances.  He is quiet, subdued and does an excellent job of listening and reacting.  There is no place for physical heroics like he is known for in many of his films.  Here, his job is to be there but almost be in the background and let Hayley do the heavy lifting.  

Willis plays Dr. Malcolm Crowe as a sad character who is disheartened by the lack of communication between he and his wife.   They became estranged after an incident which took place at the beginning.  AFter this incident, things were never the same between them and now he fears that their marriage might be over and that she may be having an affair. 

By now I'm sure everyone has seen the film so you don't really need to read anything more about the plot.  We all know the twist by now as well but that makes it even better to watch now.  It's fun trying to poke holes in Shyamalan's brilliance but you simply can't.  The Sixth Sense is one of the most interesting and well thought out horror movies of the last 25 years.  

 

 

 

[Fancyarcher]

Good list. Rosemary's Baby downright disturbed me the first time I saw it as a child, still does. Near Dark is one of the most stylish horror films I've ever seen and has a great cast, and The Conjuring is a rare modern horror film that actually scared me.

 

And The Amityville Horror has a great autumn atmosphere, and also a really effective score. I love the main theme. 

 

 

Edited June 12, 2018 by Fancyarcher

[baumer]

37) Final Destination 2 (2003)

US

Box office:  90.4 million

Person of interest:  David R. Ellis

Memorable quote: Being alive after we were supposed to die caused an outward ripple. A RIFT IN DEATH'S DESIGN!

 

 

When Kimberly has a violent premonition of a highway pileup she blocks the freeway, keeping a few others meant to die, safe...Or are they? The survivors mysteriously start dying and it's up to Kimberly to stop it before she's next.

 

Final Destination 2 is just flat out creepy.  It's one of the few horror films that actually caused physical changes to my body during part of the movie.  That part, was the opening 15 minutes.  To put it succinctly, I was in awe of it.  The opening scene of course is the freeway pileup that is first seen in Kimberly's premonition and then it happens for real.  David R. Ellis, the director, directed what I consider one of the best scenes in film history.  I'm not joking when I say that it is up there with the opening 15 minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark and with Chrissie Watkins death in JAWS.  I could watch the opening 15 minutes of the film on a loop and never get tired of it.   

 

Final Destination part 2 is of course the follow up to the original film that is mostly remembered for its opening scene where a plane blows up in mid air.  For my money, the first one was good.  But the second one is better and it ups the ante in pretty much every way.  The deaths are more creative and the gore is more extreme.  The Final Destination movies uses the R rating to its full advantage and the result is people getting split in two, heads being removed and so much more.  

 

But what really makes FD2 so good is how the story is tied into the first one.  The characters in this one are all somehow tangentially related to the characters in the first and when they figure it all out, it's kind of one of those scenes that just blows your mind.  Final Destination 2 is one of the better horror sequels.  

 

 

[baumer]

I have time for one more tonight.  This is the movie that @The Stingray recommended to me and it scared the absolute hell out of me.  I watched it alone and I almost turned it off.  That kind of feeling hasn't happened to me since I was about 12.  The only reason it isn't higher on the list is because the ending just didn't know what it wanted to be.  Frankly, it makes little sense.  But if the ending was better, this would have been a top 10 horror film.

[baumer]

36) The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

US

Box office:  5.9 million WW (10 grand in NA)

Person of interest:  Andre Ovredal

Memorable quote:  This amount of lung damage, though, I'd expect the body to be covered in third degree burns. It's like finding a bullet in a brain, but with no gunshot wound.

 

 

As mentioned in my last post, this is without a doubt, for me personally (no idea if anyone here will feel the same way) one of the scariest films I've ever seen.  And the crazy thing about it is nothing really happens.  It's just two men, father and son, dissecting a body.  But as they go along, they are putting together a puzzle.  What happened to this poor young woman?  And how exactly are things the way they are.  As they go along, they find one odd finding after another and as they start to put it together, it's gets weirder, more confusing, more macabre and more shocking.  This young woman, the Jane Doe on the gurney, seems to have gone through more pain and experienced more torture than anyone in the history of human beings.  And yet her body is still in tact, she is still beautiful and she shows no signs of any of this trauma, not on the outside.  

 

This is creepy a wonderful throwback to the 1970s when horror was, well, horror -- and not based on gimmicks like "found footage" but rather genuine scene-setting, story building, audience engagement, and full-tilt creepiness.  It might even be destined to become a classic.  Brian Cox is this generation's Donald Pleasence, that is to say, a character actor who could not give a bad performance if he tried yet is destined to never actually stand out in any single production because that is his style.  Director André Øvredal is one of those rare finds -- an auteur with (so far) a small body of work who is producing better and better films. This suggests that over time he will probably give us bigger and better treats to come.  Hollywood just has to give him a chance to direct something of substance.  I would love to see him get something like a remake of something like Pet Semetary or Hellraiser.   He might be best known for the Norwegian film Troll Hunter.  It was a well done film with a relatively small budget.  It took place in the cold and desolate terrain of wintery Norway.  This one takes place almost exclusively in one location.  

 

I'm going to assume many of you have not seen this film and I'm going to guess most of you haven't even heard of it.  I'm not sure if it is on Netflix but if you can find it, please, have a watch.  Keep the distractions to a minimum and the lights low and be prepared to experience some true horror.  

 

Thanks to @The Stingray for recommending this one to me.

 

 

[baumer]

The top 35 will begin tomorrow...or possibly later tonight.  But now I have real world things to do.

[baumer]

@75Live...I would honestly love to see your list.  You have seen so many horror movies and I'm truly curious as to your what you would have on your list.

[baumer]

35) RAW (2016)

France

Box office:  3 Million

Person of interest:  Julia Ducournau

 

 

Justine is a first-year veterinary student. Her elder sister is studying the same course at the university. Justine was raised a strict vegetarian but, as part of the hazing rituals, is forced to eat meat. Initially this has adverse effects but she soon develops a craving for meat...particularly human flesh.

 

Walk outs in film are a dime a dozen, Bad acting , Terrible script or maybe the vibe is all off, it's all part of the Hollywood game. When 20 people walked out of RAW in Paris last year at it's first screening it was for none of these reasons. The reason 20 people walked out and two fainted is because RAW is one of the most intense films to come out of the European state in quite awhile,

The crime of RAW is not that it is provocative it is that has the intelligence to smooth it over with focused direction and smart writing thanks to the helm at both ends, Julie Doucornow in her debut. 

Justine, played by an excellent Garance Marillier is a strict vegetarian in first year in veterinarian school. On the first night her dorm is raided by senior students and so begins the process of a week long hazing exercise.  One afternoon she is forced to eat a raw rabbit kidney. The results are almost immediate as she discovers within herself a craving for meat and as with the title preferring the raw variety. With all these events happening at the same time she struggles to find her place in school. Juggling students, family, teachers with a crippling disease I found my self drawing similarities between this and Brian De Palma's CARRIE. 

Justine, at a loss slowly succumbs to cannibalism but you won't see any zombies or Italian inspired cannibals here. The second act leads us to the reasons all those people walked out and missed the payoff and satisfying end. At heart a cannibal film but also and more importantly a story of young woman trying to find her feet and the most blistering of circumstances.

An original film from a first time director and something you can surely sink your teeth into.  I won't lie and tell you that part of the reason I related to this film is because I'm a vegan.  I can't deny that.  But personal beliefs aside, this is a very well done film and it has a bit of every thing.  Gore, thrills, a message, good looking women, suspense, terrific direction and a good pay off in the end.  

 

 

 

[baumer]

34) The Fly (1986)

US

Box office:  60 million

Person of interest:  David Cronenberg

Memorable quote:  Be afraid.  Be very afraid.

 

 

Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) is a scientist working on teleportation. Just when he thinks he's ironed out the last bug in his system, the intervention of a common house fly turns Seth into a 6 foot insect. The transformation from man to fly is gradual but horrific, and is witnessed by Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) ; a reporter documenting Seth's story. Seth has some time to try to find a cure, but is there enough time...?

 

@Brainbug summed it all up in his summary of the film and I don't really have much to add.  I will say that although David Cronenberg is the MVP here, Jeff Goldblum gives his best performance in this film.  He should have been nominated for an Oscar.  Without his interpretation of Seth Brundle, without his brilliant slow descent into madness, this film would have been very different.  

David Cronenberg redefined what we think of as creepy with this brilliant film. The makeup special effects and grossouts are top notch, but what is most surprising about The Fly is that it turns out to be a very well acted and emotional love story. It greatly surpasses the original '58 version.

The film focuses on the relationship between Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis at the top and once it takes its turn towards horror it really pays off. It's not just scary, it's a tragedy too. Jeff Goldblum is phenomenal. He is mesmerizing as he delivers great dialogue and once he's barely recognizable he still breaks through the makeup and you can feel the human inside. I can't believe he didn't get an Oscar for this, it's easily his best performance.   This is more than just horror, and it's proof that you just may find a truly great movie where you least expect it. 
 

 

 

[baumer]

33) Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)

US

Box office:  177 million

Person of interest:  Oren Peli

Memorable quote:   Welcome home, Hunter, this is your house. Gonna look out that window. There's your front door.

 

 

After experiencing what they think are a series of "break-ins", a family sets up security cameras around their home, only to realize that the events unfolding before them are more sinister than they seem.

 

When Paranormal Activity was first launched in North America, it did something very special.  It built up demand by playing in small college towns and it let people's reaction to it build the demand.  It's a found footage film that did something no film had done before.  It placed a camera in bedroom of the couple in the film and it recorded what happened to them in the witching hours of the night.  This worked as it scared a nation and people began demanding to see Paranormal Activity in their town.  I enjoyed Paranormal activity and thought it was very well done.  And yes, it scared me, especially the very end.  But imo, the sequel is just that much better.  

 

It's not that you need a big budget for these films but they upped the budget to 3 million (the first was 15,000).  Here is my original review for PA2.  Warning, if you have not seen the movie, there are spoilers in this review.

 

Paranormal Activity showed why it is much better to imply terror than it is to show terror. Jaws did it before Brody tells Quint he's going to need a bigger boat. Halloween did it with shadows gliding across the wall flickering in the candle light. Texas Chainsaw Massacre even did it as you never do see that girl go through the meat-hook, you just think you do.  This is what made the original so damned scary. Loud noises, shadows and lots of spooky dialogue made for one of the scariest movies ever made, in my opinion.

Now Paranormal Activity 2 comes out and it has the daunting task of furthering the story, keeping the tone of the original and not pissing off the fans who loved the original so much. Did it succeed? Absolutely! And not only did it succeed, it set the bar for horror films even higher than the original did. Straight up, this is better than the original, it is scarier than the original and it furthers the story or the original. Paranormal Activity 2 is one of the most harrowing experiences in the theatre. It slowly builds the story and then in the last 45 minutes of the film it assaults you with every imaginable trick it can to manipulate your emotions.

Paranormal Activity 2 does everything right. It starts with the fact that this is a prequel. This film follows Katie's sister and her new family. She has just had a new baby boy and they record his every move. Early in the film the house, a very large one, is ostensibly broken into, but nothing is taken, it's only vandalized. This causes the family to get security cameras installed in every room in the house. This allows us to see everything that is happening. And right away two very effective tools are used in this film that were not there in the first. One is that there is a beautiful German Shepherd who senses things that the family doesn't and you have little baby Hunter who supplies plenty of heart-stopping moments of his own.

Katie and Micah make a few cameo appearances and they add plenty of panache to the story. In fact, Katie and Micah's appearance are essential to the advance of the story.

Katie's step niece is the only one in the film who seems to believe there is a malevolent force in the house. And she does the research in the demonology that essentially knocks you off your chair. Her findings are so shocking that you literally fear the for the family. Introducing a Mephistopheles angle to the film is absolutely brilliant.

But the true strength of the film, like the original, is the things that go bump in the night, and there are much more of them this time around. I can count at least 6 instances where the film shocked me to the point of involuntary tears. One scene in the kitchen had me jump out of my seat. It was from this point on I knew the film had me completely at its whim. For a film to frighten me, after seeing more horror films than most people, is really impressive.

Paranormal Activity 2 is the best film of the year in my opinion. It is well written, brilliantly filmed, well acted and scarier than the first. Kudos to Paramount and Oren Peli for making such a shockingly brilliant film. Book of Shadows this is not.

 

 

[baumer]

Coming up in the next ten movies:

 

A found footage film that shocked me and that @K1stpierre likes immensely as well.

Mario Bava makes an appearance

The first Nightmare film does as well.

[baumer]

I'll get to more in about 6 hours.

[BobDole]

12 hours ago, baumer said:

35) RAW (2016)

France

Box office:  3 Million

Person of interest:  Julia Ducournau

 

 

Justine is a first-year veterinary student. Her elder sister is studying the same course at the university. Justine was raised a strict vegetarian but, as part of the hazing rituals, is forced to eat meat. Initially this has adverse effects but she soon develops a craving for meat...particularly human flesh.

 

Walk outs in film are a dime a dozen, Bad acting , Terrible script or maybe the vibe is all off, it's all part of the Hollywood game. When 20 people walked out of RAW in Paris last year at it's first screening it was for none of these reasons. The reason 20 people walked out and two fainted is because RAW is one of the most intense films to come out of the European state in quite awhile,

The crime of RAW is not that it is provocative it is that has the intelligence to smooth it over with focused direction and smart writing thanks to the helm at both ends, Julie Doucornow in her debut. 

Justine, played by an excellent Garance Marillier is a strict vegetarian in first year in veterinarian school. On the first night her dorm is raided by senior students and so begins the process of a week long hazing exercise.  One afternoon she is forced to eat a raw rabbit kidney. The results are almost immediate as she discovers within herself a craving for meat and as with the title preferring the raw variety. With all these events happening at the same time she struggles to find her place in school. Juggling students, family, teachers with a crippling disease I found my self drawing similarities between this and Brian De Palma's CARRIE. 

Justine, at a loss slowly succumbs to cannibalism but you won't see any zombies or Italian inspired cannibals here. The second act leads us to the reasons all those people walked out and missed the payoff and satisfying end. At heart a cannibal film but also and more importantly a story of young woman trying to find her feet and the most blistering of circumstances.

An original film from a first time director and something you can surely sink your teeth into.  I won't lie and tell you that part of the reason I related to this film is because I'm a vegan.  I can't deny that.  But personal beliefs aside, this is a very well done film and it has a bit of every thing.  Gore, thrills, a message, good looking women, suspense, terrific direction and a good pay off in the end.  

 

 

 

I've been catching up with your guys' horror lists over the past few days and reading your vehement dislike of Hereditary and artsy-fartsy horror movies and almost asked what you thought of Raw.....just had to wait a few days for the answer. Nice to see you liked it, I watched it with a nice midnight(ish) crowd and the audible reactions were great. Nowhere near as gory as I expected!

[75Live]

21 hours ago, baumer said:

@75Live...I would honestly love to see your list.  You have seen so many horror movies and I'm truly curious as to your what you would have on your list.

 

sorry for late reply, but yeah I want to do one.  Not sure I would have many surprises, well maybe a couple, but I'm trying to at least get the order done, then the write ups take the longest

[baumer]

Maybe you don't have to have long ass write-ups. Just do a few sentences explaining why each film is on your list. Not everyone has time to do long explanations. I mean life comes first right?

[baumer]

So if anyone is reading this.....I'll get a few more done today.  Hopefully a few before work and then a few after.  Here's one for now.

 

 

[baumer]

32) Bay of Blood (1971)

 

 

 

 

 

An elderly heiress is killed by her husband who wants control of her fortunes. What ensues is an all-out murder spree as relatives and friends attempt to reduce the inheritance playing field, complicated by some teenagers who decide to camp out in a dilapidated building on the estate.

 

 

 Bay of Blood is often noted as being an obvious inspiration on the Friday the 13th series, and when taking things such as the setting and a certain murder sequence into account, that is certainly true; but let's not forget that this is also a fantastic movie in its own right. The film starts off with a glorious sequence that opens inside a beautiful manor house. We watch as a wheelchair-bound baroness is brutally strangled, only for the rug to be torn from under us moments later when her assailant is the next one to bite the bullet! It has to be said that the film never tops its opening sequence, but Mario Bava's gore-fest manages to remain fascinating all the way through, as it turns out that the first murder scene sets off a violent chain of events that results in a very high body count.

This film would be properly categorised as a slasher, but its Italian roots ensure that it's often labelled a Giallo, and indeed Mario Bava does include Giallo elements; from black gloved killers and an array of odd characters, all the way to an amazingly convoluted plot. Indeed, the storyline here gets so complicated at times that it's liable to give the viewer an extreme headache, but Bava is always on hand with another glorious murder scene, and as the film features thirteen deaths in it's eighty one minute running time - there's certainly no lack of the red stuff. Bava ensures that the murders are suitably varied, and we get treated from an array of methods of dispatch, including axes, a spear through a lovemaking couple and an excellent scene that sees someone skewered to a wall. Mario Bava's eye for detail doesn't wane with this film, as despite being a grisly slasher; there's still more than enough time for beautiful scene setting. The bay itself looks great and excellently lends itself as a location for savagery, while the decors of the character's homes are elaborately Gothic. With the pitch-black ending, the director shows us that the film isn't meant to be taken seriously, and overall, Bay of Blood is both influential and a great time - and therefore shouldn't be missed by horror fans.