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

[Brainbug]

4 minutes ago, L Silverman said:

Ugh, I can't stand You're Next.  Adam Wingard is so overrated in my opinion.

 

From what ive seen on review sites and movie forums alike, You're Next and Wingards other films are quite polarizing. I personally didnt care that much for The Guest and HATED Death Note btw.

 

Anyway, i got earlier back than i thought, so i will probably be able to put 3 more out for today. The first one is the Hot Shots of horror films.

 

 

[L Silverman]

9 minutes ago, Brainbug said:

 

From what ive seen on review sites and movie forums alike, You're Next and Wingards other films are quite polarizing. I personally didnt care that much for The Guest and HATED Death Note btw.

 

Anyway, i got earlier back than i thought, so i will probably be able to put 3 more out for today. The first one is the Hot Shots of horror films.

 

 

 

Wingard thinks he's so cool and clever but his films just come off as smarmy and juvenile.  If the soundtrack is the best thing you can say about a movie, it means the movie sucks.  Oh, the Hot Shots of horror?  Hmmm... yeah, I have no idea. :P

[Brainbug]

Number 30:

 

 

Army of Darkness (1992)

 

Director: Sam Raimi

Box Office: 25,5 Million

 

Story: 6/10

Tension: 6/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Rewatchability: 10/10

 

 

Plot Synopsis:

 

The man, the myth, the legend that is Ash (Bruce Campbell) is stuck in the middle ages (i wont say why, i realize most of you know it, but i just dont want to post spoilers here), where he soon realizes, that in order to get back to modern times, he needs to find the book that has tormented him for so long: The Necronomicon...

 

The Evil Dead Trilogy is fascinating. You go from a (at the time) brutal splatter film to a horror comedy with the sequel and now to a pure comedy with some horror elements. Yeah, this film wont scare you for a second, but its scary how much you might laugh at and with it. With a budget of 11 Million, Sam Raimi and Co. created some of the most hilarious and entertaining special effects of all time, they never fail to amaze me.

But its not all jokes and slapstick: Bruce Campbell returns and he is just the man. Every line out of his mouth (" Alright. Who wants some?" / " First you wanna kill me, now you wanna kiss me. Blow." / "Keep your damn filthy bones outta my mouth" / Good...Bad...I'm the one with the gun!") is pure gold. In all honesty, Campbell isnt the best actor in the world, but his charisma is outstanding and he is just so damn entertaining to watch, even when he (or especially when he) fucks up. The other performances are...fiiiiinnnnnneee, but Embeth Davidtz as Sheila gets a shoutout for beeing in one of the worst and best romantic relationships ever put on film and for beeing nearly as hilarious later on in the film as Ash himself.

I could watch Army of Darkness once every month, i wont ever get tired of it. Its imo the best horror comedy of all time.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2018 by Brainbug

[baumer]

I loved Youre Next. So many great homages to other horror movies and some truly vile villains. When one of the killers wants to have sex next to the dead mother, I laughed and was horrified all at the same time.

 

Army of Darkness is great of course.

[Brainbug]

The next one is the very rare example of a remake beeing better than the original - atleast in my opinion, some might say otherwise.

 

 

 

[baumer]

Oh and Blair Witch is way better than most give it credit for. It's not perfect or even great but it's good.

[Brainbug]

Number 29:

 

 

The Ring (2002)

 

Director: Gore Verbinski

Box Office: 249,3 Million WW

 

Story: 8/10

Tension: 8/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Rewatchability: 7/10

 

 

Plot Synopsis:

 

You all should know this movie. You watch a video tape. You get a call from a girl that tells you that you only have seven more days to live. And well, poor Naomie Watts gets that call. And now she has to figure out a way to escape her demise...

 

The movie that started the J-Horror-Remake wave of the early 2000s and would ironically end up beeing the only great one. Verbinski was the perfect choice for this movie, his directing here is rock-solid and very atmospheric. This is in large parts a psychological horror film that doesnt rely on jumpscares or gore to shock its audience but does it the old-fashioned way: with constant tension-building and a creepy tone that is present from the first minute. The look of the film is also quite unique; some might say the green and grey colors look stale and cold, but for me, that gives the film a bit of a surrealistic touch that i really liked. The music from Hans Zimmer is also very good and only adds to the atmosphere.

The "villain" of the movie has become iconic for a reason as well. Samara might be memed time and time again, but she left an impact for a reason; not only because of the one iconic scene which everyone knows who watched the film, but her entire backstory and the "powers" that she posesses are just very interesting and were new at the time. The Ring also works as a drama film so to say with horror elements or as a mystery thriller; i personally didnt get scared one bit by it, but thats not how i rate horror films; i rate them by hoch much i enjoy them and this is one film that i will never not enjoy. It also stands, like i said, as one of the few shining examples on how remakes should be made; Honor the original, but stand on your own.

 

The film ofc is the remake of the 1998 Japanese horror film "Ringu", which by itself is also very good and spawned sequels. The american version also got 2 sequels, "The Ring Two", which is awful and "Rings", which is hilariously awful.

 

Calm soundtrack (this time mostly for real lol):

 

 

[baumer]

49 minutes ago, Brainbug said:

The next one is the very rare example of a remake beeing better than the original - atleast in my opinion, some might say otherwise.

 

 

 

 

The Ring was my guess. And it is unequivocally better than Ringu.  Not to give away my upcoming list but The Ring is top ten stuff for me. 

 

Veebinski directs the fucking hell out of The Ring. And Samara coming out of the TV is one of the scariest scenes in horror history!!

[Brainbug]

The next one is explosive as hell.

 

 

[baumer]

5 minutes ago, Brainbug said:

The next one is explosive as hell.

 

 

 

Scanners?

[Brainbug]

Number 28:

 

 

Predator (1987)

 

Director: John McTiernan

Box Office: 98,3 Million

 

Story: 6/10

Tension: 9/10

Atmosphere: 8/10

Rewatchability: 8/10

 

 

Plot Synopsis:

 

An elite special forces team lead by Major Dutch (Arnie) is on a mission to rescue hostages from guerilla-held territory somewhere in Central America. But as the battel is underway, theres another threat rising in the form of an alien known as The Predator...

 

Let me make one thing clear: If this would be a Top 50 action movies list, this film right here would be in the Top 10. It has everything one could want out of an 80s action fest: The one-liners, the muscles, the guns and explosions, the obvious bad guys dying in the dozens.

But Predator is also a horror triller. Because the action part of the movie is only in the 1st act, after that, its a cat-and-mouse game par excellence and a brutal one at that: The film doesnt hold back with the blood and suddenly, a team of seamingly unstoppable badasses seem rather hopeless against this one, highly-intelligent monster that wont show any mercy at all with the men. The war allegories work really well here and ive always liked movies where characters which would be kicking ass in any other movie, have to find a way out of a situation where pure strength or massive weaponery dont always help out. Predator is exciting, its suspensfull as hell, its surprising and in the best kind of sense meaty. Just one hell of an action movie and a great horror film as well.

 

It got a few sequels: Predator 2 is rather solid, Predators i didnt care much for and the crossover sequels with Alien were meh for me. This years "Predator" from Shane Black just had an underwhelming trailer, but i still hope for the best for that movie.

 

"Killer" soundtrack:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fancyarcher]

Predator is fantastic, and endlessly quotable too. Also love Army of Darkness. 

 

[Brainbug]

Last one for today and 2016 strikes again!

[Lucas]

8 minutes ago, Brainbug said:

Last one for today and 2016 strikes again!

The Witch? 

[Brainbug]

Number 27:

 

 

The Witch (2016)

 

Director: Robert Eggers

Box Office: 40,4 Million WW

 

Story: 8/10

Tension: 8/10

Atmosphere: 9/10

Rewatchability: 7/10

 

 

Plot Synopsis:

 

Its the 1630s in New England: A puritan family is banished from their village and tries to begin a new life at a farm outside the woods. At first, everything seems normal, but then suddenly the baby of the family disappears...and well, there just might be a witch living in the nearby forest.

 

Whats with the horror genre and kids suddenly disappearing? Well nevermind, since this one blew my expectations out of the water. To be fair, i actually thought this was gonna suck. I didnt like the trailers and even 10 minutes into the movie, i didnt have the feeling that this would be something for me. I watched it through and after the first viewing i liked it quite a bit. A few months later a friend came to me and we watched it together. He loved it. And i did too.

The Witch doesnt make it easy at all to love it though. The colors are very grey and seem a bit lifeless, the camera is stale and doesnt move around a lot. The whole film feels very simplistic, but thats actually beneficial for the atmosphere: This really feels like as if someone went back in time to film this event, all of it feels so incredibly real. The performances and the script are the key to success here: Everyone acts the hell out of their roles, especially the kids though: The twins and Anya-Taylor Joy's Thomasin are just outstanding. Ralph Ineson as the Father and Kate Dickie as the Mother are also exhilarating. The film is pure drama and paranoia, the viewer, despite often seeing what is going on, doesnt know at any point what really is going on and who really is responsible (unless you pay extremely close attention ). Its as good as this concept could be imo. Not a masterpiece, but a very effective psychological horror film. 

 

Calmest soundtrack to date:

 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2018 by Brainbug

[baumer]

Interesting choice with predator. I've never thought of Predator as being a horror movie but I guess it is. The witch was decent in my opinion but nowhere near a top 50 selection for me.

[Brainbug]

Just now, baumer said:

Interesting choice with predator. I've never thought of Predator as being a horror movie but I guess it is. The witch was decent in my opinion but nowhere near a top 50 selection for me.

 

Predator for me is similar to Alien: The former is an Action-horror film, the latter a Science-Fiction-horror film. Imo, they can be counted in both genres.

 

 

[FantasticBeasts]

8 minutes ago, Brainbug said:

 

Predator for me is similar to Alien: The former is an Action-horror film, the latter a Science-Fiction-horror film. Imo, they can be counted in both genres.

 

 

Is Aliens considered horror though?

I would guess nope but I can never be sure with those things.

P.S: Since you count it, you better have Alien in your Top 10.

Edited June 6, 2018 by FantasticBeasts

[baumer]

Aliens will be on mine

[Brainbug]

8 minutes ago, FantasticBeasts said:

Is Aliens considered horror though?

I would guess nope but I can never be sure with those things.

P.S: Since you count it, you better have Alien in your Top 10.

 

Aliens is a super-interesting case, because while it is the sequel to a horror film, it uses basically none of its techniques and rather its own as an action thriller. Aliens for me is not a horror movie, because it never wants to scare us directly, unlike films like the first one or Predator. Aliens' goal is to entertain the viewer by is suspense and action, not by the horror aspects. One thing makes that very clear for me: The Xenomorphs in Aliens dont actually feel like that much of a threat on their own, because the characters manage to kill hundreds of them, making them basically typical no-name bad guys from other 80s action films. In the first one, there was only 1 Alien and the fact that it seemed so unkillable made it so scary.

 

To be clear, i love both films. But they coudnt be much more different. So dont expect Aliens to pop up here and guys, please dont kill me for that i hope you can understand my reasoning

Edited June 6, 2018 by Brainbug