Box Office Theory's Top 50 Horror Movies (2018): THE REVEAL | The countdown is complete! Full list in the first post

[WrathOfHan]

3. Halloween (1978) (136.5 points)

 

Director: John Carpenter

 

Screenwriters: John Carpenter and Debra Hill

 

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, P.J. Soles, and Nancy Loomis

 

Synopsis: Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield to kill again.

 

Box Office: 70M

 

95% on Rotten Tomatoes, 81 on Metacritic

 

Submissions Received: 18

Average Position: 8^th

Number One Placements: 2

Top Five Placements: 8

 

This is John Carpenter’s second top five entry, and of course, it is none other than Halloween. We are currently in a great time for the franchise as the new sequel generated so much buzz and make over 75M on its OW (likewise, we are currently in the post-Halloween crash as it is #CRUMBLING). This kickstarted the slasher craze, but honestly, no other franchise topped what Carpenter did here. Halloween is a film with so much to enjoy. It is a close, tight-knit film with a very low budget, which adds to the simple nature of the movie. Michael Myers is a force to be reckoned with as he descends upon Haddonfield, and Laurie and Dr. Loomis are great protagonists to root for. Halloween represents Carpenter’s and the genre’s strengths magnificently.

 

Halloween received lots of love, which could partially be the result of hype from the new film. Over three-fourths of submissions were top ten placements.

 

[WrathOfHan]

2. Jaws (1975) (157 points)

 

Director: Steven Spielberg

 

Screenwriters: Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb

 

Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, and Murray Hamilton

 

Synopsis: When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach resort, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.

 

Box Office: 470.7M

 

97% on Rotten Tomatoes, 87 on Metacritic

 

18^th on Box Office Theory’s Top 100 Films (2018 edition)

 

Nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning three for Best Editing, Score, and Sound

 

Submissions Received: 20

Average Position: 8^th

Number One Placements: 5

Top Five Placements: 11

 

The runner-up for the countdown is Jaws. Steven Spielberg’s classic blockbuster terrified audiences upon release and became a cultural phenomenon so big that it was the highest grossing film of all time until Star Wars released two years later. One of the best aspects about Jaws is the buildup. Most of the shark mayhem is contained in the second half of the film, which gives time for the characters and village of Amity to flourish. It gets you in the mood for the horrors that await in the ocean, and the film’s practical effects shine. The shark design still looks great over 40 years later! Although I am not as hot on Jaws as most of you are, it still made my list as I do enjoy it a lot. Spielberg’s film is definitely worthy of its praise.

 

Jaws had the most number one votes of any film on the countdown and received one more than the number one film did. Additionally, more than half of the placements were in top tens. If not for a couple lower votes, the average position could have been fifth!

 

[WrathOfHan]

1. The Shining (1980) (171.5 points)

 

Director: Stanley Kubrick

 

Screenwriters: Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson

 

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, and Danny Lloyd

 

Synopsis: A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

 

Box Office: 44.4M

 

86% on Rotten Tomatoes, 63 on Metacritic

 

48^th on Box Office Theory’s Top 100 Films (2018 edition)

 

Submissions Received: 22

Average Position: 8^th

Number One Placements: 4

Top Five Placements: 13

 

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is the forum’s number one horror film! This is a classic horror film unlike any other. Throughout the nearly two-and-a-half-hour runtime, Kubrick crafts one of the most unsettling depictions of insanity with Jack Torrance. This is one of Jack Nicholson’s best performances that highlights why we love him as an actor so much but is also a testament to how commanding his screen presence can be. Jack Torrance is always a dominating person to his family, and we the audience feel that. It makes the third act of the film so intense as his delusions become grander. The Shining contains so many iconic moments; to name a few, there is REDRUM, room 237, the twins, and of course, “HERE’S JOHNNY!” These moments are iconic because of how damn unsettling they are and Kubrick’s attention to detail. The Shining is one of Stanley Kubrick’s best films and is worthy of its position as the number one horror film on the countdown.

 

Obviously, you guys loved The Shining. It received the most top five placements out of any film, and only four votes fell below tenth.

 

[WrathOfHan]

And with that, the countdown is finished! Thank you so much for following along! This took a little longer to complete than I anticipated, and I appreciate your patience over the past couple weeks. The next iteration of the countdown could be next year, or it may be every other year. We'll see how I feel next year. Once again, thanks for following along! I'll have the full list updated in the first post  

[Tower]

The Shining isn't my choice for number 1, but it's definitely good, and I could see why it did so well.

Edited November 9, 2018 by Tower

[Cap]

Awesome job, @WrathOfHan!  Really great write ups and fun gifs!  Thanks for doing this!  (PS, high fives for the five-page paper on Alien.  I have done like 2 of those in my life.  You should post yours (or just PM me it).  It's totally one of my Top 5 FAVORITE movies, period.)

[WrathOfHan]

3 minutes ago, captainwondyful said:

Awesome job, @WrathOfHan!  Really great write ups and fun gifs!  Thanks for doing this!  (PS, high fives for the five-page paper on Alien.  I have done like 2 of those in my life.  You should post yours (or just PM me it).  It's totally one of my Top 5 FAVORITE movies, period.)

My computer is acting up rn, but i’ll send it to you tomorrow  

[kitik]

On 11/2/2018 at 12:18 AM, WrathOfHan said:

 158-67 had 7 points from 2 votes,

 

166.  Sleepaway Camp

 

 

Just curious, who else voted for Sleepaway Camp? Also, thank you to whoever did.

 

I almost thought about including all 4 Sleepaway Camps on my list. (There are some brilliant kills in the 2nd and 3rd ones.)

 

That first one is so incredibly trashy and jaw-droppingly cringeworthy in parts, and yet that's what makes it so good.

[baumer]

3 hours ago, kitik said:

 

 

Just curious, who else voted for Sleepaway Camp? Also, thank you to whoever did.

 

I almost thought about including all 4 Sleepaway Camps on my list. (There are some brilliant kills in the 2nd and 3rd ones.)

 

That first one is so incredibly trashy and jaw-droppingly cringeworthy in parts, and yet that's what makes it so good.

 

Who do you think?  LOL.  I had it at 50.

 

Great job Han.  

 

And to think I didn't even put JAWS on my list because for some reason I figured most everyone else would keep it off due to it being more of a drama or a thriller.  It would have been number one onmy list as well.  I love the top three.  I'd have JAWS and Halloween 1-2 but I can't complain.  

[Krissykins]

Thanks for all the work @WrathOfHan

[baumer]

On 11/7/2018 at 1:06 PM, Krissykins said:

Whew, that’s a strong bunch of films. 

It’s #65, surprised it’s so low. I had it top 10. 

 

I just meant I'm surprised it didn't make the top 50.

[Sheikh]

Great job @WrathOfHan, great write ups on each movie, enjoyed the count down a lot.

 

31 movies from my own list made the top 50, but I've seen 44 of the top 50, I should get around to watching the rest.

 

The top movie from my list that didn't get top 50 was Let the Right One In, but it just missed out.

 

Probably the biggest surprise from my own list was that I was the only vote for The Wicker Man (1973), it's an all time classic, but I'm just guessing most don't consider it horror.

[75Live]

good list for the most part and I can't argue against any of the top 5 or 6, not that I wanted to anyway  

[Krissykins]

At least 25 of mine didn’t make the top 100 lol

 

I have a soft spot for some guilty pleasures though lol 

[FantasticBeasts]

Good job @WrathOfHan. Great list!

What's surprising to me is how many of those horror classics have low ratings among critics. Maybe Baumer is right, critics don't get horror.

[75Live]

15 minutes ago, FantasticBeasts said:

Good job @WrathOfHan. Great list!

What's surprising to me is how many of those horror classics have low ratings among critics. Maybe Baumer is right, critics don't get horror.

 

while I think critics have come around to a point on horror, there was always a stigma for the longest time even up to Silence of the Lambs which most purposely didn't call it horror because they didn't want to give the genre any credit.

 

I forget what show or documentary I was watching but it was about certain horror movies especially in the late 70s and throughout the 80s and that many critics despised horror flicks so obviously they wouldn't give good reviews for them.

[redfirebird2008]

That's an excellent Top 3. Baumer might go full Jason on everyone here for not putting one of the F13 movies in this list, lmao. 

[baumer]

17 hours ago, redfirebird2008 said:

That's an excellent Top 3. Baumer might go full Jason on everyone here for not putting one of the F13 movies in this list, lmao. 

 

I obviously believe that the Final Chapter is one of the greatest horror films ever made.  I'm disappointed it was kept off and other inferior films are on the list.  But ultimately, I'm now more of an avuncular figure on these boards.  So my views of horror movies are about 20 years different than most of the members here.

[DAR]

Great job @WrathOfHan.   Here’s how strong the top 7 are.  Horror is not my favorite genre but 6 out the 7 made my top 100 films list.