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

[Krissykins]

1 hour ago, Dr Loomis baumer said:

@kitik I agree with you about the Devil's Rejects. I truly phenomenal film. I probably should have included it on my list as well.

Yeh I agree too, it’s a great film. Not so great rewatch factor though because some of the scenes are so cruel. 

[kitik]

59 minutes ago, Krissykins said:

Not so great rewatch factor though 

 

 

Definitely not a fun film to watch. But I do love that ending though. That last scene is pretty fun to watch.

 

Was anyone else tempted to vote for The Serpent and the Rainbow, or was I the only one? I always thought that was a good one with some really creepy shit going on.

[WrathOfHan]

24. The Fly (1986) (54 points)

 

Director: David Cronenberg

 

Screenwriters: Charles Edward Pogue and David Cronenberg

 

Starring: Jeff Goldblum ( ), Geena Davis, and John Getz 

 

Synopsis: A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.

 

Box Office: 60.6M

 

92% on Rotten Tomatoes, 79 on Metacritic

 

Nominated and won 1 Academy Award for Best Makeup

 

Submissions Received: 9

Average Position: 18^th

Top Five Placements: 1

 

The master of body horror David Cronenberg arrives on the countdown with The Fly. This is the breakout film for our lord and savior Jeff Goldblum as he plays Seth Brundle, a scientist who becomes a horrific creature after an experiment fails. The film shocked and disgusted audiences with its body horror. The creature design in this film was so good that it won the Oscar for Makeup. In addition to being a breakout role for Goldblum, this was also one of Geena Davis’ first roles and skyrocketed her into stardom. Many look back fondly on The Fly as one of the 1980s’ great horror films and Cronenberg’s best.

 

Users on here love The Fly. It received three top ten votes, and most of the submissions were in top twenties. If only Cronenberg’s other films were able to gather more support. Next time perhaps?

 

[WrathOfHan]

23. Suspiria (1977) (56 points)

 

Director: Dario Argento

 

Screenwriters: Dario Argento and Daria Nicolodi

 

Starring: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Miguel Bose, Barbara Magnolfi, Susanna Javicoli, Eva Axen, Alida Valli, and Joan Bennett

 

Synopsis: An American newcomer to a prestigious German ballet academy comes to realize that the school is a front for something sinister amid a

series of grisly murders.

 

Box Office: 3.23M

 

92% on Rotten Tomatoes, 79 on Metacritic

 

Submissions Received: 8

Average Position: 16^th

Number One Placements: 1

Top Five Placements: 2

 

Dario Argento’s Suspiria arrives onto the countdown right as Luca Guadagnino’s remake/spiritual remake is hitting theaters. Known for its graphic images, 8 minutes of the film had to be cut in the United States just so it could be rated R. Among other aspects of the film, Suspiria received praise for Argento’s direction and his score with Goblin. I wish I had watched this before the countdown so I could write more about it, but alas, I am waiting to watch it before (if?) the new film hits my area.

 

If not for a vote towards the bottom, Suspiria would have had one of the highest average positions on the countdown so far. There was one first-place vote followed by a second-place vote, and another top ten vote helped inflate the score.

 

[DAR]

10 hours ago, WrathOfHan said:

26. Night of the Living Dead (1966) (53 points)

 

Director: George A. Romero

 

Screenwriters: John Russo and George A. Romero

 

Starring: Judith O’Dea, Duane Jones, Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman, Judith Ridley, and Keith Wayne

 

Synopsis: There is panic throughout the nation as the dead suddenly come back to life. The film follows a group of characters who barricade

themselves in an old farmhouse in an attempt to remain safe from these bloodthirsty, flesh-eating monsters.

 

Box Office: 30M

 

97% on Rotten Tomatoes, 88 on Metacritic

 

Submissions Received: 10

Average Position: 24^th

Number One Placements: 1

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

George A. Romero might as well be considered the creator of the zombie craze. Night of the Living Dead was notable for turning zombies into flesh-eating creatures, and this type of zombie has become the primary characterization for the creature ever since the release of this film. Made independently on a miniscule budget with Romero handling cinematography and editing in addition to directing, Night of the Living Dead is a groundbreaking film that became a defining voice in independent cinema. Audiences came out in droves to see this film, and it adjusts to over 230M in 2018. For a film made and released without the backing of a major studio, that is already an impressive total, but when you add in the fact that independent filmmaking was rarely attempted back in the 60s, that makes the film’s success even more impressive (the next film on the countdown is a notable indie success as well). Night of the Living Dead is a staple of the horror genre and one of the most important films ever made.

 

Night of the Living Dead was a popular pick among users. Its position on the list is largely thanks to a first-place vote; had it not gotten that vote, it would have been down one spot and tied with The Omen point-wise. Half of the lists with this film on it submitted this in the bottom half.

 

 

I’m actually watching this for the first time ever

[DAR]

10 hours ago, WrathOfHan said:

25. The Blair Witch Project (1999) (53.5 points)

 

Directors and Screenwriters: Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez

 

Starring: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard

 

Synopsis: Three film students vanish after traveling into a Maryland forest to film a documentary on the local Blair Witch legend, leaving only their footage behind.

 

Box Office: 248.6M

 

87% on Rotten Tomatoes, 81 on Metacritic

 

Submissions Received: 10

Average Position: 18^th

Number One Placements: 1

Top 5 Placements: 2

 

As I mentioned with the last entry, we have another breakthrough indie horror film on the countdown. This time, it is The Blair Witch Project. By this point, independent cinema has skyrocketed. Indie studios like Miramax, Fox Searchlight, and Sony Pictures Classics were booming on the verge of the new millennium, and independent cinema was providing bold new ideas from filmmakers. The Blair Witch Project premiered at the Sundance Film Festival with immense buzz for its found footage style, and for the next 7 months, even more hype was building online. The film managed to achieve over a 4.5x from its wide opening weekend, and although it never managed to hit number one (another horror film somewhere on the countdown was one of the main reasons why), it had strong weekends throughout August. Audiences were intrigued by the film’s premise but had varying reactions; however, it was a true EVENT that people had to see. Today, reception is still mixed. Obviously you have a lot of people that love it as evident by its placement right in the middle of our countdown, but there are others who feel the film is not scary and just wanders around in circles (I am in the latter camp fwiw). Even with that in mind, The Blair Witch Project still revolutionized the genre and did something new, and that cannot be ignored.

 

The Blair Witch Project was a big passion pick. It received a number one vote along with three more top ten placements, and three of the other votes were in top twenty-fives. As I said, this is a love it or hate it film, and those who love it really love it.

 

I know a lot of people love this film, but I’m strongly in the hate it category 

[Eric Atreides]

40 minutes ago, DAR said:

I know a lot of people love this film, but I’m strongly in the hate it category 

GODDAMMIT DAR THE ADULTS ARE TALKING

[DAR]

Okay so after watching Night of the Living Dead, I would have put this on my list probably in the teens.  Very good movie

[kitik]

I think I ranked Dawn of the Dead ahead of Night of the Living Dead. (That's the old classic where they're trapped in a mall. The remake was halfway decent, but nowhere near as good as the original.)

[WrathOfHan]

22. The Evil Dead (1981) (57 points)

 

Director and Screenwriter: Sam Raimi

 

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Hal Delrich, Betsy Baker, and Sarah York

 

Synopsis: Five friends travel to a cabin in the woods, where they unknowingly release flesh-possessing demons.

 

Box Office: 29.4M

 

95% on Rotten Tomatoes, 70 on Metacritic

 

Submissions Received: 10

Average Position: 19^th

Top Five Placements: 1

 

This is the second entry in the franchise to make the countdown, and it is none other than the one that started it all. The Evil Dead is by far the darkest and most serious of Raimi’s trilogy, carrying an NC-17 rating (or X at the time). This limited the film’s box office, but shockingly, the domestic gross makes up less than 10% of the worldwide total. Audiences who saw the film liked it, and like the series in general, it has gained a cult following over the years. Of course, it also introduced the world to one of cinema’s most talented directors with Sam Raimi (please make another movie!). Will Evil Dead II manage to top this on the countdown?

 

Like Army of Darkness, The Evil Dead had high votes. 7/10 votes were in top twenties, and two votes were in top tens.

 

[WrathOfHan]

21. Aliens (1986) (57.5 points)

 

Director and Screenwriter: James Cameron

 

Starring: Sigourney Weaver

 

Synopsis: Ellen Ripley is rescued by a deep salvage team after being in hypersleep for 57 years. The moon that the Nostromo visited has been

colonized, but contact is lost. This time, colonial marines have impressive firepower, but will that be enough?

 

Box Office: 183.3M (maybe?)

 

99% on Rotten Tomatoes, 84 on Metacritic

 

37^th on Box Office Theory’s Top 100 Movies (2018 Edition)

 

Nominated for 7 Academy Awards including Best Actress, winning 2 for Sound Editing and Visual Effects

 

Submissions Received: 9

Average Position: 12^th

Top Five Placements: 2

 

The Alien franchise finally makes it onto the countdown with Aliens. I consider this to be James Cameron’s best film (NOT THE FRANCHISE WARS THREAD) by a significant margin. It contains many of his trademarks: a long runtime, gigantic scale setpieces, etc. However, what really draws me into Aliens is what he does with Ellen Ripley. This film expands upon her story from Alien and gives her new, expanded roles as she butts heads with the colonial marines. Additionally, we also see a sympathetic side to Ripley that was not on display in the first as her motherly instincts shine through with Newt. If you have not watched the director’s cut, I highly recommend doing so as it fully enhances this character trait. Sigourney Weaver gives such a fierce yet compassionate performance in Aliens and earned a well-deserved Oscar nomination for it. And as much as I love Aliens, it STILL is not the best in the franchise, which just shows how insanely good the first two films in the series are. As for when Alien will appear, you will have to keep reading…

 

Aliens is one of the only films on the countdown that managed to get votes exclusively in top twenty-fives. There were two second place votes and two eighth place votes, which inflated the average position heavily. However, the rest of the votes were not very far behind.

 

[baumer]

@FantasticBeasts using the not cool icon in this thread is not really cool.  These are films voted on by the members of the site, you are basically shooting the messenger.  Not cool at all.

[FantasticBeasts]

1 minute ago, Dr Loomis baumer said:

@FantasticBeasts using the not cool icon in this thread is not really cool.  These are films voted on by the members of the site, you are basically shooting the messenger.  Not cool at all.

I was surprised by how low it was don't see the big deal about it. I LOVE Aliens.

[Krissykins]

I still think Blair Witch Project is the scariest film of all time. 

 

I prefer the remake of Evil Dead.

[baumer]

2 hours ago, FantasticBeasts said:

I was surprised by how low it was don't see the big deal about it. I LOVE Aliens.

 

You're missing the point.  

[Eric Atreides]

2 hours ago, Dr Loomis baumer said:

@FantasticBeasts using the not cool icon in this thread is not really cool.  These are films voted on by the members of the site, you are basically shooting the messenger.  Not cool at all.

Okay. So why is using the "Sad" icon on the movies you don't like any different?

[FantasticBeasts]

18 minutes ago, Dr Loomis baumer said:

 

You're missing the point.  

Yrah I got it now but I don't think it is a serious one.

[baumer]

32 minutes ago, CoolEric258 said:

Okay. So why is using the "Sad" icon on the movies you don't like any different?

 

Because one takes away rep, the other adds to it.

[Krissykins]

26 minutes ago, Dr Loomis baumer said:

 

Because one takes away rep, the other adds to it.

I had no idea about this either. I thought they were just funny emoji’s and didn’t realise they penalised the poster. 

[kitik]

54 minutes ago, Dr Loomis baumer said:

 

Because one takes away rep, the other adds to it.

 

??? For real?

I had no idea.