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

[Krissykins]

The Ring is fantastic. Naomi Watts is incredible in it. 

[WrathOfHan]

Was gonna write a few entries but the forum is acting screwy right now. I'll see if things improve in an hour

[baumer]

14 hours ago, Krissykins said:

The Ring is fantastic. Naomi Watts is incredible in it. 

 

The Ring is one movie that to this day, almost 17 years later, that still gives me the creeps.  It's a fascinating movie because there aren't a lot of deaths...it's all atmosphere and direction.  And of course Samara and the TV thing is just flat out horrifying.

[WrathOfHan]

14. The Conjuring (2013) (66 points)

 

Director: James Wan

 

Screenwriters: Chad and Carey W. Hayes

 

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingston, and Lili Taylor

 

Synopsis: Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse.

 

Box Office: 319.5M

 

86% on Rotten Tomatoes, 68 on Metacritic

 

15^th on Box Office Theory’s Top 20 of 2013

 

Submissions Received: 11

Average Position: 20^th

Number One Placements: 1

Top Five Placements: 2

 

James Wan’s masterwork The Conjuring arrives on the countdown. As we all know, this film kickstarted one of the biggest franchises running today, and although the quality of the films is not always consistent, we still show up and see what the franchise has in store. The Conjuring works so well thanks to the chemistry between Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson. They play the Warrens with so much charisma and charm, and we instantly connect with them. However, this film is known for Wan’s amazing jumpscares. He builds up the jumpscares to great lengths, and the payoff always gets a reaction. The Conjuring is one of the best horror films of the decade and of all time.

 

The Conjuring received many votes, one of which was a first-place submission. A little over a third of submissions were towards the bottom of full lists with 50 submissions, but it was sprinkled into lists at many positions. It beat out Evil Dead II by having more submissions despite the same amount of points.

 

[Eric the Fall Guy]

I still don't really get a lot of the hyperbole around The Conjuring. It's a fun flick, but the whole "scariest movie in years" stuff people continue to yammer on about with this movie...I just don't get.

[Krissykins]

Yeh first time I watched the Conjuring in cinemas I was underwhelmed but then really liked it the second viewing at home strangely. 

[WrathOfHan]

13. The Sixth Sense (1999) (70 points)

 

Director and Screenwriter: M. Night Shyamalan

 

Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, and Haley Joel Osment

 

Synopsis: A boy who communicates with spirits seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist.

 

Box Office: 672.8M

 

85% on Rotten Tomatoes, 64 on Metacritic

 

Nominated for 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture

 

Submissions Received: 12

Average Position: 18^th

Top Five Placements: 1

 

M. Night’s second movie to make the countdown is also his best and the one that made him the next Spielberg (for a few years). The Sixth Sense is an iconic classic that ages better as time passes by. It is an intimate movie with great characters, contains supernatural elements as part of a plot that keeps you in suspense, and of course, one of the greatest twists of all time. I was fortunate enough to not know what the twist was on my first watch, and the reveal left me SPEECHLESS. Revisiting this movie is even more rewarding, especially because the twist is not the crux of the film. It is still a movie about a kid who sees dead people, and that story is told magnificently.

 

Although The Sixth Sense only received a single top 5 vote, it received a whopping five top ten placements. 75% of the submissions were in top twenty-fives, and over half were in top fifteens.

 

[WrathOfHan]

More movies that missed (101 has 12.5 points from 2 lists, 102-104 have 12 points from 3 lists, 105-107 have 12 points from 2 lists, 108-110 have 11 points from 3 lists, 111-117 have 11 points from 2 lists, 118-122 have 10 points from 2 lists, 123 has 9.5 points from 1 list, 124-133 have 9 points from 2 lists, and the rest are 9 points from a single list):

 

101. Godzilla (1954)

102. Audition (1999)

103. Event Horizon

104. The Wolf Man

105. Cat People

106. Martyrs

107. Phantasm

108. 10 Cloverfield Lane

109. Final Destination 2

110. High Tension/Switchblade

111. The Devil Rides Out

112. Grindhouse

113. I Know What You Did Last Summer

114. In the Mouth of Madness

115. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3

116. Trick ‘r Treat

117. Wrong Turn

118. Crimson Peak

119. A Cure for Wellness

120. Eyes Without a Face

121. Unsane

122. Warm Bodies

123. Alien 3

124. Black Christmas

125. The Faculty

126. Freaks

127. Freddy vs. Jason

128. Friday the 13^th Part II

129. Kill List

130. Paranormal Activity 2

131. Signs

132. The Stepford Wives

133. Unfriended

134. World War Z

135. The Exorcism of Emily Rose

136. Ju-on: The Curse

137. Repulsion

138. Scream 2

139. Too Many Cooks

 

[FantasticBeasts]

1 hour ago, WrathOfHan said:

13. The Sixth Sense (1999) (70 points)

 

Director and Screenwriter: M. Night Shyamalan

 

Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, and Haley Joel Osment

 

Synopsis: A boy who communicates with spirits seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist.

 

Box Office: 672.8M

 

85% on Rotten Tomatoes, 64 on Metacritic

 

Nominated for 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture

 

Submissions Received: 12

Average Position: 18^th

Top Five Placements: 1

 

M. Night’s second movie to make the countdown is also his best and the one that made him the next Spielberg (for a few years). The Sixth Sense is an iconic classic that ages better as time passes by. It is an intimate movie with great characters, contains supernatural elements as part of a plot that keeps you in suspense, and of course, one of the greatest twists of all time. I was fortunate enough to not know what the twist was on my first watch, and the reveal left me SPEECHLESS. Revisiting this movie is even more rewarding, especially because the twist is not the crux of the film. It is still a movie about a kid who sees dead people, and that story is told magnificently.

 

Although The Sixth Sense only received a single top 5 vote, it received a whopping five top ten placements. 75% of the submissions were in top twenty-fives, and over half were in top fifteens.

 

Deserved Top 10 to be honest. Such a brilliant film. I remember when I realised what was happening in the end, I got goosebumps. Best plot twist of all time? 

[WrathOfHan]

12. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) (72 points)

 

Director: Tobe Hooper

 

Screenwriters: Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper

 

Starring: Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain, William Vail, Teri McMinn, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen, and John Dugan

 

Synopsis: Two siblings and three of their friends en route to visit their grandfather's grave in Texas end up falling victim to a family of cannibalistic

psychopaths.

 

Box Office: 30.9M

 

88% on Rotten Tomatoes, 75 on Metacritic

 

Submissions Received: 10

Average Position: 14^th

Number One Placements: 2

Top Five Placements: 3

 

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre might be the most disturbing movie ever made. Tobe Hooper’s movie was made for an extremely low budget that adjusts to barely 400k today. The result is an incredibly gritty, realistic film with horrific murders and uncomfortable scenes. Shockingly, the film was originally aiming for a PG rating, but the first cut of the film received an X/NC-17 from the MPAA. Although it was able to be cut down into an R, it did not have such luck in many other countries where it faced bans. Even if the film was released today, fitting this into an R rating would be a bit challenging. THAT’S how disturbing this film is. The idea of stumbling upon a family of cannibals in the middle of the country is scary on its own, but Hooper takes it to the next level. This is a staple of the horror genre for a reason, and it is one of my favorite films.

 

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre almost wholly consisted of top twenty placements. Half of the submissions were in top tens, and the rest were between 16-22 save for one vote all the way at the bottom. If not for that vote, this could have had an average position in the mid-singles thanks to two number one votes.

 

[WrathOfHan]

11. The Exorcist (1973) (91 points)

 

Director: William Friedkin

 

Screenwriter: William Peter Blatty

 

Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Jason Miller, and Linda Blair

 

Synopsis: When a teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.

 

Box Office: 441.3M

 

88% on Rotten Tomatoes, 82 on Metacritic

 

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning two for Best Adapted Screenplay and Sound Mixing

 

Submissions Received: 13

Average Position: 13^th

Top Five Placements: 3

 

No film has impacted the horror genre more than The Exorcist. It represents a major shift in not only what horror films can display but also what mainstream films in general can get away with. If this was released even four years earlier, it would not have been made based on its imagery alone. Hell, starting production on the film took a while! Before landing on William Friedkin, Warner Brothers tried getting Stanley Kubrick, Arthur Penn, and Mike Nichols to direct and eventually hired Mark Rydell until William Peter Blatty insisted on Friedkin. Major A-list stars were in consideration for the various characters including Jane Fonda, Audrey Hepburn, Anne Bancroft, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, and Marlon Brando. Just thinking about those names in The Exorcist is fun, but the eventual cast is perfect. Ellen Burstyn and Jason Miller especially are the standouts in the film, both of who received Oscar nominations for their performances. And of course, how can anyone forget Linda Blair’s iconic performance as Regan? She is an excellent example of how young actors can go above and beyond in film and was likewise nominated for an Oscar. The Exorcist shocked and disgusted audiences around the world in a good way, causing day-long lines at theaters across the world. It is currently the 9^th highest grossing movie of all time adjusted for inflation at just over 1B, which shows just how much of a cultural phenomenon this was. The Exorcist is a game-changing film and honestly too low on this list. It should have been in the top 10!

 

The forum loves The Exorcist. 7/13 submissions were in top tens, and only two fell below 20^th.

 

[WrathOfHan]

Here's 70-100 (70-71 has 18 points from 4 votes, 72 is 18 points from 3 votes, 73 is 17.5 points from 5 votes, 74-75 is 17 points from 4 votes, 76-77 is 17 points from 3 votes, 78-80 is 16 points from 3 votes, 81-84 is 15 points from 3 votes, 85 is 15 points from 2 votes, 86-90 is 14 points from 3 votes, 91-92 is 14 points from 2 votes, 93-94 is 13.5 points from 3 votes, 95-98 is 13 points from 3 votes, and 99-100 are 13 points from 2 votes):

 

70. Annihilation

71. Re-Animator

72. Peeping Tom

73. Hellraiser

74. The Changeling

75. You’re Next

76. The Invisible Man

77. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

78. Bram Stoker’s Dracula

79. The House of the Devil

80. The Mist

81. Gremlins

82. mother!

83. Possession (1981)

84. Zombieland

85. Green Room

86. Dracula (1932)

87. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

88. Interview with the Vampire

89. The Lost Boys

90. The Rocky Horror Picture Show

91. Friday the 13^th: The Final Chapter

92. The Mothman Prophecies

93. King Kong (1933)

94. Sinister

95. The Devil’s Backbone

96. Don’t Look Now

97. Nosferatu the Vampyre

98. Them!

99. Gremlins 2: The New Batch

100. A Tale of Two Sisters

 

[DAR]

I’ve never been a fan of the Exorcist even though it’s a well made movie.  The subject matter just makes me uneasy 

[Krissykins]

9 hours ago, WrathOfHan said:

109. Final Destination 2

110. High Tension/Switchblade

112. Grindhouse

113. I Know What You Did Last Summer

117. Wrong Turn

119. A Cure for Wellness

124. Black Christmas

125. The Faculty

127. Freddy vs. Jason

130. Paranormal Activity 2

131. Signs

138. Scream 2

I’m astonished that A Cure For Wellness got any votes nevermind more than the films below it. Wow. I’d say it’s one of the worst films I’ve seen in recent memory, any genre. 

 

Scream 2, Grindhouse and I Know were too 10 on my list. I must have very different tastes lol. 

4 hours ago, WrathOfHan said:

 

77. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

 

This was in my top 5. 

[Tower]

6 hours ago, WrathOfHan said:

72. Peeping Tom

Far too low, This one was a top 5 for me.

[Rorschach]

19 hours ago, DAR said:

I’ve never been a fan of the Exorcist even though it’s a well made movie.  The subject matter just makes me uneasy 

I've always found it be well-made but really overrated.

[WrathOfHan]

10. Scream (1996) (100 points)

 

Director: Wes Craven

 

Screenwriter: Kevin Williamson

 

Starring: David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, and Drew Barrymore

 

Synopsis: A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a new killer, who targets the girl and her friends by using horror films as part of a deadly game.

 

Box Office: 173M

 

79% on Rotten Tomatoes, 65 on Metacritic

 

Submissions Received: 15

Average Position: 15^th

Number One Placements: 2

Top Five Placements: 3

 

What’s your favorite scary movie? This question kickstarts Scream, a pitch perfect satire on the slasher genre while simultaneously being an excellent slasher flick in its own right. Before he started making teen hits for the WB/CW, Kevin Williamson was an unknown name at the time his screenplay was picked up. The original screenplay was full of violence, which made it hard for the script to be approved. However, the creator of another slasher franchise that will be on the list soon loved what he read and jumped right onto the project; of course, that is none other than Wes Craven. Craven allowed much of the script’s goriness to return to the screen, which helps legitimize it as horror in addition to satire. Combined with a great cast, all this makes Scream one of the best horror comedies of all time. The rest of the franchise is all pretty great too (well, not Scream 3), a rarity for the genre!

 

Scream was the favorite scary movie of two users. Over half of the votes submitted were in top tens with a few votes rounding out the lower end of lists.

 

[WrathOfHan]

9. Get Out (2017) (102.5 points)

 

Director and Screenwriter: Jordan Peele

 

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, Lakeith Stanfield, and Catherine Keener

 

Synopsis: A young African-American visits his white girlfriend's parents for the weekend, where his simmering uneasiness about their reception of him eventually reaches a boiling point.

 

Box Office: 255.4M

 

98% on Rotten Tomatoes, 84 on Metacritic

 

71^st on Box Office Theory’s Top 100 Films (2018 Edition)

 

Nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning one for Best Original Screenplay

 

Submissions Received: 16

Average Position: 13^th

Number One Placements: 1

Top Five Placements: 5

 

Continuing the satire from Scream on the countdown, one of 2017’s best films appears. Get Out is a movie that feels right for the time we are in. It is a great social commentary on how racism exists in less obvious forms. Jordan Peele’s screenplay contains so many minor details and bits of foreshadowing, and rewatching the film really makes you appreciate how much attention he put into this film. It won him an Oscar for a good reason. Even if Get Out is not the scariest movie on the countdown, it is an incredibly rich and rewarding watch.

 

Recency bias helped Get Out rise into the top ten. It appeared on nearly every reduced point list (both of the top three votes were on lists with reduced points), but even a few of the larger lists had the film pretty high.

 

[Krissykins]

At least Scream was top 10. Phew.

 

I agree about recency playing a big part too. 

Edited November 6, 2018 by Krissykins

[baumer]

On 11/4/2018 at 8:57 AM, CoolEric258 said:

I still don't really get a lot of the hyperbole around The Conjuring. It's a fun flick, but the whole "scariest movie in years" stuff people continue to yammer on about with this movie...I just don't get.

 

There's people who think The Babadook is a great horror movie.  I think it's one of the dumbest films ever made.

I think Open Water is the scariest film ever made.  Most people laugh at me when I mention this.

 

Different things scare different people.