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WrathOfHan

Box Office Theory's Top 100 Horror Movies: Vol. 2 | #1 has been revealed!

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6 minutes ago, WrathOfHan said:

It'll be in the last bunch of films that didn't make it, so yes :sparta: If it had one more list it would've made it like Pulse did

 

It's great that it made it that high. But it's too bad more people don't appreciate it.  It's such a terrific horror movie, the best of the 80's imo.  But that's just it, only imo. 

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1 hour ago, baumer said:

 

It's great that it made it that high. But it's too bad more people don't appreciate it.  It's such a terrific horror movie, the best of the 80's imo.  But that's just it, only imo. 

 

The Final Chapter wasn't on my list, but it made the honorable mentions. It's my favorite of the Friday Series, an extremely good and enjoyable "epic showdown", of a film. 

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49. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) (44 Points)

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Previous Ranking: N/A (NEW)

 

Director: Phillip Kaufman

 

Screenwriter: W.D. Richter

 

Starring: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, :gold: , Veronica Cartwright 

 

Synopsis: When strange seeds drift to earth from space, mysterious pods begin to grow and invade San Francisco, California, where they replicate the residents into emotionless automatons one body at a time.

 

Box Office: 24.9M


Critical Reviews: 92% on RT

 

Submissions Received: 7

Average Position: 34th

 

 

One of the rare remakes to surpass the original, Phillip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a sci-fi horror classic. The film taps into paranoia and fear of the “other” with anxiety-inducing sequences and stellar performances from the ensemble. Invasion of the Body Snatchers also features one of the most memorable endings ever put on-screen, cementing the film as a staple in both its genres.

 

Consistency was on Body Snatchers’ side. Aside from one low placement, every submission was in the 20s or 30s, giving it a healthy spot on the countdown.

 

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48. The Cabin in the Woods (2012) (45 Points)

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Previous Ranking: #39 (-10)

 

Director: Drew Goddard

 

Screenwriter: Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard

 

Starring: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchinson, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford

 

Synopsis: Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin, where they get more than they bargained for, discovering the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

 

Box Office: 66.5M

 

Critical Reviews: 92% on RT

 

Submissions Received: 7

Average Position: 43rd

Top 10 Placements: 3

 

 

Coming in with the best drop so far from the 2018 countdown, Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods remains a forum favorite. It’s a love letter to the horror genre with satirical takes on genre tropes in gory fashion. Goddard never sacrifices graphic scenes for cheap laughs, and the two extremes mesh well together. Equally hilarious and terrifying, The Cabin in the Woods stands apart from the rest of the pack.

 

The Cabin in the Woods received one more submission than it did in 2018, and this time around, three users placed it in their top ten, the most of any film so far. The average position fell quite a bit from 18th to 43rd though.

 

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47 (TIE). Hereditary (2018) (45 Points)

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Previous Ranking: #50 (+3)

 

Director and Screenwriter: Ari Aster

 

Starring: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd, Gabriel Byrne

 

Synopsis: A grieving family is haunted by tragic and disturbing occurrences.

 

Box Office: 80.2M

 

Critical Reviews: 89% on RT

 

Appearances on Other BOT Lists: 14th on Top 25 of 2018

 

Submissions Received: 8

Average Position: 37th

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

The next tie on the list features the first film to increase from its 2018 placement: Ari Aster’s Hereditary. The film was only a few months old when it scraped into the Top 50 back in 2018, and the forum’s opinion hasn’t changed much since. Toni Collette gives an outstanding performance that has launched a career resurgence for her over the past few years, and Alex Wolff has landed more horror roles since Hereditary. The film’s tension unravels slowly, but the third act lands an impactful punch. The forum saw great potential in Ari Aster, and last time around, Midsommar wasn’t out yet. I wonder if it’ll show up on this year’s countdown…

 

Hereditary was a popular mid tier choice for most users. Half of the submissions landed in the 30s or 40s, giving it an edge over other recent films that dropped like A Quiet Place and It.

 

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47 (TIE). Midsommar (2019) (45 Points)

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Previous Ranking: N/A (NEW)

 

Director and Screenwriter: Ari Aster

 

Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Ellora Torchia, Archie Madekwe, Will Poulter

 

Synopsis: A couple travels to Scandinavia to visit a rural hometown's fabled Swedish mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.

 

Box Office: 48M

 

Critical Reviews: 83% on RT

 

Submissions Received: 8

Average Position: 40th

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

 

Ari Aster tied himself up! Audiences are often torn between whether Hereditary or Midsommar is the better film, and it turns out the forum can’t agree either. Midsommar opts for an even slower rise in stakes and tension than Hereditary and does so in broad daylight. Aster lets all hell break loose in the second half with increasingly disturbing, graphic murder sequences, all while contributing to the protagonist Dani’s awakening. Florence Pugh had a banner year in 2019 with Midsommar in the center of it, building the case for her as one of this generation’s finest performers. With Midsommar, Aster has solidified himself as a modern horror master.

 

Midsommar’s average position came in three spots lower than Hereditary with a much wider range. Most of Midsommar’s placements were in the 30s or higher, but a placement in the 90s dragged down the average position. It’s a remarkable feat that both Aster films tied each other.

 

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I've seen Hereditary three times now and I just can't get into it.  I think it's pretty bad.  But I'm obviously in the minority on that one.

 

Mid-sommar on the other hand is brilliant imo.  It had a Wickewr Man vibe right from the beginning and it certainly didn't disappoint.

 

Cabin in the Woods is clever.

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Both Aster films, Body Snatchers and Raw were all on my list so really pleased to see them do well.

 

Neither Godzilla nor Cabin in the Woods were in my classification of horror, but I like Godzilla and love CITW so glad to see them in the list also.

 

Dawn of the Dead isn't my bag really but I recognise its quality. Zombies aren't my thing in general, even less than slashers. Night, Shaun, Pontypool and I Walked with a Zombie are about as far as I get before finding it all bit samey. I'm not even keen on 28 Days Later, which is fairly sacrilegious as a Brit horror guy.

 

And it just goes to show you that you're just never going to be exposed to *everything*....I have been 'in' horror for 15 years now - albeit mostly live rather than film - and watching it casually for a lot longer...... and I've simply not crossed paths with Carnival of Souls. Just not on my radar, couldn't tell you a thing about it. Barely heard of it outside of recognising the name. Amazing stuff. Will clearly have to track it down now. 

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1 hour ago, baumer said:

I've seen Hereditary three times now and I just can't get into it.  I think it's pretty bad. 

I agree with you, luckily when I watched with my friends the theatre was empty because we were laughing at how poorly everything was executed. Beautifully shot and the actors are good and obviously went with the direction they were given (which wasn't great) but it just an awful film and made me avoid Midsommer. 

 

Of course anyone that enjoyed it that is awesome but for me it was a greatest hits of the flaws of modern American horror. 

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45. Train to Busan (2016) (45 Points)

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Previous Ranking: N/A (NEW)

 

Director: Yeon Sang-ho

 

Screenwriter: Park Joo-suk

 

Starring: Gong Yoo, Ma Dong-seok, Jung Yu-mi, Kim Su-an, Kim Eui-sung, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee

 

Synopsis: While a zombie virus breaks out in South Korea, passengers struggle to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan.

 

Box Office: 98.5M

 

Critical Reviews: 94% on RT

 

Appearances on Other BOT Lists: 15th on Top 100 Foreign Films

 

Submissions Received: 8

Average Position: 39th

Top 5 Placements: 2

 

 

Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan is one of the most popular international features in recent years, breaking numerous box office records. Released at the tail end of the 2010s zombie craze, Train to Busan maximizes its simple premise by using family drama to raise the stakes. While its sequel Peninsula failed to capture the same engagement as its predecessor, Train to Busan proves that innovating a genre formula still works wonders.

 

Train to Busan would’ve tied with the Aster films if not for two Top 5 placements. One of the Top 5 placements was on a reduced list; if it was a full list, Train to Busan would’ve been pushing the Top 30.

 

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44. Poltergeist (1982) (45 Points)

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Previous Ranking: #34 (-10)

 

Director: Tobe Hooper (and Steven Spielberg)

 

Screenwriters: Steven Spielberg, Michael Grais, Mark Victor

 

Starring: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Beatrice Straight, Heather O’Rourke, Dominique Dunne, Oliver Robbins, Zelda Rubinstein

 

Synopsis: A family's home is haunted by a host of demonic ghosts.

 

Box Office: 121.7M

 

Critical Reviews: 86% on RT

 

Nominated for Best Original Score, Sound Editing, and Visual Effects at the Academy Awards

 

Submissions Received: 10

Average Position: 49th

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

 

Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist is heeeeere with a small drop from 2018. This collaboration between Hooper and Spielberg is a great entry-level horror film as it contains terrifying sequences without getting too bloody. The film initially received an R rating from the MPAA based solely on its intensity in the days before PG-13. Poltergeist’s nightmare-inducing visual effects expanded the scope of what midsize horror films were capable of, which we see today through franchises like The Conjuring and A Quiet Place.

 

Poltergeist received one more submission than it did in 2018 with a Top 10 placement this time around. However, its average position dropped drastically from 29th to 49th. This is the lowest average position since A Quiet Place at #64.

 

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43. The Descent (2005) (47 Points)

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Previous Ranking: #45 (+2)

 

Director and Screenwriter: Neil Marshall

 

Starring: Shauna Macdonald, Natalie Mendoza, Alex Reid, Saskia Mulder, Nora-Jane Noone, MyAnna Buring

 

Synopsis: A caving expedition goes horribly wrong, as the explorers become trapped and ultimately pursued by a strange breed of predators.

 

Box Office: 57.1M

 

Critical Reviews: 86% on RT

 

Submissions Received: 9

Average Position: 33rd

#1 Placements: 1

 

 

With a slight increase from the 2018 countdown, Neil Marshall’s The Descent has moved up in the ranks. The Descent is another film on the countdown that plays with the final girl trope with a nearly all-female cast, and Marshall expands upon his intricate creature design from Dog Soldiers with the Crawlers. Marshall uses intricate direction and specific lighting to display the creatures, creating a more terrifying image whenever they appear. Maybe one of these days Neil Marshall can return to his roots instead of toying around with bad remakes.

 

The Descent is the second film on the countdown to have a #1 placement. This was from a reduced list, but it would’ve gotten The Descent into the Top 30 will full scoring. The film’s average position dropped from 21st to 33rd and relied a lot more on mid tier rankings than last time.

 

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42. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) (48 Points)

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Previous Ranking: N/A (NEW)

 

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

 

Screenwriter: James V. Hart

 

Starring: Gary Oldman, :wintf: , Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves 

 

Synopsis: The centuries old vampire Count Dracula comes to England to seduce his barrister Jonathan Harker's fiancée Mina Murray and inflict havoc in the foreign land.

 

Box Office: 215.8M

 

Critical Reviews: 75% on RT

 

Won Best Costume Design, Sound Editing, and Makeup and nominated for Art Direction at the Academy Awards

 

Submissions Received: 7

Average Position: 36th

Top 5 Placements: 1

Top 10 Placements: 2

 

 

The only thing scarier about Francis Ford Coppola than his filmography this millennium is Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This film sees Coppola expanding his genre reach into horror with a beautiful retelling of Dracula. Gary Oldman shines as the titular vampire underneath some of the most impressive makeup ever put to film. Many consider Coppola’s version to be the definitive Dracula film, and BOT would agree with that sentiment.

 

Bram Stoker’s Dracula had a healthy range of placements, including one Top 5 and two Top 10. 

 

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41. Suspiria (2018) (49 Points)

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Previous Ranking: N/A (NEW)

 

Director: Luca Guadagnino

 

Screenwriter: David Kajganich

 

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth, Angela Winkler, Ingrid Caven, Elena Fokina, Sylvie Testud, Renée Soutendijk, Christine LeBoutte, Fabrizia Sacchi, Małgosia Bela, Jessica Harper, Chloë Grace Moretz

 

Synopsis: A darkness swirls at the center of a world-renowned dance company, one that will engulf the artistic director, an ambitious young dancer, and a grieving psychotherapist. Some will succumb to the nightmare. Others will finally wake up.

 

Box Office: 7.7M

 

Critical Reviews: 65% on RT

 

Submissions Received: 7

Average Position: 30th

Top 5 Placements: 1

Top 10 Placements: 2

 

 

Luca Guadagnino’s polarizing remake of Suspiria has found its way onto the countdown. Sharing little in common with its source material aside from the basic setting, Guadagnino’s winding, risky horror film navigates several storylines with specific pacing. Interspersed around the larger film are maybe the goriest horror scenes from any major horror film in the past decade, culminating in a bloody explosion. Suspiria isn’t for everyone, but it’s easy to see where its appeal lies.

 

Suspiria has one of the highest average positions so far. Unlike some lower ranking films with Top 5 and 10 placements, Suspiria boasted a good range with most placements in the upper third of lists.

 

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I try to respect everyone's opinion on film and I realize horror just like every genre is very subjective, but ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME? Suspiria remake is on this countdown?  I don't hate the movie but I don't really think it's anything special.  Wow, I'm shocked that this one is on the list.

 

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40. It Follows (2014) (49 Points)

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Previous Ranking: #29 (-11)

 

Director and Screenwriter: David Robert Mitchell

 

Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, Lili Sepe

 

Synopsis: A young woman is followed by an unknown supernatural force after a sexual encounter.

 

Box Office: 23.3M

 

Critical Reviews: 96% on RT

 

Appearances on Other BOT Lists: 17th on Top 25 of 2015

 

Submissions Received: 10

Average Position: 38th

 

 

Coming in slightly lower than it did a few years ago is David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows. This innovative horror film reinvents the genre’s traditional monster or villain by turning the concept into an invisible entity. The film relies more on the unknown than visible threats, allowing It Follows’ message and ideas to be interpreted in a myriad of ways. David Robert Mitchell paved the way for more indie horror hits later in the decade, and few have topped his masterwork. 

 

It Follows had two more submissions but an average position 22 spots lower than 2018. This year’s average position of 38th was extremely close to its actual spot on the list with all but three placements landing between 23-45. It Follows is also the second to last film on the countdown without any Top 10 placements.

 

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A look ahead at the 30s:

 

4 films are in black and white

Only 3 films are post-2000, all of which are from the past decade

The most recent non-2010s film is from 1987

2 films are in franchises that have already appeared on the countdown

 

Here are the films that received 10-14 points (148-56 received 14 points, 157-65 13, 166-87 12, 188-92 11, 193-203

Spoiler


148. Black Sabbath (1963)

149. Bug (2006)

150. The Mummy (1932)

151. The Empty Man (2019)

152. Audition (19990

153. The House on Haunted Hill (1959)

154. It Comes at Night (2017)

155. Kwaidan (1965)

156. Split (2017)

157. Near Dark (1987)

158. Last House on the Left (1972)

159. I Walked with a Zombie (1943)

160. Halloween H20 (1998)

161. Dead of Night (1945)

162. Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

163. Bone Tomahawk (2015)

164. Happy Death Day (2017)

165. Alien: Covenant (2017)

166. The Skin I Live In (2011)

167. The Seventh Victim (1943)

168. The Amityville Horror Part 2 (1982)

169. Martyrs (2008)

170. Friday the 13th Part III (1983)

171. Intruder (1989)

172. Aquarius: Stage Fright (1987)

173. Attack the Block (2012)

174. Friday the 13th Part II (1981)

175. Grindhouse (2007)

176. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

177. The Faculty (1988)

178. Cronos (1993)

179. Friday the 13th (1980)

180. Lost Highway (1977)

181. Predator (1987)

182. Scream 3 (2000)

183. Shin Godzilla (2016)

184. The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

185. The Changeling (1980)

186. The Uninvited (1944)

187. The Witches (1966)

188. Revenge (2017)

189. The Wailing (2016)

190. You're Next (2011)

191. Final Destination 2 (2003)

192. Wait Until Dark (1967)

193. Under the Shadow (2016)

194. The Devil's Rejects (2005)

195. Constantine (2005)

196. Halloween II (1981)

197. House of Wax (2005)

198. A Cure for Wellness (2017)

199. Interview with the Vampire (1994)

200. It: Chapter Two (2019)

201. Krampus (2015)

202. The Fog (1979)

203. The Last Wave (1977)

 

 

Split is the third film from the 2018 countdown that didn't make the cut this time around, dropping from 49 to 156 (-107). The new Shyamalan energy was used for Old instead. What will the last film from 2018 that missed be?

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