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

[baumer]

So many classic terrific films didn;t make the top 100.  The Fog, Halloween II and the first three Friday the 13ths not making the list is incredibly disappointing.

 

Glad to see It Follows with a solid placement.  

 

Great job on everything @WrathOfHan

[Cap]

4 hours ago, WrathOfHan said:

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

 

For those interested we are watching this on Wednesday in Film Club! 9:30PM EST

[The Panda]

8 hours ago, WrathOfHan said:

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

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.

 

Very low for these auteur pieces

[Krissykins]

Love both Midsommar and Hereditary. Nice to see The Descent, I forgot to include it. 

I don’t get the love for It Follows, never have. It’s fine. 
 

I can’t believe anyone gave any points to A Cure For Wellness. I’d say it’s one of the worst films I seen in cinemas of the 2010’s, any genre. That’s what’s great about these big lists though, variety! 

[FilmFincher]

Cabin in the Woods is one of my favourite films. I will never forget the sheer audible excitement as me and my friends sat in an empty cinema and the elevator doors open in the final act. A wonderful love letter to horror cinema.

 

Hereditary is the first time a horror film has genuinely scared me and creeped it's way into my brain since God knows when. I could not stop thinking about it for months. 

 

Bram Stoker's Dracula has some of my favourite creature design. 

 

I'm on board with the Suspiria remake. The dance/possession scene is a big highlight. I also think I prefer the third act but it's been a while. 

[Ipickthiswhiterose]

The Suspiria remake is a goshdarn masterpiece IMO and I nearly put it quite a bit higher, only keeping it lower for recency adjustment. One I could write a whole essay on but it would be indulgent. Explores gender and speculative fiction in a wildly original way. With several moments of high tension, and one particularly nightmarish sequence.

 

Another thing I could probably write an essay on is my intense distaste for "Bram Stoker's" Dracula. I can certainly understand that there is plenty for folks to enjoy about it - the costumes, the design and the early sequence in Transylvania - but I just can't get on board with anything it's trying to do. Least of all the casting, the eclecticism and the small-r romanticisation.

 

I probably feel about It Follows the way Baumer feels about Suspiria. I'm fine with the movie in and of itself, I thought it was fine enough, I just don't get where the uber-praise comes from. I probably would say the same about Poltergeist actually. That said, they have both had - for differing lengths - long legacies of popularity and did so without the kind of imagery that many horror films have, so clearly connected very well.

 

And I'll always prefer Dog Soldiers to the Descent. I recognise there is lots of amazing stuff in The Descent, the performances are wonderful as well as the creature design and I respect anyone who adores it. It's just scuppered for me by being one of those films that have IMO

Spoiler

Too relentlessly miserable a tone and herald the fact that they will have a downbeat ending so much that it is hard to project any real stakes. I'm all good with downer/evil wins endings, but there needs to be a tension of the possibility of survival, and personally I just never feel that watching Descent.

 

Really sad to see Martyrs miss the list. A real modern classic IMO.

 

[WrathOfHan]

39. Us (2019) (49 Points)

Previous Ranking: N/A (NEW)

 

Director and Screenwriter: Jordan Peele

 

Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker

 

Synopsis: A family's serene beach vacation turns to chaos when their doppelgängers appear and begin to terrorize them.

 

Box Office: 255.2M

 

Critical Reviews: 93% on RT

 

Nominated for Best Actress at the SAG Awards

 

Submissions Received: 10

Average Position: 47th

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

Jordan Peele’s Us displayed the director’s confidence in genre filmmaking. Although its ideas and messages aren’t as obvious as Get Out, Us tackles a more wieldy subject that might not fully surface on a first viewing. The film’s kills are visceral with no holds barred, leading to a darker tone than Peele has done in any of his previous work. The cast does an excellent job at playing dual roles, particularly Lupita Nyong’o. As the film’s central focus, she gives a layered performance as Adelaide and Red, effectively blurring the line between her two characters. Peele successfully avoided a sophomore slump with Us.

 

Us was boosted by a single Top 5 placement, which broke a tie with It Follows. 7/10 submissions were in the 40s to 80s, giving it one of the weaker average positions in the countdown.

 

[baumer]

Can't stomach US making the list.  One of the stupidest most moronic films I've ever seen.  Can't believe so many here liked it. 

 

Really surprised so many liked US.  Not quite my tempo but we all like different movies.  

[WrathOfHan]

38. The Lighthouse (2019) (51 Points)

Previous Ranking: N/A (NEW)

 

Director: Robert Eggers

 

Screenwriters: Robert and Max Eggers

 

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe

 

Synopsis: Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.

 

Box Office: 18.3M

 

Critical Reviews: 90% on RT

 

Nominated for Best Cinematography at the Academy Awards

 

Submissions Received: 7

Average Position: 29th

Top 5 Placements: 1

 

 

Another sophomore effort from 2019, Robert Eggers’ brilliantly crafted The Lighthouse expanded upon the director’s worldbuilding from The Witch in new ways. Using a narrow aspect ratio, Eggers creates a claustrophobic environment where the line between reality and hallucinations cease to exist. Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe dominate the screen as they are driven to insanity, and their chemistry is one of the main reasons why The Lighthouse works so well. With authentic dialect, the two actors sink into their roles and become unrecognizable at points. The Lighthouse is a horror offering unlike any other.

 

The Lighthouse was a passion pick for many users with 3/7 submissions being in the Top 15 of their respective lists and another 3 in the 30s. This is the sixth highest average on the countdown so far.

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2021 by WrathOfHan

[WrathOfHan]

37. The Evil Dead (1981) (54 Points)

Previous Ranking: #22 (-15)

 

Director and Screenwriter: Sam Raimi

 

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, Theresa Tilly

 

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

 

Box Office: 29.4M

 

Critical Reviews: 95% on RT

 

Submissions Received: 8

Average Position: 33rd

Top 10 Placements: 1

 

 

Coming in at a small drop from the 2018 countdown is Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead. This film launched Sam Raimi’s career with a blast and showcased the young director’s appetite for chaos with some of the bloodiest moments in his filmography. The Evil Dead also features Bruce Campbell’s first major role and likewise brought the actor to stardom. As the start of an unpredictable franchise, The Evil Dead still holds up. Will Evil Dead II be above its predecessor again, or will it suffer Army of Darkness’ fate and miss the countdown?

 

6/8 of Evil Dead’s submissions were between 21-40, giving it a strong average position boosted by a Top 10 placement. It received two fewer submissions and an average position 14 spots lower than the 2018 countdown.

 

 

[baumer]

Okay, I can breathe again....Evil Dead made the list.

[baumer]

I guess there's a lot of members here who haven't seen a lot of horror thus certain films I don't care for make the list.  Oh well.

[Ronin46]

As a child of the 1980s I cant begin to describe how terrifying Evil Dead was back in the day. 

[baumer]

5 minutes ago, Ronin46 said:

As a child of the 1980s I cant begin to describe how terrifying Evil Dead was back in the day. 

 

YEP!  Disturbed the hell out of me as a kid as well.  The tree rape scene is quite horrific.

[The Panda]

12 minutes ago, baumer said:

I guess there's a lot of members here who haven't seen a lot of horror thus certain films I don't care for make the list.  Oh well.

It’s also possible they have seen a lot of horror and just actually like those films you don’t care for.

[baumer]

AMC is having a JAWS marathon tonight. 

[WrathOfHan]

33 minutes ago, baumer said:

I guess there's a lot of members here who haven't seen a lot of horror thus certain films I don't care for make the list.  Oh well.

You'll be happy to know there's only one film from the past five years left in the countdown.

[WrathOfHan]

36. House/Hausu (1977) (55 Points)

Previous Ranking: N/A (NEW)

 

Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi

 

Screenwriter: Chiho Katsura

 

Starring: Kimiko Ikegami, Miki Jinbo, Ai Matubara, Kumiko Oba, Mieko Sato, Eriko Tanaka, Masayo Miyako, Yōko Minamida

 

Synopsis: A schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt's country home, which turns out to be haunted.

 

Box Office: N/A

Critical Reviews: 91% on RT

 

Submissions Received: 6

Average Position: 19th

Top 5 Placements: 1

Top 10 Placements: 2

 

Nobuhiko Obayashi’s surrealist Hausu is the second to last new film to appear on this year’s countdown. The film became a cult classic thanks to its bizarre visual effects and kills. Nobuhiko intentionally made the film as campy as it could be without care for how audiences and critics would react. It wasn’t a well-received decision upon release, but Hausu’s brashness has kept it a cult classic for decades.

 

Hausu has the highest average position on the countdown so far at 19th, making it the first film to have an average in the teens. It’s also one of the last films to make it onto the countdown with only 6 lists.

 

 

[4815162342]

56 minutes ago, baumer said:

I guess there's a lot of members here who haven't seen a lot of horror thus certain films I don't care for make the list.  Oh well.

 

I think the good thing about horror is that it comes in many different forms and styles. Two people could see all of the exact same films and have wildly divergent takes based on what kind of horror speaks more to them.

[baumer]

1 minute ago, 4815162342 said:

 

I think the good thing about horror is that it comes in many different forms and styles. Two people could see all of the exact same films and have wildly divergent takes based on what kind of horror speaks more to them.

 

Yes, you are right.