FINAL GIRL explores the slasher flicks of the '70s and '80s...and all the other horror movies I feel like talking about, too. This is life on the EDGE, so beware yon spoilers!

Oct 2, 2010

SHOCKtober: 707-683



Each of the following films received ONE VOTE. It's evident by now that there's no real significance to that, for there are some undeniably great horror movies listed here.

A note! Please keep the comments civil. While I certainly encourage discussion, debate, arguments, "Wait, how is that considered horror?" and all that, I have a zero-tolerance policy- less than zero, actually- on nastiness and name-calling and all that. No one should be disparaged for the choices he or she has made for the list. Talk about the movies, but not the person. I realize it's not very Internet of me to extinguish any and all flames (perhaps before they're even lit), but that's the way it is here at your friendly neighborhood Final Girl.

Schoolmarm out!

707. The Invisible Man -- 1933, James Whale
706. Prom Night -- 1980, Paul Lynch
705. Day of the Animals -- 1977, William Girdler
704. StageFright -- 1987, Michele Soavi
703. House with the Laughing Windows -- 1976, Pupi Avati
702. 1408 -- 2007, Mikael Hafstrom
701. Joy Ride -- 2001, John Dahl
700. Cries and Whispers -- 1972, Ingmar Bergman
699. Maniac -- 1934, Dwain Esper
698. The Unknown -- 1927, Tod Browning
697. Ebola Syndrome -- 1996, Herman Yau
696. Targets -- 1968, Peter Bogdanovich
695. Darkness -- 1993, Leif Jonkers
694. Day of the Beast -- 1995, Alex de la Iglesia
693. [REC] 2 -- 2009, Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza
692. Tomb of Ligeia -- 1964, Roger Corman
691. The Frighteners -- 1996, Peter Jackson
690. Tetsuo, the Iron Man -- 1989, Shinya Tsukamoto
689. Tales from the Gimli Hospital -- 1988, Guy Maddin
688. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari -- 1920, Robert Wiene
687. Nightbeast -- 1982, Don Dohler
686. Dark Water -- 2002, Hideo Nakata
685. Warlock -- 1989, Steve Miner
684. Dark Waters -- 1993, Mariano Baino
683. The Haunting of Julia -- 1977, Richard Loncraine

When oh when will The Haunting of Julia get a DVD release? It's a film worthy of me trotting out my oversized, novelty foam finger that says "everyone should have a VCR #1" on it. The book on which the film is based, Peter Straub's Julia, is pretty terrific, too. That's just an F to the Y to the I.

30 comments:

Poli said...

Surprised I still haven't seen one of mine on there. But their time will come.

David Robson, Proprietor, House of Sparrows said...

These are indeed some marvelous films. I kick myself a bit for not listing STAGEFRIGHT.

spazmo said...

So many movies I haven't seen! No wonder I'm so lame at The Final Frame game.

Nice to see Todd Browning and Guy Maddin getting some love. And props to whoever listed Bergman's Cries and Whispers. Definitely a masterpiece of horror. Except for the housekeeper Anna, every character in it is a fucking monster.

Danny Spoiler said...

ahh..tetsuo the ironman. i should have listed you but i didnt. i just didnt think of you as horror per se. is that so wrong of me? am i really to blame? but i love you. oh, how i love you. you know that, right? you big hunk of metal you.

Walter L. Hollmann said...

I am IN LOVE with whoever put Day of the Animals. Serious awesomeness, almost made it to mine.

CashBailey said...

I love THE HAUNTING OF JULIA. It's one of my 'hidden gems'.

And yes, it definitely needs a DVD release.

Amanda By Night said...

Wow, one vote for Prom Night... That must be me! :) Seriously, it should be in the top 3 of everything. Best old underwear? Cotton, boyshorts, Prom Night. You see what I mean... :)

Stacie Ponder said...

Amanda, it's actually not you...I made a (WEIRD) executive decision NOT to count Special Guest listers lists in the listy list. I don't know why I decided that, but I did. This means, however, that you have a kindred spirit out there in all things Hammond sibs shenanigans!

I just watched Prom Night the other day, actually. I have such a strange relationship with that movie. Very I hate it! I love it! I hate it! I love it!...like it's my sister/daughter from Chinatown or something.

Amanda By Night said...

Haha! I know, I get that way about some movies myself. Not that I can think of one now, but I do... I swear!

Sarah said...

Aw, The Frighteners only got one vote.

Nick Mullins said...

These lists are great not only for helping me to kick myself for not including certain movies on my own top 20, but also for reminding me of movies I had totally forgotten about. Tetsuo, The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, Demon City Shinjuku…

Mike McFarland said...

I can't believe that The Invisible Man wouldn't have made the list if I hadn't voted for it. It's one of my faves. I can't remember if Maniac was one of mine or not, but if it was, I meant the one with Caroline Munro!

Stacie Ponder said...

Nope, that Maniac will appear elsewhere on the list. :)

Ray said...

Some really good movies getting only one vote. I'm surprised at some of these. Am I really the only person who loves [REC] 2 that much? I guess it's pretty new, and little-seen in the US so far.

Synonymous said...

Honestly surprised that 1408 and The Frighteners received only one vote each, considering how well-regarded (among horror fans, at least) both have become.

Also disappointed that Joy Ride got only one vote - even I forgot about it, alas.

Stacie Ponder said...

I'm pretty sure that [REC]2 is still on the fest/press screenings circuit. It hasn't been released on DVD or in theaters yet. I loved it myself.

And I love Joy Ride! It wouldn't make my list of favorites, but I really enjoy it...and yeah, I always forget about it. Ted Levine, man!

Ray said...

No, [REC] 2 did get a small theatrical release back in May. I think Magnolia released it, but only into smaller theaters. Maybe it'll get a proper release, but most people will probably have to wait for the DVD.

And thirding Joy Ride. Didn't make my list, either, but a pretty fun movie. Ted Levine is so awesome, his mere voice is enough to make a movie better.

Anonymous said...

Yeah...I haven't seen anything from my list yet...but I kind of picked my favorites that I felt had merit above "I freakin' Love This!" So I suspect picking that way was actually going to result in my choices being a bit mainstream.

Anyways... I definitely give a thumbs up to Joyride.

Andreas said...

Yay, 3 of mine are on there! Hurray for Bergman horror!

Surprised that Caligari got only 1 vote... but who am I to talk? I didn't include it either, as much as I love it.

And I'm glad someone voted for Targets! And Tales from the Gimli Hospital, even though I'm not sure if it's horror - whatever it is, it's disturbing and weird.

dfordoom said...

I'd never even heard of The Haunting of Julia. Now I definitely want to see it.

Good to see Targets making the list. One of several very good films Karloff made right at the end of his career, along with The Sorcerers.

TheKungFuProfessor said...

Owning up for Ebola Syndrome, It's not a movie I would recommend to anybody, but the first time I seen it I was horrified & therefore it made my list.

Kai said...

Wow! A lot of my picks ended up on this post (Dark Waters, Warlock and The Haunting Of Julia).

I really thought The Haunting Of Julia would receive more than one vote.

augustburns2 said...

That Prom Night vote is mine!

Stacie Ponder said...

I always figured that Julia was a sort of tiny, quiet classic along the lines of Burnt Offerings or Let's Scare Jessica to Death. Then I realized...man, no one ever talks about it! Maybe it wasn't that popular when originally released on video, and it's never had a chance to find a new audience since it's never been on DVD.

Thomas Duke said...

I love Haunting of Julia. It also has the best moog score ever. EVA!

Nightbeast and Cries and Whispers, huh? I hope it was the same person that listed these two. That would be GREAT. I'm gonna go stab my own vagina with a shard of glass now. Oh wait...no vagina. Oh well.

David Anderson said...

Nightbeast?
Anyone planning to watch Nightbeats when it comes out?
With the guy from Gremlins and 3 Ninjas: Knuckle Up production values.

Missy Y. (formerly A Case of You) said...

Yeah, Cries & Whispers is decidedly not a horror movie. Bergman only made one horror movie--Hour of the Wolf--but it is a great movie, and I can see the instinct to trot it out whenever possible.

Stacie Ponder said...

Well, clearly a couple of people find it to be such. There are a few movies on the list that might not be filed under 'horror' at the video store, but sometimes classification is grey. Horror's in the eye of the beholder and all that.

iasa said...

I was able to watch The Haunting of Julia last night. It's not a movie to be watched whilst scrubbing the floor,as i discovered. It's more of a rainy winter evening, international coffees kinda film.

I really enjoyed it, thanks to whoever listed it. Must finish cleaning the floor now.

David Anderson said...

Right, let's try again:

Nightbeasts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJWI4mTBbDE

http://web.me.com/snimh/Site/Blank.html