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 27, 2010

SHOCKtober: 82-58



I want to hug this chunk of list, it's sooooo gooooood! Well, except The Devil's Rejects. I respect that some of you love it to the point of favoritedom and I'm happy for you, but I cannot get on board the Rob Zombie train. I've tried. I've seen four of his GD films! What in the masochistic hell...? I've seen fewer films from some directors I adore!

Regardless, I hope my feelings on the matter don't tear our relationship asunder. Cyber-hug! Pew pew!

Wait, that was a laser gun. Sorry!

The following films received ELEVEN VOTES each:

82. Trick 'r Treat -- 2007, Michael Dougherty
81. The Devil's Rejects -- 2005, Rob Zombie

The following films received TWELVE VOTES each:

80. The Innocents -- 1961, Jack Clayton
79. Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 -- 1986, Tobe Hooper
78. Salem's Lot -- 1979, Tobe Hooper
77. Black Sunday -- 1960, Mario Bava
76. Prince of Darkness -- 1987, John Carpenter

The following films received THIRTEEN VOTES each:

75. Invasion of the Body Snatchers -- 1978, Philip Kaufman
74. Zombie -- 1979, Lucio Fulci
73. Horror of Dracula -- 1958, Terence Fisher
72. Cat People -- 1942, Jacques Tourneur

The following films received FOURTEEN VOTES each:

71. My Bloody Valentine -- 1981, George Mihalka
70. May -- 2002, Lucky McKee
69. Paranormal Activity -- 2007, Oren Peli
68. Day of the Dead -- 1985, George Romero
67. Deep Red -- 1975, Dario Argento
66. Ringu -- 1998, Hideo Nakata
65. Slither -- 2006, James Gunn

The following films received FIFTEEN VOTES each:

64. Fright Night -- 1985, Tom Holland
63. Videodrome -- 1983, David Cronenberg

The following films received SIXTEEN VOTES each:

62. A Nightmare on Elm Street III: The Dream Warriors -- 1987, Chuck Russell
61. The Orphanage -- 2007, Juan Antonio Bayona
60. Ginger Snaps -- 2000, John Fawcett
59. Near Dark -- 1987, Kathryn Bigelow

The following film received SEVENTEEN VOTES:

58. The Brood -- 1979, David Cronenberg


  • Mmm, Broody goodness. That film should be required viewing for...for...the world.
  • I'm stating the obvious, but while Fulci's Zombie is one of those movies with 50 different titles (including Zombi 2), it's always "Zombie" to me. Yes, that should be sung to the tune of Billy Joel's "Always a Woman" or whatever it's called. The point is, when the movie came out on tape (!), it was called Zombie. When it was featured on the cover of Fangoria- with gross pictures that blew my little mind back in 1980!- it was called Zombie. So, it's Zombie.
  • Hey, look! A blog called My Monster Memories posted the Fangoria article I just mentioned, which totally brings back some of my monster memories. Man, Fangoria was the shit. Do horror-loving kids have anything that's the shit these days? Mehhhh internet. Et cetera et cetera, old days, get out of my garden, and so on.
  • I don't know if Prince of Darkness counts as "underrated" necessarily, but I think people forget about it. I forget about it. Then when someone mentions it, I'm all "Prince of Darkness is so fucking good!"
  • I've never actually seen Black Sunday (I KNOW), but I can immediately conjure up Barbara Steele's panicked face in my mind, all marked up with...what, holes from an iron maiden or a spiked mask or some such? Thanks, Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine! You, too, were the shit.
  • Seriously, this chunk of list, you guys! My Bloody Valentine. Salem's Lot. Dream Warriors. Christopher Lee as Dracula. I want to marry 82-58! Although I'm not sleeping in the same bed as #81. I JUST CAN'T.

19 comments:

Alexander Merrill said...

I'll see your "I haven't seen 'Black Sunday'" (several times?) and actually raise you a "I'm pretty sure I've seen Black Sunday, but forgot everything about it except the still image you described."

Bava's gotta be in color, man. PERIOD.

Tracy said...

Wow, you're right, ton a great stuff here.

Slither and Paranormal Activity are both mine, so that makes 4 so far.

Anonymous said...

Fright Night is the complete living king shit of bonertown! And if there are only 15 super geniuses who can recognize that scientific fact, then so be it.

Jeffrey said...

I'm a big fan of Devil's Rejects. Not sure why everyone isn't.

I also contend that Paranormal Activity is a 2009 movie since the ending in the theatrical version wasn't added until then.

Joel said...

Gotta love Leonard Maltin's summary of The Brood: "Eggar eats her own afterbirth while midget clones beat grandparents and lovely young school teachers to death with mallets."

And this is why we love it so.

The Scream Queen said...

I'm on The Devil's Rejects train. I am such a dork over that movie....I've never even been able to write up a review about it because I've probably seen it too many times at this point to be in any way objective.

Also, Dream Warriors -- yyesssss!

Barry said...

Back in '89, at a used bookstore, my eyes beheld a huge stack of early Fangorias, at 4 bucks apiece.

So I bought 'em all - Zombie, Scanners, Evil Dead (my jaw hit the floor when I saw that!), Friday pt 2 (with the head in the fridge), American Werewolf, Videodrome (TV With Guts!), Creepshow, Halloween III, Spasms, and Savini's Gore and Me (with Cropsey on the cover). And I still have them.

Best find ever!

Great list today btw!

Verdant Earl said...

I wanna marry this chunk of this list too, if you don't mind the three-way action that is. Including #81. Love them all.

For some reason, I remember almost the entire issue of Fangoria that had C.H.U.D. as its cover story from way back when. Dunno why.

iasa said...

Lots of love to all my broodmates!

goblin said...

If it's any consolation to you, Stacie, you're not alone. I'm not a fan of Rob Zombie either. In fact, I was kind of shocked that 'House of 1000 Corpses' got ten votes because, to be quite frank, I thought that movie was an utter piece of shit. (That's just my opinion, though. I don't want to step on anyone's toes here, so if you enjoyed it, that's good for you!)

michael said...

Yeah, Devil's Rejects not so much. But if Brian Posehn showed up in a different horror movie I was watching I'd think, "Awesome, I'm watching a horror movie with Brian Posehn in it and it's not The Devil's Rejects!"

Incidentally, I was looking at his credits and he was in an episode of Seinfeld called The Burning. A movie starring Jason Alexander! That's-- Is that anything?

Anonymous said...

The way you feel about The Devil's Rejects is the way I feel about Trick R' Treat. Execrable.

Banned In Queensland said...

If you did sleep with #81 I imagine your bed linen would require some serious laundering afterwards.

CashBailey said...

Anyone who voted for a Rob Zombie movie, go stand in the corner and have a think about what you did...

digitaldd said...

All I have to say about Black Sunday is the opening sequence is one of the greatest pieces of Horror celluloid ever filmed. Doesn't need to be in color but it it was it might've been banned for being too bloody.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGRUVH13CM8

The Scream Queen said...

@CashBailey: I voted for two Rob Zombie movies and I feel excellent about it ;op

Nick said...

I could never deny that Bava is the colourmaster, but to disparage Black Sunday on account of its... monochromaticity... is quite frankly sick and appalling, and must not be tolerated.

I'd seen said photos of Steele's leaky cheeks well before seeing the film itself, and I wasn't prepared for the gut-punch of the actual mask scene, or indeed the haunted beauty of the whole damned film. My advice is to find it and watch it ASAP. I expect you've had that advice for several hundred films, but I really mean it for chrissake.

Brett said...

There are several of my choices in this section, and man, this is a lot of good stuff. Fright Night is the shit, y'all. (and would make a great double feature with Horror of Dracula).

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

Hee. My votes this round: BLACK SUNDAY, FRIGHT NIGHT, and THE BROOD.

I've been trying to get somebody, anybody, to commit to watching THE BROOD with me for like two months, but either no one's been willing or I've misplaced the DVD. And I find only this week that a local rep cinema is screening an archival 35mm print of it TOMORROW. So I get to see it theatrically for the first time ever.

Halloween wishes do come true, gang.