More movies with two votes each!
100. Carnival of Souls -- 1962, Herk Harvey
99. The Abandoned -- 2006, Nacho Cerda
98. Cape Fear -- 1991, Martin Scorsese
97. Legend of Boggy Creek -- 1972, Charles B. Pierce
96. Irreversible -- 2002, Gaspar Noe
95. Day of the Dead -- 1985, George Romero
94. Legend -- 1985, Ridley Scott
93. Signs -- 2002, M. Night Shyamalan
92. The Entity -- 1982, Sidney J. Furie
91. Sinister -- 2012, Scott Derrickson
Ooh lawd. Y'all're bringin' it now. Carnival of Souls is of course a classic. Signs wore out its welcome for me before it was over, but sakes alive there's really no denying that the birthday party video footage alien reveal is killer. Sinister is still on my list of "hey, I gotta check that out"s.
And hell yes to Day of the Dead, frequently overlooked in the Romero oeuvre (although hey, at least his recent sub-par zombie flicks mean Day is no longer the most reviled!). Here's something I wrote about it once upon a time, and I still totally feel this way:
It's got humor, but it never really sinks into outright silliness the way Dawn does. Sarah makes for an interesting- if not always likable- heroine. There are the director's patented Bigger Ideas at Play going on, of course, with all those "who are the real monsters here?" Army a-holes. The film predates CGI core and features some of Tom Savini's best FX work- of particular note is the shot of a gut full of guts sliding out and falling to the ground with a nauseating splash. Then there's Bub, and the shot of all the zombies descending on that massive cargo elevator- bitchin'. Yeah, everyone yells a lot and that's irritating, but big deal! Maybe I love Day so much because it was the first zombie movie I was really allowed to see.That title sequence in the city left to the dead! The zombies barely kept at bay by the chain link fence! And again, that cargo elevator sequence...all of it scared me somethin' good. Man, I love Day of the Dead!
One of those votes for Cape Fear was mine. DeNiro scared the hell outta little ol' high school me when I saw him on the big screen. And poor Illeana Douglas!
ReplyDeleteSigns would've had three votes if I'd gotten on my butt (to get on the Internet). Something about aliens freak my out. If you want to have a long, boring conversation I have ideas about why aliens susceptible to water would attack Earth.
ReplyDeleteI've seen "Signs" about a gazillion times but I still get freaked out by that birthday footage.
ReplyDeleteI've never had the urge to see Irreversible. And yet I seek out trash like I Spit On Your Grave 2? What's up what that? I love the revenge in all these rape'n'revenge flicks. Is there any revenge in Irreversible? If not, I don't wanna watch it
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'd love to see your review of Sinister! I enjoyed it in the the-a-ther. Pretty scary. Better than The Possessions, at least! Not sure the comparison is apt, but ho hey.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely "on spot" about Day of the Dead's strengths. Here is what I think are three problems with the movie, only one of which is truly its fault: (1) It had the poor fortune of following Dawn of the Dead, and how DO you follow that? (2) I didn't come to the movie until years after it came out, when I was already tired of the "Military as True Bad Guy" plot device in other movies. So it felt old. (3) You can't deny that the military figures are utterly overwritten to the point of frustrating cliche. I'm torn, because I enjoy the performance Joseph Pilato gives as Rhodes, but its a character that's utterly lacking in depth or in the ability to evoke a shred of sympathy or understanding.
ReplyDeleteTHE ABANDONED is such a great little flick.
ReplyDeleteI've said it before, but that director should have been the first choice to do a SILENT HILL movie.
joel - Irreversible is told backwards, so the revenge comes first, then the rape, then a whole bunch of people going about their ordinary business for a while. It's not the most satisfying way of telling a story to be honest, but it's a pretty dazzling movie.
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