SHOCKtober: 10-1

Here it is, the post the entire world* has been waiting for, your top 10 favorite horror films for 2020! Brace yourselves and remember always: the number in bold is the number of votes received.

*six people

10. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999, Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez) -- 52

9. SCREAM (1996, Wes Craven) -- 57

8. BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974, Bob Clark) -- 62

7. THE DESCENT (2005, Neil Marshall) -- 62

6. ALIEN (1979, Ridley Scott) -- 63

5. THE SHINING (1980, Stanley Kubrick) -- 64

4. HALLOWEEN (1978, John Carpenter) -- 72

3. THE WITCH (2015, Robert Eggers) -- 76

2. THE THING (1982, John Carpenter) -- 78

1. SUSPIRIA (208, Luca Guadagnino) -- 85

• I AM AS SHOCKED AS YOU ARE. When I announced SHOCKtober 2020, I wondered if The Thing, the perennial #2 film, would finally supplant Halloween in the hallowed top spot. The votes for Suspiria '18 started coming in and I thought hooray, it's getting a lot of votes! I had a nice chuckle--sometimes, even, a chortle--whenever some variation of "the 1977 one, sorry, don't hate me" was added to a vote for Dario Argento's Suspiria. And finally, when all was tallied up, my eyes fell out of my head. I am equally surprised that The Witch copped the #3 spot and Halloween dropped all the way to #4. As for The Thing...hey, maybe 2025 will be its year!
• "Someday," says a reader about The Shining, "I will knit myself an Apollo 11 sweater and it will be perfect. Or one for my cat, because cat sweaters are smaller, and I have a short attention span."
• On The Descent, a reader shared: "It generated so much debate with my friends « was she right to strike her friend with the climbing axe ?? ». (I think she was and my friends think I’m a bit spiteful and shady since.)"
• Well, that's that. SHOCKtober is officially SHOCKtover! On Monday I'll be back with a wee wrap-up / reckoning, including, I hope, a downloadable mega-list for your reference, scrapbook, archive, family history, time capsule, etc. etc. This list wouldn't be nuthin' without your votes, so thanks to all who voted! And it wouldn't be as much fun without all the comments and discussion, so thanks for all that too.
  
  

SHOCKtober: 20-11

Here we are at le Top 20. This is a thrill! It's like a Royal Rumble of genre classics both ye olde and ye newe. Let's see how the spandex shakes out! (?)

Number of votes each film received is written in ye bolde. Some of these are a tie! Please, should you have it, resist the pedantic urge to say "How can two movies with the same number of votes be ranked differently?" because this was explained at SHOCKtober's outset and also because I do not care!

20. THE HAUNTING (1963, Robert Wise) -- 39

19. CANDYMAN (1992, Bernard Rose) -- 42

18. CARRIE (1976, Brian De Palma) -- 42

17. THE EXORCIST (1973, William Friedkin) -- 42

16. MIDSOMMAR (2019, Ari Aster) -- 45

15. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984, Wes Craven) -- 45

14. SUSPIRIA (1977, Dario Argento) -- 46

13. HEREDITARY (2018, Ari Aster) -- 50

12. ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968, Roman Polanski) -- 50

11. THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974, Tobe Hooper) -- 51

• Wowzee wow, Ari Aster's two films--two films that didn't exist the last time I ran this grand experiment--in the Top 20! Love 'em or do not love 'em, there's no denying they've made a huge impact on the genre.
• Of A Nightmare on Elm Street, a reader says: "I propose that Ronee Blakely gives the best drunken Kabuki performance since Dunaway in Mommie Dearest." Seconded, motion passes.
• See you tomorrow for the Top 10! I know it's very exciting, but try to get some sleep.
  
  

SHOCKtober: 55-21

We've got 900 movies in the rearview which doesn't seem possible. I am not sure where this month has gone, but who cares! It's time to crack that Top 50, baby!

The number in bold is the number of votes received.

55. Carnival of Souls -- 1962, Herk Harvey -- 16

54. The Innocents -- 1961, Jack Clayton -- 16

53. Train to Busan -- 2016, Sang-ho Yeon -- 16

52. Friday the 13th -- 1980, Sean S. Cunningham -- 17

51. The Fly -- 1986, David Cronenberg -- 17

50. Creepshow -- 1982, George A. Romero -- 18

49. Session 9 -- 2001, Brad Anderson -- 18

48. The Birds -- 1963, Alfred Hitchcock -- 18

47. Don't Look Now -- 1973, Nicolas Roeg -- 19

46. Hausu (aka House) -- 1977, Nobuhiko Ôbayashi -- 19

45. Ginger Snaps -- 2000, John Fawcett -- 20

44. The Lost Boys -- 1987, Joel Schumacher -- 20

43. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors -- 1987, Chuck Russell -- 21

42. 28 Days Later... -- 2002, Danny Boyle -- 22

41. Fright Night -- 1985, Tom Holland -- 23

40. Sleepaway Camp -- 1983, Robert Hiltzik -- 24

39. The Cabin in the Woods -- 2011, Drew Goddard -- 24

38. Evil Dead II -- 1987, Sam Raimi -- 25

37. Dawn of the Dead -- 1978, George A. Romero -- 26

36. An American Werewolf in London -- 1981, John Landis -- 27

35. Hellraiser -- 1987, Clive Barker -- 27

34. Jaws -- 1975, Steven Spielberg -- 27

33. Poltergeist -- 1982, Tobe Hooper -- 27

32. Trick 'r Treat -- 2007, Michael Dougherty -- 27

31. Let the Right One In -- 2008, Tomas Alfredson -- 29

30. Psycho -- 1960, Alfred Hitchcock -- 29

29. The Return of the Living Dead -- 1985, Dan O'Bannon -- 29

28. The Evil Dead -- 1981, Sam Raimi -- 30

27. Get Out -- 2017, Jordan Peele -- 31

26. The Fog -- 1980, John Carpenter -- 31

25. The House of the Devil -- 2009, Ti West -- 31

24. It Follows -- 2014, David Robert Mitchell -- 32

23. The Silence of the Lambs -- 1991, Jonathan Demme -- 32

22. The Wicker Man -- 1973, Robin Hardy -- 32

21. Night of the Living Dead -- 1968, George A. Romero -- 39

• To one degree or another, I like every movie on this chunk o' list! I know, who cares. I am just saying!
• Of Hellraiser, a reader says: "It’s fucked and Ashley Laurence and Clare Higgins are giving their all. Plus Pinhead is strangely hot? Idk!!!"
• See you tomorrow when we begin counting down your Top 20!

FAVE 20: Final Mom

If you've been around this old haunt then you know that I hail from a horror-loving family. Creature Double Feature, MonsterVision, Movie Macabre, Hammer horror, Fangoria, Famous Monsters, and of course countless trips to the drive-in and video store horror section were a way of life around Chez Ponder. I know mom's still watching horror movies like crazy, because whenever we talk she fills me in on whatever gonzo gorefest she's recently seen.

As for her list, she said "I totally agonized over this because I love so many movies, but I settled on these." Everyone who participated in this grand experiment knows that pain! It's true, what US Magazine says: Stars...they're just like us!

DRACULA (1958, Terence Fisher)

DRACULA: PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966, Terence Fisher)

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968, George A. Romero)

DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978, George A. Romero)

THE DESCENT (2005, Neil Marshall)

DOG SOLDIERS (2002, Neil Marshall)

CANDYMAN (1992, Bernard Rose)

HALLOWEEN (1978, John Carpenter)

JU-ON: THE GRUDGE (2002, Takashi Shimizu)

RINGU (1998, Hideo Nakata)

ALIEN (1979, Ridley Scott)

PITCH BLACK (2000, David Twohy)

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999, Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez)

JAWS (1975, Steven Spielberg)

SUSPIRIA (1977, Dario Argento)

DEMONS (1985, Lamberto Bava)

COLD PREY (2006, Roar Uthaug)

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974, Tobe Hooper)

MAYHEM (2017, Joe Lynch)

ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (2017, Shin'ichirô Ueda)

Fancy a BLOOD CRUISE?

So! You might remember me giving Mats Strandberg's Blood Cruise the ol' (HIGHLY COVETED, TRUST ME) Final Girl stomp (typo that stays) of approval the other day when I posted the list of his 20 favorite horror movies.

Well guess what? To celebrate the book's US release and SHOCKtober, I've got three copies to give away! If you're a US resident who wants to get your mitts and eyeballs on this very bloody vampires infest a booze cruise saga, all you have to do is drop a comment on my Instagram post about this before Monday. I'll pick three winners! I mean, you're all winners...it's just that three of you will win a copy of this terrific book. Good luck!