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.