I am positively riddled with election anxiety! So what better way to cope than to distract myself by reliving the glory of SHOCKtober 2020 for a brief moment. It seems to me, it lived its life like a series of blog posts in the wind.
Anyway. It was great, though, wasn't it? That's because of all-a-y'all voters, who inundated my eyeballs with movie after movie. Almost 1000 movies! It wore my fingers down so much that I am now typing with bony nubs, which, believe me, is not as hot as it sounds.
But you know what is as hot as it sounds? Comparing and contrasting! I've done this reader poll thang three times, so let's see hw it all stacks up.
Total movies on the list: 951 (2020) / 632 (2017) / 732 (2010)
In 2017, 78 post-2010 movies made the list. In 2020, 193 post-2010 movies made the list. As suspected, tastes are skewing towards the new more than they used to...I think this is partially due to the way we consume movies now, some films of yore have been reassessed (and ultimately have risen or fallen in the hearts and minds of viewers), and also hey, horror movies have been in a pretty damn good place for the last 5 years or so. And audience and filmmaker demographics have shifted, too--or at least previously underrepresented demographics are being heard and seen now. There's great variety in the genre these days, and the canon ain't totally hogging the spotlight anymore. This is all very evident in the way the Top 20s have shifted over the years:
20. 2020: The Haunting
2017: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
2010: Carrie
19. 2020: Candyman
2017: Scream
2010: Black Christmas
18. 2020: Carrie
2017: The Fog
2010: The Return of the Living Dead
17. 2020: The Exorcist
2017: The Blair Witch Project
2010: An American Werewolf in London
16. 2020: Midsommar
2017: Psycho
2010: Scream
15. 2020: A Nightmare on Elm Street
2017: It Follows
2010: Evil Dead II
14. 2020: Suspiria (1977)
2017: Rosemary's Baby
2010: Jaws
13. 2020: Hereditary
2017: Jaws
2010: The Evil Dead
12. 2020: Rosemary's Baby
2017: Suspiria (1977)
2010: Alien
11. 2020: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
2017: The Descent
2010: Psycho
10. 2020: The Blair Witch Project
2017: Carrie
2010: The Descent
9. 2020: Scream
2017: Black Christmas
2010: A Nightmare on Elm Street
8. 2020: Black Christmas
2017: Night of the Living Dead
2010: Suspiria (1977)
7. 2020: The Descent
2017: Dawn of the Dead
2010: Dawn of the Dead
6. 2020: Alien
2017: Alien
2010: Night of the Living Dead
5. 2020: The Shining
2017: The Shining
2010: The Shining
4. 2020: Halloween
2017: The Exorcist
2010: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
3. 2020: The Witch
2017: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
2010: The Exorcist
2. 2020: The Thing
2017: The Thing
2010: The Thing
1. 2020: Suspiria (2018)
2017: Halloween
2010: Halloween
I know Suspiria taking the top spot this year is the big shocker, but it's wild to see how different 2020 and 2010 are. Although I know my 2020 faves aren't all the same as my 2010 faves, so I shouldn't be that surprised, I guess. Also the fact that The Shining always takes the #5 spot and The Thing always takes #2 is freaking me out!
I'm definitely curious to see how the newer movies fare the next time I put out the call for lists. Will Suspiria still rank high, or is it merely a passing fad, like a pet rock or American democracy? Will Halloween reclaim its top spot, or drop even farther down the rankings? Will a movie starring Tracey Gold ever make it to the list? Will The Thing and The Shining be forever #2 and #5 in our hearts?
Ah, but those are questions to be answered another time. A question to be answered now, however, is: Would you like a free downloadable PDF of this year's mighty list that includes YOUR faves and all the special guest faves? If YES, head right over to the Gaylords of Darkness website and getcherself one! If NO, then FINE. Also! A kind and diligent reader compiled the madness into a list on Letterboxd! Go check it out if you're a Letterboxd aficionado. Or even if you're not! The point of all this is we should always remember to make every tober a SHOCKtober!