35.
Return of the Living Dead
This movie shouldn't work ... it has all the earmarks of a cheap throwaway 80's horror film,
but it does work. Extremely well. The success comes largely from the excellent casting of the mature characters played by Clu Gulager, James Karen, and Don Calfa. They provided a much needed balance for the younger miss-matched cast and not only save the film but propel it into a cult classic. This film positions itself as a follow-up to Night of the Living Dead ..'which really did happen - and became a government cover-up'.
Again I cannot stress the importance of the older characters. They share some great dialogue (courtesy of Dan O'Bannon) and steal every scene. (with the exception of Linnea Quigley's graveyard striptease) The one thing that always bothered me with this film was the strange mix of kids ..a gang of punks, new romantics, jocks, and regular kids - normally a group that wouldn't associate with each other in the 80's - all hanging out as a pack. But the good far outweighs the bad in this film ... right to the very last frame. -
urgeok
34.
Rosemary's Baby
I'm not much of a Stephen King fan, but he really gets this movie good in his book Danse Macabre.
basically, he talks about how Rosemary's Baby is much more of a political movie than a horror movie. and I hafta say, given the time this flick was made, he makes a lot of sense.
like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, this movie preyed on its audience's fear of communists and the idea that "they are among us and you don't know who may be one." in short, the paranoia of the McCarthy era.
I also like it because it's slow. I prefer character-based films over action/reaction-based ones, and this one would probly be considered slow to most modern horror fans, but that's part of why I love it. to me, the best horror movies are ones that, if you took out all the horror elements, it would still be a good movie. there's a lot going on in this movie besides a skinny chick getting knocked up by the debbil. check it out, if you haven't already, and if you have, give it another chance. -
knife_fight
33.
Zombie (aka zombi 2)
And who doesn't recall the famous "eye" scene, to this day I still turn away! This film is a Fulci classic and delivers the goods in terms of story, F/X and blood....lots of it! -
mothermold
32.
Ginger Snaps
When I first viewed Ginger Snaps at the SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival) it blew me away. Not only was it the best werewolf film I had seen in what seemed like ages, it was also a charming black comedy. It wonderfully intermingles the tragedy of becoming a werewolf with the fact of puberty, at points using one as a metaphor for the other. -
The Flayed One
31.
Frankenstein (1931)
The horror movie that, in my opinion, started it all! And not only is it a horror movie, but it's also, in a way, a love story. Honestly, nobody can tell me that, when viewing Frankenstein, that they didn't feel for the monster. All he was trying to do was adapt to this new life and world of his, but didn't quite full understand what life is. Such as the seen where he's throwing flowers into the pond with the little girl. Sure, everybody was scared shitless when they seen the monster throw her into the pond (which was originally cut from the release, which made the monster look more sadistic than ever when he carried the little girl out of the water), but he didn't know that when he was done with the flowers, that he was done for good. So maybe I'm getting a little too sentimental (and seeming both gay and like a necrophiliac), but that's what the movie Frankenstein truly was to me. A scary and loving horror movie at the same time! -
Yellow Jacket