HDC Presents: 100 Years of Horror

[metternich1815]

I have just finished and sent in my list for 2000-2012. I have to say that, as I have said before, I will have to disagree with several people on here. While the period of 2000-2012 has definitely had some really good films; I think that the 1990s actually had a significantly higher number of good films. In fact, my list for the 1990s was much harder to do than my list for 2000-2012. It definitely is not bad as what some people have said. There are a number of great films like Saw, Final Destination, The Ring and the like, but overall, there are actually fewer great films than what I imagined.

[Kandarian Demon]

Originally Posted by metternich1815

I have just finished and sent in my list for 2000-2012. I have to say that, as I have said before, I will have to disagree with several people on here. While the period of 2000-2012 has definitely had some really good films; I think that the 1990s actually had a significantly higher number of good films. In fact, my list for the 1990s was much harder to do than my list for 2000-2012. It definitely is not bad as what some people have said. There are a number of great films like Saw, Final Destination, The Ring and the like, but overall, there are actually fewer great films than what I imagined.

The thing is, it depends on what you like - it's easy to forget when debating movies that it IS a matter of taste, and it isn't nescesarily bad taste against good taste. "My kind of horror" was pretty much dead in the 90s, and I hated how traditional special effects were replaced by, at the time, extremely fake looking CGI. But that doesn't mean that you or anyone else are "wrong" for thinking that the 90s were awesome.

[metternich1815]

Originally Posted by Kandarian Demon

The thing is, it depends on what you like - it's easy to forget when debating movies that it IS a matter of taste, and it isn't nescesarily bad taste against good taste. "My kind of horror" was pretty much dead in the 90s, and I hated how traditional special effects were replaced by, at the time, extremely fake looking CGI. But that doesn't mean that you or anyone else are "wrong" for thinking that the 90s were awesome.

Just curious, what is your type of horror? I am just surprised because some of the best horror films of the 90s were ones that did NOT rely on CGI, but instead on story, character development, and even used higher thinking by scaring through psychology. I respect other's views on horror of the 90s, but am surprised by so many that believe it was a bad decade for horror, despite quite a number of really excellent films (at least in my opinion).

[_____V_____]

Thanks to natedog722 for submitting entries for both the 90s and the 00s, and to metternich1815 for submitting his entry for the 00s.

We are in the process of finalising TWO more films for the 80s. Hopefully we start on the 90s by this weekend.

[natedog722]

I was not able to send my list in for the 1980s, but if I am allowed to provide my opinion, then I would back The Fog, The Fly, The Return of the Living Dead, and Christine.

[_____V_____]

Thank you. We now have our 19th film for the 80s.

http://www.horror.com/forum/showpost...&postcount=424

Just ONE more needs to be finalised.

[Giganticface]

The 80s list is looking strong. Before I throw in a backing for a different film, I'd like to make a case for Cannibal Holocaust. Hopefully it can garner another backing and make the final list because it's one of the most impactful horror movies I've ever seen. I understand that it's not for everyone, but hopefully it will be judged on its merits and not purely on taste.

First off, I think it would be good to add breadth to the lists. Not many exploitation films have made it (because they've been beaten by better films), but this one transcends exploitation via self-satirization and irony. It also serves as a transition from 70s grindhouse to an era of "proper," and generally respectable, horror that took off in the 80s. If you're put off by the real animal killings, which is totally understandable, hopefully the assurance that all the animals were consumed by the natives, as they regularly did, helps alleviate that.

Regarding the film, its story and its execution, I find it to be truly unique and impeccably executed. I'm amazed that the real-life natives are almost better actors than the actors. I have no idea how Deodato accomplished that. It's one of the reasons the movie feels so real. That, and the intermixing of Animal Kingdom-style footage and mondo real death video (which, as part of the storyline, is a "faked" documentary), causes the line between reality and fiction to blur to the point that the viewer is subconsciously confused, and the acted violence becomes significantly more disturbing that it would have been otherwise. This is a stroke of genius by Deodato.

The story is brilliant, consisting of two excursions -- the second team setting out to solve the mystery of the first team's disappearance, a story which is revealed incrementally via footage that the second team found. The footage revealed that the true horror was just as much due to human nature, of which the exploitative and, eventually evil, Westerners are bound to, as it was to the cannibalistic nature of the natives. It should also be mentioned that the found footage aspect of this film predates the "original" found footage film, The Blair Witch Project, by nearly 20 years, and that it was so well executed that Deodato was actually tried in a criminal court for suspicion of killing his actors.

Cannibal Holocaust outdid all of its subgenre predecessors, both in intelligent storytelling and execution, and effectively killed off the cannibal subgenre. After this one, there will never be a need for another one.

[metternich1815]

Originally Posted by Kandarian Demon

Hmm yeah you're right, I just never tought of it that way... but, so is "It". But never mind, just wanted to mention that that would have been my first choice :)

I have to say that I never saw it as a mini-series either because I watched the whole thing on a dvd. I don't know where Rose Red would have been on my list, but it probably would have been on my top 20 for the 1990s. I have to say, despite length, I have always enjoyed this film. I am sure the same is true with It, but I have always considered that film (or whatever) a little overrated.

[xX_StarChild_Xx]

If I already voted for Cannibal Holocaust in my top 20 of the 80s I can't back it can I?

I will if I can, as I think that, as Giganticface has addressed, it was a transcendent and immersive experience that blurred the lines between reality and fiction, made a very impactful and resonating statement about our lust for violence and exploitation of the same, while at the same time seemingly revel in what it itself makes us question. The duality of it all really strikes a chord with me, and I personally would be disappointed to not see it make the cut.

[Giganticface]

I think you can. The movies that I backed (Basket Case, Cannibal Holocaust, Videodrome) were already in my top 20.