#301-#400
The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films: #301-#400
301. (-23) The Hound of the Baskervilles
Sidney Lanfield
1939 / USA / 80m / BW / Mystery | IMDb
Richard Greene, Basil Rathbone, Wendy Barrie, Nigel Bruce, Lionel Atwill, John Carradine, Barlowe Borland, Beryl Mercer, Morton Lowry, Ralph Forbes
“Although The Hound of the Baskervilles remains stubbornly set-bound, it still manages to generate a nice atmosphere which is due mostly to its insistence on depicting Dartmoor as a gloomy, perpetually mist-shrouded domain of escaped prisoners, scruffy hawkers and, of course, a ferocious hound with a habit of howling at the moon. But it’s also the familiarity of Rathbone and Bruce in the roles which largely defined their careers that gives classic movie buffs a case of the warm-fuzzies. They bring Donan Coyle’s characters to life in a very real way that no other actors have come close to rivalling, so that each seem to harbour a genuine fondness for the other – even though Watson is prone to bluff and bluster when shown by Holmes how far off the mark he invariably is.” – Richard Cross, A Tankful of Gas
302. (+22) Eden Lake
James Watkins
2008 / UK / 91m / Col / Splatter | IMDb
Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Tara Ellis, Jack O’Connell, Finn Atkins, Jumayn Hunter, Thomas Turgoose, James Burrows, Tom Gill, Lorraine Bruce
“Though nightmarish and visceral, it’s the most intelligent horror film to have been made by a British director since Jack Clayton’s The Innocents in 1960. And it fulfils the two purposes of horror: it involves you emotionally and it’s frightening… It’s a thoroughly credible set-up and the process of escalation whereby Jenny and Steve alienate, then anger these feral youths until they’re ready to stab, torture and even burn them to death is worryingly authentic. Unlike most horror films, in which the heroes steer themselves into danger by their own stupidity, Jenny and Steve behave with complete plausibility and a tragically unrequited sense of kindness and social responsibility.” – Chris Tookey, The Daily Mail
303. (-6) Das Wachsfigurenkabinett
Paul Leni
1924 / Germany / 65m / BW / Anthology | IMDb
Emil Jannings, Conrad Veidt, Werner Krauss, William Dieterle, Olga Belajeff, John Gottowt, Georg John, Ernst Legal
“Don’t let the lack of horror chops deter you from this; after all, it is close enough, plus it has an early treatment of the Jack the Ripper story that’s been mined dozens of times for the genre. Plus, the technical display is quite astonishing; this was a huge production for the age, and it shows in the elaborate set design, especially in that first segment. Taking us from Arab streets to lavish palaces to dingy, humble abodes, Leni masterfully transports us through a fancifully realized land that recalls the whimsy of the Arabian Nights tales. Toss in some dazzling color tinting and you’re basically treated to an Expressionist feast.” – Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!
304. (+26) The Most Dangerous Game
Irving Pichel & Ernest B. Schoedsack
1932 / USA / 63m / BW / Thriller | IMDb
Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, Leslie Banks, Noble Johnson, Steve Clemente, William B. Davidson, Oscar ‘Dutch’ Hendrian
“Count Zaroff remains obsessed with the hunt… “Kill, then love,” he tells Rainsford. “When you have known that, you have known ecstasy.” Once he has hunted down Bob, he will rape Eve. Rather than wait around to see who wins, Eve joins Bob, and as they flee and lose and finally survive, through every chase and twist, they of course fall in love. The irony is that the erotic horror verbalized by Zaroff, the primal male urge to obliterate an enemy and celebrate in bed, is implicitly, and by more civilized and formulaic means, achieved by Rainsford… a superbly paced, sexually charged, tightly constructed, no-holds-barred adventure film with moments of dark, Germanic horror that stick in the mind, a movie that moves.” – Bruce Kawin, Criterion Collection Notes
305. (+11) Pánico en el Transiberiano
Eugenio Martín
1972 / UK / 84m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Alberto de Mendoza, Silvia Tortosa, Julio Peña, Ángel del Pozo, Telly Savalas, Helga Liné, Alice Reinheart, José Jaspe
“Full of quaint, old-timey racism—there are lots of conniving Chinamen—and 70’s style sexism—Wells’ assistant is smart “for a woman”—”Horror Express” is ridiculous and cheesy. The characters jump to wild conclusions with no proof or even clues, and everyone simply accepts the outlandish claims, because why the hell not? There are clunky metaphors, and the whole thing is a mishmash of zombie, monster, and religious horror with elements of science fictions. All of this adds up to a schlocky, tacky, raucously entertaining time that I thoroughly enjoyed this from beginning to end. “Horror Express” is a blast.” – Brent McKnight, Beyond Hollywood
306. (+8) You’re Next
Adam Wingard
2011 / USA / 95m / Col / Home Invasion | IMDb
Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Margaret Laney, Amy Seimetz, Ti West, Rob Moran, Barbara Crampton
“Given its title, you can be forgiven for assuming that Adam Wingard’s home-invasion thriller will be just another blood-soaked body-count flick. But You’re Next is better than that… The relentless violence does get to be a bit much, but what juices this bare-bones premise and lifts it above the weekly slew of run-of-the-mill splatterfests is Wingard’s canny knack for leavening his characters’ gory demises with sick laughs and clever Rube Goldberg twists (razor-sharp piano wire hasn’t been used this well since 1999’s Audition). It’s like Ordinary People meets Scream… It’s so deliciously twisted, it will make you walk out of the theater feeling like you just endured a grueling, giddy workout.” – Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly
307. (+54) Grave
Julia Ducournau
2016 / France / 99m / Col / Cannibal | IMDb
Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella, Laurent Lucas, Joana Preiss, Bouli Lanners, Marion Vernoux, Thomas Mustin, Marouan Iddoub, Jean-Louis Sbille
“This exhilarating French-Belgian debut from writer/director Julia Ducournau is a feast for ravenous cinephiles, an extreme yet intimate tale of identity crises that blends Cronenbergian body horror with humour and heartbreak as it sinks its teeth deep into the sins of the flesh… Directed with the same cross-genre dexterity as Kathryn Bigelow’s seminal vampire western Near Dark, Raw is a thrillingly confident and vigorously executed work. From the chilling opening shot of a car crash to the woozy, single-take sojourns through drunken student raves, Ducournau and cinematographer Ruben Impens lead us effortlessly into Justine’s underworld. A tethered horse on a treadmill canters in slow motion through Justine’s tortured dreams, while scratching fits and metamorphosing sweats are captured from within the claustrophobic confines of imprisoning bed-sheets.” – Mark Kermode, The Observer
308. (-9) Tales from the Crypt
Freddie Francis
1972 / UK / 92m / Col / Anthology | IMDb
Ralph Richardson, Geoffrey Bayldon, Joan Collins, Martin Boddey, Chloe Franks, Oliver MacGreevy, Ian Hendry, Susan Denny, Angela Grant, Peter Cushing
“Subotsky bought the movie rights for all the E. C. horror titles from their publisher, William M. Gaines, and “Tales from the Crypt” is the first film made from the material. It’s put together something like the comic books, with the old Crypt Keeper acting as host and narrator… The five stories all work on the principle that an evildoer should be punished ironically by his own misdeed… The direction is by Freddie Francis, who has something of a cult following among horror fans, and the visuals and decor have been planned in bright basic colors and gray, so they look something like comic panels. One further note: If Santa Claus knocks at your door tonight, don’t answer.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
309. (-33) Murders in the Rue Morgue
Robert Florey
1932 / USA / 61m / BW / Mystery | IMDb
Sidney Fox, Bela Lugosi, Leon Ames, Bert Roach, Betty Ross Clarke, Brandon Hurst, D’Arcy Corrigan, Noble Johnson, Arlene Francis
“It’s silly and frivolous and absolutely deserves to be laughed right off the screen, but for one tremendous achievement: it is one of the best-looking horror films of the ’30s, full stop. It was shot by Karl Freund, who I’m increasingly sure could save anything: if the rumors are true, he’s the only reason Dracula exists as a functional object, and between The Mummy and Mad Love, he directed two of the most excitingly atmospheric films in the first wave of Universal horror. And good God, but does he ever bring the most flamboyant Expressionist zeal to Murders in the Rue Morgue, using sharp delineations of light to hammer home moments of terror and the uncanny, and he and Florey combined for some really amazing camera placements that present a sense of depth and shape to the rather generic Parisian settings that blazes miles past anything in the stagey Dracula.” – Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
310. (+15) Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky
2010 / USA / 108m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Barbara Hershey, Winona Ryder, Benjamin Millepied, Ksenia Solo, Kristina Anapau, Janet Montgomery, Sebastian Stan
“By the end, resentment has entered a psychotic dimension, and melodrama has morphed irretrievably into horror movie. Of course the possibility of it has been there, perhaps from the very first minutes when we saw Nina at home in her mother’s bedroom, plastered with self-portraits, a shrine to herself. If you think it all sounds overblown – nuts – you’d probably be right. But The Red Shoes was nuts, too, and it’s still a masterpiece. Black Swan dances itself dizzy in its urge to overwhelm us, but Aronofsky’s boldness and Natalie Portman’s exquisite, raw-nerved performance make the surrender very enjoyable.” – Anthony Quinn, The Independent
311. (+10) Kill List
Ben Wheatley
2011 / UK / 95m / Col / Crime | IMDb
Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, Harry Simpson, Michael Smiley, Emma Fryer, Struan Rodger, Esme Folley, Ben Crompton, Gemma Lise Thornton, Robin Hill
“It often looks like a film by Lynne Ramsay or even Lucrecia Martel, composed in a dreamily unhurried arthouse-realist style that is concerned to capture texture, mood and moment. Perhaps inspired by Thomas Clay’s The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael, Wheatley has set out to supersaturate ostensible normality with a flavour of evil. In many scenes he succeeds impressively. It’s not entirely clear if Kill List is more than the sum of its startlingly disparate parts, or if the ending lives up to the promise of something strange and new, but its confidence is beyond doubt.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
312. (-20) Asylum
Roy Ward Baker
1972 / UK / 88m / Col / Anthology | IMDb
Peter Cushing, Britt Ekland, Herbert Lom, Patrick Magee, Barry Morse, Barbara Parkins, Robert Powell, Charlotte Rampling, Sylvia Syms, Richard Todd
“All in all, “Asylum” is one of the best anthology films ever made. Especially eerie is the tale where a killer is pursued by the severed body parts of his victim, all of which are wrapped in paper. The film makes effective use of Moussegsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition” and “Night on the Bare Mountain” as the basis of the soundtrack. With performances that are all top notch and great direction from Baker, the film is a flawless piece of horror moviemaking — a well-made gem from the 1970s that is unlike anything that studios can produce today.” – Lucius Gore, Esplatter
313. (-32) Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
John S. Robertson
1920 / USA / 49m / BW / Science Fiction | IMDb
John Barrymore, Brandon Hurst, Martha Mansfield, Charles Lane, Cecil Clovelly, Nita Naldi, Louis Wolheim
“John S. Robertson’s vision is not boggled down by repetition or clichés, and he breaks from the shackles of Stevenson’s immortal story in every detail. The scenes preceding the transformation have a light and delicate touch to them, but it is the dank and menacing scenes afterwards that seem to grab our attention the most. Most of the characters, during the transformation, are seen walking around in damp alleys, in which the light of a lamppost is the only relief from the shadows. One might even call these scenes early examples of the 1940s film noir. “Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde” is not just a movie about unleashing our dark sides, but controlling them.” – David Keyes, Cinemaphile
314. (new) The Ghoul
T. Hayes Hunter
1933 / UK / 77m / BW / Mystery | IMDb
Boris Karloff, Cedric Hardwicke, Ernest Thesiger, Dorothy Hyson, Anthony Bushell, Kathleen Harrison, Harold Huth, D.A. Clarke-Smith, Ralph Richardson
“It is perhaps a happy series of accidents that led to the results here, but whatever the case, the film is richly melodramatic horror — with marvelous performances, a witty script, atmospheric direction and a surprising number of effective shocks — including a final scene for Karloff that may well be the grimmest and most startling moment in classic horror.” – Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress
315. (-19) Valerie a týden divu
Jaromil Jires
1970 / Czechoslovakia / 77m / Col / Surrealism | IMDb
Jaroslava Schallerová, Helena Anýzová, Petr Kopriva, Jirí Prýmek, Jan Klusák, Libuse Komancová, Karel Engel, Alena Stojáková, Otto Hradecký, Martin Wielgus
“Jaromil Jires’s overripe 1970 exercise in Prague School surrealism. The 13-year-old title heroine, who’s just had her first period, traipses through a shifting landscape of sensuous, anticlerical, and vaguely medieval fantasy-horror enchantments that register more as a collection of dream adventures, spurred by guiltless and polysexual eroticism, than as a conventional narrative. Virtually every shot is a knockout—for comparable use of color, you’d have to turn to some of Vera Chytilova’s extravaganzas of the same period, such as Daisies and Fruit of Paradise. If you aren’t too anxious about decoding what all this means, you’re likely to be entranced.” – Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
316. (-36) The Brides of Dracula
Terence Fisher
1960 / UK / 85m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Peter Cushing, Martita Hunt, Yvonne Monlaur, Freda Jackson, David Peel, Miles Malleson, Henry Oscar, Mona Washbourne, Andree Melly, Victor Brooks
“Terence Fisher proves just as adept at action in this film as he was with atmosphere and space in the original, resulting in a tremendously exciting climax with just enough imagination to leave us unconcerned about how much it borrows from other sources. Besides that, Brides is not just the equal of Dracula as a triumph of craftsmanship; in at least one important way, it’s a major step up. Though the film is still lighter than the modern viewer would think proper, it offers a much deeper collection of musty shadows than the first film had, and a crazy motif of colorful detail lighting that makes no sense in a strictly motivational way (i.e. there’s no reason that bright green lights should pour out of the inn’s back rooms), but serves a much greater purpose in showing just how off-kilter and nightmarish this whole Gothic world really is.” – Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
317. (+15) Tucker and Dale vs Evil
Eli Craig
2010 / USA / 89m / Col / Comedy | IMDb
Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss, Philip Granger, Brandon Jay McLaren, Christie Laing, Chelan Simmons, Travis Nelson, Alex Arsenault
“High-concept horror comedies that actually work are a rare breed, yet Tucker & Dale vs. Evil manages to continually make the comedy-of-errors shtick work. Props should go not only to Labine, but Tudyk as well, who bears the brunt of the comic violence heaped upon the clueless duo. Thankfully, the laughs are evened out with a heaping of gore that’ll please the horror hounds in the crowd. Amazingly, even the unbelievable romance between Allison and Dale comes off as rather sweet. In its own pleasantly blood-soaked way, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil delivers a whole lot more than just a one-joke concept, making it a very worthy watch for genre devotees.” – Jeremy Wheeler, TV Guide’s Movie Guide
318. (+10) Sinister
Scott Derrickson
2012 / USA / 110m / Col / Haunted House | IMDb
Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Fred Dalton Thompson, James Ransone, Michael Hall D’Addario, Clare Foley, Rob Riley, Tavis Smiley, Janet Zappala, Victoria Leigh
“Put them all together and they make Sinister the horror film to beat this Halloween: scary and suspenseful without insulting our intelligence. The underlying concept proves sound, the development deftly avoids genre cliché, and the twist builds upon what came before instead of trying to blow our minds at any cost. It pulls threads from earlier horror movies like Ringu and The Shining, but remains beholden to none of them: creating an atmosphere that, while not completely original, remains resolutely its own. And good God, it actually comes from an original script. In an era (and a genre) littered with sequels, Sinister should be commended for standing by its ideas. It’s scary as fuck too: the only criteria that really matters for a movie like this.” – Rob Vaux, Mania
319. (+10) My Bloody Valentine
George Mihalka
1981 / Canada / 90m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck, Keith Knight, Alf Humphreys, Cynthia Dale, Helene Udy, Rob Stein, Thomas Kovacs, Terry Waterland
“My Bloody Valentine, especially in its restored state, definitely stands the test of time as one of the most entertaining 80s-era slashers. The death scenes are quite gruesome and ingenious; the miners are likeable; the obligatory “funny fat guy” (played by Keith Knight) is endearing; the young ladies are voluptuous (but sorry guys… no gratuitous nudity); and there’s the token “crazy old man” spouting warnings; properly solemn small-town law enforcement officers, and a few other other characters who are more than just cardboard cutouts. The dialogue is laugh-out-loud hilarious at times, and you’ve gotta love the dated tunes and far-out fashions.” – Staci Layne Wilson, Horror.com
320. (-26) Mark of the Vampire
Tod Browning
1935 / USA / 60m / BW / Vampire | IMDb
Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, Jean Hersholt, Henry Wadsworth, Donald Meek, Jessie Ralph, Ivan F. Simpson, Franklyn Ardell
“A remake of Browning’s own silent London After Midnight (transported to Czechoslovakia), this semi-parodic vampire thriller creaks here and there, but still has enough style to warrant an honoured place among early horror films. Lashings of lore and atmosphere (strange noises, dancing peasants, bats, spiders and cobwebs) embellish a far-fetched but amusing tale of strange deaths at a sinister castle. It’s hard to decide who overacts the most, with Barrymore, Atwill and Lugosi all candidates, though the ‘surprise’ denouement provides Lugosi with an excuse of a sort. But a real touch of class is present in James Wong Howe’s magnificent photography, not to mention Carol Borland’s stunning apparition as a vampire.” – Geoff Andrew, Time Out
321. (-1) The Tomb of Ligeia
Roger Corman
1964 / UK / 81m / Col / Gothic | IMDb
Vincent Price, Elizabeth Shepherd, John Westbrook, Derek Francis, Oliver Johnston, Richard Vernon, Frank Thornton, Ronald Adam, Denis Gilmore, Penelope Lee
“Of all the Corman/Poe films, Tomb of Ligea has stood the test of time most successfully, although a case can also be made for Masque of the Red Death. The standard elements of the other films in the series, the malignant and presumably dead wife, the tormented widower overwrought with melancholy, and the threatened innocent, are certainly present, but Corman plays Tomb of Ligea straight. This is likely due to the script by Robert Towne, whose characters are believably complex and compelling. Price is remarkably restrained as a romantic lead, given his over-the-top portrayals in the other Poe films, and Elizabeth Shepherd manages to strike exactly the right note in her role as Lady Rowena.” – Bud Simons, Austin Chronicle
322. (-31) Dracula’s Daughter
Lambert Hillyer
1936 / USA / 71m / BW / Vampire | IMDb
Otto Kruger, Gloria Holden, Marguerite Churchill, Edward Van Sloan, Gilbert Emery, Irving Pichel, Halliwell Hobbes, Billy Bevan, Nan Grey, Hedda Hopper
“What we got instead was a snappy, first-rate (if lower-tier) A picture that had only one real drawback: No big name horror star, which is almost certainly why it has tended to be undervalued. In every other respect, it’s a pretty terrific horror picture with the best hero (Otto Kruger) and heroine (Marguerite Churchill) of any classic horror. In fact, their roles—written in something of the style of a screwball comedy by Garrett Fort—pointed in a new, more adult direction for the genre. (How that would have played out will never be known, since this was the end of the line for the original Universal horror era.) It also had an impressive Countess Dracula in Gloria Holden, and a super-creepy henchman for her in Irvin Pichel. Throw in stylish, fast-paced direction from Lambert Hillyer (who had proven himself adept at the genre with The Invisible Ray earlier that year) and a top-notch musical score from Heinz Roemheld, and you have a horror movie to remember.” – Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress
323. (+15) Cloverfield
Matt Reeves
2008 / USA / 85m / Col / Found Footage | IMDb
Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Annable, Anjul Nigam, Margot Farley, Theo Rossi, Brian Klugman
“Reeves, who’s been near anonymous in the pre-release hype, is masterful at choosing shots without appearing to do so. We view this unlovely goliath from all angles – a fleeting leg here, full-length in crafty helicopter shots on news footage there – but he’s even more effective as an unseen presence. There’s equal, if not more, dread in hearing furious roars as our band cowers in a side street, watching the military throwing everything they have uselessly at the beast. This is as much a triumph of sound design as of seamlessly blended CG and unsettling camerawork. Wise to the fact that the most frightening attack is the one without apparent reason, Cloverfield never chooses to explain its monster’s arrival. It’s suddenly there and, as one soldier notes, “it’s winning”. It intends to scare, not educate. The constant air of panic is so pervasive that it’s easy to miss the skilful creation of the sequences, which include a rescue from a collapsing skyscraper and a tunnel sequence so butt-clenching you’ll crap diamonds for a week.” – Olly Richards, Empire Magazine
324. (+7) Pontypool
Bruce McDonald
2008 / Canada / 93m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle, Georgina Reilly, Hrant Alianak, Rick Roberts, Daniel Fathers, Beatriz Yuste, Tony Burgess, Boyd Banks, Hannah Fleming
“Scriptwriter Tony Burgess knows that by entering the world of cinematic zombiedom, he has a responsibility to comment, to satirise – to not just tear open and chew on but also engage the mind of his characters and audience. He does this via a stunning reveal as to the nature of the ‘plague’ that has corrupted the collective mind of society (a clue is in Mazzy’s role as a lowbrow social commentator). In the hope of curing the population of its new-found fleshy hunger, Mazzy unleashes a last-gasp broadcast that is a wild, frenzied meld of brilliant scripting and tour-de-force acting. Spouting nonsensical gibberish at an electrifying pitch, Stephen McHattie throws himself into the film finale with wild abandon and it is a sight to behold. Horror fans may gripe at the lack of blood-&-guts (though a couple of moments keep the ‘that’s gross!” factor high). Fuelled by committed acting, tight direction and a wonderfully focused script, Pontypool proves a winning combination of shuddery suspense and intelligent observations.” – Simon Foster, SBS
325. (+2) Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma
Pier Paolo Pasolini
1975 / Italy / 117m / Col / Drama | IMDb
Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Cataldi, Umberto Paolo Quintavalle, Aldo Valletti, Caterina Boratto, Elsa De Giorgi, Hélène Surgère, Sonia Saviange, Sergio Fascetti, Bruno Musso
“Pier Paolo Pasolini’s last feature (1975) is a shockingly literal and historically questionable transposition of the Marquis de Sade’s 120 Days of Sodom to the last days of Italian fascism. Most of the film consists of long shots of torture, though some viewers have been more upset by the bibliography that appears in the credits. Roland Barthes noted that in spite of all its objectionable elements (he pointed out that any film that renders Sade real and fascism unreal is doubly wrong), this film should be defended because it “refuses to allow us to redeem ourselves.” It’s certainly the film in which Pasolini’s protest against the modern world finds its most extreme and anguished expression. Very hard to take, but in its own way an essential work.” – Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
326. (+21) 30 Days of Night
David Slade
2007 / USA / 113m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston, Ben Foster, Mark Boone Junior, Mark Rendall, Amber Sainsbury, Manu Bennett, Megan Franich, Joel Tobeck
“Like “28 Days Later,” this is a film in awe of its creations, eager to unleash them into a world that lacks the glitz and polish of a supernatural thriller and focused in the intent to expand their visage into one of remarkable believability. There are moments here when we are not just staring back at movie villains or even watching on with misplaced hope at the antics of a cluster of desperate survivors. If a good horror picture means to transport us into the fabric of its bleak narrative and imprison us there, then here is one of those rare movies that penetrates the membrane separating all those disposable “gotcha” scarefests from genuinely engrossing supernatural thrillers, and finds a resonating chord.” – David Keyes, Cinemaphile
327. (+19) The Hills Have Eyes
Alexandre Aja
2006 / USA / 107m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Aaron Stanford, Kathleen Quinlan, Vinessa Shaw, Emilie de Ravin, Dan Byrd, Tom Bower, Billy Drago, Robert Joy, Ted Levine, Desmond Askew
“The remake to “The Hills Have Eyes” (Wes Craven who has his hand firmly placed in the cookie jar as producer) still isn’t a perfect film, but for what it gives us in its ninety minute run time, is a true definition of a horror movie. Aja knows how to make a horror movie that’s realistic, bold, and provides all the bloodhounds with a satisfactory amount of gore. This remake of “Hills” is superior not only because it provides us with the amount of violence that’s been missing from horror for years, but basically because it has more focus on the survival aspects. There’s more tension, more urgency, more dread, and less camp. Aja’s new film has a sort of eeriness to it from the very beginning as we’re introduced to this family taking a crossroad journey for their vacation (you know how the usual story goes).” – Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
328. (+13) 28 Weeks Later
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
2007 / UK / 100m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Catherine McCormack, Idris Elba, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton, Amanda Walker, Shahid Ahmed
“Coincidence or not, the visual aesthetic and energy of Fresnadillo’s film bears a striking resemblance to Cuarón’s — both use a pallette of dull and desaturated colors, as if the colors itself were weary of the worlds they’re inhabiting. Fresnadillo’s camerawork, like that in Children of Men, is jittery, so restless and panicky, in fact, that you think it might burst forth from the screen. It’s the director’s deft and sylish hand with this material that makes 28 Weeks such a refreshing jolt, plying a genre routinely deadened by sub-par slasher-fests. The exhilaration evident in the smartly-cut action sequences, the glances at pathos in the sequences of loss, betrayal, guilt, and abandonment underscore Fresnadillo’s considerable directorial powers; the man is taking his job seriously and at full-steam, never condescending to it.” – Jay Antani, Cinema Writer
329. (+7) Gin gwai
Oxide Pang Chun & Danny Pang
2002 / Hong Kong / 99m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Angelica Lee, Lawrence Chou, Jinda Duangtoy, Yut Lai So, Candy Lo, Edmund Chen, Yin Ping Ko, Florence Wu, Wisarup Annuar, Yuet Siu Wong
“The story winds up going to familiar places, with Mun and her doctor (Lawrence Chou) doing the obligatory investigation into the former owner of Mun’s new eyes. But while this is stuff we’ve seen before, the screenplay (written by the Pangs and Jo Jo Hui) goes the unexpected route and finds an emotional base to these later scenes. There’s a great sadness hanging in the air here, mixing with the horror in such a way that the frights never feel cheap. This movie understands that while ghosts may be here to scare the crap out of us, whatever happened to make them ghosts must add some sort of tragedy to their existence. This is a ghost story that cares about its ghosts as much as it cares for its living characters. By giving their movie such emotional weight, the Pangs have crafted a horror movie that’s more effectual than most because it reaches us on a more complete level. But don’t think it’s all emotion here – there are plenty of powerful shocks and nifty spook-outs to satisfy anyone looking for a strong horror treat.” – David Cornelius, eFilmCritict
330. (+159) A Quiet Place
John Krasinski
2018 / USA / 90m / Col / Monster | IMDb
Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, Cade Woodward, Leon Russom
“While it is mostly devoid of dialogue, it is a film rich in subtle textural detail. From the sand-strewn paths on which the family carefully tread to their simple white-light/red-light warning system, the visual tapestry of their everyday life is a constant reminder of how they cope with their predicament… despite its well-played jump scares, it operates at a deep emotional level. Aside from the fleeting appearance of an ill-fated elderly couple, there are no other human characters on screen; this apocalyptic tale is told entirely through the prism of a single family, one struggling to cope not only with actual monsters, but also with insidious personal demons of grief, blame and guilt.” – Nikki Baughan, Sight & Sound
331. (-8) Pumpkinhead
Stan Winston
1988 / USA / 86m / Col / Monster | IMDb
Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D’Aquino, Kimberly Ross, Joel Hoffman, Cynthia Bain, Kerry Remsen, Florence Schauffler, Brian Bremer, George ‘Buck’ Flower
“When Pennsylvanian country-dweller Ed Harley’s kid gets (accidentally) killed by a group of marauding young townies on motorbikes, the aggrieved father (Henriksen) seeks justice, or more precisely, vengeance. Aided by the mythically wizened old crone from Black Ridge (Schauffler), he invokes the rampaging form of Pumpkinhead, a 15-foot monstrosity who doesn’t believe in penal reform and with whom one does not mess lightly. From there on it’s stiff-city for the unfortunate kids, as well as some hellish rewards for Harley himself.” – MK, Time Out
332. (+1) Wait Until Dark
Terence Young
1967 / USA / 108m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Jack Weston, Samantha Jones, Julie Herrod
“Young’s remarkable ability to create a believable oppressive locality in Wait Until Dark obscures plot holes and irrationalities right up to the film’s extended final showdown. By the time Suzy realizes she’s completely and hopelessly alone in her apartment (she’s sent the dorky Lisa off on a futile mission to locate Sam at Asbury Park), the cumulative effect of Hepburn’s palpable desolation and Arkin’s ruthlessness (combined with Henry Mancini’s overpoweringly harrowing score) bring the film to a justly celebrated climactic bacchanalia, complete with one of suspense cinema’s first and most effective shock leaps.” – Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine
333. (+7) Night of the Comet
Thom Eberhardt
1984 / USA / 95m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Robert Beltran, Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, Sharon Farrell, Mary Woronov, Geoffrey Lewis, Peter Fox, John Achorn, Michael Bowen, Devon Ericson
“The easiest way to describe a popcorn flick like Night of the Comet would be to call it a mash up between George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978) and John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club (1985). The wacky offbeat sensibility of Night of the Comet is a joy to behold. For genre fans, it’s easy to fall in love with a farcical 80s sci-fi horror movie with zombies. It’s the whimsical warmth of Thom Eberhardt’s direction that gives this movie its heart. It’s obvious he’s a genuine fan of B-movies. Like other cult classic B-movies there is more to Night of the Comet than its wacky sense of humour. It contains genuine terror. An electric piece of cult cinema, Night of the Comet is a classic! ” – Curtis Owen, My reviewer
334. (0) Mulholland Dr.
David Lynch
2001 / USA / 147m / Col / Mystery | IMDb
Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Ann Miller, Dan Hedaya, Justin Theroux, Brent Briscoe, Robert Forster, Katharine Towne, Lee Grant, Scott Coffey
“As difficult as Mulholland Drive may appear at first glance, every trajectory in this metaverse is the equivalent of dreams spiraling into REM sleep… [It] isn’t a movie about dreams, it is a dream (or, at least, until the blue box is opened) — a Hollywood horror story spun by a frustrated actress yet to cross into consciousness. Lynch’s narrative is carefully configured, painstakingly difficult to decipher, but boldly obvious should one embrace its dream logic… Mulholland Drive is a haunting, selfish masterpiece that literalizes the theory of surrealism as perpetual dream state.” – Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
335. (0) Jisatsu sâkuru
Shion Sono
2001 / Japan / 99m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Ryo Ishibashi, Masatoshi Nagase, Mai Hosho, Tamao Satô, Takashi Nomura, Rolly, Joshua, Masato Tsujioka, Kôsuke Hamamoto, Kei Nagase
“As frustrating as Suicide Club may be, there is no denying that it does succeed in hooking viewers with its highly original concept. The film manages to establish a sense of creeping dread; the anticipation of what lurks around each corner proves far more terrifying than the cheap scare tactics employed in other films. Ryo Ishibashi exudes a sense of decency and commitment to his mission—qualities that have a definite payoff later in the film. As Kuroda, Ishibashi gives the viewers a solid protagonist they can latch onto during the dark journey ahead. The lack of clear answers will frustrate many (this reviewer included) but what Suicide Club attempts to say and do, coupled with its success in executing some of those goals, makes the film worth recommending. And even with its baffling conclusion, there’s at least one lesson to be gleaned from Suicide Club: J-Pop may be hazardous to your health.” – Calvin McMillin, Love HK Film
336. (-19) Society
Brian Yuzna
1989 / USA / 99m / Col / Body Horror | IMDb
Billy Warlock, Devin DeVasquez, Evan Richards, Ben Meyerson, Charles Lucia, Connie Danese, Patrice Jennings, Heidi Kozak, Ben Slack, David Wiley
“Ostensibly, it would seem that Society is an allegory for adolescent growth, told in the familiar mechanism of a teen’s amateur investigation and resulting contamination. Justifiably, the film recalls Scooby Doo, Blue Velvet, Salò, and even presages Eyes Wide Shut. In this case the concept is rendered in the mechanics of 80s horror and Cold War paranoia; it may be dated, but the film’s finale, scored in a reprisal of “The Blue Danube” and ample prosthetic body makeup, retains a striking ability to repulse and frighten… Society’s effectiveness as a satire is somewhat overshadowed by its shocking final scene, which is a masterpiece of prosthetic special effects.” – Rumsey Taylor, Not Coming to a Theater Near You
337. (+7) Bad Taste
Peter Jackson
1987 / New Zealand / 91m / Col / Splatter | IMDb
Terry Potter, Pete O’Herne, Craig Smith, Mike Minett, Peter Jackson, Doug Wren, Dean Lawrie, Peter Vere-Jones, Ken Hammon, Robin Griggs
“Ever since Sam Raimi’s “The Evil Dead” re-wrote the horror film as slapstick comedy, guerrilla filmmakers with low budgets and big dreams have tried to emulate the punk magic of this cult masterpiece. Most have been merely derivative, but by delving deeper and darker, writer and director Peter Jackson made “Bad Taste” both a gut-wrenching slasher classic, and a surreal – almost hallucinogenic – comedy. Despite being little more than a rambling selection of lame characters and imaginative – if hammy – executions, the film’s farcical energy and glorious B-movie schlock keeps you hooked until the apocalyptic finale. This is a film without heroes… All you can do is sit back, hold on, and watch the roller coaster carnage unfold.” – Matt Ford, BBC
338. (-20) Brain Damage
Frank Henenlotter
1988 / USA / 84m / Col / Body Horror | IMDb
Rick Hearst, Gordon MacDonald, Jennifer Lowry, Theo Barnes, Lucille Saint-Peter, Vicki Darnell, Joseph Gonzalez, Bradlee Rhodes, Michael Bishop, Beverly Bonner
“From its depiction of the initial orgasmic rush that launches its user into a life bent around being steeped in a state of euphoria where problems are forgotten, to the sudden meteoric plummet that follows once the high is wears thin. In his usual brilliant insight, Henenlotter creatively portrays to viewers how addiction winds up taking its toll not only on users, but those closest to them, as well. Despite the laughable oddity of the seductor, Aylmer, ‘Brain Damage’ manages to tell it to us straight with a dark, horrifying, even often comical story in the realm of fantasy-horror providing a truly masterful message film about the dangers of drug use and the nature of addiction.” – The Trash Cinema Collective
339. (-13) Yabu no naka no kuroneko
Kaneto Shindô
1968 / Japan / 99m / BW / Jidaigeki | IMDb
Kichiemon Nakamura, Nobuko Otowa, Kei Satô, Rokko Toura, Kiwako Taichi, Taiji Tonoyama, Hideo Kanze, Eimei Esumi, Shôji ôki, Kentarô Kaji
“Shindô eventually buries viewers in the sprits’ ghastly abode, a suffocating set piece bathed in the shadows of bamboo reeds. Most films would be content to drop you in the middle of the forest, and this one does thrive on the basic, primal isolation of the situation (it also helps that there’s really only one other major location, so the audience truly does feel cut off). However, Kuroneko is especially atmospheric in its choice of locales, as the remote hut is an extension of its wraithlike inhabitants. The film’s most memorable shot seems like a simple establishing shot of the hut; however, one can see that it’s subtly gliding among the bamboo grove, as if it exists outside of space and time. A brief but vital scene, it perfectly captures the understated, unnerving creepiness of the film.” – Brett Gallman, Oh, The Horror
340. (-1) Deliverance
John Boorman
1972 / USA / 109m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Ed Ramey, Billy Redden, Seamon Glass, Randall Deal, Bill McKinney, Herbert ‘Cowboy’ Coward
“‘Deliverance’ is a movie of contrasts, the primary one emphasizing the differences between modern Man, with his impulse to change things, and primal Nature, with its pristine beauty. Man chews up the landscape, as symbolized by the bulldozers and earth movers we see at the beginning, and spits it out. The four city slickers, eager to commune with what they view as the underlying structure of the universe, are ironic emblems of the modern world’s need to destroy for its own good. Despite their being a part of the root problem, they’re out to prove their understanding of the wild by taming a river, a river the state is about to dam up and spoil forever… At its most fundamental level ‘Deliverance’ is a story of survival, but it’s not just about surviving the hazards of the wilderness; it’s about surviving one’s own heart of darkness, about confronting one’s basest needs and accepting or rejecting them.” – John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
341. (-26) Friday the 13th Part 2
Steve Miner
1981 / USA / 87m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King, Kirsten Baker, Stuart Charno, Warrington Gillette, Walt Gorney, Marta Kober, Tom McBride, Bill Randolph
“Friday the 13th Part 2 is every bit as crude, senseless, and blunt as they accuse it of being, and it’s not surprising that discerning filmgoers with higher aspirations than the slasher genre offers would find it somewhat unnerving to be in a roomful of kids who seem to revel in make-believe bloodlust. Friday the 13th Part 2 cannot be defended intellectually, yet, the film’s very simplicity and directness gives it a kind of folkloric power, albeit power that works only if you give yourself over to it. If you do, it not only allows you to find a queasy sense of pleasure in being unashamedly goosed and grossed out, but also to ignore just how utterly nonsensical the film’s ending actually is.” – James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
342. (-42) The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
Eugène Lourié
1953 / USA / 80m / BW / Science Fiction | IMDb
Paul Hubschmid, Paula Raymond, Cecil Kellaway, Kenneth Tobey, Donald Woods, Lee Van Cleef, Steve Brodie, Ross Elliott, Jack Pennick, Ray Hyke
“Like all movies of this kind from this period, you can probably read into The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms the fear of imminent destruction, but the spectre of the Cold War isn’t so pronounced that it gets in the way of being a fleet thriller: the destruction of New York is decidedly far from thorough, and there’s not a scrap of hand-wringing about nuclear energy or anything. It’s pure survival horror, with a punch of people we like being faced with an implacable, unstoppable force, and if that makes the film a bit shallower than a lot of the other classic monster pictures, it’s also a huge part of the reason that it’s so much better than all but a tiny number of the films it influenced.” – Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
343. (-48) Targets
Peter Bogdanovich
1968 / USA / 90m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Tim O’Kelly, Boris Karloff, Arthur Peterson, Monte Landis, Nancy Hsueh, Peter Bogdanovich, Daniel Ades, Stafford Morgan, James Brown, Mary Jackson
“Targets, despite having been made over 40 years ago, remains an intense viewing experience. In some ways, it’s even more relevant now than it was then, because, sadly, we’ve seen far too many Bobby Thompsons, especially in the past decade. The drama therefore feels very real. That Bogdanovich never provides much of an explanation for Bobby’s actions only makes them creepier. The finale, set at the drive-in, is an extended sequence of immense terror, beautifully staged by the director for maximum suspense.” – Mike McGranaghan, The Aisle Seat
344. (+10) Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors
Freddie Francis
1965 / UK / 98m / Col / Anthology | IMDb
Christopher Lee, Roy Castle, Peter Cushing, Max Adrian, Ann Bell, Michael Gough, Jennifer Jayne, Neil McCallum, Bernard Lee, Alan Freeman
“Inspired by the black humour-filled E.C. comics of the 50’s, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors was to set off Amicus’ long-standing obsession with making horror anthologies. It was a successful formula as long as most of the stories in them were entertaining. You were always going to get some clunkers but with the array of acting talent that Amicus managed to get to appear in small roles, it was a price worth paying… Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors has dated quite a bit by now and as a result, it’s not going to keep you up at night. But with some great performances by THE best actors this genre has to offer as well as one or two unnerving moments, you can do no harm by having your fortune read by the doc.” – Andrew Smith, Daily Dead
345. (+3) The Burning
Tony Maylam
1981 / USA / 91m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer, Larry Joshua, Jason Alexander, Ned Eisenberg, Carrick Glenn, Carolyn Houlihan, Fisher Stevens, Lou David
“The movie has stayed with me for some twenty years. I think it’s because The Burning feels, at times, as if it were made by Cropsy. It is powered by a strong sense of anger and disgust… This is a slasher movie with a difference, though it plays by almost all the rules and is generally too predictable to be “scary”… It tries to drum up audience rapport with the doomed counselors (though Jason Alexander shows his comedic gifts even here), but our sympathies are unavoidably with Cropsy, based on the filmmakers’ empathy with the horrors he went through… All of this is an attempt to dig out why The Burning has stayed with me since 1982 or so. It’s a legitimately ugly movie; it gets under your skin.” – Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic
346. (-3) Stir of Echoes
David Koepp
1999 / USA / 99m / Col / Haunted House | IMDb
Zachary David Cope, Kevin Bacon, Kathryn Erbe, Illeana Douglas, Kevin Dunn, Conor O’Farrell, Lusia Strus, Stephen Eugene Walker, Mary Kay Cook, Larry Neumann Jr.
“With a minimum of movie cliches, the film plunges these normal people into extraordinary situations to create tension and a real sense of dread. It helps that Bacon and the entire cast are superb, playing it with authentic humour and fear that draws us into the tale (based on Richard Matheson’s novel). Koepp handles all of the elements perfectly, crafting a visually fascinating film and building an internally wrenching drama amid all the scary stuff. And even if the ending seems a bit tidy, the film is still effective and nicely creepy–definitely worth seeing.” – Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
347. (-25) The Stepford Wives
Bryan Forbes
1975 / USA / 115m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson, Nanette Newman, Tina Louise, Carol Eve Rossen, William Prince, Carole Mallory, Toni Reid, Judith Baldwin
“The Stepford wives are, in fact, not women; they are bloodless, soulless robots, created by the men in Stepford to replace their presumably intelligent and enterprising wives who might see more to life than getting the upstairs floor to a glistening shine and having sex whenever their husbands desire it. Much is made of the fact that the women in Stepford had once belonged to a popular feminist group, which shows that, prior to their replacement, they had been independent thinkers. This is one of the keys to the film and the understanding that it does not look down on women… The robots are simply a twisted male fantasy of the ultimate woman: sexy, submissive, and mentally vacant. That this fantasy is pathetic in the extreme says much about the film’s view of the male animal and his capacity for feeling and imagination.” – James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
348. (-6) God Told Me To
Larry Cohen
1976 / USA / 91m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Tony Lo Bianco, Deborah Raffin, Sandy Dennis, Sylvia Sidney, Sam Levene, Robert Drivas, Mike Kellin, Richard Lynch, Sammy Williams, Jo Flores Chase
“A delirious mix of sci-fi, pseudo-religious fantasy and horror detective thriller, with Lo Bianco as the perfect existential anti-hero – a New York cop and closet Catholic, guiltily trapped between wife and mistress. His investigations into a bizarre spate of mass murders lead right to the top: Jesus Christ, no less, is provoking innocent citizens to go on a murderous rampage. God Told Me To overflows with such perverse and subversive notions that no amount of shoddy editing and substandard camerawork can conceal the film’s unusual qualities. Digging deep into the psyche of American manhood, it lays bare the guilt-ridden oppressions of a soulless society.” – SW, Time out
349. (-4) Tetsuo
Shin’ya Tsukamoto
1989 / Japan / 67m / Col / Body Horror | IMDb
Tomorowo Taguchi, Kei Fujiwara, Nobu Kanaoka, Shin’ya Tsukamoto, Naomasa Musaka, Renji Ishibashi
“Though it may just seem like one big geek show gross out, Tetsuo: The Iron Man is actually a movie about revenge. It’s about man’s revenge against man, technology’s revenge against humans, nature’s revenge against technology and the neverending revenge between elements of karma and the primal forces of the universe. It’s a sick, cyclical meditation on physicality, mixing imagery both derivative and disgusting. It plays tricks with cinematic convention, drops narrative in favor of nastiness, and always manages to make sense, even if it is in its own obtuse, offensive way. It’s part comic book, part alien autopsy, and all visual violence, laced with enough wicked cinematic style to make other wannabe cyberpunks pale in comparison.” – Bill Gibron, DVDTalk
350. (+19) Dance of the Vampires
Roman Polanski
1967 / USA / 108m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Jack MacGowran, Roman Polanski, Alfie Bass, Jessie Robins, Sharon Tate, Ferdy Mayne, Iain Quarrier, Terry Downes, Fiona Lewis, Ronald Lacey
“An almost-forgotten but mainly delightful entry in the Roman Polanski filmography, this is a beautifully-designed, subtly subversive parody of the 1960s Hammer films. Best remembered for the gag in which Jewish vampire Alfie Bass laughs off a peasant girl’s brandished crucifix, this is a rare spoof that works less for its laugh-out-loud moments than for a delicate, genteel rearrangement of the clichés of genre. Polanski himself is the earnest disciple of a mad old vampire hunter (Jack MacGowan) who sets out to destroy the coven of dignified Count Von Krolock (Freddy Mayne), but our sympathies wander from the supposed heroes to the fey, irritating, elegant vampires.” – Kim Newman, Empire
351. (-2) Paura nella città dei morti viventi
Lucio Fulci
1980 / Italy / 93m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Christopher George, Catriona MacColl, Carlo De Mejo, Antonella Interlenghi, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Daniela Doria, Fabrizio Jovine, Luca Venantini, Michele Soavi, Venantino Venantini
“With its fog-shrouded settings and doomy score by Fabio Frizzi (built on a heartbeat-aping bass throb, and more than a little reminiscent of the soundtrack of Dawn Of The Dead), this is a tremendously atmospheric film. And the gore setpieces are simply jaw-dropping – particularly the one where that dead priest’s baleful gaze causes a young woman to spew up all her internal organs (at length) – that’s one hell of a Paddington Bear hard stare. Watching actress Daniela Doria with her mouth jammed full of sheep guts, you understand how Fulci gained something of a reputation for having a sadistic attitude to his cast. Whilst not as outlandish as The Beyond, undoubtedly Fulci’s finest fever-dream, City Of The Living Dead is still startlingly crackers.” – Ian Berriman, SFX Magazine
352. (+3) Nightbreed
Clive Barker
1990 / USA / 102m / Col / Fantasy | IMDb
Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, David Cronenberg, Charles Haid, Hugh Quarshie, Hugh Ross, Doug Bradley, Catherine Chevalier, Malcolm Smith, Bob Sessions
“One can hardly be too upset when a film is exuberant and grandiose in the way Nightbreed is; after all, Barker’s fiction (like Stephen King’s, now that I think of it—no wonder Barker earned an endorsement from the master) often sends audiences hurtling down rabbit hole after rabbit hole—it’s not enough for Nightbreed to focus on a secret society of monsters and its prophecies, so it follows that there would also be a bloodthirsty butcher from a slasher flick hunting them down. That the two modes sometimes find difficulty jelling seems besides the point—the film might be exhausting, but it’s equally as breathtaking whenever Barker really lets loose and indulges the most unhinged parts of his macabre id, where men and monsters spill each other’s bloods among gothic ruins.” – Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!
353. (+27) House of 1000 Corpses
Rob Zombie
2003 / USA / 89m / Col / Splatter | IMDb
Bill Moseley, William Bassett, Karen Black, Erin Daniels, Matthew McGrory, Judith Drake, Dennis Fimple, Chris Hardwick, Walton Goggins, Sid Haig
“The movie has absolutely no interest whatsoever in sanitized horror. Rob Zombie wallows quite comfortably in squalor, doling out mutilation, gore, sweaty close-ups, bad teeth, bad skin, fetid-looking clutter everywhere. Even the four college students — two male, two female, by the book — whose agony provides most of the fuel for the plot motor are not empty UPN/WB clones. Zombie has made a conscious and, yes, loving throwback to nuclear-family geek shows like Chainsaw, Mother’s Day, and Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes. If it doesn’t sound original, well, it isn’t. Zombie never designed this to be the new fresh thing in horror; he simply wants to blow away all the shiny teen crap that passes for horror nowadays and cover the audience in grime, spit, intestines.” – Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic
354. (+6) It’s Alive
Larry Cohen
1974 / USA / 91m / Col / Body Horror | IMDb
John P. Ryan, Sharon Farrell, James Dixon, William Wellman Jr., Shamus Locke, Andrew Duggan, Guy Stockwell, Daniel Holzman, Michael Ansara, Robert Emhardt
“The proudly independent Larry Cohen finally struck it rich in the mainstream with this unnerving tale of a monstrous baby that puts a novel twist on the concept of being brought into the world kicking and screaming. As the marketing campaign for the film declared, the only thing wrong with Frank and Lenore Davies’s second child is that it’s alive, and, after being received with horror by the rest of the world, it does not hesitate to defend that life to the utmost. One part allegory on familial tensions and one part commentary on environmental and biological poisoning, It’s Alive is a multi-layered work that is at the same time starkly clear and chillingly precise in its observations.” – Josh Vasquez, Slant Magazine
355. (+2) Splinter
Toby Wilkins
2008 / USA / 82m / Col / Body Horror | IMDb
Charles Baker, Jill Wagner, Paulo Costanzo, Shea Whigham, Rachel Kerbs, Laurel Whitsett
“A really smart little horror flick. How horrific is it? I’m far from brave, but good at temporary detachment – at the eager restoration of disbelief – and I still had to turn away at several points… This modest little genre piece is smarter than most of the overproduced and heavily marketed studio fare that’s been filling the multiplexes this fall. It’s short, taut, nicely shot, well-acted, astutely directed, specific where it might have been generic, original enough to be engrossing and derivative enough to be amusing. In other words, it knows exactly where it belongs and how to be its best self. What a revolutionary concept.” – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
356. (-58) X
Roger Corman
1963 / USA / 79m / BW / Science Fiction | IMDb
Ray Milland, Diana Van der Vlis, Harold J. Stone, John Hoyt, Don Rickles
“There’s always a raw integrity in a Roger Corman film where parody and melodrama slip into moments of realism, an aesthetic contradiction of crude production values, outlaw characters and surrealist solutions. The Man With The X-Ray Eyes is just such a film, at times as bad and ludicrous as anything in the thrill genre, at others as brilliant and expressionist as an Antonioni of the same period. It’s pop art, the Pathecolor tonality and Spectorama effects anticipating the psychedelic genre, just like the renegade doctor and his quest for a higher level of consciousness.” – Lawrence Russell, Culture Court
357. (+7) Arachnophobia
Frank Marshall
1990 / USA / 103m / Col / Nature | IMDb
Jeff Daniels, Harley Jane Kozak, John Goodman, Julian Sands, Stuart Pankin, Brian McNamara, Mark L. Taylor, Henry Jones, Peter Jason, James Handy
“Are you arachnophobic? You’ll know for sure within 10 minutes of the opening credits. And even if you’re that rare type who can pick up a spider without involuntary convulsions, this movie is so loaded with bug-a-boos, you’ll be squirming and twitching and thinking twice about setting your popcorn under your seat… It’s a one-joke movie, a funhouse ride, the cinematic equivalent of having a rubber spider thrown in your lap. But it doesn’t matter if you reject the wispy script or the plot, which has as much substance as a spider’s web; you’ll jump every time.” – Joe Brown, Washington Post
358. (+25) Un chien andalou
Luis Buñuel
1929 / France / 16m / BW / Experimental | IMDb
Simone Mareuil, Pierre Batcheff
“Not only was ‘Un Chien Andalou’ Buñuel’s first film, but also his first collaboration with Salvador Dali (with whom he worked again a year later on L’Âge d’Or). His stated intention was ‘to admit no idea, no image for which there might be rational, psychological or cultural explanation’ – and even if some of the film’s bourgeoisie-baiting and psycho-sexual imagery is far from opaque, Buñuel has created an enigmatic and uncanny stream of (sub)consciousness which continues even today to exert its influence on the dark imaginings of both cinemagoers and cinema itself. For, apart from showing filmmakers just how dreams can be realised on celluloid, ‘Un Chien Andalou’ is arguably the reason that we all dream in black and white. – Movie Gazette
359. (+25) Planet Terror
Robert Rodriguez
2007 / USA / 105m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodríguez, Josh Brolin, Marley Shelton, Jeff Fahey, Michael Biehn, Rebel Rodriguez, Bruce Willis, Naveen Andrews, Julio Oscar Mechoso
“Planet Terror – Robert Rodriguez’s contribution to his Grindhouse collaboration with Quentin Tarantino – is a first-rate homage to the schlocky, sleazy B-movies of decades past, loading on the gore, clichés, and self-referential dialogue like there’s no tomorrow with a cascade of influences from John Carpenter, James Cameron, George A. Romero and Lucio Fulci (just to name a few), all the while topping off its gimmicky (though totally effective) construction with countless scratches, blips, audio/visual inconsistencies and even a carefully placed “missing reel” in its loving ode to the almost lost end-of-the-line theater experience.” – Rob Humanick, Projection Booth
360. (+3) Parents
Bob Balaban
1989 / Canada / 81m / Col / Cannibal | IMDb
Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt, Sandy Dennis, Bryan Madorsky, London Juno, Kathryn Grody, Deborah Rush, Graham Jarvis, Helen Carscallen, Warren Van Evera
“Under exquisite direction by Bob Balaban, Parents hums along in an ominous, bizarro Brady Bunch-like universe. It’s wrapped in dark humor and enough winks and nudges to let you know that the whole thing is all in good fun, at least until nighttime comes; that’s when all the monsters come out to play. Shifting between comedy and creeping terror is the film ‘s bread and butter and by the end of the story the toast is a wet mush. It’s a tribute to a fine script by Christopher Hawthorne, playing off the imagination of a child who sees what he thinks he does and not being able to digest it. Even after multiple viewings Parents continues creeping on to deliver a ferocious bite. Where other films fall away to scrutiny, Balaban managed to keep his film eerie, fresh and watchable. From creative camera work to solid performances to the Esquivel-esque music, it’s like falling into a time-warp we’ve all experienced in some capacity throughout our lives.” – Michael Treveloni, Film School Rejects
361. (-8) Cabin Fever
Eli Roth
2002 / USA / 93m / Col / Body Horror | IMDb
Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, Arie Verveen, Robert Harris, Hal Courtney, Matthew Helms, Richard Boone
“Cabin Fever establishes its terror alert early on — contamination! eek! — and treats it lightly while taking it seriously. The comedy here is not the reflexive sort, wherein the characters have all seen this movie before. It comes out of the realistic reactions a group of none-too-bright underclassmen might have when faced with blood-spewing doom. Filled with gratuitous gore (at one point, an entire jeep drips with the stuff) and sex (a comely female character muses that she should be grabbing the nearest guy and having a last bout of we-who-are-about-to-die-have-sex activity; cut to her jumping the bones of the nearest grateful guy), the film is solidly of a subgenre I over-reference, but it fits: the beer-and-pizza flick.” – Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic
362. (+4) Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
Terence Fisher
1969 / UK / 98m / Col / Monster | IMDb
Peter Cushing, Veronica Carlson, Freddie Jones, Simon Ward, Thorley Walters, Maxine Audley, George Pravda, Geoffrey Bayldon, Colette O’Neil, Frank Middlemass
“Cushing’s coldly articulate and seemingly alien Baron Frankenstein is matched perfectly with the film’s minimalist (for Hammer) set design, depicting as it does an England struggling under the environmental weight of lunatic asylums and abandoned estates. This sense of a crumbling landscape is perversely reflected in Frankenstein’s drive to experiment and lacerate bodies in the name of a modernist religion of progress. Adding to the film’s appeal is a compellingly exhausted and desperate performance by Freddie Jones as Frankenstein’s all too human monster. There is a swift yet sophisticated precision to Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, a concentrated ferocity and subtle unification of narrative, image and theme that is indicative of the very height of Cushing and Fisher’s working relationship.” – Joshua Vasquez, Slant Magazine
363. (-7) When a Stranger Calls
Fred Walton
1979 / USA / 97m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Carol Kane, Rutanya Alda, Carmen Argenziano, Kirsten Larkin, William Boyett, Charles Durning, Ron O’Neal, Heetu, Rachel Roberts, Tony Beckley
“The ultimately slow-moving film is book-ended by some truly classic horror movie moments, but if you’re expecting a teen-slasher, you’re better off call-waiting for the remake. When A Stranger Calls is dated — no *69 back then, nothing but pencils and erasers to do your homework with — but that’s in large part what makes it work so well as a “What would you do?” psychological thriller.” – Staci Layne Wilson, Horror.com
364. (+1) Twins of Evil
John Hough
1971 / UK / 87m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Peter Cushing, Dennis Price, Mary Collinson, Madeleine Collinson, Isobel Black, Kathleen Byron, Damien Thomas, David Warbeck, Harvey Hall, Alex Scott
“The joy of Twins is in the zip. Not a moment is wasted on uncessary dialogue or character development; not a frame is lacking in blood or flesh… The movie represents a moment of change in British society. Hammer in the 1960s was puritan: evil was evil and good always triumphed over it. In the 1970s it began to absorb some of the cultural trend towards relativism. So when the movie opens the bad guy is someone who would once have been regarded as the good guy – the witch hunter… You might say that Twins is a mess. Its plot is daft, the actors seem to be playing out private melodramas and the message is convoluted. But the result is actually something that feels incredibly alive.” – Tim Stanley, The Telegraph
365. (-15) Psycho II
Richard Franklin
1983 / USA / 113m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Meg Tilly, Robert Loggia, Dennis Franz, Hugh Gillin, Claudia Bryar, Robert Alan Browne, Ben Hartigan, Lee Garlington
“Director Richard Franklin, working from Tom Holland’s screenplay, has infused Psycho II with a deliberate sensibility that echoes the original film’s slow build, and although the pacing is occasionally just a little too sedate for its own good (ie the first half feels more like a psychological drama than a horror flick), Franklin effectively lures the viewer into the proceedings by emphasizing Perkins’ striking performance and by offering up a handful of admittedly suspenseful interludes… Psycho II boasts an increasingly compelling mystery at its core that ensures the film grows more and more engrossing as it progresses – with the inclusion of a few unexpected twists lending the movie’s third act a surprisingly engrossing quality that proves impossible to resist.” – David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
366. (+1) Wrong Turn
Rob Schmidt
2003 / USA / 84m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Desmond Harrington, Eliza Dushku, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Jeremy Sisto, Kevin Zegers, Lindy Booth, Julian Richings, Garry Robbins, Ted Clark, Yvonne Gaudry
“This horror flick about young campers stalked and slaughtered by gruesome backwoods barbarians is a fairly decent crossbreeding of Friday the 13th and Deliverance. Despite the typical hunky-guys/babes-in-tank-tops Hollywood cast, Wrong Turn is gritty and uncompromising, and it includes several suspenseful and shocking moments. Unlike Deliverance, though, it’s not consistently believable enough to make you think seriously about cancelling that next trip into the forest… If screenwriter Alan B. McElroy had found more plausible ways to put his characters in danger, Wrong Turn could have been a real doozy of a fright flick. But it’s still chilling enough to please fans of nature-set nasties like The Hills Have Eyes.” – Steve Newton, Georgia Straight
367. (-8) The Stepfather
Joseph Ruben
1987 / Canada / 89m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Terry O’Quinn, Jill Schoelen, Shelley Hack, Charles Lanyer, Stephen Shellen, Stephen E. Miller, Robyn Stevan, Jeff Schultz, Lindsay Bourne, Anna Hagan
“So what is so memorable about a movie where a knife-wielding psycho kills in order to obtain a perverse ideal attainable only in his mind? It’s all about the manner in which it’s presented and that’s where The Stepfather separates itself from not only its timely peers, but also many similar genre efforts. Director Ruben deserves a hefty chunk of credit for keeping things moving at such a fierce clip that the audience is always on edge when it comes to Blake. The opening scene, which dually establishes the titular character while providing a genuinely unnerving and chilling moment, sets the audience at the edges of their proverbial seats before the main story is even underway. There’s a fair degree of subtlety, too. Ruben wisely avoids delving into the backstory of the killer. Sorry, modern audiences, you don’t get to learn why the Stepfather does what he does. It doesn’t matter. But we’re given several interesting character pieces along the way without being smacked over the head with them.”
368. (+52) Quella villa accanto al cimitero
Lucio Fulci
1981 / Italy / 86m / Col / Splatter | IMDb
Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, Giovanni Frezza, Silvia Collatina, Dagmar Lassander, Giovanni De Nava, Daniela Doria, Gianpaolo Saccarola, Carlo De Mejo
“A “video nasty,” THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY brings the blood in a big way, thanks to Fulci’s special effects muse Giannetto De Rossi. There are painstakingly long decapitations, stabbings, throat-removals and more throughout the film, all presented with disgusting Eurohorror depth and detail. Even though not the most horrific of Fulci’s career, THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY is by no means for the weak at heart, especially those adverse to creepy, crawly insects. Above all else THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY is a damn fine Fulci film, and a good launching point for those who want to get into European Horror and giallo. Good gore, fantastic atmosphere and heartfelt performances are on display, all topped off with the standard, bleak Fulci ending.” – Ken W. Hanley, Fangoria
369. (+4) The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Jim Sharman
1975 / USA / 100m / Col / Musical | IMDb
Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Richard O’Brien, Patricia Quinn, Nell Campbell, Jonathan Adams, Peter Hinwood, Meat Loaf, Charles Gray
“There had never been – and, since its release, never has been – a movie like The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In terms of both the successfully over-the-top mixture of horror, camp, rock’n’roll, science fiction, sexual transgression, and purposefully bad B-movie dialogue within the film itself and the even more over-the-top behavior it has inspired in audiences during midnight screenings for decades, it is absolutely unique in the annals of cinema… it has not only become the ultimate cult object, but has been selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”” – James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
370. (-19) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Tobe Hooper
1986 / USA / 101m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Dennis Hopper, Caroline Williams, Jim Siedow, Bill Moseley, Bill Johnson, Ken Evert, Harlan Jordan, Kirk Sisco, James N. Harrell, Lou Perryman
“”The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” is as potent a follow-up as one could expect from the series, unapologetically traveling in fresh directions while serving up audiences the gory goods. The cinematography by Richard Kooris is vibrant and alive, taking full advantage of the locations and making particularly effective use of the neon colors at the radio station and the rainbow-colored Christmas lights strung along the walls of the Sawyers’ underground hell. The soundtrack is also superb, with choice cuts from The Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Timbuk 3, Concrete Blonde, Lords of the New Church, and Stewart Copeland nicely complementing the action. When it comes to humor-laced horror that isn’t an outright spoof, there are few films that work quite as well (or with the same amount of bravado) as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.”” – Dustin Putnam, The Movie Boy
371. (0) Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
Joseph Zito
1984 / USA / 91m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Kimberly Beck, Peter Barton, Corey Feldman, Erich Anderson, Crispin Glover, Clyde Hayes, Barbara Howard, Lawrence Monoson, Joan Freeman, Judie Aronson
“The difference with this film is what sets it apart from most of the series: It’s dark and extremely brutal. The first three tried to be serious but had moments of lightness and even in the midst of the bloody attacks you could either flinch or laugh at what you were watching. Part 4 is vicious and cruel. Rather than showcasing stupendous new special effects techniques, the murder scenes are just people getting gorily butchered. Some characters might be asking for it, but at times even I was wincing (and I’ve sat through more horror films than I would ever care to count).” – Kyle, Mutant Reviewers
372. (0) I Know What You Did Last Summer
Jim Gillespie
1997 / USA / 101m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Freddie Prinze Jr., Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, Anne Heche, Johnny Galecki, Muse Watson, Stuart Greer, J. Don Ferguson
“Laying its claim to succeed ‘Scream’ as a high-grossing, blood-drenched date-night crowd-pleaser… Once again, the screenwriter is Kevin Williamson, working from a novel by Lois Duncan about four teen-agers haunted by a secret: their decision to dispose of the body hit by their BMW… Though it flies in the face of credibility and becomes downright silly by its end, ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ knows its way around the rules of the popular horror-film genre: the prefiguring ghost story around the campfire, the teen-age sex that insures murder, the spooky killer, plenty of steamy shower rooms and crab vats, pop-up bodies, references to other films and television and an ending that sets the gurney for as many sequels as the public can stomach.” – Lawrence Van Gelder, New York Times
373. (-11) Mil gritos tiene la noche
Juan Piquer Simón
1982 / USA / 85m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Christopher George, Lynda Day George, Frank Braña, Edmund Purdom, Ian Sera, Paul L. Smith, Jack Taylor, Gérard Tichy, May Heatherly, Hilda Fuchs
“Throughout the course of the narrative we’re given absurd red herrings, hammy acting, and bad dubbing all set to the tune of pure nihilistic gore and grue that involves the shadowy figure mutilating these women in the most horrific ways imaginable and stealing parts of their bodies. The mystery leads us down many roads and suspects where Simon plays with the audiences perceptions and allows them a guess or two with tricky camera shots and slight of hand, but by the time the climax rolls around it’s clear he’s just given up and is intent on making the most out of this insane scenario while making his stamp on the horror genre living in cult infamy. “Pieces” is such a fun little blood soaked gem, you’ll be surprised if you don’t see it again immediately after to catch its little nuances.” – Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
374. (-16) Cape Fear
Martin Scorsese
1991 / USA / 128m / Col / Thriller | IMDb
Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, Joe Don Baker, Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, Martin Balsam, Illeana Douglas, Fred Dalton Thompson
“As originally directed by J. Lee Thompson, “Cape Fear” pitted the wholesome Bowdens against the unsavory Max, a convicted rapist intent on exacting revenge against Sam, who years earlier had testified against Max at his trial. Despite the sexy insolence of Robert Mitchum’s performance, that film’s struggle was essentially a one-note one between good and evil. Mr. Scorsese, not being prone to such oversimplifications, has done his best to muddy the waters… he has invested the Bowdens (now played by Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange) with a history of marital infidelity, turned their daughter into a rebellious nymphet, altered the circumstances of the rape trial and given Max’s vengeance a biblical dimension.” – Janet Maslin, New York Times
375. (-1) The Frighteners
Peter Jackson
1996 / New Zealand / 110m / Col / Supernatural | IMDb
Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Peter Dobson, John Astin, Jeffrey Combs, Dee Wallace, Jake Busey, Chi McBride, Jim Fyfe, Troy Evans
“The Frighteners, which starts out like a screwball comedy with ecotoplasm, then deepens into a movie about redemption, is directed by Peter Jackson, best known for 1994’s marvelous Heavenly Creatures. But viewers who loved that film’s air of quiet menace may be put off by the cranked-up pace and volume of The Frighteners; this movie is much more like Jackson’s wacky 1992 horror film Dead Alive. Which is to say, the relentless Frighteners is overloaded with jokes… and unsettling special effects (the villain surges through walls, mirrors, and rugs with shocking speed). The Frighteners is also that rare horror film that actually gets better as it proceeds; this scare machine has a heart and a brain.” – Ken Tucker, Entertainment Weekly
376. (+17) The Vampire Lovers
Roy Ward Baker
1970 / UK / 91m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Ingrid Pitt, George Cole, Kate O’Mara, Peter Cushing, Ferdy Mayne, Douglas Wilmer, Madeline Smith, Dawn Addams, Jon Finch, Pippa Steel
“What really makes this a good film, however, is the treatment of the supernatural presence. Whereas all of Hammer’s previous vampire movies were about very physical creatures, the fresh type of vampire presented here has a far eerier ambience and gives the sense of a ghostly otherworldliness that helps the picture immensely. These are beings who command through their minds and their sexual charisma, and only rarely through physical strength. At times they vanish like specters, at times they – maybe – turn into cats. It’s a wholly different take on the vampire, and one that achieves the combination of allurement and fearsomeness which most vampire tales strive for but fail to reach.” – Anton Mistlake, Mistlake’s Blog
377. (-40) Isle of the Dead
Mark Robson
1945 / USA / 71m / BW / Mystery | IMDb
Boris Karloff, Ellen Drew, Marc Cramer, Katherine Emery, Helene Thimig, Alan Napier, Jason Robards Sr., Ernst Deutsch
“Lewton’s signature, of course, was atmospheric spookiness, not shocks. A couple of good jumps aside, his movies have endured because of his remarkable talent in fusing the eerie with the melancholy. But whether it was by design or pressure from Gross, Isle of the Dead offers both the unsettling and the truly startling as it reaches its climax. The fear of being buried alive gets its ultimate expression here. At first that fear is played out in indelibly understated creepiness — the camera slowly moving in on a closed casket, wrapped in the shadows of tree branches swaying in the wind. And then… a noise. It builds from there when Thea slowly walks through the same area later. Obscured by heavy darkness and aided by a strikingly modern use of flash frames, a figure appears so fleetingly you are not sure you’ve seen her at first. But then she makes her presence definitively known. Taken together, these scenes rank among the most bone-chilling moments from any era of horror cinema.” – Joel Wicklund, Classic-Horror
378. (-3) Razorback
Russell Mulcahy
1984 / Australia / 95m / Col / Nature | IMDb
Gregory Harrison, Arkie Whiteley, Bill Kerr, Chris Haywood, David Argue, Judy Morris, John Howard, John Ewart, Don Smith, Mervyn Drake
“Mulcahy also takes a page out of Spielberg’s playbook by keeping his monster on the edge of the frame, empowering the beast with a near-mythic quality, and it doesn’t hurt that when we are given a good look at the titular terror, the results are impressively authentic (courtesy of designer Bob McCarron). The slaughterhouse finale, with its crackling sparks and grime-covered machinery, delivers the final reel shocks and splatter we deserve without compromising any of the well-grounded work that has gone before.” – Horror 101 with Dr. AC
379. (-3) Sangue per Dracula
Paul Morrissey
1974 / Italy / 103m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Joe Dallesandro, Udo Kier, Vittorio De Sica, Maxime McKendry, Arno Juerging, Milena Vukotic, Dominique Darel, Stefania Casini, Silvia Dionisio, Inna Alexeievna
“Outrageous, over the top in the sex, skin and gore department (the film was rated X when it came out, and I doubt it would get any rating at all today), Blood for Dracula is at once a horror film and a spoof—but it’s also something more. A strange, lingering sadness hangs over the film in its depiction of the end of an era. There’s a somber quality to Kier’s Dracula and also to the eldest daughter of the house, Esmeralda (Milena Vukotic)—a quality that lasts long after all the blood spurting, severed limbs and sex have passed. It’s a strange film—sometimes a beautiful one—but it’s also the textbook definition of “not for everyone.”” – Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress
380. (-28) The Revenge of Frankenstein
Terence Fisher
1958 / UK / 90m / Col / Monster | IMDb
Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Eunice Gayson, Michael Gwynn, John Welsh, Lionel Jeffries, Oscar Quitak, Richard Wordsworth, Charles Lloyd Pack, John Stuart
“Frankly, it’s about as close as Hammer ever came to an outright masterpiece: great mood combining with outstanding performances and writing, and at 89 minutes, the film understands the value of not screwing around. It is one of the great horror films, then and now, unerringly assembled by talented craftsmen who weren’t looking to redefine cinema, and didn’t; but in no small way, The Revenge of Frankenstein helped to set in stone the high standard of excellence that kept Hammer at the forefront of genre filmmaking for almost ten years; though Dracula probably did more to catapult the studio to financial acclaim, and it’s great all around, Revenge trumps it across the board.” – Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
381. (-11) The City of the Dead
John Llewellyn Moxey
1960 / UK / 78m / BW / Supernatural | IMDb
Dennis Lotis, Christopher Lee, Patricia Jessel, Tom Naylor, Betta St. John, Venetia Stevenson, Valentine Dyall, Ann Beach, Norman Macowan, Fred Johnson
“Horror film aficionados have long known about an underrated, little-recognized gem from the early ’60s called Horror Hotel. Due to its low budget, The City of the Dead was completely filmed on a sound stage. No scenes were filmed outside. However, instead of becoming a liability, this limitation actually works in the film’s favor, giving it a strong sense of claustrophobia, which makes the horror all the more palpable… One of the movie’s greatest virtues is its sense of a secluded other-worldly environment of near-Lovecraftian implications.” – Gary Johnson, Images Journal
382. (-14) The Leopard Man
Jacques Tourneur
1943 / USA / 66m / BW / Crime | IMDb
Dennis O’Keefe, Margo, Jean Brooks, Isabel Jewell, James Bell, Margaret Landry, Abner Biberman, Tuulikki Paananen, Ben Bard
“The Leopard Man is at its best when it concentrates on small details like this, building its unsettling atmosphere through the accumulation of sounds, shadows, and slowly building tension. It’s a film without a center, economical in its storytelling and yet giving the impression that it has time for plenty of detours into the lives of its characters, even the least “important” ones. This meandering quality to the plotting is the film’s greatest strength, and it’s inevitable that as the structure begins to tighten up in its final act, the film loses some of its charm. Despite a vaguely unsatisfying resolution, this is a fine low-key horror production from Lewton and Tourneur.” – Ed Howard, Only the Cinema
383. (+5) The Faculty
Robert Rodriguez
1998 / USA / 104m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Salma Hayek, Famke Janssen, Piper Laurie, Christopher McDonald, Bebe Neuwirth
“Scream writer, Kevin Williamson, has teamed up with Robert Rodriguez, the director of Tarantino’s Mexican vampire gorefest, From Dusk Till Dawn. The result is far more intelligent than you might dare suppose. As a teenage take on Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, it combines strong characters with paranoid thriller techniques – can I trust her? Is she one of them? – and wicked special effects. The film succeeds so well in a genre, where pastiche is the norm, by accepting absurdity as real. Rodriguez is less showy than he was with From Dusk Till Dawn and Desperado. He takes it seriously, as do the young actors, all of whom deserve praise. It makes the difference between shlock horror and interesting fear.” – Angus Wolfe Murray, Eye for film
384. (+58) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Marcus Nispel
2003 / USA / 98m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen, Mike Vogel, Eric Balfour, Andrew Bryniarski, R. Lee Ermey, David Dorfman, Lauren German, Terrence Evans
“The main problem with the film is that it feels like a cynical repackaging of an already established classic. However, as remakes go, it’s very well made and decently acted and it never approaches ‘bad movie’ levels – even the script is pretty good… It is, however, much gorier than the original – the violence and pain on display here is worse than anything in Kill Bill. Legs get chainsawed off (chainsawn?), people get hung on meat-hooks (as in the original), people get chainsawed in the back, and so on – it’s pretty much non-stop terror from the moment the first one of them disappears and you’re more or less guaranteed to end up hiding behind your hands at some point.” – Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
385. (-4) Blue Velvet
David Lynch
1986 / USA / 120m / Col / Mystery | IMDb
Isabella Rossellini, Kyle MacLachlan, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange, Dean Stockwell, George Dickerson, Priscilla Pointer, Frances Bay, Jack Harvey
“The most brilliantly disturbing film ever to have its roots in small-town American life. Shocking, visionary, rapturously controlled, its images of innocence and a dark, bruising sexuality drop straight into our unconscious where they rest like depth charges. Lynch has become a master at giving form to what is not permitted – rage, revulsion, our darkest imaginings – and by making them tangible, lets us acknowledge them… “Blue Velvet” takes us behind the working-class American facade, beneath the Technicolor grass, literally underground to the churning turmoil of black, shiny beetles below.” – Sheila Benson, Los Angeles Times
386. (-4) Death Line
Gary Sherman
1972 / UK / 87m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Donald Pleasence, Norman Rossington, David Ladd, Sharon Gurney, Hugh Armstrong, June Turner, Clive Swift, James Cossins, Heather Stoney, Hugh Dickson
“Deathline is also very violent (the spade in the head segment), extremely nasty (just about any scene featuring “the man”), funny (take another bow, Mr Pleasance), frightening, touching and off-the-wall (the two minute pointless inclusion of Christopher Lee for no good reason other than he was around that day). There’s even some spectacular camerawork on display (take a trip with the special effects men as they seamlessly move from the underground charnel house to the bustling Underground station above).” – Chris Wood, British Horror Films
387. (+22) Motel Hell
Kevin Connor
1980 / USA / 101m / Col / Slasher | IMDb
Rory Calhoun, Paul Linke, Nancy Parsons, Nina Axelrod, Wolfman Jack, Elaine Joyce, Dick Curtis, Monique St. Pierre, Rosanne Katon, E. Hampton Beagle
“The whole concept of cannibalism is appropriately icky here. The sight of innocent people buried like heads of lettuce in a garden feels creepy, while the much-beloved finale – involving a chainsaw-wielding Farmer Vincent wearing a pig’s head – achieves an aura of genuine dementedness. Meanwhile, as sick as some of the story’s events are, you often can’t help but laugh at them. Motel Hell goes just far enough over the top to avoid being offensive. There’s a tongue-in-cheek spirit to the movie (in addition to an admirable restraint when it comes to gore) that is, dare I say, kind of charming.” – Mike McGranaghan, The Aisle Seat
388. (-3) Non si sevizia un paperino
Lucio Fulci
1972 / Italy / 105m / Col / Giallo | IMDb
Florinda Bolkan, Barbara Bouchet, Tomas Milian, Irene Papas, Marc Porel, Georges Wilson, Antonello Campodifiori, Ugo D’Alessio, Virgilio Gazzolo, Vito Passeri
“The signature Fulci bit is also the devastating culmination of the film’s autopsy of corrupt patriarchy, a bravura episode of pitiless, protracted violence against Bolkan’s lupine “witch,” chains, pipes, torn flesh scored outrageously to radio channel-surfing and capped with a sendup of Il Bidone. An oversized crucifix hangs in the woods, although Fulci remains utterly distrustful of church piety, small-town virtue and even childhood innocence – what Bouchet and Milian ultimately unearth isn’t the solution to a mystery, but the awareness of Fulci’s horror erupting as vividly and messily from bucolic vistas as from decomposing zombies.” – Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
389. (-11) Frankenstein Created Woman
Terence Fisher
1967 / UK / 86m / Col / Monster | IMDb
Peter Cushing, Susan Denberg, Thorley Walters, Robert Morris, Duncan Lamont, Peter Blythe, Barry Warren, Derek Fowlds, Alan MacNaughton, Peter Madden
“Of course, it still works as straight-up Gothic horror, albeit on a level less horrifying (and frankly, less Gothic), than some of the earlier Hammer works. Cinematographer Arthur Grant, working in one of Hammer’s A-list horror franchises for the the first time, was not as accustomed to the murky blacks and hushed shadows that had marked the form to that point; and Fisher didn’t seem inclined to emphasise the story’s Expressionist possibilities either. The result is a clean, even bright mise en scène – it is the most daylight-heavy of all Hammer’s Frankenstein films – that is less scary than it is troubling: troubling that Frankenstein should be such a stone-cold villain and yet be so engaging and charming that we can’t help but like the bastard.” – Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
390. (-3) Dead & Buried
Gary Sherman
1981 / USA / 94m / Col / Zombie | IMDb
James Farentino, Melody Anderson, Jack Albertson, Dennis Redfield, Nancy Locke, Lisa Blount, Robert Englund, Bill Quinn, Michael Currie, Christopher Allport
“However, Dead and Buried isn’t great simply because it’s a little unique; instead, it works because it’s just a solidly entertaining film featuring good performances and a sense of spooky mystery that pervades the entire thing. A morbidity that’s both sort of grim and cheeky hangs in the air; the stark violence is off-set by the presence of the quirky mortician and other folksy, small town charms. There’s a sense that something is just a bit off from the moment a photographer is savagely set aflame by a mob that seemingly materializes from nowhere. The film hides its cards well as more, similarly bizarre events happen that allow you to begin connecting the dots; it plays its best, most twisted hand last, though.” – Brett Gallman, Oh, The Horror!
391. (+9) Signs
M. Night Shyamalan
2002 / USA / 106m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones, M. Night Shyamalan, Patricia Kalember, Ted Sutton, Merritt Wever, Lanny Flaherty
“What makes Signs such an odd but enthralling film is the way its story is open to interpretation. Taken literally, it’s War of the Worlds populated with characters carrying a lot of baggage. At the same time, it’s a metaphor for faith and an examination of how beliefs shape reality. In fact, the surreal and detached atmosphere offers debate for what exactly is “real” in this movie. Enough peculiarities pop up here and there to make you wonder… If you’re not interested in symbolism with your cinema, rest assured that Signs also boasts a good deal of thrills at face value. Tension and unease abound, and the movie has its fair share of sudden jolts and monsters in unseen places.” – Andrew Manning, Radio Free
392. (-3) Piranha
Joe Dante
1978 / USA / 94m / Col / Nature | IMDb
Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies-Urich, Kevin McCarthy, Keenan Wynn, Dick Miller, Barbara Steele, Belinda Balaski, Melody Thomas Scott, Bruce Gordon, Barry Brown
“That’s it in a nutshell, and yes, the storyline is both random and goofier than shit. Yet, that’s all part of Piranha‘s charm. This flick is by no means good; in fact, for the most part it’s just a really blatant rip-off of Jaws, but wow is it fun. We’re talking turn your brain off entertainment at its finest, folks. Piranha delivers more than its fair share of laughs, intentional and otherwise, while keeping in tune with the campy boobs and blood flicks of its time. None of it really makes any sense, but it’s a safe bet that by the time these creatures start their nibbling, plot holes will be the last thing on your mind.” – Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton, Dread Central
393. (-14) Bakjwi
Chan-wook Park
2009 / South Korea / 135m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim, Hae-suk Kim, Ha-kyun Shin, In-hwan Park, Dal-su Oh, Young-chang Song, Mercedes Cabral, Eriq Ebouaney, Hee-jin Choi
“Throughout very audible kissing and slurpy blood-drinking, the film proves to be scary, remarkably moving, and startlingly evocative. And like most Park films, it doesn’t end when the audience expects it to. The final section of the film transforms the characters and retains their humanity, even amid their most frenzied embrace of their obsessions. Park’s film is an ingenious look at a sleepy topic, proving that the vampire movie hasn’t lost its verve, but that most directors making them have. Place a filmmaker like Park behind the camera and suddenly the genre awakens from its slumber, digs itself from out of its own grave, and emerges ready to feed from the ideas of a great director.” – Brian Eggert, Deep Focus Review
394. (-2) The Toxic Avenger
Michael Herz & Lloyd Kaufman
1984 / USA / 82m / Col / Splatter | IMDb
Andree Maranda, Mitch Cohen, Jennifer Babtist, Cindy Manion, Robert Prichard, Gary Schneider, Pat Ryan, Mark Torgl, Dick Martinsen, Chris Liano
“”The Toxic Avenger” has a weird joyfulness that’s infectious, even while it stages ghastly deaths and dismemberments. Kaufman and Herz construct a rather effective silent comedy in the midst of all the brutality, with the picture playing just as effectively with the sound shut off. With a cast that wildly gesticulates with every line reading, broad physical comedy, and a hulking, deformed hero, it’s fairly easy to follow the feature without hearing it, as it periodically reaches Vaudeville-style shenanigans. It’s not a tasteful endeavor (maybe babies should be spared the magic of moviemaking), but it has a defined spirit that carries the adventure from beginning to end, stopping occasionally to assess character motivations and explore the romance between Toxie and Sara. Horrible, and I mean horrible stuff happens in “The Toxic Avenger,” but rarely does the effort sit around and wallow in ugliness, always on to the next bit of awful it can manipulate into horror and comedy.” – Brian Orndorf, Blu-ray.com
395. (+30) Lifeforce
Tobe Hooper
1985 / USA / 116m / Col / Science Fiction | IMDb
Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathilda May, Patrick Stewart, Michael Gothard, Nicholas Ball, Aubrey Morris, Nancy Paul, John Hallam
“If Lifeforce is an examination and perhaps even condemnation of promiscuous, rampant sexuality, it is also a supreme, unsettling entertainment. It surprises constantly, and features a number of nice homages to classic horror cinema. I mentioned George Romero’s Dead cycle, but Lifeforce also harks back to an older, British tradition: the Quartermass and Nigel Kneale’s legacy. There, aliens from space were the source of our mythology. They came to Earth and were reckoned with in terms of scientific and military solutions. Lifeforce is very much the same animal…plus huge heaping helpings of sex and visual effects. I also happen to believe the film does possess a sense of humor, but that it makes those jokes straight faced, in a staccato rat-a-tat-tat of overlapping dialogue. Lifeforce is about a “destroyer of worlds,” but if you read the film closely, it suggests that our desires — and our inability to resist them — is the very thing that could destroy humanity.” – John Kenneth Muir, Reflections on Film and Television
396. (-6) Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural
Richard Blackburn
1973 / USA / 80m / Col / Vampire | IMDb
Lesley Taplin, Cheryl Smith, William Whitton, Hy Pyke, Maxine Ballantyne, Steve Johnson, Parker West, Charla Hall, Jack Fisher, Buck Buchanan
“Lemora is a film that transcends the confines of the medium and reaches a place in our lives where we have felt the most vulnerable and alone. Our nightmares. It brings a fantasy tale to life and presents it in the most morbid of ways. The use of lighting, locations, sounds, and music, are so complete and intact throughout the film and at such an even level of dream-likeness, that you’d be hard pressed to find anything that remotely comes close to delivering the atmospheric quality that it so relishes in. This film is highly recommended to anyone who loves low budget horror films that ascend their shackles and for anyone that has ever gotten lost in their own dreams.” – Jay Shatzer, The Lucid Nightmare
397. (+4) Cure
Kiyoshi Kurosawa
1997 / Japan / 111m / Col / Psychological | IMDb
Kôji Yakusho, Masato Hagiwara, Tsuyoshi Ujiki, Anna Nakagawa, Yoriko Dôguchi, Yukijirô Hotaru, Denden, Ren Ohsugi, Masahiro Toda, Misayo Haruki
“Writer/Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is not a Japanese David Fincher, while Fincher makes “Seven” seem cool, Kurosawa makes “Cure” real. This is not an over-stylized film. We see the murders like a witness, with far away static shots. When the detective is investigating, we are his partner and we stay a few paces away just listening. The film’s score is nearly non-existent, the scenes are filled with ambient sound, the rumbling of the ocean or a dryer. “Cure” is a movie to get lost in. From the very beginning we’re thrown into something where we’re never quite sure what is going on. It is wonderful to feel misplaced, knowing that this will not end with a foreseeable plot twist. There is no clear-cut conclusion. The film is not wrapped up in a nice neat little package. Kurosawa shows us a glimpse into this strange world and then pulls away, leaving us to figure out the answers, answers that may never come.” – Ross Williams, Film Threat
398. (+5) Flesh for Frankenstein
Paul Morrissey
1973 / USA / 95m / Col / Monster | IMDb
Joe Dallesandro, Monique van Vooren, Udo Kier, Arno Juerging, Dalila Di Lazzaro, Srdjan Zelenovic, Nicoletta Elmi, Marco Liofredi, Liù Bosisio, Fiorella Masselli
“Disgusting? Yes. Obscene? Oh, certainly. Likely to deprave and corrupt? Paul Morrissey absolutely hopes so. And above all else, wildly fucking funny. The genius of the film lies not in the director’s willingness to “go there” with every depraved idea that crops into his head, but to go there with a song in his heart and a big smile on his face. If I had to come up with one adjective to describe Flesh for Frankenstein, it would probably be “silly”. Or maybe, “goofy”. But surely not sick, violent, over-the-top, any of those other things – for if it is indeed a wicked, wicked film, it is all in the service of its gloriously self-indulgent camp attitude.” – Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
399. (+22) Kurutta ippêji
Teinosuke Kinugasa
1926 / Japan / 70m / BW / Surrealism | IMDb
Masuo Inoue, Ayako Iijima, Yoshie Nakagawa, Hiroshi Nemoto, Misao Seki, Minoru Takase, Eiko Minami, Kyosuke Takamatsu, Tetsu Tsuboi, Shintarô Takiguchi
“A stunning invocation of the world as viewed by the mentally ill, within minutes, as the rapid montage of the opening storm sequences dissolves into the surrealistic fantasy of the sailor’s wife dressed in an exotic costume dancing in front of an art-deco inspired backdrop featuring a large spinning ball flanked by ornate fountains, A Page of Madness bowls you over with a barrage of startling images utilising every technique known to filmmakers of the time. Even now, Kinugasa’s film seems as fresh as a daisy and when seen on the big screen, as eye-popping an experience as anything you’re likely to see released nowadays.” – Jasper Sharp, Midnight Eye
400. (-98) The Invisible Ray
Lambert Hillyer
1936 / USA / 80m / BW / Science Fiction | IMDb
Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Frances Drake, Frank Lawton, Violet Kemble Cooper, Walter Kingsford, Beulah Bondi, Frank Reicher, Paul Weigel, Georges Renavent
“The Invisible Ray is a creepy, suspenseful, and thought-provoking science fiction film by Lambert Hillyer—relevant to Universal Monster buffs for directing Dracula’s Daughter. Especially fascinating is the underlying message explored in this feature, which indicates that scientific discovery in the wrong hands can lead to devastating consequences—a prescient topic for a 1930s motion picture to examine… Also worth commending is the gravitas of Lugosi, who, though remembered for playing creeps, kooks, and creatures of the night, offers an uncharacteristically restrained and delicate performance in this film.” – Jon Davidson, Midnite Reviews
