1st Annual Hall of Infamy - 2008: THE CONTENDERS
May 7th 2008 00:52
69 contenders … only 13 places. There will be blood!
I’ve compiled a list of 69 horror movies that I think deserve consideration for inclusion in my inaugural Pleasure of Nightmares - Hall of Infamy (it's opinionated, but hey, moderator's perogative).
But, in keeping with my Pleasure of Nightmares rule there will be only 13 places in the Hall of Infamy and this hierarchy of horror will no doubt change each year depending on the votes of True Believers, random readers and fellow bloggers.
So to get the head rolling here’s the procedure: you, the reader, are allowed to vote for five movies from the list below, giving your top preference a vote of 5, the runner-up a vote of 4, bronze a 3, then a 2, and your fifth selection a 1.
Over the next five weeks I will collate these votes to assist me in determining the top 13. The final list – the Hall of Infamy - will be revealed on Friday June 13th.
If you feel there has been a glaring omission (quite likely), or that a movie in the list below in no way warrants inclusion, please feel free to comment and/or make your own suggestion for consideration. However, suggestions will only be considered for next year's Hall of Infamy contenders list.
I am open to discussion; however I must add that I have purposefully left out the most obscure or underground titles to try and maintain a level of consistency and familiarity.
Halloween John Carpenter 1978 United States
Alien Ridley Scott 1979 US
The Exorcist William Friedkin 1973 US
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Tobe Hooper 1974 US
An American Werewolf in London John Landis 1981 US
The Thing John Carpenter 1982 US
The Evil Dead Sam Raimi 1982 US
Night of the Living Dead George Romero 1968 US
Suspiria Dario Argento 1977 Italy
The Descent Neil Marshall 2005 UK
The Blair Witch Project Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez 1999 US
Videodrome David Cronenberg 1982 Canada
Ju-on: The Grudge Takashi Shimizu 2004 Japan
Ringu (Ring) Hideo Nakata 1998 Japan
Invasion of the Body Snatchers Don Siegel 1955 US
Psycho Alfred Hitchcock 1960 US
Rosemary’s Baby Roman Polanski 1968 US
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (A Symphony of Horror) F.W. Murnau 1922 Germany
Eraserhead David Lynch 1976 US
The Shining Stanley Kubrick 1980 US
The Howling Joe Dante 1981 US
Phantasm Don Coscarelli 1978 US
Possession Andrzej Zulawski 1981 Germany/France
Re-Animator Stuart Gordon 1985 US
The Silence of the Lambs Jonathan Demme 1991 US
Spoorloos (aka The Vanishing) George Sluizer 1988 Netherlands/France
The Mist Frank Darabont 2007 US
Braindead Peter Jackson 1992 New Zealand
Dawn of the Dead George Romero 1978 US
Dawn of the Dead Zack Snyder 2004 US
Day of the Dead George Romero 1985 US
The Omen Richard Donner 1976 US
Dog Soldiers Neil Marshall 2002 UK
Hostel: Part II Eli Roth 2007 US
Innocent Blood (aka A French Vampire in America) John Landis 1992 US
Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) Dario Argento 1975 Italy
Poltergeist Tobe Hooper 1982 US
Wolf Creek Greg Mclean 2005 Australia
Angel Heart Alan Parker 1987 US
A Nightmare on Elm Street Wes Craven 1984 US
Cannibal Holocaust Ruggero Deodato 1980 Italy/Colombia
Near Dark Kathryn Bigelow 1987 US
30 Days of Night David Slade 2007 US
El Orfanato (The Orphanage) Juan Antonio Bayona 2008 Spain
The Fly David Cronenberg 1986 Canada
The Hitcher Robert Harmon 1986 US
Saw James Wan 2004 US
Planet Terror Robert Rodriguez 2007 US
Shaun of the Dead Edgar Wright 2004 UK
28 Weeks Later Juan Carlos Fresnadillo 2007 UK/Spain
Hellbound: Hellraiser II Tony Randel 1988 UK
Dead Ringers David Cronenberg 1988 Canada
Lost Highway David Lynch 1997 US
Cat People Jacques Tourneur 1942 US
Bram Stoker’s Dracula Francis Ford Coppola 1992 US
Black Sunday Mario Bava 1960 Italy
Se7en David Fincher 1995 US
Scanners David Cronenberg 1983 Canada
May Lucky McKee 2002 US
Koroshiya 1 (aka Ichi the Killer) Takashi Miike 2001 Japan
From Dusk Till Dawn Robert Rodriguez 1995 US
Demoni (Demons) Lamberto Bava 1985 Italy
The Amityville Horror Stuart Rosenberg 1979 US
Henry - Portrait of a Serial Killer John McNaughton 1986 US
The Hills Have Eyes Alexandre Aja 2006 US
Ginger Snaps John Fawcett 2000 Canada/USA
Jaws Steven Spielberg 1975 US
Hannibal Ridley Scott 2001 US
Rogue Greg Mclean 2007 Australia
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Comment by Brad Gaylard
Mens Zen
My vote would have to go thusly...
The Thing - 3
American Werewolf in London - 2
Shaun of the Dead - 1
I'd love to include The Mist, mainly because that ending kicked me in the balls and left me shell-shocked - but I think The Thing covers the Lovecraftian horror aspect better.
I'd be temtped to vote for Alien, but that damn cat jumping out of cupboards annoys the bejeesus out of me. Damn you Jonesy!
As for glaring omissions?
I think Evil Dead 2 deserves more recognition than the original. I also feel The Host deserves a place in that list, and I'd definitely rate The Devil's Backbone over The Orphanage in terms of Spanish ghost stories.
It's all subjective though, and there should be an easy 3 votes in there for any horror fan.
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
1 - Deep Red
2 - Alien
3 - Shaun of the Dead
if given two more:
4 - The Thing
5 - Dawn of the Dead
Wonderful idea for a post, Bryn!
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
yes no doubt I will inundated with omissions/suggestions, it's a can of worms really
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Brad Gaylard
Mens Zen
5 - The Thing
4 - Amercian Werewolf in London
3 - Shaun of the Dead
2 - The Fly
1 - The Mist
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
Omissions:
The Innocents
...really creepy...well when I was 12 it was..
Blood for Dracula
a great Warhol number...the vampire vomit scene...ahhh...such bliss...
Flesh for Frankenstein (in 3D)
another great Warhol movie, saw it 'affected' by psychotropics, which possibly made the 3D effect even more bizarre...great movie, mixture of horror, camp and schlock...or is that what schlock is...dunno
The Devils
horror art
Your List;
Votes:
5:
Poltergeist
absolute best of its era
4:
The Exorcist
when released...an utter freak out!
too dated now..too many Linda Blair jokes, some of which I directed at good friends.
3;
The Shining
love Jack.."Here's Johnny!!"
2:
Psycho
Hitchy must be included...so brilliant...that shower scene...shudderingly artistic!
1:
Nosferatu
homage to an early great..and it was scary...those teeth...ewwww!
Honorable Mentions:
Invasion of the Body Snatchers...
scared the lviing shitter outter me when it came out..
Alien...so good..except the critter outter the chest at dinner...its movement and squeal brought the whole scene down into corny B Grade SFX.
Blair Witch Project 1
brilliant marketing concept...nice scary feel..but ended disappointingly...no biggie shock...
I could go on..and on...but i won't!
fog
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
ERASER HEAD....gotta love that film...the baby creeped everyone I knew out!
fog
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
5 - Deep Red
4 - Alien
3 - American Werewolf in London
2 - The Thing
1 - Dawn of the Dead (Romero!)
sorry - got it backwards!
Comment by Mr Nice Guy
Pop Culturist
Pop Rock Factory
Weighing up all aspects - including potential for longevity, out and out affect on the cinema goers at the time, commercial success and homage to directors, writers et al PLUS my own scurulous opinion - I would plumb in decending order:
The Exorcist
Night of the Living Dead
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Rosemary’s Baby
Psycho
Well done you!
MNG
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
Screen Trek
QUOTE ME NO QUOTES!
trouble is, so many are there that deserve the top five billing, maybe top ten?
And I have not seen WEolf Creek yet, stupidly, I'll try and do that soon.
I know, the ultimate is not going to be perfect, (of course how could it?), and maybe it will drag less on your time with it being kept to the top five I guess.
So, I'll leave it there, thanks for asking.
cheers
fog
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
1 - Videodrome
2 - The Thing
3 - Angel Heart
4 - Invasion of the Body Snatchers
5 - Alien
Comment by Bianca S
4. The Ring (American version)
3. Wolf Creek
2. Rosemarys Baby
1. The Silence of the Lambs
Comment by Damo
The Exorcist William Friedkin 1973 US
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (A Symphony of Horror) F.W. Murnau 1922 Germany
Shaun of the Dead Edgar Wright 2004 UK
What happened to Event Horizon or are my eyes failing me?
Comment by Mr Nice Guy
Pop Culturist
Pop Rock Factory
Any reason classics such as Jeckyl and Hyde were omitted?
MNG
Comment by Damo
Hunchback?
Freaks?
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
MNG, to be honest I've not seen a version of the Jekyll and Hyde story I've really been impressed by. I suppose I quite enjoyed the Jack Palance version which special effects legend Dick Smith did the make-up for.
I own a copy of Walerian Boroczyk's very rare interpretation, Dr. Jekyll and His Women, but have yet to watch it. Apparently it is quite perverse.
Will you make a selection from my list anyhow?
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Any glaring omissions I may have made will now be duly noted and will be incorporated into next year's contenders list. Any suggestions will also be noted. I will not be adjusting the list any further following this statement. No titles excluded from this list will be considered for the inaugural Hall of Infamy
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
I'd say, with difficulty:
5. Alien
4. Seven
3. The Thing
2. The Exorcist
1. Angel Heart
I definately have a soft spot for May though.
And I do think Philip Kaufman's '78 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a brilliant film too, and the best one of all, slightly ahead of Don Siegel's.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Garrett Mickley
Survive, Today!
Digital Product Reviews
I thought of it more as just a psychological mind f**k
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
4 VOTES . . . The Hitcher
3 VOTES . . . Wolf Creek
2 VOTES . . . Silence of The Lambs
1 VOTE . . . . Seven
i much preferred the remakes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho to the originals . . . and i thought the sequel to Blair Witch was the better one . . . and the western remake of The Ring was pretty scary
also i dont know if its horror as much as suspense but The Others made me jump out of my seat at the cinema
Comment by dementia
Coffin Conversations
Comment by Joseph R. Terrazzino
Here goes, comrade . . .
5. The Exorcist
4. Alien
3. Dawn of the Dead 2004
2. 28 Weeks Later
1. Barney the Purple Dinosaur
Ok, while scary as fuck, it's not on the list.
1. The Mist
There ya go. Not perfect, but I'd smile at that playlist.
Later!
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I was very disappointed by Gus Van Sant's remake, for simply duplicating Hitchcock shot for shot, as if to say, yup, he made a brilliantly shot film, and here's why. Kinda pointless except for showing us Norman Bates masturbating while voyuering, which Hitchcock had to cut out from the original. Anne Heche was great though.
The Blair Witch Project I was lucky to see months and months before it got released down under and so had been exposed to very little of the hype surrounding it apart from the original mock-real website, so the movie packed a real punch, I was very disappointed with the sequel, finding it messy and uneven.
The American remake of The Ring is good I agree, but it has nothing on the atmosphere of the original. But then it depends on your sensibilities, for example some people can't handle having to read sub-titles.
The Others with Nicole Kidman was another that let me down, but it did have some genuinely creepy moments for sure. The image of the ghost faces at the door was very well done.
Thanks for voting!! I'm starting to see certain titles leading the field ...
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
... I'm taking the liberty of removing Barney (he's not welcome here) from your selection and replacing it with The Mist
Comment by Morgan Bell
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
i dont know what the effect is called (and im probably easily impressed) but when they slow down and speed up someone creeping into a room, that jerky flickered ghostly quality, it scares the pants off me, like in The Ring and Blair Witch 2, and little kids with old faces . . . i want to run screaming out of the cinema! haha
and van sants Psycho . . . i was just dazzled by the colours and patterns and light-hearted performances
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Yes, there's a lot of running and screaming in the Texas Chainsaw remake ... lol ...
Perhaps I need to watch the Psycho remake again ..... hmmmm.
Comment by Ayda
Phantasmelodia
4) Alien
3) Rosemary's Baby
2) The Blair Witch Project
1) A Nightmare on Elm Street
Still... I wonder where Friday the 13th is.
Great list of nominees by the way. I can't wait to see the results.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Bianca ... you need to choose again because you selected The Ring, which isn't on the list. Ringu is though.
Comment by Nathan 1
1. Rosemary's Baby
2. The Shining
3. Ginger Snaps
4. The Exorcist
5. Ringu
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Stay tuned for the results on June Friday 13th!
Comment by Nathan 1
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Nathan 1
Comment by XlupoldX
And. . you included 28 Weeks Later and not 28 Days Later *Sniffles* . . . . .how could you?
Okay. . lets see if I can pick out five from that powerhouse of a list. . .
1 point : Texas Chainsaw Massacre
2 points : Wolf Creek
3 points : Dog Soldiers
4 points : The Thing
5 points : The Descent
I know, I know. . .two Neil Marshal flicks. . .but the man is the British saving grace of horror. . and I love both movies with a deep and dirty passion. . .bad girl.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
yes five choices is very cruel, but hey ...
yes, I prefer 28 Weeks Later over 28 Days Later, this is true, the sequel (and a rare beast that it is) is more consistent and I think a more extreme beast, although credit to Dany Boyle's original for the first half, I just don't like the second half, and especially the ending.
hey, Neil Marshall rocks, I'm with you ... Let's hope Doomsday is just as good ... I have a crush on Rhona Mitra!!!
Comment by XlupoldX
See. . I just can't agree with you on the 28 Days/Weeks Later thing. . I adore the Danny Boyle/Cillian Murphy/Christopher Eccleston feast that it was and the second one seemed far too Americanised for me, although the scene with Robert Carlyle all "raged" out in the underground was absoulutely beautiful. The whole immunity to the virus with its links to heterochromia just wasn't executed clearly enough for me. . . . .and again the whole heavy handed American presence in it made me cover my face a few times during the screening, to hide my muttering, cursing and spitting.
I've just recently watched "Doomsday" and personally I thought it freaking rocked! It has suffered ALOT of really mixed reviews and comparisons to other movies, the legendary Mad Max being the most frequently cited, but I had a riproaring time with it and yes, Ms Mitra is nothing short of stunning in it. Other Marshall stalwarts appear in it too, Darren Morfitt (Spooney in Dog Soldiers), Emma Cleasby (Megan in Dog Soldiers) and of course my personal crush, Sean Pertwee. . . .meow. .
And damned straight Audition would have been there if you had included it in your list. Takeshi Miike has produced some of the biggest headf*@ks known to mankind and relying on your own imagination to figure out and fill in the gaps is what makes his horror offerings so successful in their scare tacticts. . .and he was the ONLY thing in Hostel that made me feel like the admission price wasn;t a complete waste of money.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I forgot Miike was in Hostel. Show's how utterly forgettable that movie was!
I'm feeling very much at odds about having left Audition from my list. Having viewed it again recently it was lingered long and hard in my mind. But the question is, how many people would actually vote for it, because a lot of people haven't seen it.
Comment by XlupoldX
The only things I remeber from Hostel Are Miike and the ridiculous scene where the "hero" cuts the asian girl's eye off. . . .SUCH a poor film. . how I loathe thee Eli Roth. . .
I totally get your point about the demographic of those who have actually seen Audition and you have already got your review of it here. . .I wonder if there is anything else we can do of raising people's awareness of it?
Comment by Nathan 1
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Two Guys Sports
Wrestling Wrap Up
Reviews R Us
World of Wrestling
Blog America
5- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
4- Nightmare on Elm Street
3- The Shining
2- Saw
1- From Dusk Till Dawn
I would much rather vote for Nightmare on Elm Street Part III: The Dream Warriors, Friday the 13th (original), and Rob Zombie's House of 1,000 Corpses.
The Rob Zombie one was one of the freakiest, scariest movies ever. For me it would come close to knocking off Chainsaw as #1. It was so scary I still have not watched the sequel, The Devils Rejects. I would almost put that oneon the list without seeing just because the first one was so good.
If I could add my three onto the list it would be:
5- Chainsaw
4- House of 1,000 Corpses
3- Nightmare III
2- Nightmare I
1- Friday the 13th
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
I had had 1000 Corpses over-hyped, so when I finally saw it I didn't find it nearly as freakyscary as I had hoped. I didn't like Devil's Rejects much at all, and I can't stand his take on Halloween. !000 Corpses is easily his best movie, but a lot of people really like Devil's Rejects more ... You're the first person to really champion it ...
I'll take your suggestions into consideration ... Friday the 13th nearly made the cut, as they say ...
Thanks for voting!
Comment by Damo
2- Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (A Symphony of Horror) F.W. Murnau 1922 Germany
3-Psycho
and 4th but not least
4- The Omen (1970's version)
(Horrible Mention)
5-Shaun of the dead