Originally posted at No Rest For The Wretched
Contributors:
Kayode Kendall, Mary Brickthrower, JD Lombardi, Eric Blair, Heather Buzby
Introduction: Mary Brickthrower
Closing Thoughts: Kayode Kendall, JD Lombardi
A couple months ago the “all things media” rag Entertainment Weekly composed a list of the “20 Top Horror Films of the Past 20 Years”, and my friends and I found ourselves…unimpressed. After collectively cocking our heads, we decided to produce our own definitive list.
Our process was thorough, paring down individual lists into a master list. While you will see some similarities between our list and EW, you’ll notice that movies which aren’t really “horror” are omitted. For example, Shaun of the Dead is a great movie but it’s really a comedy. Silence of the Lambs is primarily a psychological thriller, as with From Hell. Finally, we sat down to discuss our Top 20 favorites, both our similar picks and random barbs tossed in for glaring differences.
For fans of horror, here are OUR Top 20 Horror Films of the Last 20 Years!
10 Responses to "The Top 20 Horror Films Of The Last Twenty Years"
1 | Shola Akinnuso
Some of the choices make me really proud of you guys, then some of them really break my heart. How ‘gore porn’ like Saw and Hostel made this list is inexplicable from a group that acknowledges hidden gems like Exorcist 3 and Candyman. You guys will give props to excellent movies like The Ring, but neglect the equally terrifying The Grudge. Pick a version, U.S. or the Ju-On original, and they’re both remarkably well-crafted.
Then there’s this Blair Witch business. Sure, it was the first of the “camcorder horror” revolution, but Rec/Quarantine honed the craft to perfection.
Props, again, for the often overlooked White Noise, but for creep factor and style, was it better than, say, the considerably more unsettling Mothman Prophecies?
Then, I’m forced to turn back and give you guys (half of you, anyway) the respect for recognizing that The Mist was an EXCELLENT character study on social interaction and primal regression based on fear (c’mon, it really wasn’t about the monsters), while appreciating that it’s a proper thowback to 50’s pulp horror. Okay, points given…
…but taken away for – For the love of GOD – Scream and What Lies Beneath? Really? You omit Shaun of the Dead for being more satire than horror (true) but somehow SCREAM stays put? And…What Lies Beneath? As Ghost Stories go, What about The Devil’s Backbone? Hell, even The Skeleton Key or Stir of Echoes…
Then, there wasn’t a single John Carpenter movie on the list – which is inconceivable. The Thing? The Prince of Darkness? In the Mouth of Madness, maybe?
What about recent nominees? It’s like you guys skipped an entire era of well-crafted scares. The Exorcism of Emily Rose? The Descent? Hell, even – or perhaps, ESPECIALLY, Jeepers Creepers, which reinvigorated the modern horror mythic monster.
The list just seemed peculiar.
I get why, say, Ginger Snaps was on the list. There aren’t many quality werewolf flicks, and the original Ginger Snaps stands out for lycanthropthry like Fright Night and The Lost Boys did for Vampires before it. I can even see why 30 Days of Night made your list. With an excess of style and an honest intent to strip sexuality from vampires (while replacing our adulation with the fear of their savagery), I get it; There’s been a dearth of standout vamp flicks in twenty years.
Hell, I could go on and on pulling quality examples from my hat. What about High Tension? If you’re gonna go slasher and hate the modern remakes, High Tension was about as excellent as you get.
Even The Masters of Horror had episodes that could be considered ‘movies’ worth consideration. Ultimately, though, for all of my examples, it’s just disappointing when it feels like YOU guys didn’t consider as many quality possibilities or even offer argument for why some of your movies deserved the slot over others that any horror fan could IMMEDIATELY recall…
2 | Loretta Gogetta
October 31st, 2009 at 12:30 am
Great article! I loved it both times I read it.
Funny enough I read this yesterday at http://norestforthewretched.blogspot.com/ So to say it’s exclusive is a misnomer. Look that word up. Yeah I’m in town and I’ve a hankering for a traitor’s blood and Yankee flesh.
Kisses,
CCBA
Loretta Gogetta
3 | Steven
My problem is that most of these movies came out in the last 10-15 yrs and not 20 yrs with the exception of a couple. No The Thing but What Lies Beneath? White Noise but not the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? What about An American Werewolf in London? That’s an icon (in my opinion) of werewolf movies. The Grudge should have definitely been on the list also. I thought it was a lot better than The Ring. What about alien movies like Communion and Fire in the Sky? Both great alien abduction flicks. What about the Hellraiser movies? Most definitely should have been there. The problem I see with some of these newer “horror” films is that they’re either watered down to get a PG-13 rating to get the younger audience or when they do have an R rating it’s all over the top gore and no story i.e. Hostel and the remake of The Hills Have Eyes.
4 | Ernie Estrella
A nice article, and I enjoyed the discussion points on each film. I do however think there was a gross omission of the films from Korea, Japan, and Asia in general who have been the most influential ripple of horror cinema in decades. No one’s top 20 can compare to another’s top 20 and this list is heavily centralized in one era and one country.
I’m not the biggest student of the horror genre, but I know what I like and I would only say half of this list would qualify on my own list. I like Candyman as much as the next guy, but that it made a top 20 horror list is absurd when you consider what’s been put out since 1989.
I have to push more love on The Mist. I almost bought the blu-ray today so I could see it in black and white and in color. I also second the props on Scream which was darn tooting good during its time, and spawned its own legion of copycats.
5 | J.D. Lombardi
November 1st, 2009 at 11:58 am
Hey gang! One of the things I think a few of you overlooked in yourrattling off of films so far was the “last 20 years” part. That’d instantly omit favorites of mine like American Wereworlf and The Thing.
Also, what it came down to behind the scenes was voting. Many other films were listed by my fellow co-writers but if they didnt’ receive the most overall votes, they were dropped off the list.
It was a fun piece for the holiday spirit and at the very least, especially with everyone leaving some pretty well informed comments, gets us all talking about a genre that many considered more or less dead just a few years ago.
Thanks for reading!
6 | Kayode Kendall
November 1st, 2009 at 12:27 pm
@Shola – We love that we could make you feel so conflicted! LOL!
7 | Shola Akinnuso
November 1st, 2009 at 12:36 pm
nevermind me guys. For all my bitching, the piece was still a blast to read. It wouldn’t be fun if it wasn’t controversial!
9 | J.D. Lombardi
“next time” we’re going to do romance films in honor of Valentine’s Day.
:P
Oh, Didn’t I mention that to you, Wile E. Kayode?
