re: Best Horror Movie of All-Time Tournament: FINAL FOUR!! (Voting Closed)

The Exorcist

Jaws

The shining
Jaws

The Exorcist
Halloween

Shining. Jaws.

So 3 70s movies and one movie from 1980…I feel like there’s some bias

The Shining

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So 3 70s movies and one movie from 1980…I feel like there’s some bias

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The problem with horror is that it is so motif and genre-driven that's it's really hard to charter new ground.

Those original scared for everyone, are just so important.

Modern horror is really great, but all of the trend setting, outside of a few shallow new versions of horror like Blair Witch or Paranormal Activity, has already been done.

People can't get away from the original scares.


Scream might be the newest film that has an argument for the top 4.

1. The Exorcist

1. Jaws

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So 3 70s movies and one movie from 1980…I feel like there’s some bias

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Horror is very generational, given the nature of the genre.

The 70s and early 80s were the last time you got really transformational material that wasn't directly copying prior work.

When the 80s hit, it went super slasher and horror comedy for almost a decade. On top of this, you had the explosion of VHS and you still had drive ins, so there was a demand for a LOT of content. This led to over-production of these movies and very little quality in the sea of schlock.

Then the late 80s/early 90s hit a major lull because society got too tired of all the crap made in the 80s. It was really barren for a while and very few iconic new work (Hellraiser is one exeption off the top of my head).

Then Scream happened and the millennial horror genre went on for about a decade. The non-serious, over-produced, meta-loving era. Outside of Scream, you had very little quality in this genre. There were some good works outside of the genre (Event Horizon, In the Mouth of Madness, etc.), but they weren't very successful so more weren't produced.

What did have a legacy was the thriller-horror demarcation following Seven, but that progeny was much more thriller than horror.

By the end of the 90s and into the early 00s, you did have some new threads emerging like J-Horror (following the success of the Ring remake) and Zombies (following 28 days later).

Then, as a rejection of the non-scary meta, you got a stripping down to the bare bones of depravity with the gore porn era. Saw, Hostel, etc.

So there was a long time where very little of quality in the major releases was made.

I posted a lot of newer, recent, legit horror movies but most people simply haven't seen them. Most people don't want real horror and want light horror either with some comedy or where the hero lives, or light genre (zombies, then ghosts following Paranormal activity, etc.) fair.

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So 3 70s movies and one movie from 1980…I feel like there’s some bias

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Yea this is one of the few tournaments we've had where age is starting to show imo. But it's still a legit final four.

Going to the Dr. and then when I get back to the office I'll get the championship match out