Sunday, October 14, 2007

Official Nominees for the 31 Flicks That Give You the Willies List

Here are the 183 official nominees from the 67 nominating ballots I received:


28 Days Later (2002; Danny Boyle)
Alice Sweet Alice (1976; Alfred Sole)
Alien (1979; Ridley Scott)
Aliens (1986; James Cameron)
All the Colors of the Dark (1972; Sergio Martino)
American Psycho (2000; Mary Harron)
An American Werewolf in London (1981; John Landis)
Audition (1999; Takashi Miike)
The Beyond (1981; Lucio Fulci)
The Birds (1963; Alfred Hitchcock)
Black Christmas (1974: Bob Clark)
Black Sabbath (1963; Mario Bava & Salvatore Billitteri)
Black Sunday (aka Mask of Satan) (1960; Mario Bava)
The Blair Witch Project (1999; Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez)
Blood and Black Lace (1964; Mario Bava)
Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971; Piers Haggard)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935; James Whale)
The Brides of Dracula (1960; Terence Fisher)
The Brood (1979; David Cronenberg)
Burnt Offerings (1976; Dan Curtis)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920; Robert Weine)
Candyman (1992; Bernard Rose)
Carnival of Souls (1962; Herk Harvey)
Carrie (1976; Brian de Palma)
Cat People (1942; Jacques Tourneur)
The Changeling (1980; Peter Medak)
Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things (1972; Bob Clark)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954; Jack Arnold)
Creepshow (1982; George Romero)
Cronos (1993; Guillermo del Toro)
Cube (1997; Vincenzo Natali)
Daughters of Darkness (1971; Harry Kumel)
Dawn of the Dead (1978; George Romero)
Dawn of the Dead (2004; Zack Snyder)
Day of the Dead (1985; George Romero)
Dead Alive (1992; Peter Jackson)
Dead of Night (aka Deathdream) (1974; Bob Clark)
Dead Ringers (1988; David Cronenberg)
Deathline (aka Raw Meat) (1972; Gary Sherman)
Deep Red (1975; Dario Argento)
Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) (1994; Michele Soavi)
Demons (Demoni) (1985; Lamberto Bava)
The Descent (2005; Neil Marshall)
The Devils (1971; Ken Russell)
The Devil’s Backbone (2001; Guillermo del Toro)
The Devil’s Bride (aka The Devil Rides Out) (1968; Terence Fisher)
The Devil’s Rejects (2005; Rob Zombie)
Les Diaboliques (1955; Henri-Georges Clouzot)
Don’t Look Now (1973; Nicolas Roeg)
Dracula (1931; Tod Browning)
Dr. Jekyll & His Women (1981; Walerian Borowczyk)
Eraserhead (1977; David Lynch)
Event Horizon (1997; Paul W.S. Anderson)
The Evil Dead (1981; Sam Raimi)
Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn (1987)
The Exorcist (1973; William Friedkin)
The Exorcist III (1990; William Peter Blatty)
The Eye (aka Gin gwai) (2002; Pang Bros.)
Eyes Without a Face (aka Les Yuex sans visage) (1960; Georges Franju)
The Fly (1986; David Cronenberg)
The Fog (1980; John Carpenter)
Frailty (2001; Bill Paxton)
Frankenstein (1931; James Whale)
Freaks (1932; Tod Browning)
Friday the 13th (1980; Sean S. Cunningham)
Friday the 13th, part II (1981; Steve Miner)
Fright Night (1985; Tom Holland)
Full Circle (aka The Haunting of Julia) (1977; Richard Loncraine)
Funny Games (1997; Michael Haneke)
Ginger Snaps (2000; John Fawcett)
Godzilla (aka Gojira) (1954; Ishiro Honda)
Gremlins (1984; Joe Dante)
Halloween (1978; John Carpenter)
The Haunting (1963; Robert Wise)
Haute Tension (2003; Alexandre Aja)
Hellraiser (1987; Clive Barker)
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986; John McNaughton)
The Hitcher (1986; Robert Harmon)
Horror Hotel (aka City of the Dead) (1960; John Llewellyn Moxey)
Horror of Dracula (1958; Terence Fisher)
Hour of the Wolf (1968; Ingmar Bergman)
House of Wax (1953; Andre de Toth)
House on Haunted Hill (1959; William Castle)
The Howling (1981; Joe Dante)
I Walked with a Zombie (1943; Jacques Tourneur)
In the Mouth of Madness (1995; John Carpenter)
Inferno (1980; Dario Argento)
The Innocents (1961; Jack Clayton)
Island of Lost Souls (1932; Erle C. Kenton)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956; Don Siegel)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978; Philip Kaufman)
Jacob’s Ladder (1990; Adrian Lyne)
Jaws (1975; Steven Spielberg)
Jeepers Creepers (2001; Victore Salva)
Ju-On: The Grudge (2003; Takashi Shimizu)
Kaidan (Kwaidan) (1964; Masaki Kobayashi)
Kill, Baby…Kill! (1966; Mario Bava)
King Kong (1933; Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack)
Last House on the Left (1972; Wes Craven)
The Last Man on Earth (1964; Ubaldo Ragona)
The Legend of Hell House (1973; John Hough)
Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971; John D. Hancock)
The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (aka Let Sleeping Corpses Lie) (74; Jorge Grau)
The Locals (2003; Greg Page)
Lost Highway (1997; David Lynch)
Magic (1978; Richard Attenborough)
Martin (1977; George Romero)
The Mothman Prophecies (2002; Mark Pellington)
Mulholland Dr. (2001; David Lynch)
My Bloody Valentine (1981; George Mihalka)
Near Dark (1987; Kathryn Bigelow)
New Nightmare (1994; Wes Craven)
A Nightmare on Elm St. (1984; Wes Craven)
Nightmare on Elm St. 3: Dream Warriors (1987; Chuck Russell)
Night of the Demon (aka Curse of the Demon) (1957; Jacques Tourneur)
Night of the Hunter (1957; Charles Laughton)
Night of the Living Dead (1968; George Romero)
Night Tide (1961; Curtis Harrington)
Nosferatu (1922; F.W. Murnau)
Nosferatu (1979; Werner Herzog)
The Omen (1976; Richard Donner)
Onibaba (1964; Kaneto Shindo)
The Others (2001; Alejandro Amenebar)
Peeping Tom (1960; Michael Powell)
People Under the Stairs (1991; Wes Craven)
Pet Semetary (1989; Mary Lambert)
Phantasm (1979; Don Coscarelli)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975; Peter Weir)
Pit and the Pendulum (1961; Roger Corman)
Poltergeist (1982; Tobe Hooper)
Possession (1981; Andrzej Zulawski)
Prince of Darkness (1987; John Carpenter)
Psycho (1960; Alfred Hitchcock)
Pulse (Kairo) (2001; Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Quatermass and the Pit (aka Five Million Years to Earth) (1967; Roy Ward Baker)
Ravenous (1999; Antonia Bird)
Re-Animator (1985; Stuart Gordon)
The Reflecting Skin (1990; Philip Ridley)
Repulsion (1965; Roman Polanski)
The Return of the Living Dead (1985; Dan O’Bannon)
The Ring (2002; Gore Verbinski)
Ringu (1998; Hideo Nakata)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968; Roman Polanski)
Saw (2004; James Wan)
Scanners (1981; David Cronenberg)
Scream (1996; Wes Craven)
The Serpent and The Rainbow (1988; Wes Craven)
Session 9 (2001; Brad Anderson)
Seven (1995; David Fincher)
Shaun of the Dead (2004; Edgar Wright)
The Shining (1980; Stanley Kubrick)
Shivers: They Came From Within (1975; David Cronenberg)
Signs (2002; M. Night Shyamalan)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991; Jonathon Demme)
Sisters (1973; Brian de Palma)
Sixth Sense (1999; M. Night Shyamalan)
Sleepaway Camp (1983; Robert Hiltzik)
Slither (2006; James Gunn)
Suspiria (1977; Dario Argento)
A Tale of Two Sisters (2003; Ji-woon Kim)
Targets (1968; Peter Bogdonavich)
The Tenant (1976; Roman Polanski)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974; Tobe Hooper)
Them! (1954; Gordon Douglas)
The Thing (1982; John Carpenter)
The Thing from Another World (1951; Christian Nyby)
Tomb of Ligeia (1964; Roger Corman)
Tombs of the Blind Dead (1971; Amanda de Ossorio)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992; David Lynch)
The Uninvited (2003; Su-yeon Lee)
Uzumaki (2000; Higuchinsky)
Vampyr, the Strange Adventure of David Gray (1932; Carl Theodor Dreyer)
The Vanishing (Spoorloos) (1988; George Sluizer)
Videodrome (1983; David Cronenberg)
The Village (2004; M. Night Shyamalan)
Village of the Damned (1960; Wolf Rilla)
Wait Until Dark (1967; Terence Young)
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962; Robert Aldrich)
When a Stranger Calls (1979; Fred Walton)
The Wicker Man (1973; Robin Hardy)
Witchfinder General (1968; Michael Reeves)
Wolf Creek (2005; Greg Mclean)
The Wolf Man (1941; George Waggner)


My thanks to everyone who sent in lists. The response has been unbelievably enormous: I had no idea THIS many films would appear on three or more people's lists. I am impressed by the eclecticism of the nominees to the point that I feel it would be almost be a shame to narrow the final list down to only 31 choices.

Here's the rules for final voting: Your ballot is due by the end of the day Sunday, Oct. 28th. It may contain no more or fewer than 31 of the listed nominees. Unlike the nominating lists, your ballot must be ordered and numbered. Your votes will be tallied in a weighted manner, so if you put something in first place, it will receive 31 points. If you put something in last place, it will receive 1 point.

An important point: Anyone can vote in this survey. You do not have to have sent in a nominating list or have heard of this project before this very moment to vote. Eligible ballots are ones that contain a numbered list of 31 of the nominees listed above and are sent to me before the end of of the day Oct. 28th.

The 31 Flicks That Give US the Willies will be posted on Halloween. If the responses of the final ballots are as varied as the nominating lists were, I will probably post a runners-up list a few days later. As always, if none of this makes any sense, feel free to leave a comment or drop me an e-mail.

Thanks again to everyone who has participated (or plans to.)

BONUS for the ultra-list-o-maniacal: If you wish, include with your ballot a sub-list of Top 5 Horror Comedies, also ordered and numbered, but not necessarily culled from the nominees above. For the Top 5 Horror Comedies Willie Bonus Sub-List, you can vote for any five movies that you believe fit that description. (And yes, faithful readers, this IS just another ploy for me to write about The Burbs.)

32 comments:

-Chris- said...

it's gonna be tough...i'll get back to you. a numbered list will be much more excruciating (and involved)

Melizer said...

I'd love to see a merged list of ALL the submissions, so I can watch ant I haven't seen.

Robert said...

This is a great list (and so many I've not yet seen). I'll never have an excuse for not being able to find good horror films again.

Neil Sarver said...

This is a really interesting list of movies. It really does represent a lot of what horror can be and has been.

I'd like to see the longer list too. What I'd also like to see is all of the lists that many of us have posted.

Neil Sarver said...

Two other quick notes... I'm pleased by how few movies were on the list that made me seriously roll my eyes and how they were more than made up for by the number of pleasant surprises... although those will undoubtedly make my list-writing more difficult.

I'd briefly also add to those sure they will dismiss Godzilla from their list, to see, if they have note already, the original Japanese version, now widely available on DVD, as opposed to basing their judgment on the US Godzilla, King of the Monsters.

Eddie Hardy said...

Robert: Yes, as a "we recommend" section, 67 bloggers can't be wrong, can they?

Neil: I'm planning on posting a list of all the movies that were voted for that didn't make the nominations, but first I'd like to let this list sink in and give everybody a chance to say "I can't believe [blank] didn't get nominated! It's totally scarier than [blank]!"

Also, other people may be interested in seeing what the individual nominating lists looked like, so if anybody has posted theirs, feel free to paste the link into a comment here.

Greg said...

I think it's a great list Ed, nice job doing all the drudge work of compiling. I am of course disappointed that a full eight of mine did not make the final list. Seven of them I understand (and I will reveal them on my site soon) but Child's Play? How the hell was I the only one voting for a Child's Play movie? There really aren't three of us out there that like Chucky?

Anonymous said...

I think it's a good list Ed and there's some terrific surprises on it that I personally didn't think had a chance such as Alice Sweet Alice, Blood on Satan's Claw, Full Circle, The Last Man on Earth, Night Tide, Possession, Session 9, Targets, etc. (all great films I should add)

There are also 3 or 4 films on the list that I haven't seen yet and really want to, so I hope to see them in the coming weeks.

I have to add that I was really shocked to see Burnt Offerings on the list since I would have bet my life on it being a made for TV movie (a great one at that!). Obviously I was wrong.

Greg said...

Burnt Offerings was definitely theatrical. I saw it with my brother and his girlfriend when it came out at the first ever "multiplex" in my town: It had an amazing three screens!

Eddie Hardy said...

Jonathan: At the risk of being mean-spirited, I have to report with some glee that you were, indeed, the only person to vote for any Chucky movie. But don't be bitter--I had more than eight movie on my own list not be nominated.

Kimberly: I was pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of many films-- SESSION 9 was one that I thought no one knew about, but it got quite a few votes in the end.

Unknown said...

Tremendous job, Ed. I'm glad I participated in the nominating round, but I'm a bit hesitant about voting in the final round since I've only seen 72 (exactly 2/5) of these films and don't expect to find time to add too much to that total in the next couple of weeks. I've put together a tentative list of 31 I'm reasonably happy with, but considering how many gaps I still have to fill (especially with the Euro-horror, though they're all over really) I'm worried that some of my lower-ranked selections are going to help to crowd out more deserving titles I haven't seen yet.

17 of my own submissions failed to make the list, but I'm not surprised with that total as a big portion of those are films that really don't generally get named as "horror" even if they really give me the willies (2001: a Space Odyssey, Fires on the Plain, Svankmajer's Alice, etc.) Honestly horror is not a genre I generally consider one of my personal favorites, though I have some strong opinions about certain horror films and filmmakers (positive and negative).

Neil Sarver said...

I was surprised, oddly, that there was nine missing from my list, especially since I'd overall felt pleased at the number of quirky selections did make it. I suspect part of that was the number of quirky runners-up that made it.

Two big disappointments, at least, that I knew at least one other person voted for and all it needed was a third that apparently never came through.

I look forward to seeing the longer list, but appreciate - and agree - that it's good to let this list sink in first.

And, yes, great work compiling all of this information.

Greg said...

I have to report with some glee that you were, indeed, the only person to vote for any Chucky movie.

Why I oughta... Hey man demonic dolls give me the willies. "Talking Tina" is one of my all-time favorite Twilight Zones but since we couldn't vote for tv (thanks Dad) I had to go with Childs Play.

And one more explanation. One reason I won't be publishing my full list (only those that didn't make the final cut) was because I didn't necessarily favor the movies I chose over many other better horror films but they all contained a moment or scene that, uh, willied me. For instance, I love the original production of The Fly. I prefer it to the Cronenberg remake. But there's nothing in it that gives me the willies, not even David Hedison's head on the fly in the spider's web. But the remake, which I love too, just not as much, has more than a few willies moments if you know what I mean, not least of which when he demonstartes how he eats. So that's the version I put on my list. Same with Child's Play. I like "Talking Tina" more and am not the world's biggest fan of the Childs Play movies but when I first saw it and Chucky comes to life in the hands of Catherine Hicks, that gave me the willies.

Greg said...

It just occurred to me that my last comment was the thirteenth. Oooooh, that gives me the willies.

PIPER said...

Ed,

My initial reaction to this is that I can't believe how diverse this list is and I think that's fantastic.

Nice work.

Anonymous said...

Ooh, what a great list! I'm delighted that a full 24 of my nominations made the list, and I think it's really cool that some obscure flicks made it into the finals. And, as a true list-a-holic, I now get to go back and add seven more to my willies list? And I get to list my top five horror comedies? Sweet!
As a side note, do the horror-comedies have to be specifically movies that were marketed as horror comedies, like Shaun Of The Dead, or can I include straight up horror movies with some intended humor (Re-Animator) or ones that just make me laugh (Slaughter High)?
I'd love to see a list of the nominees that didn't make it. And on a side note, I can't believe the 1999 House On Haunted Hill didn't make it-- come on! I can't be the only one whose nights were ruined by that movie!

Shannon the Movie Moxie said...

Wow, it's so great to see the list up there! What a feat!

It's going to be tough to narrow it down to 31 again. There are so many I haven't seen. Maybe that will be my challenge to see them all by next year's Halloween!

I too had 2001 on my list as well Brian! It totally creeped me out!

Stacie Ponder said...

What she said ^^

I'm definitely going to make some sort of project out of seeing the films on the list I haven't yet seen.

Wow, that's the worst sentence ever!

Eddie Hardy said...

Bonnie: You can definitely include RE-ANIMATOR on your horror comedy list! Anything you feel is both somehow horrific and comedic fits the bill. We shall never allow ourselves or our culture to be defined by marketing concepts!

Everyone: Thank you, thank you, for the enthusiastic response and the outpouring of "you did so much hard work, yay!" type comments. Wax my car, why don'tcha.

As for the subject of final lists and not having seen so many of these movies, Brian, I must admit that I am one of the worst offenders in this category. This project was launched in part to give yours truly a horror education and when I finished tallying the results I thought, "Holy God, if this teaches me nothing else, it's certainly apparent that I needed that education in horror." I've been watching movies that keep popping up on people's lists as I log the nominees, but I've got a zillion more to get through (seriously, an actual zillion movies on the nominee list have yet to be seen by mine eyes) and I'm also boning up on Japanese exploitation movies for some other essays I'm working on, so...

Anywho, I'm off to watch EYES WITHOUT A FACE and RAVENOUS now, just to give away two of the zillion movies I've yet to see.

Daniel Vella said...

I didn't make it to post my own list, but this is an impressive selection that features most of what I would have voted for (particularly pleased to see the inclusion of Dellamorte Dellamore).

Somewhat surprised at the inclusion of some films I'd never have considered as fitting under the "horror" tag (such as Lynch's Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive), but on the whole this is an excellent longlist.

Anonymous said...

Le film devrait ĂȘtre lu pour son psychoanalytique contenu. J’ai trouvĂ© une excellente revue ici.

http://subalterncinema.com/paul/2007/10/13/oedipus-wrecks-le-rouge-et-noir-mais-aucun-pourquoi/

theotaking said...

Like some of the others, I found a lot on this list I haven't seen. I found a new bunch of movies to rent or buy.

Unfortunately, my sent messages were deleted, so I can't share my list. I saw several of my movies on there. I was REALLY happy to see that at least 2 other people loved Cronos enough to include it on their lists.

Eddie Hardy said...

It has come to my attention that TOMB Of LIGEIA was left off the nominating list though it had received three votes. I checked the ballots, verified the mistake, and made the necessary changes to the list of nominees, which now totals 181.

Glenn Dunks said...

Obviously not enough people have seen Pi or else that'd be on there!

Very nice list from what I can tell. So many I haven't seen and that I hope to rectify that within the next - let's face it - ten years (it's a long list!)

Can't believe I forgot to put Picnic at Hanging Rock on my own list. It's one of my favourite movies!

Neil Sarver said...

Thanks for checking and adding Tomb of Ligeia. I hope some people notice and include it or give it a chance! That also takes my number of missed titles down to a shockingly low eight.

And, as it goes, despite my rules, I'm quite pleased by the large number of titles that don't fit my definition or any more traditional definitions of horror. I think it gives all of us a better way to re-examine what horror is and, in many cases, a perspective from which to re-examine some of those movies.

Anonymous said...

hello there i found thi blog from my friend CELINEJULIE

ipost my 31 horror in webboard here
http://www.bioscopemagazine.com/smf/index.php?topic=650.msg3819#msg3819

just wanna say that the nominee list was great

FilmWalrus said...

Ed,

Good work. I would like to add my praise for you going through the less glamourous aspects of tabulating numbers. I wish you luck on getting through the next round.

The result certainly seems worthwhile, though I wish there were even more to choose from. If we'd all worked together we could have optimized a full 692 (67 * 31 / 3) selections. I'm most sorry to see "Saragossa Manuscript" "Pan's Labyrinth" "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders" and "Gozu" not make it through.

I'm now engaging in the incredible torture of eliminating movies one by one from the nominees and leaving only my top 31.

Greg said...

Ed,
I got the turtle-wax now. Where's your car?

Will Errickson said...

This isn't a big deal, probably just a typo, but since the movie is my number one willie-giver (?), I'd just like to point out that Jaws was released in 1975, not 1976.

Great movies (well, most of them!); just found out about the poll, but I'll be doing up a list myself.

Anonymous said...

How on earth did Larry Cohen get shut out? Hopefully he'll at least make the "5 Best Horror Comedies" list.

Eddie Hardy said...

Will: Thanks for the copy-editing, Eagle Eye! The JAWS typo has been corrected.

Anonymous said...

I love horror movies, but I wouldn't call them a specialty of mine. Certainly I don't have the depth of knowledge about some of the rarer films, and I don't know anything about Mario Bava, nor do I care.

However, the only film that actually made me scream outloud was the Korean hit The Host. I wish it were on the list.