And the Winner of the 2020 HDC Best Horror Film All-time is:
Alien (1979)
Beating The Exorcist 6-4. Exorcist won the 2016 Tournament, over Alien.
Films Alien beat in the Tourney:
The Plague of the Zombies (1966)
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Quarter Final:
Fright Night (1985)
Semi-Final:
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Final:
The Exorcist (1973)
This year the Semi Final Matches were:
Match 1.
Night of the Living Dead (1968) -- Vs --
The Exorcist (1973)
Match 2.
Evil Dead II (1987) -- Vs --
Alien (1979) -- Vs --
The Thing (1982)
Interestingly, all three Match 2 films were tied, which I had to break. Very close to choosing The Thing.
In 2016 the Semi Final Matches were:
Alien (1979) -- Vs --
Jaws (1975)
The Exorcist (1973) -- Vs --
Halloween (1978)
(And Alien beat
Psycho in a pre-Semi-Final match)
Quarter Final Films:
2020 ..................................................
2016
Evil Dead II (1987) ..............................Jaws (1975)
Poltergeist (1982) ................................The Evil Dead (1981)
Psycho (1960) .....................................The Shining (1980)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) ..........Halloween (1978)
Suspiria (1977) ....................................Psycho (1960)
The Exorcist (1973) ..............................The Exorcist (1973)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) .....The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
The Thing (1982) ..................................The Thing (1982)
Night of the Living Dead (1968) ..............Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Alien (1979) .........................................Alien (1979)
The Shinning wasn't even selected this year. Evil Dead II, Suspira and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) made big advances this year. Carnival of Souls also made a big showing. Predator was very popular, and wasn't even the tournament last year.
In 2020 these films were the top seeds, that is, films that were chosen by more than one person in the lists of Top 10s:
4 Evil Dead II (1987)
4 Night of the Living Dead (1968)
3 Alien (1979)
2 The Exorcist (1973)
2 The Thing (1982)
2 The Fly (1986)
2 Aliens (1986)
2 Halloween (1978)
2 Jaws (1975)
2 Eyes Without A Face (1959)
2 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
2 Suspiria (1977)
2 Fright Night (1985)
2 Dawn of the Dead (1978)
2 Insidious (2010)
2 The Lost Boys (1987)
2 Friday the 13th (1980)
2 Carnival of Souls (1962)
Thanks to everyone who participated!