HDC Presents: 100 Years of Horror

[neverending]

I think 10 Rillington Place is definitely a horror movie.

[_____V_____]

Here we go with the 1950s:-

Total number of lists received = 11.

IN THE CUT

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) - 10
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) - 10
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) - 10
The Fly (1958) - 10

Godzilla (1954) - 9

Horror of Dracula (1958) - 8
The Blob (1958) - 8
The Tingler (1959) - 8

Diabolique (1955) - 7
House of Wax (1953) - 7
House on Haunted Hill (1959) - 7
The Mummy (1959) - 7
Them! (1954) - 7

Curse of the Demon (1957) - 6


DEBATABLE

A Bucket of Blood (1959) - 5 (backed by neverending, seconded by The Villain, roshiq, Straker)

I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) - 4 (backed by neverending)
Tarantula (1955) - 4 (backed by The Villain)
The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) - 4 (backed by The Villain)
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958) - 4 (backed by neverending, seconded by The Villain, roshiq)
The Thing from Another World (1951) - 4 (backed by The Villain, seconded by roshiq, realdealblues)
The War of the Worlds (1953) - 4 (backed by The Villain, seconded by Sculpt)

Rear Window (1954) - 3
The Bad Seed (1956) - 3 (backed by neverending, seconded by roshiq, fortunato)
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) - 3 (backed by Sculpt)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) - 3 (backed by neverending, seconded by roshiq, Sculpt)
The Quatermass Xperiment (1955) - 3


MINORITY

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) - 2
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) - 2
Fiend Without a Face (1958) - 2
Invaders from Mars (1953) - 2 (backed by The Villain)
Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) - 2
Rodan (1956) - 2 (backed by The Villain)
The Abominable Snowman (1957) - 2 (backed by neverending)
The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) - 2 (backed by The Villain)
The Bat (1959) - 2
The Crawling Eye (1958) - 2 (backed by The Villain)
The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959) - 2
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1956) - 2 (backed by neverending, seconded by The Villain, Sculpt)
The Night of the Hunter (1955) - 2 (backed by neverending, seconded by roshiq)
This Island Earth (1955) - 2
Ugetsu (1953) - 2

Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) (Despare)
Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) (The Villain)
Blood of Dracula (1957) (Despare)
Bride of the Monster (1955) (neverending)
Corridors of Blood (1958) (neverending)
Dementia (1955) (Straker)
El Vampiro (1957) (Straker)
Frankenstein- 1970 (1958) (metternich1815)
Godzilla Raids Again (1955) (The Villain)
Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) (hammerfan)
I Bury the Living (1958) (The Ugly Duchess)
I Married A Monster from Outer Space (1958) (The Ugly Duchess)
It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) (The Villain)
It Came From Outer Space (1953) (The Ugly Duchess)
Kronos (1957) (hammerfan)
Lust of the Vampire (1956) (Straker)
Not of This Earth (1957) (The Ugly Duchess)
Revenge of the Creature (1955) (realdealblues)
Teenage Zombies (1959) (fortunato)
The Alligator People (1959) (metternich1815)
The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) (The Villain)
The Black Castle (1952) (Despare)
The Body Snatcher (1957) (roshiq)
The Creature Walks Among Us (1956) (realdealblues)
The Giant Behemoth (1959) (The Villain)
The Giant Claw (1957) (The Villain)
The Killer Shrews (1959) (swiss tony)
The Man From Planet X (1951) (The Ugly Duchess)
The Monolith Monsters (1957) (The Ugly Duchess)
The Screaming Skull (1958) (fortunato)
War of the Colossal Beast (1958) (The Villain)
X: The Unknown (1956) (The Ugly Duchess)


14 films have made it in, by a vote percentage of over 50%.

We need to select SIX more films from the other two sections (preferably from the DEBATABLE section). 6 Honorable Mentions from the rest to be chosen later.

I have posted the names of the HDC-ians who sent in their unique choices, i.e., those which got only 1 vote, and that vote was theirs only.

Please post your reasons for choosing your unique films, your backing for the MINORITY & DEBATABLE selections, and why you feel your chosen ones should be included in the SIX remaining spots.

OR

If everyone is in agreement, we can toss in A Bucket of Blood which scored 5 votes, and select FIVE choices which got 4 votes each (right now in the DEBATABLE top). That way we end up with our selected 20.

So, go ahead. Post your views.

[neverending]

To be honest, I can only select 5 from the debatable section- Bucket of Blood, Teenage Werewolf, Revenge of Frankenstein, Bad Seed, and Incredible Shrinking Man.

All the rest seem like they are more squarely in the science fiction realm, except Rear Window, which is more of a drama or thriller.

There are others from the minority section, which IMO, are more worthy of inclusion in the top 20 horror films from the 50s, such as The Abominable Snowman, Night of the Hunter or Hunchback of Notre Dame.

[The Villain]

From the Debatable section i would choose Bucket of Blood, The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, The Revenge of Frankenstein, The Thing from Another World, The War of the Worlds and Tarantula

All of these i think are classics with strong staying power evidenced by the fact that some of them have been recently remade and have influenced other recent movies. Besides that fact they are excellent monster movies which excellently represent the time period in which they were made.

From the Minority section i would pick Invaders from Mars, Rodan, The Amazing Colossal Man, The Crawling Eye, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame as they are also excellent movie from that time period.

[roshiq]

The Bad Seed (1956)

Not only a true pioneer classic for the sub-genre of Evil child movies but as a film, in terms of making, characterization & a theme that was way ahead of its time...The Bad Seed is a much deserving film to be in any greatest lists for 50s Hollywood masterpieces. It's always a great challenge to tell such a sensitive story within a limited set up & few characters and the director Mervyn Leroy did an excellent job in creating an utterly gripping atmosphere where we see a psychological cat & mouse game between a helpless mother & her evil little girl. The very young Patty McCormack playing the title character Rhoda Penmark was a remarkable delightful watch. I strongly recommending this movie along with The Incredible Shrinking Man (If u haven't then please read NE's blurb in the HDC's top 100 list to understand the significance of this true gem) to get in the final cut. It'll be a great disappointment if we fail to recognize the greatness of the movies like this ones.

[_____V_____]

Duly added. Selections are open for debate.

[fortunato]

I'm throwing in for The Bad Seed.

[_____V_____]

Thanks, guys. 15th chosen one nailed. Master List updated.

Five more to go.

[Giganticface]

Originally Posted by _____V_____

All debatable entries for the horror genre. But I leave this open for discussion. If enough are in favor, they will be merged into the list.

No worries. I understand the line has to be drawn somewhere, and I'm cool with whatever this community decides.

Thanks to roshiq for backing the inclusion of Straw Dogs. Anyone else? I realize this isn't a pure horror genre movie, but it's close. It serves as a direct reference for any post-1971 home invasion movie. I assume House on the Edge of the Park will be included on the 80s list since IMDB classifies it as horror. Straw Dogs is much scarier and actually employs horror filmmaking techniques, which can't really be said about Edge of the Park. The movie throughout has a constant feeling of pending doom. I also think a good case can be made that if Last House on the Left, Deliverance and maybe I Spit on Your Grave, are included, then Straw Dogs should be included.

That being said, no big deal if it's not included. Everyone's got their own definitions.

Regarding A Clockwork Orange, I'm almost inclined to retract my suggestion to add it because it is so debatable. It's clearly not a horror genre movie, the cheery British tone plays more like Terry Gilliam than any horror movie, and a good portion of the film (the middle, prison portion) has no relationship to horror at all.

However, if these lists are about the most important movies in horror history (as opposed to the best horror movies in horror history), it would be a shame not to recognize it. The new level of on-screen violence, the trademarked and stylized predatorial antagonist, the themes of home invasion and physical and psychological torture, the creepy music and visuals, employing metal tools as torture instruments on the eyeballs, revenge torture, the fact that now when I hear "Singin' in the Rain" or Beethoven's 9th, I think of brutal violence and rape -- all of these are significant contributions to the horror genre, not sci-fi, which is the genre the movie is more likely to be classified as.

As I mentioned, I'm totally fine with not including it because it looks a little weird on my list next to The Exorcist, Halloween and Dawn of the Dead, but I'll leave you with these images for your collective consideration.

[roshiq]

I'll love to see them also in the final cut:

A Bucket of Blood (1959)
The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)
The Thing from Another World (1951)
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)