Horror's "new" classics

From 1980 to the present ??? You're killin' me leaving out my personal favorite decade ... Alright, here goes:

THE SHINING - 1980 - Epic film, directed by a master filmmaker whose vison transcends the horror genre ... A must see film for anyone who loves movies ...

BLAIR WITCH PROJECT - 1999 - An enormously important film in that it contained no gore, no effects, no budget, yet managed to succeed in being ( IMHO ) the best horror film of the decade ... Naysayers don't appreciate the fact that with 2 videocameras and some unknowns, you can make a classic, most likely because they didn't, and never will ...

WOMAN IN BLACK / THE CHANGELING / THE OTHERS - A "Ghost Trilogy" so to say ... All different, yet all connected to the fine art of the "haunted house" story ... 3 awesome films ...

AUDITION - 1998 - Asami = Norman Bates ... Great film, great sympathetic psycho ... A very original take, and disturbing to boot ...

... More to come

Jacob's Ladder/In The Mouth Of Madness - postmodern Lacanian hero-losing-his-mind double bill. Uniquely end-of-the-century paranoia that filters classic myth and monster visions through the mind of a man consumed by his (and our) culture and society.

Friday 13th/Scream - while neither is the prototypical slasher picture, both are the bookending templates for the genre. Halloween kickstarted a genre that had been lurking on the fringes in a couple of classics (Bava and Black Christmas) but the formula of setting/kids/killer/legend pretty much derives from Cunningham and Victor Miller's larcenous schmorgasboard and reached its zenith (or nadir depending on your tolerance for such things) with Craven's hit trend restarter..

Aftermath/Audition - taboo busting at first glance but two prime examples of a nation's specificity explored through the genre. Aftermath's deeply Catholic-hued views on death and beyond and Audition's blistering satire on Japanese mating rituals and gender wars are by turns beautiful and disturbing.

More later when I've mused a touch more...

Makes me want to go back to Film School.

Focusing on the divergent path horror has taken in the latter days....

EVENT HORIZON- To be so scary in a sci fi environment was quite an achievement. Now many might say Alien instead, but it was more action thriller, this was pure terror.

RING/RINGU- To illustrate the Japaneese remake phenomenon, and the best example of it.

THE THING- The isolation/paranoia genre and one of the finest films with Gore.

DAY OF THE DEAD- For the living dead legacy.

HELLRAISER- the dimensional demon film, which started it's own knock-off sub-genre. A good example of redefining the perceptions of the divine.

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET- Obvous reasons historically. But a good example of the first real 'teen-star' vehicle. Depps first film, and Craven woudl introduce many other teen stars over the years.

BLAIR WITCH- I utterly loathe this crap film. but I do agree it has a historical importance that needs to be included. it's most important aspect woudl be the internet controversy, and the believability of the myth.

CROW/BLADE- this to illustrate the concept of undead turned hero.

STUDENT BODIES/SCARY MOVIE- the horror spoof phenomenon. People make fun of that which scares them to ease the tension, and these movies are a release of that variety.

Blair Witch, Crow, The Thing, all most def
I would put KRONOS above Blade.

I'd add Bram Stoker's Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, Near Dark, and From Dusk Till Dawn as examples of how the vampire myth has evolved over time.

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON - An example of a classic story retold, and a perfect balance between horror and humour.

THE THING - Classic monster movie.

THE EVIL DEAD - How to make a great low budget horror flick.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET - Because it's a legend.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET: PART II - To show how one can fuck up a legend.

EVIL DEAD II - Example of splatstick.

THE LOST BOYS - Example of pop horror.

HELLRAISER - The last great horror movie of the 80s.

JURASSIC PARK - Example of PG horror.

RINGU - Damn scary, and influential.

BATTLE ROYALE - A different kind of horror.

GINGER SNAPS - Example of a refreshing take on a classic theme.

... and what would any horror film study be without the Serial Killer ???

1) SUMMER OF SAM - 1999 - Another excellent film by a filmaker not kown for horror ... I love NYC films, and this one is one of the best .... This film is the best example of how horrifying a story can be by keeping the horror element to a minimum ... Also, John Leguizamo and Mira Sorvino are nothing short of brilliant ...

SILENCE OF THE LAMBS / SEVEN - No intoductions necessary ...

CRUISIN' - 1980 - Unbelievably underrated gem ... As grim as MANIAC, but Friedkin and Pacino pull this one up out of NYC's gutter and into minor classic status ...

HENRY:PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER - 1990 - My least favorite of the films I've mentioned, but important nonetheless ... Does have a serious / disturbing vibe, and must be considered as required viewing ...

Re-Animator
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
Maximum Overdrive
Dawn of the Dead
Dellamorte Dellamore
A Nightmare On Elm Street
Deadly Blessing
Phantasm 2
Christine
Prince of Darkness
The Thing
John Carpenter's Vampires
The Evil Dead
Mr. Vampire
A Chinese Ghost Story
I Know What You Did Last Summer

And Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2.

I'll explain when my brain is working. Maybe.

American classics
1. The Thing
2. The Shining
3. The Excorcist
4. Halloween
5. Psycho

American Modern
1. The Others
2. The Blair Witch Project
3. Session 9
4. The Ring
5. The Evil Dead

Foriegn Classics
1. Susperia
2. Black Sunday
3. Zombi
4. The Grapes of Death
5. The Ringu

Foriegn Modern
1. Audition
2. Ginger Snaps
3. Dog Soldiers
4. The Evil Dead Trap
5. Funny Games

Ginger Snaps is Foriegn?

Candyman....most romantic movie ever

I consider Canada to be foriegn! Isn't the director from Canada! Besides I had to put it somewhere!

Actually I'd probably have the longest film study class on campus beause I'd also want the Fessenden trilogy and Aronofsky films in there as examples of great indie films.

I would definitely agree with elmie on The Changeling and The Woman in Black.

80'S CLASSICS:

The Thing

Return of the Living Dead

Evil Dead

Evil Dead 2

Fright Night

Creepshow

American Werewolf in London

The Howling

Argento's Tenebrae

Argento's Opera

Day of the Dead

Angel Heart

Prince of Darkness

The Hitcher

Child's Play

90'S CLASSICS:

Jacob's Ladder

Scream

Blair Witch 1

Session 9

Hideo Nakada's Ring

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cure

Looking back on the lists, I must add Texas Chainsaw 2, and Henry, as classics.

Dog Soldiers is a truckload of fun and God knows I love it, but it's no classic. Same with Ginger Snaps.

Battle Royale doesn't qualify as horror IMO.

Obviously, it's very subjective, but I definitely consider BR horror.

Rath, GS is Canadian.

Day after day, week after week, throughout the entire semester, I would show 'Hellraiser'... again, and again, and again, and again... shouting at the beginning of class, "This movie redefined horror in the 80s"... at the end of class I'd cry "That movie redefined horror in the 80s".

Then, on the last day of class, I'd show 'Nightbreed', and conclude the course by staring long and hard at my students.

The students that returned my stare would be expelled immediately.

Those that looked at their hands, blushing... I'd invite over to my house for shots of Belvedere vodka and pirogis (sp?).

Good Question! I don't have much time so I'm just going to list some. I'll try to add the explanation later....Some are a given, some I will leave a breif description why

The Shining
Evil Dead
The Thing
Nightmare on Elm Street
Return of the Living Dead (comedy and horror at its best)
Hellraiser
Near Dark
Opera
Jacobs Ladder
Seven (realistic horror)
Blair Witch (for what it was, and did)
In the Mouth of Madness (at least 3/4th of the movie)
Scream (again for what it was and did)
Series 7 (realistic horror)
Ringu
Battle Royal
Donnie Darko

If I had more time, I would make more comments but I don't right now...

I'd definitely have to have Texas Chainsaw 2 as one of the best examples to show that the eighties seemed to turn the "the last girl" into the "victim-Hero" template that didn't require the last minute save at the hands of a male figure.
Laurie Strode ("the last girl") fighting Myers until Dr. Loomis can come in and shoot him. Whereas the reappropriation of the phallace still wasn't enough to stave off the killer in her case.
Stretch("vicim-hero") on the other hand not only reappropriates it, but also uses it fully to its advantage and in essence completes the symbolic castration of the gendered distressed Chop Top.

Now the "cock fight" between Leatherface and Hopper on the other hand would require a whole class in and of itself.

Stretch was also super sexy.

Belvedere?

As in Mr. Belvedere?

Speak of the eighties!!!

Halloween - The most success Indie Horror Film of all time.

Dawn of the Dead - A Classic. Nuff Said.

The Exorcist - To date, one of the scariest movies of all time.

An American Werewolf in London - Still the best of its kind.

I think everyone has detailed why these are classics but here are mine:

The Thing
The Shining
Friday the 13th part 1
Nightmare on Elm Street
Evil Dead 1, 2 and Army of Darkness (as a set)
Re-animator (classic monster movies meet gore and sex)
Ring/Ringu
Sixth Sense (the return of quiet horror)
Blair Witch Project (as an independant film, hoax and cultural phenomenon)
Phenomena (I just love this film)
In The Mouth of Madness (ditto)
Scream (Great film that is destroyed by countless crappy ripoffs. It created it's own horror sub-genre)
American Werewolf in London (the modern "classic" of werewolf films)
From Dusk till Damn (a overly violent, funny deconstruction of vampire mythology)

(still lerning to spel)

i would do examples on what not to do in horror,
and the nominees are:
friday the 13th part 8
jason goes to hell
freddy's dead
book of shadows:blair witch 2
scream 2 AND 3
i know what you did last summer
i STILL know what you did last summer
shark attack (any of them)
anything by peter benchley after jaws
put off aliens versus predator
make moustapha akkad your producer( he'll run it into the ground kids)
not make silent hill into a GOOD movie
make resident evil into a crappy movie
plan a sequel to resident evil

[/QUOTE]Ah, so someone's been reading their "horror theory" books, eh? I gotta admit, that was a great article.[/QB][/QUOTE]

Yeah... I'm on a new frontier. I'm rewatching everything with new insights... thanks to all the psycho babble us academics have to come up with to fill an hours worth of class participation.

Trilogy of Terror Only the story about the little African doll. That movie scared me to no end when I first saw it back in the 80's, and recent viewings have not changed my perception of it at all. Shows you dont need big set pieces and lots of gore to scare the poo poo out of people.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space Only because I hate clowns....a lot.

Aghora,

Have you ever read "Men, Women, and Chain Saws" by Carol J. Clover? Interesting stuff.

Most definitely The Ring and Hellraiser.