In the spirit of Halloween, a friend of mine sent me an interesting “best-of” list called “Fangoria’s 101 Best Horror Movies You’ve Never Seen.”Originally published in Fangoria magazine, this list was compiled by writer Adam Lukeman and was designed to serve as a “must-have guide for casual horror fans and hardcore horror junkies.” The list includes a few blockbusters, a few box office success, a few cult classics, a few direct-to-DVD releases as well as a few initial flops. (For those of you unfamiliar with Fangoria, it’s an internationally distributed U.S. film fan magazine that has specialized in covering the horror genre since 1979.)
Without further ado, here’s the list:
1. Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)
2. Alone in the Dark (1982)
3. Apt Pupil (1998)
4. The Asphyx (1973)
5. Aswang (1994)
6. Baby Blood (1990)
7. Bay of Blood (Twitch of the Death Nerve) (1971)
8. The Beyond (1981)
9. Beyond the Door (1974)
10. Black Christmas (1974)
11. The Blob (1988)
12. The Boneyard (1991)
13. The Borrower (1991)
14. Brain Damage (1988)
15. Castle Freak (1995)
16. Cemetery Man (1994)
17. The Changeling (1980)
18. Cherry Falls (2000)
19. A Chinese Ghost Story (1987)
20. Christmas Evil (1980)
21. Cronos (1993)
22. The Day of the Beast (1995)
23. Day of the Dead (1985)
24. Dead of Night (1999)
25. The Dead Pit (1989)
26. Dark Waters (1993)
27. Deathdream (1974)
28. Death Machine (1994)
29. Deep Rising (1998)
30. Def by Temptation (1990)
31. The Dentist (1996)
32. Deranged (1974)
33. The Devil's Backbone (2001)
34. The Devil's Daughter (1991)
35. Dolls (1987)
36. Event Horizon (1997)
37. The Exorcist III (1990)
38. From Beyond (1986)
39. Funny Games (1997)
40. Ginger Snaps (2000)
41. Hardware (1990)
42. Hell Night (1981)
43. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
44. Santa Sangre (1989)
45. Horror Express (1972)
46. Humanoids from the Deep (1980)
47. I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
48. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
49. Jack Be Nimble (1993)
50. Jack's Back (1988)
51. The Keep (1983)
52. Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
53. The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
54. The Last House on the Left (1972)
55. The Legend of Hell House (1973)
56. Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1973)
57. Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974)
58. Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)
59. Luther the Geek (1990)
60. Manhunter (1986)
61. Maniac (1980)
62. Maniac Cop 2 (1990)
63. Motel Hell (1980)
64. Mother's Day (1980)
65. Mute Witness (1994)
66. Necronomicon: Book of Dead (1993)
67. The Night Flier (1997)
68. Night of the Comet (1984)
69. Night of the Creeps (1986)
70. The Ninth Gate (1999)
71. Nomads (1986)
72. Open Your Eyes (1997)
73. Opera (1987)
74. The Other (1972)
75. Paperhouse (1988)
76. Pin (1988)
77. Prison (1988)
78. Private Parts (1972)
79. Pumpkinhead (1988)
80. Rabid (1977)
81. Rampage (1987)
82. Ravenous (1999)
83. The Resurrected (1992)
84. Screamers (1995)
85. The Sender (1982)
86. Session 9 (2001)
87. Shadow Builder (1998)
88. Sisters (1973)
89. The Stepfather (1987)
90. Stir of Echoes (1999)
91. Strange Behavior (1981)
92. Swamp Thing (1982)
93. Ticks (1993)
94. Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972)
95. Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)
96. The Ugly (1997)
97. Urban Ghost Story (1998)
98. The Vanishing (1988)
99. Wendigo (2001)
100. When a Stranger Calls (1979)
101. Immortality (1998)
In the end, how many of these movies have you watched? Which did you like or dislike and why? Which would you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.
Lee, I've only managed to remember watching 23 out of the 100 posted on this list. I love to read Fangoria when time permits. I'm a bit taken aback by some of the choices on this list and I'll briefly explain why below:
ReplyDeleteApt pupil (This is about an old man who was a Nazi that has tried to keep his true identity hidden and meets a young boy who finds out about his past. I didn't see this one making the list.)
The blob
Day of the dead
deep rising
the dentist
event horizon (An alien movie yes, but not sure about horror.)
exorcist 3
ginger snaps
hell night
invasion of the body snatchers
kingdom of the spiders
lair of the white worm
the legend of hell house
manhunter
necronomicon: book of dead
night of the comet
night of the creeps
the ninth gate
pumpkinhead
session 9
swamp thing (To me, more of a comic book movie.)
wendigo
Now, out of this list I would recommend to watch them all, as each has it's own unique pros and cons. Some such as Ginger Snaps (and its followups 2 & *I think* 3) are not widely known but are interesting to watch the directors take on werewolves almost in a Little Red Riding hood setting, with Little Red as the werewolf. Also interesting to watch albeit it confusing is Lair of the White Worm which still shows on IFC from time to time.
What would you recommend from the list that I have not watched?
Actually, I looked back through the list. I can add these to it:
ReplyDeleteCronos
The Death Machine
Dolls
Jack be Nimble
Jack's Back
The night flier
Screamers
The Stepfather
Stir of Echoes
Ticks
Urban Ghost Story
Some were boring enough not to care to remember, such as Death Machine and both Jack movies. Alas, this is my complete list which brings my total to 34.