MoFo Top 100 Horror Movies: The List

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I still haven’t seen the original Dawn, only the remake. I even have this on my hard disk but I have yet to see it despite almost starting it twice. Ah well, some day...



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Dawn of the Dead is my fave of the original trilogy, and I think it was the first film I went to a midnight screening of. It's been a long time since I've seen it though, so I think I should invite my brother to bring his DVD over to watch it. Because of that, I'm not sure what I can say about it except that it does have a slow build-up, but that was so Romero and Savini could cram in so many scares and gross-out moments into the second half. It was also pretty funny.
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Based on the Henry James chiller of macabre evil, brilliantly adapted for the screen by William Archibald and Truman Capote. Produced and directed by Jack Clayton, the man who directed "Room At The Top," turned into fearful reality by the magnificent performance of Miss Deborah Kerr, with Michael Redgrave as The Uncle, co-starring Peter Wynegarde, and Megs Jenkins.
- From the trailer.

19.


The Innocents (1961)
Runtime: 1 Hr 39 Mins
Production Company: Achilles Film Productions
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Production Budget: £430,000
Box Office: $1,200,000
Fourteen Votes
201 Points (25, 23, 22, 18, 17, 16, 12, 11, 11, 11, 10, 9, 9, 7)
High Voter: @sarah f
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I watched The Innocents for the 17th MoFo Hall of Fame and, while I didn't love it, I thought it was a really well made film and I had a lot of respect for it.

Enough respect to vote for it at #16.

My Ballot:
2) Army of Darkness (#77)
3) Gremlins (#51)
4) The Skin I Live In (#80)
7) The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (#25)
8) Freaks (#55)
9) Perfect Blue (#36)
10) The Ring (#30)
11) The Others (#38)
12) Interview With the Vampire (#44)
14 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) (#28)
15) Onibaba (#73)
16) The Innocents (#19)
25) Earthlings (1 pointers list)



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
My #4 but it easily could have been higher.
The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961)




I've discussed this film many places around the site, including its own thread twice, so maybe this is overkill to mention it again, but I just watched it with someone who has never seen it, so I'll try to post something new and thoughtful, if I can. The bottom line for me is that this is the creepiest, scariest, most-unsettling horror film I've ever seen. The Innocents is so frightening because it's open to so many interpretations, and no matter which way you interpret it, it's just as disturbing as possible. It's based on Henry James' The Turn of the Screw which tells the story of a new governess, Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr), and her effect on two angelic children who seem to be far more mature than their ages would allow. The boy Miles (Martin Stephens) is sent home from school for being "an injury" to the other boys, and the girl Flora (Pamela Franklin) seems to realize that Miles is coming home before anyone else does. This is only the beginning of many incidents which seem to possibly have more than one explanation, and as the film progresses, it becomes more-difficult to decide what the truth of the situation is.

The photography is spectacular and the sound design awesomely conveys what could either be Miss Giddens' deepening madness or a presence of unspeakable evil which threatens to possess and corrupt the children in the form of two dead servants who formally helped to raise the children while freely carrying on an open S&M sexual relationship in front of them. Since the film was made in 1961, you have to pay attention to pick up all the plot nuances and possibilities, but all you have to have are eyes and ears to be transfixed and lost in another world of a large house full of rooms of whispers and scary "games" of hide-and-seek. Make sure you watch this one after it gets dark.
My List
1. Gremlins
4. The Innocents
9. Altered Siates
16. Wait Until Dark
17. Carrie
18. The Omen
22. Shaun of the Dead
24. Invasion of the Body Snatchers ('78)
25. Diabolique



Since I haven’t done this yet I might as well now since we enter the top 20... here’s an overview of how my list is looking so far:

1. First or second place
2. Top 5 or 10
3. Top 5
4. Top 5 or 10
5. Top 5
6. Top 10 or 15
7. The Conjuring (2013) #29
8. Mother! (2017) #86
9. Top 10 or 15
10. Jacob’s Ladder (1990) #67
11. Top 20
12. Top 10
13. The Others (2001) #38
14. The Descent (2005) #40
15. Will not place
16. Top 10 or 15
17. Get Out (2017) #39
18. Top 10 or 15
19. Top 10 or 15
20. Ginger Snaps (2000) #91
21. The Blair Witch Project (1999) #34
22. The Devil’s Backbone (2001) #89
23. Carrie (1976) #45
24. Will not place
25. Will not place, but excited to hear who voted this one besides me....



A few years ago my room mate and I rewatched both the 1978 and 2004 versions of Dawn of the Dead, and I wouldn't recommend watching them back-to-back like that. We actually watched the newer one first, so we were getting fidgety during the Romero film's longer runtime. That same runtime prevented me from rewatching it for this Countdown, though honestly it didn't really have a chance of making my list anyway.

The Innocents was however on my list at #19. Since I'm in a rush right now, I'll just post what I wrote about it for the 17th HoF:
The Innocents manages to establish a haunting atmosphere before the opening credits roll, with a child's voice singing over a pitch black screen. That mood carries through the rest of the film, amplifying in intensity at times, and never truly subsiding completely. Despite being set in a house with large, lush grounds, there is a feeling of claustrophobia hanging over the film, which cleverly mirrors the isolation caused by the estate's rural location and the intimate proximity of those living there.

Many scenes had blackened edges, causing darkness to surround and occasionally start to suffocate the main character. Figures often felt unbalanced on the screen, which worked incredibly well with the film's more psychological elements. Stylized lighting helped create a beautiful but creepy aesthetic, and the frequent use of strange background noises or whispering voices perfectly complemented the film's eerie tone.

This is exactly the type of supernatural horror that I enjoy to watch. The story lends itself well to a number of different interpretations, so the film's ambiguity is greatly appreciated. Even if it had definitively decided for us which aspects were real, I would only be slightly disappointed since the whole of the film was incredibly well executed. The performances were exactly what they needed to be, with Deborah Kerr doing a phenomenal job drawing me in and engaging me with her character, even if she did sometimes look a little old to be a young governess.
Seen: 63/82
My List: 12

02. Re-Animator (1985) - #88
...
07. Cabin in the Woods (2011) - #52
09. The Innocents (1961) - #19
11. The Descent (2005) - #40
12. Saw (2004) - #32
13. The Conjuring (2013) - #29
...
16. Event Horizon (1997) - #49
17. The Wailing (2016) - #69
18. It Follows (2014) - #78
20. The Babadook (2014) - #63
21. Videodrome (1983) - #42
22. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) - #25
...
25. The Void (2016) - DNP/1 Pointers List



I had the sublime, classic The Innocents as my fifteenth pick. Jack Clayton's big screen adaptation of Henry James' American ghost story "The Turn of the Screw" is timeless.

HOLDEN’S LIST
2. The Bride of Frankenstein (#68)
5. Get Out (#39)
6. The Blair Witch Project (#34)
8. Don’t Look Now (#64)
9. Possession (#33)
10. Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956 (#70)
12. Antichrist (#82)
13. Jacob’s Ladder (#67)
14. It Follows (#78)
15. The Innocents (#20)
16. Freaks (#55)
17. The Babadook (#63)
20. Eyes Without a Face (#46)
21. Near Dark (DNP)
22. Repulsion (#24)
23. Shaun of the Dead (#21)
24. Hereditary (#56)
25. Trouble Every Day (DNP)

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I considered both Dawn of the Dead and The Innocents. I believe they'd both make it I saw Dawn more recently and The Innocents for a third time.



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I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
I had The Innocents at #17. Creepy and atmospheric.


How my list is shaping up:

1. 28 Days Later (2002)
2. Nope
3. Yep
4. Interview With the Vampire (1994)
5. Nope
6. Nope
7. Nope

8. Yep
9. Nope
10. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
11. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)
12. The Haunting (1963)
13. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
14. Zombieland (2009)
15. The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
16. Dog Soldiers (2002)
17. The Innocents (1961)
18. The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)
19. Yep
20. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
21. Nope
22. Yep
23. Army of Darkness (1992)
24. Yep
25. Nope. Thought it would be a 1 pointer, but somebody else must like it.



I personally think that Dawn of the Dead focuses too much on being a social commentary (quite common issue with Romero). I don't hate the film or anything but it feels lackluster. I still need to watch Argento's cut at some point. I watched The Innocents for the HoF recently and thought it was very OK but fell little short for being truly good. Personally I don't get what's so spooky about it and thought that the house itself could have been used better.

Seen: 71/82

And because others did this, my list so far...

1. 1st or 2nd
2. Yep
3. Ringu (1998) - 31st
4. Nope
5. Yep
6. Nope
7. Ginger Snaps (2000) - 91st
8. Nope
9. Yep
10. Yep
11. Nope
12. The Beyond (1981) - 93rd
13. Maybe
14. Deep Red (1975) - 66th
15. Nope
16. The Descent (2005) - 40th
17. Nope
18. Nope
19. Probably
20. The Conjuring (2013) - 29th
21. Dog Soldiers (2002) - 94th
22. Nope
23. Maybe
24. Nope
25. Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1973) - 1 pointer
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I watched Night of the Living Dead (1968) for this countdown, but I didn't watch Dawn Of The Dead or any of the other sequels because they just didn't seem like my type of movies.

I've seen The Innocents a few times. It's a very good movie, and I considered it for my list, but it just didn't make the final round of cuts.
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28 days...6 hours...42 minutes...12 seconds
I’m kind of shocked that A particular movie on my list won’t make it. If it does I’ll be hella surprised.

I guess little love for 80’s vampire movies.



Are you kidding? I hope so.

Because it’s not like von Trier hasn’t been accused of sexual harassment or that there’s any real animal torture or mutilation in Cannibal Holocaust. No not at all. Let’s discard of all films on this list and all the members who send in a list. Because everything doesn’t matter now because of one single man who you despise. I don’t agree with Cannibal Holocaust but why should that stop me from reading the rest of the list and interacting?

What you are basically saying is you lost all respect for all the members who voted Polanski. And if not, then why are you able to talk and interact with people on this forum who likes Polanski but not a thread about a list that has 1-2 Polanski films out of 100?

Sorry, but this rubbed me the wrong way.
A lot depends on the nature of the films for me, I mean Mizoguchi has a pretty dodgy sounding personal life loving prostitutes(and almost being killed by one) then his wife ending up in an asylum whilst he shacked up with her sister yet his films were at the forefront of feminist cinema.

If Polsanki was making leary films about underage girls then yes I would ignore them and would anyway but I think its possible for a film maker to create something reflective of their better natures that's not wholey representative of them as a person. Plus of course the films aren't soley the creation of the director, I mean do you throw the performances of the actors involved in histories dustbin?


I mean to me the inference in Repulsion seems to be that
WARNING: spoilers below
Its about the effect of child sexual abuse on the lead character



Welcome to the human race...
I’m kind of shocked that A particular movie on my list won’t make it. If it does I’ll be hella surprised.

I guess little love for 80’s vampire movies.
Like I said earlier, if Near Dark couldn't make it then there's not really much hope for [REDACTED] or [REDACTED].

Dawn of the Dead was my #10 (which also seems a little serendipitous that it's back-to-back with Shaun of the Dead on both my list and the main list). Definitely my favourite of the Dead series (which even now I have to consciously remind myself not to refer to as a trilogy) because it builds upon the stock-standard siege narrative of Night in all sorts of ways ranging from the colourfully superficial (more gore! cooler soundtrack! buddy comedy!) to the surprisingly substantial (slow-burn character development, still-potential consumerist critique, actual existential dread). At this rate, I'm guessing Night will obviously place higher and Day won't make it at all.

Have not seen The Innocents, but it's definitely been on my watchlist for some time.
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I had Dawn Of The Dead at #4 on my list. It's top half in my own 100 and, as I've said before on the site, strangely it's a comforting film for me. It reminds me of my childhood and feels quite safe. I like watching it and I like the mundane routine of the mall scenes. Like I said, strange. But I do love it completely and I suspect, were I ever to redo my list, it'd be higher.

The Innocents is a really good, well made film which I'd always recommend, but don't have a great love for.
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I prefer Night to Dawn of The Dead but still rate it
yet it still doesn't make my list. The Innocents however was my number 3 pick and no matter how many times I watch it, the love stays the same. Surely the creepiest movie of all time and definitely deserved higher than 19 here.


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I had Dawn Of The Dead at #4 on my list. It's top half in my own 100 and, as I've said before on the site, strangely it's a comforting film for me. It reminds me of my childhood and feels quite safe. I like watching it and I like the mundane routine of the mall scenes. Like I said, strange. But I do love it completely and I suspect, were I ever to redo my list, it'd be higher.
That's cool HK , Dawn Of The Dead was a quality addition to my autumn horror viewing years back when I first saw it.