Slasher Hall of Fame

Depends on if you want to keep it a secret or not, I think.

Carpenter is awesome! Halloween is my favorite of the six I've seen but I did like them all.

Basically what Swan said. But I think you should tell us now, so I can think about if I want to join or not and what to nom.

Halloween (1978)



Okay, so first let me get this out of the way - I don't find Halloween scary. Does that mean it's weak horror? Far from it. I can't help but feel that its self-awareness is what prevents me from truly loving it, but that's the only drawback I can think of for now. There were instances when I wasn't sure how to feel about the way Carpenter made Myers enter the frame (you could almost tell when he'd pop up at one point), but for the most part I found his presence to be effective. Compared to villains like Leatherface I think he's actually pretty lightweight (basically if he'd make me shiver, Leatherface would make me lose it), but I still think he's a rather disturbing villain. What I most admire about the film is that it's very stylishly directed, the camerawork in particular is by far one of my favorite things about it (the opening scene's long take being the highlight), in addition to capturing the Halloween mood perfectly and the fact that it holds up to repeat viewings. Halloween is a must-see for fans of the genre.

There is a chance I am doing this wrong. I love my choice, but it doesn't have a specific genre in it. Like say the sci-fi theme, or slashers being kind of close to a genre. Does it have to be a specific genre? If so, this will suck for me. Mine is the type where a lot of genres can be used. Well, at least four can be. So, is I be wrong?

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No. Creating a new category is creative and necessary.

RE: BlueLion.

I don't find Halloween scary either, but that's because horror movies in general don't really scare me. I think Michael and Freddy scared the wits out of me as a kid to where I just don't get scared by movies anymore.

I find it more effective in terms of mood - like you say, it captures the Halloween spirit perfectly, and it's effectively creepy/eerie (different from scary).

I agree that Leatherface would scare me more in real life, but you know why that is? Leatherface is realistic. I don't really find Halloween all that realistic. It's metaphoric more than anything. If it was realistic, Michael wouldn't have gotten up at the end after having been shot so many times! Halloween is one big hour and a half metaphor for lurking evil, and it captures that in spades.

Once you've been overexposed to them, the killers in these movies start to feel like family.

Leatherface is realistic? I guess (especially the Leatherface in the original movie). It's certainly realistic to imagine a man like him, but it's an extremely rare man.

Michael Myers actually seems more realistic to me. I mean, you've gotta take away the stupid mask and his back story and his immortality... take away those things and you've got a stalker who watches women through windows and kills them with a knife. You're more likely to find that in the world than Leatherface, who has to be retarded and obsessive with dead people and loves chainsaws and eating people.

I think it's more about how the movie portrays them, than the actual characters. Yes, Leatherface is insane but he's portrayed as a realistic psychopath, while Michael is portrayed in a more metaphoric way.

I suppose. Michael is, like, possessed. At least Dr. Loomis is always there to try to convince us that he's not human. Leatherface isn't possessed. Leatherface is a wild animal. He's like a caveman, in a way.

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OK, if that is true then I will post my earlier post where I announced it.

First, to Justin, you better join my Hall of Fame. All you guys should. Honestly, with the wide range of movies that can be nominated in my Hall of Fame choice, I would think a lot of people would join in, but I suppose you never know.

OK, my Hall of Fame choice is . . . Happy Holidays ~ Holidays To Die For!

You can use any holiday film, as long as someone is killed in it. We are talking about movies like . . .

Die Hard 1 & 2
Gremlins
Turbulence
Halloween 2 ~ because the first Halloween will already be in the Hall of Fame.
Hocus Pocus
Batman Returns
Reindeer Games
He Knows You're Alone
Black Christmas. . . and so on!

OK, I hope this works!

Sounds great, Destiny!

I was thinking about doing a non-traditional Christmas movie hall of fame at some point, so this is cool.

Some thoughts ...

Christmas Evil - Not really sure what to think of this. It was really slow, which isn't normally a bad thing, but here it gave the whole thing an odd feeling. I ended up losing focus through the middle and don't remember much from then on (even though I watched it yesterday). So, just didn't make too much of an impression on me. I will possibly re-watch it at some stage.

Halloween - I'm going to be one of the people who may stop Halloween from winning this thing. There's nothing wrong with it - in fact I quite like it - but having a killer that is simply pure evil stops me from really feeling overly engaged with the whole thing. The atmosphere is great and it's pretty scary but I have trouble if I don't really care if anyone lives or dies ... but that's probably just me

Jason X - If I was to list what makes up "my type of film", Jason X would probably contain none of those things but I just found it so ridiculous that it was one of the funnier films I think I've ever seen. That probably doesn't make it a great slasher but it makes it great fun.

Jeepers Creepers - Much of this is not too bad and the acting is pretty decent for this type of film. The bad guy is interesting and pretty scary. What stops me really liking it is the decision making of the characters. Now, I know it's silly to criticise a horror movie for that but the two main characters in this were just complete morons ... or the script wasn't great.

A Nightmare on Elm Street - Like most I have fond memories of this film however I'm generally not very nostalgic when it comes to movies so it wasn't as good as I remembered but I still like it.

So far I'd say there are three I like and two I didn't really enjoy.

Like Swan said, Leatherface is more realistic because the filmmaking style in Texas Chain Saw Massacre is more realistic. Halloween resembles fiction more than reality, the scenes when Myers appears from behind a bush or behind the white sheets are the prime example of this. Halloween feels more like a movie or fiction, whereas Texas Chain Saw Massacre is shot in almost documentary style. Leatherface is also more realistic if you consider the story's actual plausibility (one could see it happening, as crazy as it may sound), which I don't think applies to Halloween.

OK, as you all know, I would have picked Halloween if I had been able to. It was my first slasher type horror movie. I've loved that movie since I was 15 years old. I had a recorded copy of it from cable that I literally played a few times a day, every day of the week, for weeks at a time. I was obsessed.

So where does Alice Sweet Alice come in at? Well, I found it one day at a Woolworth store, back when I was around the same age. I was maybe 16. Anyway, it was super cheap, and I liked the movie box cover, so I bought it. Well, on that year's Thanksgiving, I bailed on going to the big family get together. I wanted to stay home. So I cooked up a bowl of soup, popped that baby in for it's first viewing, and it scared the crap out of me. There I was, all by myself. It was years before I watched that thing again. By the time I did, I was much older, so of course I wasn't scared. I was now more into the suspense/whodunit part of the movie. I have enjoyed showing it to those who have yet to see it, just to see if they could figure it out. I have been wanting to show my children for some time now, so they will view it with me. I hope you all enjoy it.

Alice Sweet Alice

The more of these slashers I watch, the more convinced I am of the greatness of Halloween. That's not a slight on the others, but I keep saying things like "oh man, this direction is going to be the second best behind only Halloween" or "oh man, this music is going to be the second best behind only Halloween." That's really high praise, but nobody wants to finish second. Anyway, the music in Alice Sweet Alice is probably the second best in the whole competition behind only Halloween. At times I was reminded of the creepy noises in the soundtrack of Suspiria, except Suspiria came out a year later. And there was a Psycho poster visible during the film, a cool little Easter egg. There's a lot to love with this nasty proto-slasher. I love how the whodunnit doesn't last the whole movie, and we know who it is a good twenty minutes before the film is over. I already mentioned how great the music is. The Catholic iconography juxtaposed with the grisly violence is pretty powerful, and I guess with the history of the Catholic church one could say it's even apropos. Still it's that stark contrast of what the church is supposed to represent with what is happening on the screen that gives me chills.

Great nomination Destiny

To weigh in on the Sexy-BlueLion-Swan discussion, When it comes to my 3 favorites slasher movies, each one covers its own corner on the market

Texas Chainsaw Massacre- most macabre of the three, the most visceral, with that grating chainsaw sound that's so effective. As others have mentioned, its documentary style serves well and sets it apart

Halloween- orchestrated like a Hitchcock-film on cocaine. Delivers a thrill-packed experience set on every horror fan's favorite holiday. Plays like a legend of Halloween night set to Carpenter's striking music

Nightmare on Elm Street- the imaginative slasher, unbound by the physical world, haunting your dreams and living in your imagination. Freddy's glove, made of sheet metal, pipes, and old leather from his boiler room, connects the spiritual realm to ours. Rooted in dreams and imagination, Freddy's powers are practically limitless. You imagine it, Freddy can do it. The music by Charles Bernstein is a personal favorite and rotates onto my playlists often

Black Christmas is a favorite as well. Its holiday-based horror may have provided the template for Carpenter to build on. I see it as a hidden gem

Jeepers Creepers

Pretty cliche horror film. Stupid characters that you just get annoyed with. The sh*tty acting probably didn't help. If you are self-aware by making reference to things like "You know the part in horror films where..." you better be a good movie with something to say about horror films, or that's going to be really freaking annoying. Every time somebody opened their mouth I just kept getting angrier and angrier.

The villain has a cool look with his beat up truck and trashy Cowboy outfit. So at least there is that.

Eh, I am not a fan of this movie. Sorry Derek.

**Jeepers Creepers is on IFC tonight**